Prepping for another run

Prologue
We stick with a St. Paul theme for the early part of the week with a trip to St. Paul Johnson.  The Govs hosting one of favorites in section 4AA, St. Croix Prep, in the season opener for both teams.  It was in this game 2 years ago where Daniel McCarrell broke out with 10 3s.  Now last night I was cheated out of a walking taco at Edison (concession stand wasn't open), so I was all over it tonight.  The salsa bottle was too stubborn so I didn't give the meal enough kick.  But high grade none the less.  A friendly AAU referee crew on hand as well.

Song of the Day: Walking in Memphis - Marc Cohn

Number of Teams I've Seen: 20 (10 games, 5 buildings, 0 online)

Beverage Ticker: 82.7 ounces (1010 calories)

• Coke: 16.9 ounces (200 calories)
• Dr. Pepper: 20 ounces (240 calories)
• Pepsi: 1 Liter (430 Calories)
• 7-Up: 12 ounces (140 calories)

Food Ticker:

• Hot Dogs:1
• Pizza:1
• Walking Tacos: 1
• Extras: 0

Game Time:
Season opening jitters were abundant early on with very sloppy play from both teams.  Addison Metcalf finally breaks the ice by putting back his own miss.  Andrew Howard knocks down 3 on a skip pass plus another a jumper.  St Croix Prep out to a 10-2 lead just over 5 minutes in.  Metcalf and Howard each add another bucket and the margin grows to 19-5 at the 8:08 mark.  Johnson cuts the margin to 6 thanks to a couple of Jesse Foster hoops.  Metcalf with a putback and a triple on the weakside thanks to hi/low action. Then his 2nd nasty block of the night leads to 2 Daniel McCarrell free throws.  Metcalf finishes the run by dunking a turnover.   SCPA 33-17.  But Johnson rallies with 3 late bombs. They also add 2 free throws as SCPA hangs on the rim on a missed dunk which results in a technical.  35-30 SCPA at the break, or so we thought.  An extra bucket given to Johnson and the table misses a SCPA FT.  So we get a correction during the break for 36-28 Lions.

Larry Harris with a hoop and a Foster putback and all of a sudden its a 4 point game.  So in just 3 minutes, 12 come off the margin.  Prep responds with a McCarrell triple, Metcalf with a free throw and a pair of 3 point plays. Then a major blood delay with 10:19 left and Prep leading 49-38.  Foster runs the floor and Johnson finds him for a dunk.  Johnson within 57-48 with 7:30 left.  They would try to turn up the defensive pressure but St. Croix Prep doesn't fold. St. Croix Prep wins 68-54.

Post Game:
St. Paul Johnson falls to 0-1 with the loss.  They'll get another stiff home AA test on Saturday vs #5AA Esko.  The Govs get 3 in double figures with Larry Harris leading the way with 13.  Jesse Foster good work inside to end up with 12.  Soph Rickhi Graham adds 11 off the bench.  As has been the case in recent years, you wonder how they'll score in a half court scenario if teams make them knock down shots.

For St. Croix Prep, Addison Metcalf leads the way with 26 points.  He also added a couple of really athletic blocks.  He's got some surprising bounce.  Daniel McCarrell with a quiet night of 13 but did hit a couple momentum busting shots.  Andrew Howard adds 14 running the show.  But with the exception of some blocked shots (4 on the last Johnson possession), the bigs struggled all night which was a surprise.  Loose balls and rebounds were also a problem as Johnson was just tougher on those.  So a W is good, but they'll look at plenty to build on.  The Lions host White Bear Lake this Friday.  On the horizon, they have a big test against #4AA Minneapolis North 1 week after that.