Seeing Red

Prologue
Only 2 games on the metro Saturday schedule so I'll take the early session.  Its a non-conference matchup between North St. Paul and #9AAA St. Croix Lutheran.  Lou Smith leading today's officiating crew.

Game Time
A very ugly start for St. Croix Lutheran.  They miss their 1st 4 shots after a turnover.  Then turnovers on 10 of 12 possessions including 7 in a row.  Then 10 misses in a row to follow that.  St. Croix Lutheran 11 turnovers and 2-17 shooting in their first 26 trips.  EEEK!  Meanwhile for North St. Paul, Laron Thomas has it going.  He scores the 1st 7 of the game including a left wing triple.  He buries a pure triple from the left corner as well.  He'll add a nice cut to earn 2 free throws.  Thomas with 14 points and NSP has a 20-6 lead at 4:46.  Zach Longueville breaks the streak with a long 3 after he makes a free throw.  He scores 6 late points in the half.  SCL makes their last 4 shots of the half.  NSP takes a 25-16 to halftime.  Thomas with 16 points to carry the NSP offense.

Owen Bushaw 7 early points in the half for the Crusaders.  But after an Emmanuel Ajayi triple and a 3 point play from Thomas.  Its still 38-30 NSP with under 9 minutes left.  The Thomas 3 point play answers 2 Longueville FTs.  But that's just the start for Longueville.  He'll score 2 and then a triple and bonus free throws.  Owen Bushaw tagged for his 4th foul with 6:13 left and he gets a technical to boot so his day his finished.  Critical piece out for the Crusaders with that development.  Lou Smith and the SCL bench discussing that.  Thomas makes the technicals for a 42-37 NSP lead with 6:13 left. 

North St. Paul can't take advantage.  They miss back to back front ends of the bonus.  Longueville still flammable with the deep 3.  NSP goes spread as we go under 4 minutes left.  Murl Smith with 2 free throws and a nice cut for a bucket.  Longueville with 2 free throws off his own and a deep straight away bomb with 3:25 left.  NSP lead down to 46-45.  Longueville to the rack with 2:15 left to give the Crusaders their first lead at 47-46.  Frosh Jaden Neish 2 free throws sandwiched between 2 NSP misses.  That 2nd miss happens with just over a minute left.  49-46 SCL with the lead and the ball.  NSP has to foul and now there's something to say from their side.  That technical on NSP is a killer with 1:05 left. Longueville makes 1 of his 2 on the bonus and then 1 of the 2 technicals.  Plus SCL gets it back on the possession which leads to another free throw.  A couple NSP turnovers in the last minute.  St. Croix Lutheran wins 53-46. A 13-0 run over the last 3:48 wins it.

Post Game
North St. Paul falls to 2-4 overall.  This is their 3rd straight loss coming out of their 3 week interruption. That also includes a tough double OT loss in their last game at Mahtomedi.  The 5 game road trip continues with nasty trips to South St. Paul and Eden Prairie next week.  Laron Thomas with 16 of his 24 in the 1st half to lead North St. Paul.  Emmanual Ajayi with 7 off the bench.  Murl Smith a very quiet day with only 2 field goals and 6 points. Their man pressure really bothered St. Croix Lutheran for the 1st 10-12 minutes where most of the turnovers happened.  But 2 missed front ends followed by 5 turnovers in the final 8 trips flipped the final script.

#9AAA St. Croix Lutheran is now 6-4 overall.  They've now won 5 of their last 6 including a win at Columbia Heights.  Zach Longueville scores 21 of his 27 points in the 2nd half.  Attacking the rim, making free throws, showing deep range all in the lefty's arsenal today.  Owen Bushaw with 11 points.  7 of those early in the 2nd half to keep SCL close before Longueville scored 21 of 23 points in a stretch.  Once they quit turning it over, the game switched. The Crusaders visit #4AAA Richfield on Tuesday.

Four Factors

FACTOR	St. Croix Lutheran	North St. Paul
Effective FG %	45.2%	41.5%
Offensive Rebound %	23.5%	13.8%
Free Throw Rate	54.8%	36.6%
Turnover %	24.6%	33.9%
Points Per Possession	0.82	0.71

Despite a 2-17 start, SCL still wins EFG.  That puts Czar's law at 72-14 on the season. SCL shoots 14-25 the rest of the game.  NSP started 7-14 and went 8-27 after that.  SCL wins the turnover battle surprisingly too.  After 11 turnovers in their 1st 18 trips, only 5 more in the last 47 trips.  North St. Paul turns it over 11 times in each half including the 5 late ones.  Free throws basically even until the end.  Good job by SCL on the glass only giving up 4 offensive boards.