Longstreet has the answers

Prologue
The Saturday matinee is a class AAA matchup between Delano and St. Thomas Academy.  Delano undefeated and senior laden.  The Cadets winless and young.  But the Cadets are experienced and Delano had to replace a ton of pieces.  The one piece they didn't have to replace is their star Trey Longstreet. 

Food and Beverage Counter
Mug Root Beer - 12 oz (170 Cal)
Pepsi - 12 oz (150 Cal)

1 Parlour Burger
1 Spicy Chicken Rigatoni
4 hot dogs

Game Time
St. Thomas with an early cold spell as they miss 6 shots in a row.  That allows Delano to open an 11-4 lead 6 minutes into the game.  Trey Longstreet with his 2nd charge of the game a minute later.  Coach Techum will let it ride with him.  The Tigers stretch the lead to 24-14 before STA closes it to 28-24.  Longstreet for 3, a layup off a shuffle cut and he converts a turnover into a layup.  That mutes Michael Kirchner's rock concert of 3 triples.  A late turnover allows STA to take a timeout and get Ryan Chamberlain a desperation triple from the top of the key.  That pulls the Cadets within 37-36 at the break.

Give me an encore as Kirchner buries a 3 to start the 2nd half and put STA on top by 2.  Longstreet 2 freebies and a bucket to reclaim the lead for Delano.  Longstreet with a 3 point play and a free throw to push the lead to 52-44 with 10:45 left.  The Cadets won't go away.  John Grismer with a 3 point play and a putback.  Ryan Chamberlain effective all day from the left block going to the jump hook over the left shoulder.  Delano stops that but he goes to the counter by spinning back for the lefty finish.  Its a 9-0 St. Thomas Academy run.  Timeout Delano as they trail 55-53 with 7:31 left.

Who else but Longstreet.  He converts a 3 point play and makes a free throw to quickly put the Tigers back in front. Cadets on the offensive glass to putback a 3rd attempt.  Cadets go back on top 64-61.  Delano going to a pet set with Longstreet setting the screen from THE WORLD'S WORST OFFENSE and then popping to the right elbow for an iso.  He catches, jabs, 1 dribble and rises up for the short jumper.  Then he's on the offensive glass for 2 free throws.  66-64 Tigers back up with 2:10 left.  

Cadets with a chance to tie but they convert only 1 of 2 free throws.  Delano converts 2 free throws, Cadets miss a 3 to tie with a minute left.  Longstreet with a free throw and another Cadets miss.  Delano wins 73-67.

Post Game
St. Thomas Academy falls to 0-3 on the season.  Ryan Chamberlain took advantage of single coverage inside all day for 8 interior buckets.  Add on the end of 1st half triple and he leads the way with 19 points.  Michael Kirchner adds 4 triples for 12 points.  John Grismer active with 13 points.  The Cadets return to Metro East play next week.  They host another undefeated team in #7AAA South St. Paul on Tuesday.  Then its a trip to Hill-Murray on Friday in a battle to stay out of the league cellar.

Trey Longstreet came up big for Delano.  He finishes with 31 points to lead all scorers. I had him 10-22 FGs, 2-5 from 3 and 9-12 from the charity stripe.  He made the big plays to pull Delano back from any St. Thomas Academy momentum.  Will Strandemo with 11 of his 13 points in the 1st half.  Nice outing for the freshman guard.  Levi Farniok with 11, Carter Tool adds 10 for the Tigers.  Delano is now 4-0 on the season.  They return to Wright County East play with home games this week vs Jordan and Waconia.  Then they go on the road for big league games at Mound-Westonka and Orono.

Four Factors

FACTOR	St. Thomas Academy	Delano
Effective FG %	50%	50.9%
Offensive Rebound %	26.3%	33.3%
Free Throw Rate	7.8%	39.3%
Turnover %	13.9%	15.4%
Points Per Possession	1.03	1.12

Delano wins 3 of the 4 factors.  Czar's law barely holds.  In a close game like this, you would expect the factors to be close and they were.  Delano with 1 more turnover, 2 more offensive rebounds.  The big advantage here was Delano 16-3 in made free throws.  Only 5 FT attempts for the Cadets.  Overall a much cleaner game than what I've seen recently.  Solid PPP values, low turnovers and largely good shooting numbers.