Duluth East Wayzata 2021 State AAAA Qtrs Thoughts

Prologue
Its state tourney time as 15 of the 16 boys quarterfinals are being played today.  While I'll be on the road later to collect my NCAA tourney pool bragging rights from The Crown Prince, we get 1 AAAA quarterfinal going with the early start.  Its the middle game from the north.  2 seed Wayzata taking on 3 seed Duluth East. This game was actually scheduled in the regular season less than 3 weeks ago but was cancelled so some redemption there.  A couple of matchups to watch with Wayzata's Cam Heide and East's Mattie Thompson on the wing.  The big bodies Noah Paulson (East) and Carter Bjerke (Wayzata) is the other matchup to watch.

Game Time
Even start to the game early.  Giovani Saldivar 2 early triples for Duluth East.  14-11 Greyhounds on top.  Wayzata counters with an 8-0 run.  Kody Williams cashing in a turnover for a triple to end that.  19-14 Wayzata takes the lead.  Paulson then heats up inside.  He scores 3 straight buckets.  Mattie Thompson for 3 and 2 Paulson free throws.  16-2 Duluth East run for a 30-21 lead at the 6:49 mark.  Ryan Harvey productive minutes off the Wayzata bench to end the half.  He scores 7 points to keep Wayzata close.  Paulson beats the halftime buzzer for a 42-36 Duluth East halftime lead.

The 2nd half is all Wayzata.  Trojans come out of the break with an 18-2 run to take control.  It only takes 9 Wayzata possessions to pull that off.  5 Duluth East turnovers in 8 trips.  Eddie Beeninga big 2nd half.  He takes a steal for a 3 point play and adds a trey.  Cam Heide a 3 point play and a nice turnaround in the lane.  Duluth East tries to hang around.  Thompson backdoor for 2 to keep the Greyhounds within 56-51.  Beeninga too much to handle.  He drives for 2 more with 6 minutes left and the lead is back to 12.  He'll add another late bucket and 5 FTs.  No real threat the rest of the way. Wayzata wins 78-69.

Post Game
Too much 2nd half defense from Wayzata in this one.   Duluth East turns it over 12 times in the 2nd half, 19 times overall.  14 of those for Wayzata steals.  After 14 points in the 1st half, the defense holds big man Noah Paulson to just 1 free throw in the 2nd half.  Great ball pressure in the 2nd half a major factor there.  Eddie Beeninga scores 17 of his 26 points in the 2nd half.  Camden Heide scores 15, Carter Bjerke 14, Kody Williams 10 for Wayzata.  Heide came down awkwardly after a tip dunk midway thru the 2nd half.  He came back quickly but then left the game early.  Noah Paulson leads Duluth East with 15 points.  Zaa Buffalo with 13, Mattie Thompson with 11 for the Greyhounds.

Four Factors

FACTOR	Wayzata	Duluth East
Effective FG %	58.5%	64.3%
Offensive Rebound %	21.9%	28%
Free Throw Rate	41.5%	18.4%
Turnover %	13.2%	28.4%
Points Per Possession	1.15	1.03

Wayzata expands a minor free throw edge to a big one with late free throws to close the game out.  Both teams very solid shooting days.  It wasn't only the Duluth East turnovers with the pressure defense.  Wayzata also with a big edge in deflections.