Red Hot Royals

Prologue
A whole truckload of quality games on the Tuesday night schedule.  I'll do the #1AAA Minnehaha vs #1AA Waseca game for my own viewing since we've already done a ton of Minnehaha here this sesaon.  Instead let's go to the Suburban East where the top 2 teams in the league get together.  Its #10AAA Mounds View at home vs Woodbury.  The 1st meeting was one of Mounds View's many close wins this season as they won on the road by 4.  Woodbury hasn't lost since.

Game Time
The teams trade 7-0 runs to start the game.  Woodbury opens with 3 easy buckets including a 3.  Ryan Edelman 2 buckets and its 12-11 Mounds View at the 11:35 mark.  Dylan Wheeler picks up his 2nd foul for Mounds View and he'll sit just after that.  The teams trade triples as we stay close.  19-17 Woodbury at that point.  Then Blake Rohrer heats up for Woodbury.  He'll convert a turnover to push the lead to 4.  Wheeler back with the 2 fouls scores, makes 2 FTs and a triple for 7 straight Mustangs points.  Rohrer counters that with 3 of his 4 triples in the half.  35-30 Woodbury at the break.

Woodbury adds the 1st 7 points of the 2nd half to quickly stretch the lead to double figures.  Wheeler with a pair of stop and pop jumpers.  Then a steal for a bucket and a drive that he converts into 1 of 2 free throws.  That cuts the Woodbury lead to 46-42 with 8:15 left.  Rohrer with a couple more buckets as Woodbury scores the next 6 to push the lead back to 52-42 with about 6:20 left.  Then Kobe Kirk is fouled for bonus FTs and a technical on Woodbury to boot.  Kirk makes both ends of the bonus, both technicals and then is fouled in the post and he adds both of those free throws too.  Woodbury turns it over twice and Evan Kim hits a 3.  Woodbury gets a stop and Kirk fouled again with 3:48 left and he's not leaving any freebies behind.  53-52 Mounds View takes the lead after an 11-0 run.  Kirk 8-8 FTs in the run.  

Woodbury finally rights the ship.  Brad Cimperman strong to the rack.  He converts the lefty finish and is fouled for a 3 point play.  Mounds View a pair of misses.  We go under 2 min and with the ball and a 2 point Woodbury lead, Mounds View has to foul.  Devin Padelford makes both ends but Kirk counters with 2 more free throws.  Woodbury misses a front end with 48.4 left.  That gives Mounds View a chance to tie down 2.  But a hurried left corner 3 is no good.  Cimperman makes both ends of the bonus with 22 seconds left to make it a 4 point game.  Woodbury wins 60-55.

Post Game
#10AAAA Mounds View loses their 2 game in last 3 outings.  They fall to 12-2 in the Suburban East.  But they remain 1 game in front Woodbury for the league title.  Mustangs were 6-0 in games decided by 6 points or less coming in.  Dylan Wheeler 19 points to lead the scoring chart.  Kobe Kirk with 16 on 12-12 from the foul line.  Only 2 field goals for him was a big factor in this one.  Not much offense beyond those 2.  Park of Cottage Grove visits on Friday.  A trip to East Ridge looms next Wednesday as the other big obstacle to an outright league crown.

Woodbury wins their 10th in a row to improve to 11-3.  Blake Rohrer with 16 of his 20 points in the 1st half to lead the Royals.  Brad Cimperman with 12 of his 18 in the 2nd half including 5 critical points in the stretch run.  Despite not having a post presence they aren't a bombs away outshoot you from 3 team.  They still get plenty of paint action with their dribble drive system.  25 of their 41 shots in the paint.  Add in an economical  6-15 from 3 and you have good offense.  Woodbury hosts Irondale on Friday and then a tough trip to CDH on Monday.  That CDH game will have a large say in who gets the top seed in 4AAAA.

Four Factors

FACTOR	Mounds View	Woodbury
Effective FG %	40.7%	56.1%
Offensive Rebound %	29%	37%
Free Throw Rate	53.5%	48.8%
Turnover %	17%	17%
Points Per Possession	0.88	0.81

Czar's law improves to 80-16 with Woodbury taking the EFG win.  Mounds View only 5-20 from 3.  Good job by Woodbury getting out to shooters.  Turnovers and free throws were largely a wash in terms of attempts.  But thanks to Kirk's 12-12 Mounds View ended up 20-23 compared to 14-20 for Woodbury.  Offensive rebound totals equal but that factor goes to Woodbury with fewer misses to grab.