Running the mascot gauntlet

2 nights with 3 different types of mascots.  We start with human with weapon (Knights) vs dangerous animal (Lions) and follow it up with another dangerous animal (Sabers) vs a force of nature (Blaze).  Let's play out the mascot bracket.

Thursday: St. Paul Harding 66 CHOF 65
The rules of the mascot bracket say human with weapon beats animal so in this case it holds true.  Jovan Christian with 3 early free throws but he'll sit the last 27:28 of the game due to a technical foul.  Eric Strandlund carrying the CHOF offense early and then McCaleb Alleman picked it up from there.  Wing Simeon Sharp picking up the Harding offense to keep them within 37-29 at the break.

In the 2nd half Harding takes off on a 16-2 run to take a 50-43 lead with 11:08 left.  Center Alex Addai for Harding with 3 big inside hoops and more offense from Sharp.  Alleman on the bench with 4 fouls and it looks like CHOF is in trouble.  But coach James Scheeler goes 2-3 zone and rolls the dice to bring Alleman back in.  That move pays off as he is all of the offense in the 2nd half.  But he gets help from Strandlund who converts back to back turnovers to put CHOF back up 51-50 with 7 minutes left.  Harding converts a pair of turnovers in a late 8-2 spurt to go up 65-58 with just over a minute left.  The Knights hang on from there.  McCaleb Alleman finishes with 29 to lead CHOF.  Erik Strandlund 11 of his 17 in the 1st half.  Simeon Sharp with 15 of his 27 in the 2nd half to lead Harding.

Friday: Shakopee 88 Burnsville 67
The bracket rule here is natural disaster over just about everything so no luck in the mascot bracket for this game.  Charlie Katona and Daniel Rosenbur back and forth early as Shakopee leads 21-19 at the 8:30 mark.  Then it gets out of hand as Shakopee goes on a 23-2 run over the next 5+ minutes.  Everybody chipping in including a 3 from freshman Nick Katona who's getting spot rotation minutes for the Sabers.  46-27 Shakopee at the break.

Marcus Shepley gets the DNP in the 1st half but starts the 2nd half and gives the Burnsville offense a much needed boost.  He buries a 3 and runs out for a couple more to keep the margin at 15 with 13:10 left.  Shepley cuts for 2 and Hayden Johnson buries a 3 and the lead is down to 66-52.  Shakopee with 1 of their 3 MoKiller timeouts on the night after a Katona putback stops that bleeding.  Shepley with bonus FTs, another Johnson triple and 3 Burnsville free throws and all of a sudden the lead is down to 10 with just under 4 minutes left.  Burnsville having some success with their scrambling traps.  But Charlie Katona buries a 3 with 3:25 left after coming back in with 4 fouls and that's the end of that.  Shakopee scores 15 of the next 17 points to beat the traps to seal the deal.  Charlie Katona leads all scorers with 31 and passes the 1000 career points mark.  Will Cordes adds 13 for the Sabers.  Daniel Rosenbur with 20 to lead Burnsville.  Marcus Shepley with 17 in just the 1 half of action as he was able to get loose in transition for some buckets.