Which side of the tracks are you on

Prologue
The always entertaining (and now double the pleasure each year due to conference play) Battle of the Tracks.  Its a Tri-Metro showdown between Richfield rivals Holy Angels and the host Spartans.  Richfield coming into the week ranked 4th in the state AAA poll.  Very nice new paint job on the floor at Richfield.  Combine that with the bleachers replacement they did not too long ago and they've really freshened up the gym since I first started seeing games there.

Song of the Day: This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore - Elton John

Game Time
Senior wing Bryce Boyd hot early for Holy Angels.  His 3 triples and a nice slashing cut on an inbounds give him 11 early points.  17-11 Holy Angels at the 10:20 mark.  Fouls then start to take their toll.  Jaden Wollmuth on the offensive glass for Richfield to score.  Emmett Johnson picks up a 2nd and a 3rd foul for AHA and he'll sit at the 7:39 mark.  Richfield already on a 9-0 run at that point.  Ryan Miles with 2 FTs and he converts a turnover.  18-3 Richfield run for a 29-20 lead at the 3:54 mark.  But the Spartans won't score another field goal in the half.  Both their big guys, Wollmuth and Isaiah Casey-Hammond are both sitting with fouls.  Boyd 2 and the harm, misses the freebie and he'll get it back for a triple.  That starts a 12-3 Holy Angels run to end the half  Tied at 32 going to the break.

All Richfield to start the 2nd half as they score on 8 of their 1st 9 possessions.  Miles 2 and the foul to go over 1000 points.  Miles and Mitchell January from deep.  Spartans run is 17-2 to open up a double digit lead early in the 2nd half.  They'll expand that lead to 19 before a minor rally from the Stars almost gets the lead back to single digits.  Richfield take timeout with 6:17 left and an 11 point lead.  That stops the bleeding.  #4AAA Richfield wins 81-61

Post Game
Holy Angels falls to 1-4 with the loss.  Bryce Boyd with 16 of his 21 points in the first half to lead the Stars.  Joe Oberst with 10 of his 12 in the 2nd half.  Emmett Johnson in foul trouble all night ends with just 7 points.  Both field goals coming after the outcome was already known.  Cam Holter ice cold with some great looks that just didn't go in.  He makes 1 triple for part of his 4 points on the night.  The Stars return home on Friday to host St. Anthony

Richfield remains undefeated at 5-0.  Ryan Miles with 15 of his game high 23 in the 2nd half.  Mitchell January with 14 of his 16 in the 2nd half from the other guard spot.  Lamar Grayson with 11 of his 13 in the 1st half.  Forward Jaden Wollmuth with 11 despite fouling out.  Richfield's defensive length was a major problem in forcing 25 turnovers for AHA.  Big games coming up for Richfield at #10AAA Columbia Heights on Friday and hosting #3AAA DeLaSalle next Tuesday.

Four Factors

FACTOR	Richfield	Holy Angels
Effective FG %	48.2%	52.4%
Offensive Rebound %	24.3%	33.3%
Free Throw Rate	55.4%	64.3%
Turnover %	15.7%	35.2%
Points Per Possession	1.13	0.83

This grid makes me want to re-evaluate my entire life choices.  Holy Angels wins 3 of the 4 and loses by 20.  (Say What?!, recalculating)  Czar's law now 39-7 as Richfield loses EFG but they do win the TO%.  25 AHA turnovers make the turnover category the only one in Richfield's favor.  Richfield makes 10 more FTs but loses FT rate due to the lower number of FG attempts by AHA.  My stats are off by a couple points for each team so maybe the EFG flips but I don't see it happening.