Completing the clean slate

Prologue
Back to the Northwest Suburban for another battle.  #1AAAA Champlin Park hosting Park Center.  Park Center gave away a late lead in the 1st meeting before losing on a late bucket in overtime.   This one a possible preview of a section 5AAAA final.  Seeding implications for Park Center at stake.

Game Time
Senior night for Champlin Park means Baron Bahn and Darien Hoek in the starting lineup.  Bahn and Hoek with early 3s and a Bahn postup puts the Rebels up 10-5 at 14:40.  Dawson Rudolph 2 triples to get Park Center back to even before a 7-0 run puts Champlin Park up 17-10.  Francis Nwaokorie 2 freebies and a post bucket for a 25-19 lead.  Rudolph with a late triple and a Champlin Park turnover.  Ayouba Berthe with a triple off of that just before the buzzer.  32-30 Champlin Park at the break.

Blocked shot on 1 end leads to a Josh Strong putback.  40-34 Rebels stretch the lead.  A score delay of over 5 minutes with the scoreboard being incorrect.  After total mismanagement of that, they do get it right and we're back underway with 13:09 left.  Strong backcuts the inbounds for a bucket, 46-39 Rebels. 

Braeden Carrington with a tough bucket.  Rudolph with his 4th triple of the night and we're back to even at 46.  Nwaokorie fouled for the 4th on James Parker with 7:51 left.  He adds another post bucket and with PC going small, he takes advantage for 2 FTs.  Leo Torbor counters that for PC with 2 buckets and a free throw.  61-59 Champlin Park with 3:34 left and Parker will come back in.  

The Rebels add 3 of 4 FTs to stretch the lead to 5.  Carrington with a pullup jumper to keep PC within 3.  Pirates get a couple of chances late to tie or take the lead.  They'll miss a 3 and another miss with 1 minute left while down by 2.  Strong with 2 clutch FTs with 37 seconds left to keep it at 2 possessions.  PC 1 of 2 FTs and Gichaba with a dunk to break the pressure.  Carrington fouled on a 3 with 12 seconds left.  Makes 2 of 3 to keep the Pirates within 3 points. 3 of 4 FTs from Champlin Park seal it.  Champlin Park wins 72-66.

Post Game
Park Center falls to 13-5 with the loss.  It likely locks them into the 3 seed in section play and a 1st round matchup next week with Roseville.  Braeden Carrington is unorthodox but gets the job done.  He leads PC with 16 points.  Ayouba Berthe effectively hounded Josh Strong most of the night.  Plus he added 15 points.  Dawson Rudolph 4 triples for 12 points.  When I see Leo Torbor 2 things stick out immediately.  Bounce and Burst.  A super quick 1st step and hops to go with it.  He scored 9 points but I see a breakout guy over the next year.

Champlin Park finishes the regular season at an undefeated 18-0.  They'll open with either Irondale or Centennial in the 5AAAA playoffs next Friday.  Francis Nwaokorie with 25 points to lead the Rebels.  Dylan Gichaba with 13 and Josh Strong with 12.  19 of those 25 in the 2nd half. The role guys chip in just enough and they make just enough plays.  This was their 7th win by 7 points or less.  Coach Tuch looking like the hands down AAAA coach of the year with all the talent that graduated from last season.

Four Factors

FACTOR	Champlin Park	Park Center
Effective FG %	51%	45%
Offensive Rebound %	39.4%	39.5%
Free Throw Rate	54%	31.7%
Turnover %	18.5%	12.3%
Points Per Possession	1.11	1.02

Czar's Law improves to 93-21 for the season.  Biggest difference in this one is at the foul line. Champlin Park shoots 21-27 compared to 12-19 for Park Center.  Champlin Park slightly better from the field as well.