Deja Vu All Over Again

Prologue
The title is a 2004 John Fogerty song about repeating mistakes from the Vietnam War.  But tonight its about repeating great games.  Tonight's its a NW Suburban rematch between Spring Lake Park and Maple Grove.  SLP won at home 53-52 in overtime in the 1st meeting.  Have to expect something close to that in this one. 

Game Time
Kaleb Skelly converts a turnover for an early 10-7 Spring Lake Park lead.  Maple Grove takes a timeout and they'll respond with an 11-2 run to force a SLP timeout.  Payton Thomsen off the Spring Lake Park to provide a spark.  He knocks down 3 straight triples and the Panthers cut the lead to 22-21. Jack Leifker with a slick finish on the run.  Panthers back on top 27-25 late in the half.  We go to halftime tied at 29.  

Maple Grove opens the 2nd half with a 18-3 run.  4 of the 5 starters for MG score in the run.  John Haakenson 7 points in the run with 3 other starters also chipping in.  47-32 Crimson with about 11 minutes left.  Fitzgerald Wreh with 2 FTs and a steal for 2 to get the lead back down to 8 with 7 minutes left.  Haakenson drifts to the left corner for a 3 to keep the lead at 10.  

Logan Kinsey scores inside for SLP, MG misses a front end.  Then Trey Johnston fouled and we get a Maple Grove technical to boot.  Johnson makes the bonus free throws and 1 of the 2 technicals.  Kinsey cashes in the possession with a putback.  In a flash, the MG lead is down to 55-52 with just over 3 min left. If that wasn't bad enough, there was a train wreck under the rim on the play.  Caden Boettcher comes up bloody and won't return.  Big loss for Maple Grove there.

The mess is cleaned up on one end, but not on the offensive end.  Maple Grove misses a front end and turns it over 4 straight times.  Spring Lake Park converts those into a Skelly free throw and a post bucket to tie the game.  But they miss 2 FTs with 27.7 left that could have given them the lead.  They get 1 last chance after the 4th turnover but no good and we'll play OT tied at 55.

Spring Lake Park patient to start the OT.   They find Thomsen for a backdoor cut and the foul for a 3 point play.  Maple Grove misses 2 free throws but they get the 2nd miss back and score.  Skelly counters with a layup on the other end with 45 seconds left. Maple Grove back the other way and they get an opening inside for a bucket and the foul.  But the free throw is no good.   Maple Grove still down 1 with 35 seconds left.  But just like regulation, SLP misses 2 FTs late.  Maple Grove 1 last chance with 14 seconds left.  Ball stripped away (or a foul depending on your allegiance) and they don't get a look at all.  Spring Lake Park wins 60-59 in overtime.

Post Game
Maple Grove lose their 3rd in a row to fall to 8-7 overall.  This game was a non-conference game so they'll remain 1 game in front of Spring Lake Park in the league standings.  Jon Haakenson leads Maple Grove with 17 points.  Very balanced scoring behind him with Terence Anthony-Larmouth scoring 9 points.  3 others chip in with 8 points.  This loss makes you pull your hair out.  Up 15 with about 10 min left and lose.  5 turnovers, an ill-advised technical and 2 missed front ends in the last 7 possessions of regulation.  The Crimson finish the league schedule by hosting Coon Rapids on Saturday.

After losing 5 out of 6 games (3 of those by a total of 5 points), Spring Lake Park has now won 3 in a row.  They'll host Armstrong on Saturday.  The Panthers end up with 3 players in double figures.  Kaleb Skelly with 14 to top the list.  Peyton Thomsen with 3 important 3s in the 1st half and the 3 point play for the lead in OT.  He finishes with 13 points.  Fitzgerald Wreh adds 12 points via 8-8 FTs.  Maple Grove able to attack their press in the middle early, but SLP adjusted.  But more of the 21 Maple Grove turnovers were unforced errors.  

Its an important win for Spring Lake Park as they battle with Osseo for homecourt in the section 5AAAA 4 vs 5 game.  Osseo with the head to head win and 1 up in the loss column in the league standings though.  But Osseo has 2 with Champlin Park left including tonight and a rematch with Armstrong who already beat them by 18.  Maple Grove probably locked into the 2 seed behind Brainerd in 8AAAA with the loss.

Four Factors

FACTOR	Maple Grove	Spring Lake Park
Effective FG %	59.8%	41.1%
Offensive Rebound %	43.3%	35.6%
Free Throw Rate	28.3%	41.1%
Turnover %	33.3%	14.3%
Points Per Possession	0.94	0.95

Czar's Law takes a hit here to fall to 85-17 on the season.  But SLP does win turnovers 21-9 and ends up with 10 more shots.  They also shoot and make 10 more free throws.  Maple Grove 4-13 from the charity stripe and missed their last 6 chances including 2 front ends of the bonus.  Maple Grove was doing work on the offensive board until they went small in the 2nd half.