East Side to the West Side

Prologue
Pushing my fat hide.  Its no surprise.  I got tricks in the stash, stacking up the cash.  OK, enough hip hop for the day, Czar keep your day job.  I'm off to St. Paul for a pair of nights this week.  Monday its a full house on the east side for the Liberty Classical at Twin Cities Academy/Great River doubleheader in the EMAC.  Then its to the "west" side of St. Paul on Tuesday for a non-conference affair between Trinity and Humboldt.

Season Ticker:

• Number of Games: 31
• In Person: 25
• Online: 6
• Number of Teams: 48
• 4A: 22
• 3A: 11
• 2A: 5
• 1A: 4
• Wisconsin: 2
• Girls: 4
• Number of Buildings:10
• Number of Bands: 1

Beverage Ticker: 162.7 ounces (1970 calories)

• Coke: 28.9 ounces (340 calories) 
• Dr. Pepper: 20 ounces (240 calories)
• Pepsi: 69.8 ounces (880 calories)
• 7-Up: 12 ounces (140 calories)
• Sprite: 32 ounces (370 calories)

Food Ticker:

• Hot Dogs: 3
• Pizza: 1
• Walking Tacos: 1
• Extra: 1
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: 1 (175 calories)

Monday: Twin Cities Academy/Great River 81 Liberty Classical Academy 68
Looks like I may have missed out on some good concessions by the looks of what I saw laying out afterwards.  TCA/GR would stretch this out to a 22 point halftime lead and it looks like a 3rd straight blowout loss for Liberty.  But Liberty comes back in the 2nd half.  TCA missing quick shots and the Lions taking advantage.  They go on a 14-2 run to cut the lead to 9 with under 10 minutes left.  But Carmello McNeal carries the TCA/GR offense home and the Tigers avoid any serious danger after that.  Thanks to the extended 2-3 zone of Liberty, star center AK Avwunuma was held to just 9 points.  The guard twins Carmello and Carrington McNeal account for half the offense.  Carmello with 13 points in each half on his way to 26.  Carrington with 7 in each half for 14.  Carmello attacking the basket down the stretch and hitting important shots.  Thomas Conroy did his part for Liberty with 29 points and his usual strong rebounding.  Ben Horn was quiet in the 1st half but finished with 16.  But they didn't have as much help and they struggled turning the ball over and in transition.

Tuesday: St. Paul Humboldt 51 Trinity 34
Trinity younger than I had expected with 4 sophomores in the 8 man rotation (only 8 dressed).  This was an even struggle to score for most of the 1st half.  Then Humboldt's shooting kicked in.  Tom Hobday from deep for a 15-14 Hawks lead at the 7 min mark.  Khalil Parker from deep to push the lead to 4 with just over 4 min left in the half.  A'Kei Pippens beats the halftime buzzer from deep for a nice momentum swing.  27-16 Humboldt at the break as those last 2 triples bookend a 10-0 run.  6 of Humboldt's 9 field goals in the 2nd half are from the great beyond as well.  Desmond Lugo with 2 bombs around another Hobday 3 to push the lead to 16 just under 13 minutes left.  Soph Kip Knippel's triple with 7:20 left would cut the lead to 9.  But a 7-0 Humboldt run slams the door.  Desmond Lugo with 4 of the 11 triples for the Hawks.  He leads all scorers with 14 points.  Ben Erickson with 10 points for Trinity as he worked inside.  Trinity really struggling to score with a young and inexperience lineup after losing major pieces from last year's squad.  That's tough when you go against a team that played 8 seniors and a couple of experienced juniors.