Sinking the ship

Prologue
From one end of the metro to the other as its an old Classic Lake game between Robbinsdale Armstrong and Minnetonka.  This game came together recently as both teams had an open spot on the schedule.  Great tunes and variety during timeouts.  John Denver - Thank God I'm A Country Boy, Pharrell Williams - Happy and Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World some of today's hits.  Armstrong once again playing without one of their major offensive pieces as Dylan Inniger sits out.

Game Time
Fouls mount quickly for Tonka early in the half.  Vlad Ciubotaru 2 quick ones.  Chase McPherson into the game and on the offensive board for a 9-4 Tonka lead 5 minutes in.  Vlad picks up his 3rd and sits.  Cohen Kellogg and Jalen Cain each end up with and then Cain with 3.  Armstrong shoots 12 straight free throws.  That's part of a 10-0 run that puts the Falcons up 16-11.  Freshmen carry the offense the rest of the half with a Will Koeppen 3 and PG Andy Stefonwicz scoring the last 7 Tonka points.  That included a 3 of his own and 4 free throws.  Frosh Seth Newburn a couple of nice drives for the Falcons side.  Armstrong up 25-21 at the break.

Tonka out strong to start the 2nd half.  Cain with 2 drives for buckets and a Stefoniwicz triple.  They force an Armstrong timeout with 14:10 left and a Tonka 30-27 lead.  Armstrong trying to attack Stefonowicz inside with size and strength with a bit of success as the Falcons take a 37-34 lead. Stefonowicz flammable.  Left corner 3, right corner 3 and again from the right corner and the foul for a 4 point play.  That puts Tonka back on top 44-41 with 3:56 left.  The teams trade a couple of possessions of misses and Tonka is in no hurry with the lead.  Skippers are finally fouled with 1:02 left and the same score.  They miss the front end but the whole side is clear for McPherson to grab the miss and put it back.  Armstrong misses and this one looks over.  Tonka headed to the line up 5 with 34 seconds left.

Another missed front end for Tonka.  D'Sean Larkins fouled and makes 2 FTs with 26.2 left. Stefonowicz another answer as he calmly makes both ends of the bonus with 22.3 left.  Larkins straight away for 3 with 18.3 left.  Tonka fouled on the inbounds and they'll make 1.  Armstrong has a chance, 1 attempt no good.  Owen Skram grabs the board and from the left wing buries a 3 to tie it with 5.7 left.  Tonka takes timeout to set up the final chance.  But they won't get it.  They push the ball up the left sideline.  Its turned over at half court.  Larkins has it, 1 dribble and from the logo at the buzzer, BANKS IT IN. Armstrong steals one 52-49.

Post Game
Heartbreak hotel for Minnetonka.  A 5 point lead with 34 seconds left and FTs coming goes by the wayside.  The Skippers fall to 3-6 with the loss.  Plus you have Wayzata, at Hopkins, at Eden Prairie, at Chaska over the next 2 weeks.  Tonka goes 3-8 from the charity stripe (if you count the front ends) in the last 1:02 before the final turnover.  Freshman Andy Stefonowicz with 5 treys and 26 points to lead all scorers.  Jalen Cain adds 12.  Vlad Ciubotaru held scoreless and was in foul trouble for much of the game.

Robbinsdale Armstrong now 6-3 with the win.  D'Sean Larkins leads the way with 24 points including 8 in the last 26.2 seconds.  Tonka with major problems staying in front of him all day.  Nobody else in double figures for the Falcons.  You don't see many teams try to attack a guard inside but it was interesting watching Armstrong try to exploit the freshman Stefoniwicz inside for a small stretch of the 2nd half.  That's a double-edged sword though.  If it works great, but if its not within your normal scheme, it can really mess you up too.  The upcoming stretch isn't easy for Armstrong either.  Spring Lake Park and Osseo at home before a home and home with Park Center.

Four Factors

FACTOR	Minnetonka	Robbinsdale Armstrong
Effective FG %	55.7%	40.4%
Offensive Rebound %	32%	32.4%
Free Throw Rate	45.7%	26.9%
Turnover %	31.6%	12.3%
Points Per Possession	0.86	0.91

Czar's Law takes a big L here to fall to 62-11 (84.9%) on the season.  Armstrong wins the turnover battle though and ends up with 17 more attempts to make up for 4-19 from the arc.  The free throw numbers are entertaining.  After Armstrong shot the 1st 12 free throws of the  game, they only shot 2 more free throws the rest of the way (the 2 by Larkins in the last 30 seconds).  Tonka went 7-12 with 3 missed front ends inbetween that time.