Green with envy

Prologue
Its off to Concordia Academy for their all green showdown in section 4AA with New Life Academy.  Dr. Pepper and a 1/4 pound Nathan's Hot Dog on the menu. Concordia coach Eric Schutte dapper as usual but shockingly outdressed by a member of his own staff wearing a bowtie.  I'm told an emergency staff meeting will be called to address this serious breach of protocol.  Speaking of clothing protocol, when did warmups with short-sleeves and hoods become popular?  Not a fan.  Kevin Hart one of the officials on the call for the game.  All of this accompanied by holiday music during throughout the night.  We get the Boston Pops, Trans-Siberian Orchestra and even some Gloria Estefan for that theme.  But you can never go wrong with a traditional classic.

Song of the Day: Carol of the Bells - Manheim Steamroller

Number of Teams I've Seen: 30 (15 games, 9 days, 8 buildings, 2 online)

Beverage Ticker: 125.8 ounces (1380 Calories)

• Dr. Pepper: 12 ounces (150 calories)
• Fruit Punch Gatorade: 28.9 ounces (200 calories)
• Pepsi: 36 ounces (450 calories)
• Sprite: 48.9 ounces (580 calories) 

Food Ticker:

• Hot Dogs: 3
• Pizza: 1
• Walking Tacos: 2 
• Extras
• Lays Chips (160 calories)
• Snickers (250 calories)

Game Time:
Luke Raymond with a nice start inside for Concordia with 7 of the 1st 9.  Then Concordia turns on the Diamond press. That opens the margin up to 26-9 at the 8:20 mark.  Then foul trouble sets in and New Life is able to stabilize for the rest of the half.  40-27 Beacons at the break.  Michael Reader the beneficiary of many of the fouls as he shot 14 FTs tonight.  He makes 2 and Cooper St. Cyr buries a 3 and New Life is within 10 with about 13:30 to go.  But the Eagles go the next 7+ minutes without a field goal.  Concordia pounces with a set play for a Barnabas Preble layup, a nice simple BLOB for a Luke Raymond layup vs the zone and back to back Aaron TerHaar triples.  Preble adds a triple and TerHaar again from deep.  The run is 18-2 and blows the game wide open.  Concordia goes on to win 72-51.

Post Game
New Life falls to 1-1 with the loss.  They have the Big 10 like early conference opener vs Heritage on Tuesday.  Cooper St Cyr 3 triples and 12 points to lead the Eagles.  Forward Michael Reader attacking inside for 9-14 free throws and a field goal for his 11 points.  Like last year, New Life had trouble handling the press and it cost them in the 1st half.  They lose a couple of guards but have a nice group coming back next year to start Skyline play.

Concordia improves to 2-1 with the win.  They host PACT and visit old Tri-Metro foe St. Paul Academy in a section game next week.  Forward Barnabas Preble leads the Beacons with 21 points.  Forward Luke Raymond controlling the blocks with 14 of his 18 in the 1st half despite some foul trouble.  Guard Aaron TerHaar hit 4 of his 5 3s in the 2nd half on the way to 17 points.  Fouls were a 1st half issue and likely took them out of the press in the 2nd half.  Despite some sloppy turnovers, I like their discipline looking for great shots over good shots.  Fun to see a very unselfish group.  TerHaar is one of the better shooters that people don't talk about.  Raymond is as good in the post as anybody in their league.  The Beacons will definitely be there in the Tri-Metro East and a tough out in sections.