Falcons fly by the Rebels

Prologue
No better production than the CCX folks in the northwest metro.  Let's take in their telecast of Robbinsdale Armstrong at Champlin Park in a NW Suburban opener.  New head coach Aaron Kloeppner not available for Champlin Park tonight.  He'll have to wait for his coaching debut.  Armstrong meanwhile is in game 3 of their schedule so no opening night jitters for them.

Game Time
Armstrong goes 1-2-2 press to start and that immediately pays off with a couple of steals for points.  We're even midway thru the first half when the scoreboard goes out.  Then after some play, we have a discussion and 2 points some how come off the scoreboard for Armstrong.  Never got fixed, play on.  Ayo Taki concludes his strong first half with a pair of free throws for Champlin Park.  Lorenzo Andrews great bench energy for Champlin Park with 6 late points.  That run puts Champlin Park up 39-32 at the break.

A pair of free throws see Champlin Park extend that lead to 53-41 with 12:23 left.  Armstrong has their own bench spark.  Its soph Langden College scoring 4 of the next 5 Falcons buckets.  Nice job finding him out of the dunkers spot for layups.  The turnovers starting to mount for Champlin.  Peyton Newburn and Seth Newburn each convert those into buckets during an 11-0 run that allows Armstrong to reclaim the lead.  64-59 Falcons with 3:29 left.  Both Newberns finishing turnovers and getting to the rim at will.  A nice elbow iso set used for some of that and to find College for the layups.  The Rebels are out of gas.  Armstrong wins 75-68.

Post Game
Champlin Park starts the season 0-1 overall and in the NW Suburban.  Ayo Taki with 15 of his 24 points in the first half.  He had 5 triples on the night.  Very productive game for the senior wing.  Luke Graff 3 triples and 11 points.  Lorenzo Andrews nice bench minutes with 8 of his 10 points in the first half.  Champlin Park with only 2 FGs in the last 11 minutes until a game ending 3. 11 of their 27 turnovers in that stretch.  It doesn't get any easier with a trip to Totino-Grace on Thursday and then a home game with Wayzata heading into the holidays.

Armstrong is now 2-1 overall, 1-0 in the NW Suburban.  They played without center Payton Mogire due to illness.  Peyton Newbern leads all scorers with 25 points.  19 points for Seth Newbern.  Not afraid to put their bodies in and take charges or attack the rim.  Owen Skram adds 15 with all 3 Armstrong triples.  Falcons only 3-15 from 3 on the night.  Their 2-2-1 and 1-2-2 3/4 presses were the difference as they forced 27 turnovers for 34 points.  They go into the holidays with home games against Coon Rapids and Minnetonka on Thursday and Saturday this week.

Czar Insights

For details on exactly what the value in the chart mean, click here for the full explanation of Czar Insights. Czar's law violation with exception once again tonight.  Champlin Park shot it well but couldn't take care of it.  54-20 points in the paint as well for Armstrong.