Minnetonka vs Johnson thoughts

Ah the game of the night (and the end of a long day) is upon us as #1AAA Johnson takes #5AAAA Minnetonka. Minnetonka squeaking by in their 4 wins by an average of 5 points. Johnson playing in a brutal bracket after a brutal schedule in Sioux City and Milwaukee over the last week where they went 1-2.

Michael Talley off to a quick start in this one as he gets 3 And 1 opportunities in the 1st 8 minutes. Kyle Risinger with a couple of early buckets in this one as points are coming easy. Demitri Conwell puts back a rebound and Lamar Anderson gets a dunk and Johnson is out to a 24-13 at the midway point of the 1st half. Nick Latzke knocks down a three and Cole Stefan gets a layin then a steal +1 . Talley again to the rack and its 28-21 Johnson at 7:45. Latzke with 6 more in an 11-0 Minnetonka run and the Skippers lead 32-28 at 4:40. Conwell gets a drive for 2 to break a 4 minute drought for Johnson. 40-38 Johnson in a fun 1st half. Stefan with 16 in the 1st half, but only 1 triple. Michael Talley with 12 for Johnson.

The teams struggle back and forth to start the half. Estan Tyler then makes a 3 and Talley gets a steal that results in a Dion Suggs layin. 51-45 Johnson 3 minutes into the 2nd half. Stefan with 5 in a row to keep the Skippers close. Johnson's Lamar Anderson with a monster throwdown sprinting down the lane on an inbound to tie it at 58 with 12 minutes left. Suggs with another layin and we're tied at 60 with 11 minutes left. The next 3:15 sees a 10-2 Johnson run with Conwell getting 4 of the points. 70-62 Governors with 7:45 left. This was the same time in the 1st half where we saw a Tonka run and it happens again. Nelson with 2 straight hoops and Latzke then with 2 straight triples and Nelson concludes the run with 2 free throws. The 12-0 Skippers run gives them a 74-70 lead with 3:30 left. Talley adds another And 1 opportunity to his tally to cut the lead to 1. Talley then finds Anderson for a jumper and Johnson leads 75-74 with 3 minutes left. Latzke with a circus make but he misses the free throw a 2:46. Stefan gambles for a steal and Suggs makes him pay by knocking down the open shot. Risinger puts back a miss for a 78-77 Tonka lead. Conwell 2 and the foul. The FT is good and Johnson back on top 80-78 with 1:42 left. Suggs baseline for a layup at 1:20 and its 82-78 Governors. Stefan immediately makes 2 FTs and its 82-80 with 1:15 left. Johnson uses 2 time outs to avoid turnovers. After all of this, Max Rosenbloom misses the front end with 37.3 to play. Stefan hangs and banks with 17 seconds left. Johnson goes without a timeout. Suggs can't create anything which forces Estan Tyler to throw up a 30 footer at the horn. No good and we go to OT tied at 82.

In the OT, Tyler starts the scoring with a free throw. Conwell with a tough hoop on the right block with 1:50 left makes it 85-82 Johnson. Conwell with 2 FTs at 1:28 and its 87-82. Risinger with a turnover after Taylor Nelson lost it on the previous possession. Conwell makes a bad play by charging at 1:04 going to the rim and Tonka has it back. But Tonka turns it over again. Suggs makes 2 FTs, Conwell makes 2 and that seals it. Johnson wins 93-88 in overtime.

For Minnetonka, they fall to 4-2. Cole Stefan with 32 in the loss with 3 triples. Nick Latzke huge with 22 points and 5 triples in addition to the circus make he had. Minnetonka will face Mounds View on Monday afternoon in the 2:45 game. With Minnetonka being a team that likes to play dribble drive motion, that's a very bad matchup for Mounds View. I was surprised that Tonka wasn't a deeper team as they only played 7 guys.

Johnson with another big overtime win (see also the Washburn double OT win). Michael Talley with 19, Demetri Conwell with 21. Johnson now has a very interesting matchup against Eden Prairie in the late game on Monday night. Johnson pounded the glass and that was a major factor in getting the win. They run a ton of people at you so you have to beat their pressure D. If they aren't making shots and not turning you over, their best offense is often the offensive glass.

Eden Prairie vs Mounds View Thoughts

Brett Ervin

Now on to the good stuff as we begin the night session with 5-1 Mounds View taking on 5-1 Eden Prairie in a battle of previously ranked teams. Very good crowd on hand for this one.

Dan Carroll and Ethan Wragge get the assignments on each other in this one. The Mounds View offense just can't get going early, but they are being patient (understatement of the night, I've watched paint dry faster). Brett Ervin started the game's scoring with a nice reverse and he gets a post up a 10:40 to give EP a 9-5 lead. Justin Harding counters 20 seconds later for Mounds View and that's the 1st FG for the Mustangs. Yikes. Wragge then gets it going. He makes a triple, then a nice curl for a jumper and then he goes up and over Carroll for an offensive rebound that he puts back with the foul. 17-9 EP at the 8 minute mark. Harding with 5 straight points and the lead is 21-20 EP at 4:30. A couple of bench sophomores contribute late in the half. Jordan Van Eps with a layin and a jumper for Mounds View. Jack Klukas with a bucket and then a nice lefty post move. Marc Miller with a late EP three and the Eagles lead 32-26 at the half. Wragge with 11 points for EP. Harding with 7 for MV.

Eden Prairie gives up the 1st bucket of the half, but Wragge gets 6 points in a 10-0 run and EP leads by 14. 42-28 Eagles at 14:21 after the 2 minute spurt. MV with 6 in a row thanks to 4 inside points from Tyler Perry and the Mustangs only trail by 8 with 11:20 left. Wragge pushes the lead to 12 with 7:15 left on a triple. Wragge then picks up his 4th foul with 6 minutes left and sits. Greg Anderson then nets a deuce and Harding gets a layin and its an 8 point game, 53-45 EP, with 5:30 left. But EP spreads the floor and MV has no answer for this. A 9-2 run seals it and Eden Prairie wins 68-52.

For Mounds View, Justin Harding leads the way with 15 points. Dan Carroll with only 2 FGs and 6 points. Very little for him tonight on the stat sheet and he normally stuffs it. MV finishes 3-17 from behind the line. I'd really like to see more movement and postups in their offense. Harding and Carroll are both tough matchups and Tyler Perry doesn't get much chance to showcase his passing skills.

For Eden Prairie, Ethan Wragge leads the way with 22 points and 12 rebounds on 6-14 shooting with 3-7 from deep and 7-9 FTs. He also added 2 steals. Brett Ervin and Timmy Miller with 10 points each. Very sound defensive play and the Millers (Marc and Timmy) give them very solid guard play. Very disciplined in their offense as you won't see them take many bad shots. The few they do take can often be attributed to Wragge which is understandable with him being the top guy.

Brett Ervin photo courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

Minnehaha vs Sibley Thoughts

Game 2 of the opening day at Bethel gives us #5AA Minnehaha vs #2AAAA Henry Sibley. These teams met in fall league play and Sibley won huge. With no Greg Meyer for Minnehaha (out due to injury), could the Redhawks compete in this one?

Chris Halvorsen with the assignment on David Burnham in this one. Jake Kreuser off to a nice start with a couple of post buckets and an assist to Mike Bruesewitz for a triple. Taylor Hanson off to a nice start with a couple of buckets for Minnehaha. 16-12 Sibley at 11:45. Hanson then goes by Kreuser for 2, Burnham with a jumper and Taylor Sparkman knocks down a couple of 3s and Minnehaha leads 24-16 at 8:20. Its a 12-0 run over 3 minutes. Sibley chips away and gets 7 in a row of their own over 2:15 and its 26-25 Minnehaha with 5 minutes left in the half. But Burnham and Sparkman make triples in an 8-0 run to end the half and the Redhawks have a 38-29 going to halftime. Sparkman with 4 3s and 12 points in the half. Burnham and Hanson with 7 each. Bruesewitz with 13 points. Kreuser with a nice 1st half of 7 points, 6 rebounds and a block. Minnehaha 6-16 from the deep beyond in the half and staying even on the boards.

2nd half is even to start. Taylor Sparkman with a nice curl move to lose Halvorsen which he converts into a layup and Minnehaha leads 44-34 at 14:15. Mike Rostampour in now to deal with the dribble penetration of Hanson (instead of Kreuser). He gets a bucket off a scramble. Bruesewitz with 2 layups and a steal that leads to a Halvorsen dunk and we're tied at 44 with 11:15 left. Can Minnehaha get back ahead? Answer: An emphatic No. Rostampour with a post up, a drive and then a jumper for 6 straight Sibley points. He then got a steal that should have been 2 more, but he got his footwork messed up going in for the dunk. Hanson with 2 FTs and its only 50-48 Sibley with 7:51 to play. But Maurice Hernandez puts this one out of reach with a pair of triples along with a Halvorsen layin and post up for 2. 60-48 Sibley leads with 5:36 to play. All added up its a 26-4 Sibley run over 7:30. Rostampour continues to add on inside late but this one is over. 72-59 Sibley wins.

For Minnehaha, Taylor Sparkman finishes with 17 and 9 and he hit big triples in the 1st half. He was 2-7 shooting in the 2nd half to finish 6-17. Taylor Hanson with 12 points but he was able to get in the lane and was active. But he only shot 1-9 in the 2nd half with some good looks. David Burnham quiet with only 9 points (1-3 FG in the 2nd half). They shot 1-11 from 3 (7-26 overall in the half) and got outrebounded 15-7 in the 2nd half.

For Sibley, Mike Bruesewitz solid with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocks. Mike Rostampour with a monster 2nd half of 14 points and 7 rebounds in 9 minutes. His ability to slow Hanson down off the dribble without Kreuser in there was big. Nice adjustment by coach Dasovich. Maurice Hernandez with 13 of his 16 points in the 2nd half including 3 of 5 shooting from deep. Sibley shot an astronomical 18-27 (66.7%) from the floor in the 2nd half to outscore Minnehaha 43-21. Overall, they shot 28-51 for the game.

St. Anthony vs Maple Grove Thoughts

Well, since I couldn't make my travel plans for the holidays work worth a hoot, I'm at least going to watch some games. What better way to start than with the Bethel Holiday Tournament which is always one of the best around. We start with St. Anthony vs Maple Grove.

A nice matchup inside with Derek Jahner of St. Anthony vs Josh Pedretti of Maple Grove. This one never becomes a game. Alex Geisenhoff of Maple Grove is all over the ball coming up court. Maple Grove as a whole, but Travis Enger in particular, all over the offensive glass. Geisenhoff hot on the offensive end too as he knocks down a couple of triples and its 28-6 Crimson at 8:27. St. Anthony can't buy a bucket. Tyler Catania with a nice throwdown for MG vs the St. Anthony 2-2-1 press and its 38-13 MG at 5:35. You get the idea. This one was never close. Maple Grove wins 70-45 and we never got to mercy rule thankfully.

St. Anthony shot 16-53 and 2-12 from 3. Josh Pratt with a tough shooting day at 2-16 and 1-9 from the deep beyond. His shot selection wasn't the greatest but he did have some good looks. Derek Jahner was a bright spot for the Huskies. He finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds.

Maple Grove won the battle of the boards 44-25. The Crimson shot 19-33 in the 1st half as Geisenhoff had 16 points. That's what gave the Crimson the 47-21 halftime lead. Josh Pedretti finishes with 12 and 11 for MG with 3 steals and 2 blocks. Nobody really sticks out as an athlete, but they play hard and they really make you pay for mistakes. This was shown in the fall too when they took apart a more talented TNL Express squad in Minnehaha fall league play.