Packers put away the Lions

Prologue
Its the 2nd Thursday of the season and another night in the city with South St. Paul visiting Hope Academy.  No concessions and another night where a JV team scores 2 points in the 1st half.  Off.  Czar have a Snickers, you know how you are in a blowout.  A small bottle of fruit punch Gatorade to go with it.  Its the final opening night at Hope's gym.  They open a new gym next season.

Song of the Day: Leader of the Pack - Shangri-Las

Number of Teams I've Seen: 28 (14 games, 8 days, 7 buildings, 2 online)

Beverage Ticker: 113.8 ounces (1230 Calories)

• Fruit Punch Gatorade: 28.9 ounces (200 calories)
• Pepsi: 36 ounces (450 calories)
• Sprite: 48.9 ounces (580 calories) 

Food Ticker:

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

Game Time:
As to the game itself, not much to talk about here.  South St. Paul out to a 17 point lead midway thru the 1st half.  Its 43-23 at the half.  The lead pushes to around 30 before the Packers win 74-47.  Both rosters very young with both teams only having 1 senior each.  Hope with only 1 junior on the roster as well.  South St. Paul with only 1 junior in their rotation too.  Loved the activity of forward Marquise Gleb for South St. Paul.  His 100% motor got him a ton of rebounds inside.  Elijah Wade is a nice freshman guard with quickness off the bounce for Hope Academy.  Between him and big shooting guard Caleb Hoilien, that is a nice duo to build around for league play.

Post Game
Hope Academy falls to 1-3 with the loss.  They continue a stretch of 8 straight home games into mid-January with Legacy Christian on Monday.  Elijah Wade with 19 points to lead the Lions. Caleb Hoilien with 15.  Lots of 3s is expected from Hope Academy but 4-38 according to the online box score makes for a very long evening.  Makes putting the ball on the deck for 15-27 look even better but its a young group who will learn that.

South St. Paul improves to 2-0 with the win.  They have the quick turnaround at Mounds Park Academy on Friday.  Then section games with Kennedy and Richfield before the tough league opener vs Mahtomedi in the final week before the holidays.  Marquise Gleb 18 points and had to have double digit boards to go with it.  Tim Smith 4 bombs on his way to 14 points.  Freshman guard Alonzo Dodd with 12.  The Packers definitely better than the complete doormat years.  They may be young but they have some quickness and more talent in players like Dodd than they've had in the past.