Game 1 of this Saturday takes me to a non-conference showdown at St. Paul Central as the Minutemen host Roseville and Mike Muscala. Mark Klingsporn of Tartan looking at potential section foe Central. Former Como Park coach Dan Brink also looking on.
Early story is Muscala as this game goes back and forth. He gets the 1st 17 Roseville points with lefty and righty buckets. 17-16 Roseville at the 8 minute mark. Ryan Yungers knocks down a couple of triples off the bench for the Raiders (1 on an assist from Muscala) 23-21 Roseville at 6:10. The teams trade before Muscala makes a lefty banker and then a follow up dunk. 30-28 Roseville at 3:20. 33-30 Roseville at the half. Muscala with 21 points and 7 rebounds along with a block. No points in the half from any other Roseville starter. LeDarian Horton with 8 points and 5 boards for Central. Roseville effective with a 3-2 zone the last half of the half.
David Stanley knocks down a triple from Muscala and then a layup for a 9-0 Roseville run out of halftime (12-0 total). 42-30 Raiders 3 minutes into the 2nd half. Horton then gest hot for Central as he gets the 1st 8 Central points of the half with a triple over Muscala, then another triple via The Flex and then a runner. Roseville leads 45-38 with 12 minutes left. Then a 9-3 Central spurt with a couple of 3s and a Taylor Smaller steal for a layup. 48-47 Roseville with 8:40 left. Austin Hultmann on the bench for Roseville with 4 fouls and Horton takes advantage with 3 of 4 FTs. 54-50 Roseville with 5:18 left and Hultmann returns. Cameron Smith with a 3 ball and a Smaller hoop tie it at 56 with 4:07 left. Muscala then with 4 in a row. Eric Grice with 2 and the foul but he misses the free throw. DJ Johnson rebounds the miss and Smaller buries a triple with 2:10 left and Central has the lead at 61-60. Horton rebounds a wild miss by Roseville PG Kenny Farmer but Smaller misses and a tie up goes to Central at 1:27. Jordan Larson misses for Central and Muscala blocks a DJ Johnson layup with 1:10 left. But Roseville can't convert with 1 minute left. Central spreads the floor with Rosevile refusing to foul. Larson makes them pay with a layup with 26 seconds left. 63-60 Central. Roseville doesn't take a timeout and Rylee Hernandez airballs a triple with 9 seconds left. Roseville almost steals a long inbounds pass but Central does make the catch and hit 4 FTs late for a 67-60 win.
For Roseville, Mike Muscala with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks by my count. No one else in double figures but Rylee Hernandez and Ryan Yungers gave them nice bench minutes. Another tough loss for Roseville as they lost a tough one last night to Hastings as well (a foul on their own FT with 1 second left allowed Hastings to pull off an upset Friday night).
For Central, LeDarian Horton with 17, most of the them in the 2nd half. A talented player who can play some inside or out. Jordan Larson and Taylor Smaller with 12 each for the Minutemen.
Showing posts with label Mike Muscala. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike Muscala. Show all posts
Towle leads Concordia to Roseville bragging rights
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Mike Muscala
Zach Towle
The battle for bragging rights in Roseville tonight as Concordia made the hop, skip and jump across town. Soph guard David Stanley getting the start tonight for Roseville to defend Zach Towle. Concordia comes out 1-2-2 and we get to see if their zone offense is any better tonight than it was against Cretin-Derham Hall 9 days ago. Muscala at the foul line and it looks like the top guy (Jordan Schneidermann) in the zone is playing man-man due to the lack of movement.Back and forth early as soph Lucas Brown with a couple of layins early. 7-6 Roseville at 12:55. Towle then starts to heat up. A triple at 12:40, a pullup for 3 at 10:05, an assist to Lorenzo Davis who beat the Roseville D back and then another bomb at 8:50 to make it 17-9 Concordia. After a Austin Hultman layup for Roseville, Towle finds Chad Koepke for 2 and then makes another three. 22-11 Beacons. 16-4 is the run over 6 minutes with Towle involved in all 16. Roseville claws back. Ken Farmer with a jumper (the only Roseville outside shot of the half not by Muscala), Hultman with 2 free throws and Farmer with a steal for 2. That cuts it to 23-18 Concordia with 4 minutes left in the half. But Muscala picked up his 2nd foul going over the back at 4:21 and he's done for the half. Towle has another bucket and another triple in the half. 28-20 Concordia at halftime. Towle with 19 on 7-14 shooting and 5 treys. Muscala with 5 and 3 and 3 blocks.
Lucas Brown banks home a triple to start the half. Oh my. Towle still going with a runner and 2 free throws. 32-23 Concordia at 15:59. Brown with a free throw and a tap in before a Towle hoop makes it 35-28. Muscala with back to back blocks, a free throw and a putback. Ryan Yungers also puts one back to cut the Beacons lead to 37-33 with 11:15 left. David Michaelson off the bench for Roseville and he provides a spark. He bookends a 9-1 Roseville run over 2:20 with triples. That gives Roseville a 42-40 lead with 8:40 left. Schneidermann and Stanley trade triples. Towle then with another triple and then a short floater on the left baseline. 48-45 Concordia back on top with 6:10 left. Muscala with 2 free throws after grabbing his own miss. 49-48 Concordia at 5:02. Schneidermann a big 3 on a pick and pop from Towle. Muscala counters with a nice drive from the foul line and lefty finish. 52-50 Concordia with 3:30 remaining. Towle with 2 FTs. Muscala with a pretty feed to Hultman for a layup at 2:15. 54-52 Concordia. Schneidermann with 4 FTs sandwiched around a Muscala missed putback. 58-52 Concordia with 1:08 left. Michaelson has a 3 go in and out with 52 seconds left. Towle tacks on 4 more free throws before David Stanley makes a 3 at the buzzer that doesn't matter. 64-62 Concordia wins the battle of Roseville.
For Roseville, Mike Muscala with 20 points. I also had him unofficially with 12 rebounds, 2 steals and 9 blocks as he controlled the inside defensively in the 2nd half. 6-15 shooting is what I had for him. I like that Roseville had him running the baseline a bit tonight in their zone offense. But Concordia didn't do much in the 2nd half to keep him from touching it at the high post or on the dive from the high post like he did in the CDH game. Tough spot for Roseville tonight with needing Stanley for defense on Towle but also need the shooting of Rylee Hernandez at that spot. No real outside game again tonight. David Michaelson with 3 triples in limited minutes (also played extensive JV minutes) with a nice night.
For Concordia, Zach Towle with 36 including 6 treys. I had him with 11-23 shooting, 5 rebounds, 3 assists 5 turnovers. Roseville didn't get out on him enough but hard to get out on a guy that quick and he had it going tonight. Jordan Schneidermann with 15 and 7. Nice job by Concordia of backing off the non-shooters (Stanley, Farmer) and of finding Muscala at the high post or in the corner in the 1st half. They showed man with Muscala out, but were exclusively in that 1-2-2 with Muscala in. With the way that Roseville runs their zone offense, you could have the top guy be the post cover and it would almost look like a box and 1 or like a flat 3-2.
Zach Towle picture courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net
CDH hands Roseville 1st 08-09 Suburban East loss
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Mike Muscala
A not quite as frigid as expected adventure to Cretin-Derham Hall tonight (one of my favorite buildings) as they look for revenge against Roseville. At least we know the Raiders will win. Roseville won the prior meeting in the Catholic Spirit semifinals 60-57. Mike Muscala and Seantrel Henderson both had 21 in that game. Hopkins looking on for their Jan 30th game at CDH. Dan Brink in the building as well. He may have a relative that plays for Roseville's JV after checking the program. Former CDH stars John Nance and Broderick Binns also in the house tonight. While Binns does have the Hawkeyes cover for his phone (Go Hawks!), he was munching on Cheetos and a cookie while wearing a green Miami Hurricanes jersey. Boo! Props to CDH coach Jerry Kline Jr for pulling out the coat and tie tonight. The coaching staff almost always has the CDH pullovers on.
Roseville goes on a 8-3 run after the 1st CDH bucket for a 8-5 lead at 13:35. Mike Muscala with 4 quick points and he's got the duty defending Seantrel Henderson. Henderson with a nice drive on him from the foul line for 2 at 7:25 and we're all tied at 13. The CDH 2-3 zone is really slowing the pace of this game down. Muscala hits a jumper for the last points of the half. 23-22 CDH at halftime. Muscala with 11 and 6 on 5-9 shooting. Henderson with 2 points and 4 boards on 1-5.
Roseville with the 1st 8 of the 2nd half thanks to 2 FTs and a bucket from lefty Austin Hultman. 30-23 Roseville with 15:47 to play. Roseville turns it over allowing Elliot Owusu to break the run with a dunk. Muscala getting mugged at the high post in the Roseville zone offense with no calls. He gets a really tough lefty shot to go for a 34-31 Roseville lead with 9:05 left. Raijon Kelly knocks down a triple to tie it at 34 with 7:42 remaining. David Bettenburg with a triple and then Henderson puts back a miss for a 41-38 CDH lead with 5 to play. A pair of Muscala FTs at 3:34 makes it 41-40 CDH. Rylee Hernandez then with a tough bucket to put Roseville back on tiop 42-41 with 3 minutes left. Bettenburg clutch with a triple at 2:25. The teams can't score on their next possessions. Roseville ball with 1:18 left, timeout CDH with a 44-42 lead. CDH comes out of the timeout in a 1-3-1 but with Marcus Binns on top and Clay Horne in the back. The opposite seems more natural to me. But maybe its just me talking about my hatred of odd-man front zones with little guys on top. Full Disclosure: I've been one of those guys. A pass goes off Lucas Brown's hands for a Roseville turnover with 54.6 left. Kelly knocks down a clutch 1 and 1 with 29 seconds left and Henderson adds the final point for a 47-42 Cretin-Derham Hall win.
For Roseville, they fall to 3-1 in the Suburban East and 5-5 overall. 4 of those wins are by a total of 12 points. Mike Muscala got it done with 17 and 14 rebounds on 7-16 shooting and 3 blocks (on my sheet anyway). I like how he's able and willing to use both hands around the basket. The Raiders travel to White Bear Lake on Friday. I'll see them in their rivalry game (Floyd of Rosedale, I mean the pride of Roseville at stake) against Concordia Academy next Thursday night. They were running a 1-3-1 clock offense against the CDH 2-3 with Muscala at the foul line. They had success sending the ball to the corner, having the wing cut thru and then Muscala fill in behind that. He was open on that all night. In the 2nd half, they got away from that and Rylee Hernandez seemed to sit out a ton and he's the best shooter they have.
For CDH, they're now 6-4 and 3-1 in the league. Woodbury sits on top of the league as they go to Forest Lake on Friday. Woodbury has won 4 in a row now after starting 1-4. But I digress. Raijon Kelly leads the way with 9 points and 5 rebounds. Seantrel Henderson with 7 points and 8 rebounds on 3-8 shooting (1-6 FTs) and 3 blocks (again unofficially). David Bettenburg's 2 triples for 6 in the 2nd half were huge. Tough grind it out win (read UGLY win). They go to Hastings Thursday and an interesting non-conference tilt at Eastview on Saturday night.
Roseville goes on a 8-3 run after the 1st CDH bucket for a 8-5 lead at 13:35. Mike Muscala with 4 quick points and he's got the duty defending Seantrel Henderson. Henderson with a nice drive on him from the foul line for 2 at 7:25 and we're all tied at 13. The CDH 2-3 zone is really slowing the pace of this game down. Muscala hits a jumper for the last points of the half. 23-22 CDH at halftime. Muscala with 11 and 6 on 5-9 shooting. Henderson with 2 points and 4 boards on 1-5.
Roseville with the 1st 8 of the 2nd half thanks to 2 FTs and a bucket from lefty Austin Hultman. 30-23 Roseville with 15:47 to play. Roseville turns it over allowing Elliot Owusu to break the run with a dunk. Muscala getting mugged at the high post in the Roseville zone offense with no calls. He gets a really tough lefty shot to go for a 34-31 Roseville lead with 9:05 left. Raijon Kelly knocks down a triple to tie it at 34 with 7:42 remaining. David Bettenburg with a triple and then Henderson puts back a miss for a 41-38 CDH lead with 5 to play. A pair of Muscala FTs at 3:34 makes it 41-40 CDH. Rylee Hernandez then with a tough bucket to put Roseville back on tiop 42-41 with 3 minutes left. Bettenburg clutch with a triple at 2:25. The teams can't score on their next possessions. Roseville ball with 1:18 left, timeout CDH with a 44-42 lead. CDH comes out of the timeout in a 1-3-1 but with Marcus Binns on top and Clay Horne in the back. The opposite seems more natural to me. But maybe its just me talking about my hatred of odd-man front zones with little guys on top. Full Disclosure: I've been one of those guys. A pass goes off Lucas Brown's hands for a Roseville turnover with 54.6 left. Kelly knocks down a clutch 1 and 1 with 29 seconds left and Henderson adds the final point for a 47-42 Cretin-Derham Hall win.
For Roseville, they fall to 3-1 in the Suburban East and 5-5 overall. 4 of those wins are by a total of 12 points. Mike Muscala got it done with 17 and 14 rebounds on 7-16 shooting and 3 blocks (on my sheet anyway). I like how he's able and willing to use both hands around the basket. The Raiders travel to White Bear Lake on Friday. I'll see them in their rivalry game (Floyd of Rosedale, I mean the pride of Roseville at stake) against Concordia Academy next Thursday night. They were running a 1-3-1 clock offense against the CDH 2-3 with Muscala at the foul line. They had success sending the ball to the corner, having the wing cut thru and then Muscala fill in behind that. He was open on that all night. In the 2nd half, they got away from that and Rylee Hernandez seemed to sit out a ton and he's the best shooter they have.
For CDH, they're now 6-4 and 3-1 in the league. Woodbury sits on top of the league as they go to Forest Lake on Friday. Woodbury has won 4 in a row now after starting 1-4. But I digress. Raijon Kelly leads the way with 9 points and 5 rebounds. Seantrel Henderson with 7 points and 8 rebounds on 3-8 shooting (1-6 FTs) and 3 blocks (again unofficially). David Bettenburg's 2 triples for 6 in the 2nd half were huge. Tough grind it out win (read UGLY win). They go to Hastings Thursday and an interesting non-conference tilt at Eastview on Saturday night.
Championship Day at 2009 Catholic Spirit Tournament
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Mike Muscala
The final day of holiday tournaments takes to the University of St. Thomas for championship day of the 2009 Catholic Spirit Holiday tournament. What a wonderful way to ring in the new year. Here's what caught my eye.
7th Place: Park Center vs St. Thomas (Houston, TX)
Voltaire Nalls comes off the bench in this one. St. Thomas uses a 10-0 run to end the half after an 8-0 PC run. 34 all at the half. The 2nd half has Cody Hill drop bombs for St. Thomas. He makes 3 triples in less than a minute and that gives the Eagles a lead they won't give up. 79-66 St. Thomas wins the 7th place game. Hill finishes with 25, 21 in the 2nd half. St. Thomas has a couple of nice players with him. Sr PG Blake Jolivette will attend D1 American University next season. 6'1, quick, good passer and a solid shooter. 6'3 freshman Trey Guidry got major minutes and he'll be a very nice player for them over the next 3 years. For Park Center, Jordan Lynn with 17 points, Terez Vanpelt with 16 points, most in the lane.
5th Place: Woodbury vs Holy Angels
Woodbury goes on a 9-2 spurt to end the 1st half for a 27-18 halftime lead. Sam Swanson with 11 points, Bo Schiffler with 6 and Nick Quicksell on the bench the last 11 minutes with 2 fouls. Tyler Bredow and Tyler Emanuel with triples and Sahr Ngekia (Bonzi Wells to longtime readers) gets it going for AHA. 35-34 Woodbury on a Bonzi layin and a Andy Jirik putback at 8:30. Bonzi cuts a 6 point lead in half with a 3 point play and then 2 free throws cuts it to 2 at 4:36, 45-43 Woodbury. Tyler Emanuel with a triple to cut it to 49-48 with 1:45 left. AHA has it down 2 with 21 seconds left, but a pass goes off Bonzi's hands for a turnover. Schiffler makes 2 free throws to seal it. 52-50 Woodbury wins. Ngekia with 14 points. Great balance for Woodbury. Schiffler with 12, Nick Quicksell, Sam Swanson and Ernest Dorsett all with 11. Woodbury's 1-3-1 zone didn't have the wings out in the passing lanes. Even the top guy really didn't play that passing lane. Poor Ernest Dorsett had no chance as the baseline runner. 2 guard set and a quick guard to guard to corner pass generated numerous easy looks.
3rd Place: Armstrong vs Cretin-Derham Hall
Caution! Red jersey is flammable. Hide the women and children, bombs falling everywhere. Armstrong used a 17-2 run over the last 7 minutes of the 1st half for a 38-25 lead. 9 3s in the half for the Falcons. They make 6 more triples in the 2nd half and roll easily 77-58. Damarius Cruz with 4 triples on his way to 33 points. Andy Seidlitz with 6 triples and 18 points. Marquel Curtis with 3 triples for 12 points and I had him unofficially for 12 rebounds. Clay Horne with 10 points. Seantrel Henderson with 7 points. The story of this one was Armstrong's D on Henderson. They chose to essentially ignore Marcus Binns and Jonathan Kinsel and throw that defender in Henderson's lap. This held Henderson to 1 1st half point. CDH never get a 4th shooter on the floor to get Armstrong out of it. Great game plan from Coach Miller and making 15 triples doesn't hurt the cause.
Championship: Roseville vs St. Bernard's
10 all on a David Stanley 3 for Roseville at 11:30. Jordair Jett puts back 2 misses in a big story of the 1st half (Roseville's inability to rebound). Roseville goes on a 9-2 spurt to end the 1st half for a 23-21 halftime lead. Jordair Jett with 11. Mike Muscala with 4 points, but 10 rebounds. Jett opens the 2nd half going right over and thru Muscala for 2. St. Bernard's turns up the D in the 2nd half holding Roseville to only 7 2nd half points for a 57-30 win. 36-7 was the 2nd half margin. Jett finishes with 18. Brian Sandifer with 11, 7 of them early in the 2nd half. Mike Muscala finishes with 10 points and I had him for 12 rebounds. He got pushed off the block by Jett or Jordan Gittens. Strange too that it seemed the ball would always be entered to the side away from Muscala too. Whenever he did touch it and brought it down, the Bulldogs guards were there to take it. Sophomore Lucas Brown with 4 points, but he's a sophomore worth following. Another sophomore, David Stanley, solid as the backup point guard. He had a couple of triples.
7th Place: Park Center vs St. Thomas (Houston, TX)
Voltaire Nalls comes off the bench in this one. St. Thomas uses a 10-0 run to end the half after an 8-0 PC run. 34 all at the half. The 2nd half has Cody Hill drop bombs for St. Thomas. He makes 3 triples in less than a minute and that gives the Eagles a lead they won't give up. 79-66 St. Thomas wins the 7th place game. Hill finishes with 25, 21 in the 2nd half. St. Thomas has a couple of nice players with him. Sr PG Blake Jolivette will attend D1 American University next season. 6'1, quick, good passer and a solid shooter. 6'3 freshman Trey Guidry got major minutes and he'll be a very nice player for them over the next 3 years. For Park Center, Jordan Lynn with 17 points, Terez Vanpelt with 16 points, most in the lane.
5th Place: Woodbury vs Holy Angels
Woodbury goes on a 9-2 spurt to end the 1st half for a 27-18 halftime lead. Sam Swanson with 11 points, Bo Schiffler with 6 and Nick Quicksell on the bench the last 11 minutes with 2 fouls. Tyler Bredow and Tyler Emanuel with triples and Sahr Ngekia (Bonzi Wells to longtime readers) gets it going for AHA. 35-34 Woodbury on a Bonzi layin and a Andy Jirik putback at 8:30. Bonzi cuts a 6 point lead in half with a 3 point play and then 2 free throws cuts it to 2 at 4:36, 45-43 Woodbury. Tyler Emanuel with a triple to cut it to 49-48 with 1:45 left. AHA has it down 2 with 21 seconds left, but a pass goes off Bonzi's hands for a turnover. Schiffler makes 2 free throws to seal it. 52-50 Woodbury wins. Ngekia with 14 points. Great balance for Woodbury. Schiffler with 12, Nick Quicksell, Sam Swanson and Ernest Dorsett all with 11. Woodbury's 1-3-1 zone didn't have the wings out in the passing lanes. Even the top guy really didn't play that passing lane. Poor Ernest Dorsett had no chance as the baseline runner. 2 guard set and a quick guard to guard to corner pass generated numerous easy looks.
3rd Place: Armstrong vs Cretin-Derham Hall
Caution! Red jersey is flammable. Hide the women and children, bombs falling everywhere. Armstrong used a 17-2 run over the last 7 minutes of the 1st half for a 38-25 lead. 9 3s in the half for the Falcons. They make 6 more triples in the 2nd half and roll easily 77-58. Damarius Cruz with 4 triples on his way to 33 points. Andy Seidlitz with 6 triples and 18 points. Marquel Curtis with 3 triples for 12 points and I had him unofficially for 12 rebounds. Clay Horne with 10 points. Seantrel Henderson with 7 points. The story of this one was Armstrong's D on Henderson. They chose to essentially ignore Marcus Binns and Jonathan Kinsel and throw that defender in Henderson's lap. This held Henderson to 1 1st half point. CDH never get a 4th shooter on the floor to get Armstrong out of it. Great game plan from Coach Miller and making 15 triples doesn't hurt the cause.
Championship: Roseville vs St. Bernard's
10 all on a David Stanley 3 for Roseville at 11:30. Jordair Jett puts back 2 misses in a big story of the 1st half (Roseville's inability to rebound). Roseville goes on a 9-2 spurt to end the 1st half for a 23-21 halftime lead. Jordair Jett with 11. Mike Muscala with 4 points, but 10 rebounds. Jett opens the 2nd half going right over and thru Muscala for 2. St. Bernard's turns up the D in the 2nd half holding Roseville to only 7 2nd half points for a 57-30 win. 36-7 was the 2nd half margin. Jett finishes with 18. Brian Sandifer with 11, 7 of them early in the 2nd half. Mike Muscala finishes with 10 points and I had him for 12 rebounds. He got pushed off the block by Jett or Jordan Gittens. Strange too that it seemed the ball would always be entered to the side away from Muscala too. Whenever he did touch it and brought it down, the Bulldogs guards were there to take it. Sophomore Lucas Brown with 4 points, but he's a sophomore worth following. Another sophomore, David Stanley, solid as the backup point guard. He had a couple of triples.
Saturday quarterfinal action at the State AAU tourney
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Mike Muscala
How appropriate that we start year 2 of the blog with Quarterfinal action in all divisions at the state AAU tournament.
Session 1 15U Quarterfinals (top 2 seeds):
9:30 15U Semifinals.
1:30 17U 3rd place game and maybe I'll sneak a peak at the 14U D1 title game.
2:50 17U championship
Session 1 15U Quarterfinals (top 2 seeds):
- #2 MN Heat vs #7 SW MN Heat. When 1 jersey says Heat and the other says Minnesota Heat, you have to look twice to make sure you know which team is which. The MN Heat very shorthanded this weekend as the Preiner twins and Ryan Burns are at the UNI camp with their Tartan club and Riley West (Lakeville S varsity player, 5 PPG) is out due to injury. But they still have Alex Richter (also Lakeville S varsity, averaged 6.2 PPG this season), so the cupboard isn't bare. The MN Heat open it up in the 2nd half after a 32-23 halftime lead and roll 79-49. Richter with low minutes in the 2nd and 4th quarters, but he still finished with 27 pts and 8 rebounds by my stat sheet. Very aggressive and was a man amongst children in this game. Easily could have had over 30. Not yet a shooter, but very good in the post vs his peers. Definitely a player I'll be watching over the next 3 seasons.
- 43 Hoops Carr was only up 12-7 after 1 quarter on the Central MN Flyers, but they run away with the rest of the game for a 90-46 victory. Unselfish team (maybe to a fault) and I liked their 1-2-2 press.
- #6 MN Comets vs #11 MN Magic Stars. No Ethan Wragge, Jack Gavin, Josh Pedretti or Mitch Bires for the Magic. Close 1st half as the Comets led 12-11 after 1 quarter, but the Magic came back to lead 30-27 at half. Nate Wolters (St. Cloud Tech) with 11 in the 3rd quarter to push the Comets to a 47-40 lead after 3. Billy Giddings (Blaine) gets the 1st bucket of the 4th for the Magic, but the Comets go on a 11-0 run after that to put the game away. 66-48 Comets win. Wolters with 20. Tim Bergstrasser (St. Cloud Apollo) with 14 pts and 7 rbs for the Comets. Billy Giddings with 14 and 7 for the Magic. Chris Orgas (Lakeville North) with 12 and 5 for the Magic
- #7 MSB blows out #10 MN Comets Stars
- #8 MN Select-DeKok beats #9 MN Comets North
- #3 MN Magic Black blows out #14 Rochester Shock in a 16U opening round game.
- Before the 3rd official session, I saw some of MN Southside's come back from 30 down to win in the 17U D2 bracket. MN Southside is the Eastview squad with Drew Johnson and Carlos Emory. Emory played with this squad instead of Magic-Robertson. Vinard Birch who is also on this squad stayed with 43 Hoops.
- #4 MN Comets Elite vs #5 MN Xplosion. These teams split 2 games earlier in the summer so this should be quite interesting. Fun up and down game, but no pressing from the Xplosion to my surprise. Xplosion gets out to a 15-4 lead after 1 quarter. The Comets close to 18-16 but Xplosion gets 8 of the last 9 to lead 26-17 at the break. 35-28 Xplosion halfway thru quarter #3 when the Comets go on a 11-0 run thanks to 9 straight points from Luke Januschka (St. Cloud Cathedral). 39-37 Comets at the end of the 3rd quarter. Jack Ghizoni (Burnsville) hits 2 FTs for Xplosion with 3 minutes left to make it 46-45 Comets. The teams trade a couple of buckets in the next 2 minutes. With 42 seconds left, Cody Meyer makes the 1st FT but misses the 2nd and gets his own rebound. The Comets get 2 layups after this and they go on to win 55-49. Jack Ghizoni with 14 for Xplosion. Luke Januschka with 14 for the Comets.
- #1 MN Magic Elite had a close 1st quarter with #8 MN Fury North in the other 16U Quarterfinal that was going on. 49-36 Magic at half, 70-47 Magic after 3 and they win 90-56. Josh Hanson didn't play last night for the Fury but was back today.
- #2 MN Fury South vs #7 43 Hoops-Harris. 10-8 Hoops after 1 quarter. Vinard Birch guarding Dajon Newell (Lakeville N) is really fun to watch. 6 straight front ends of the 1 and 1 missed in the 2nd quarter, including 4 by 43 Hoops. 23-13 Hoops at the half. The Fury just can't get over the hump as they pull to 25-20 but fall back to 36-28 down at the end of the 3rd quarter. Darry Jones (St. Agnes) heats up in the 4th, but Birch playing well leading the offense for 43 Hoops in the 4th and they pull the upset 58-44. Jones with 12 and Newell with 11 for the Fury. Nick Quicksell (Woodbury) with 15, Birch with 13 for 43 Hoops.
- #3 MN Magic Black vs #6 Mpls Redhawks. 37-30 Redhawks after 3 quarters (that included a late Magic run). 43-36 Redhawks late, but the Magic close within 43-41 with 50 seconds left. The Redhawks hit their FTs down the stretch and they hang on to pull the upset 49-41.
- #4 MN Select-Kruger (coached by Sibley asst coach) vs #5 Magic Superfriends. 18-13 Magic after 1 quarter which was over by the time the previous MN Fury vs 43 Hoops game ended because they started 10 minutes early. Strange. Select gets the last 6 points of the half to only be down 34-28 at the break thanks to a buzzer beating 3 by Alex Miller (Tall... Tall Kid Tall... Tall Kid Tall...). Where are the BSM students when you need them? The Select use an 8-0 run to tie the game late in the 3rd but the Magic push back ahead 46-41 after 3 thanks to a Taylor Sparkman (Minnehaha) bucket and an Isaiah Thomas (Fridley) 3. Select opens the 4th quarter on an 8-0 run before the Magic finally hit a 3 for their 1st points of the quarter with 1:29 left to play (49 all). Maurice Hernandez (Sibley) with a bucket at 1:10 to push the Select back in front 51-49. Cody Hofmann (Park) makes 3 of 4 FTs before a late Thomas 3 makes the final score 54-52 Select.
- #2 MN Glory vs #7 MSB. 33 all at halftime before the Glory get out to a 50-40 lead in the 3rd quarter. MSB gets last 11 of the quarter and the 1st 4 of the 4th quarter to lead 55-50 with 6 minutes left. 57 all with 2:24 to play and Mike Muscala (Roseville) gets a bucket and then puts back an offensive rebound after a Glory turnover to start a 10-0 run. Muscala also with a couple of thunderous dunks in this game. 1 near the end of the 3rd during the 11-0 run and 1 with the score tied at 55. MSB pulls the upset 69-59.
- #3 MN Fury vs #6 MN Comets Elite. Close game early but the Fury get out to a 10 pt lead and hold it for most of the 2nd half. They win surprisingly easy (to this observer anyway) 56-45.
- #1 Magic-Robertson vs #8 MN Select DeKok. I had to do a serious double take as Rodney Williams was playing for the Magic in this one. I know he has ties within the Magic, but still I thought he'd be with Pulley at the UNI camp this weekend. They lead 15-10 after 1 quarter, 36-24 at the break, 55-32 after 3 and roll 75-52.
9:30 15U Semifinals.
- #1 43 Hoops Carr vs #12 43 Hoops Amundson in 1 semifinal. The Amundson squad with 2 upsets in morning play but remember that they gave the Magic Elite 15s all they wanted a couple of weeks ago.
- #2 MN Heat Elite vs #3 MN Magic Elite. Big game here and the one I'll be focusing on at this time. The Heat Elite won big the last time these 2 played. But the Heat had their full roster and Jason Perkins got injured for the Magic during that game so this semifinal will be much different. I'm really looking forward to seeing what game plan coach Miller has for the Heat's Alex Richter. He certainly has a couple of big bodies (Perkins and Mike Yahnke) that he can use. I'm also interested to see Richter against this higher level of competition.
- My game will be the #1 MN Magic Elite 16s vs #4 MN Comets Elite 16s. The Comets beat the Magic head-head at the Magic invite in April. The athleticism of the Comets seemed to bother the Magic then. But this isn't the same Magic squad either. Derek Brown has arrived from South Dakota, not to mention the additions of Jasper Duberry (Champlin Park) and Jay Sewer (Richfield) from high flying TNL Express roster. Should be very interesting.
- The other 16U semi the bracketbuster game. #6 Mpls Redhawks vs #7 43 Hoops Harris. 43 Hoops has been very good defensively, but the Redhawks keep getting it done. Should be a very interesting game.
- 17U Semifinal #1 is Magic-Robertson vs MN Select Kruger. Robertson just too much here.
- 17U Semifinal #2 is MSB vs MN Fury. Fury are solid and MSB is coming off the upset so this one should be interesting. I wonder how the Fury deal with MSB's big guys. But how does MSB matchup with Erik Olson of the Fury?
1:30 17U 3rd place game and maybe I'll sneak a peak at the 14U D1 title game.
2:50 17U championship
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