Twin Cities Boys Hoops: Let the holiday spirit return

Prologue
I kick my holiday season of 22 games into full gear with a triple header. First its an afternoon matinee for northside pride. Then off to St. Paul for day 1 of the Harding tourney in the night session. Nothing like my first game purchased Pepsi of the season. Expiration date 11/15/21. Thank you COVID. But I'm still here to tell you about it so that can't be all bad.

Game 1: #1AA Minneapolis North 82 Minneapolis Henry 53
While the final score isn't necessarily a surprise, how we got there definitely was. North couldn't get any offense going in the first 11 minutes. Meanwhile Ajani McCrae buries 4 triples and don't look now but Henry is up 10. They'll keep that lead at 29-22 at the 3:20 mark. North decides to pound the ball inside to Gani Stevens. That leads to a 13-2 run to end the half with 5 Henry turnovers helping that run. 35-31 North at the break. The lead remains 4 with 10:25 left before North runs away and hides with a 27-3 run. Again its Stevens dominating the low post and 6 turnovers that the Polars turn into points. North dominates the offensive glass with 31 offensive boards and they force 34 turnovers. 3 point shooting still dicey though (more on that later). Henry didn't help themselves by missing 17 of 25 free throws. Demeiko Anderson 21 points to lead North, Stevens adds 17. McCrae finishes with 15 for Henry.

Game 2: St. Paul Academy 93 St. Paul Washington 33
This is a section 4AA matchup and it was over quickly. SPA up 4-2 before they go off on a 33-0 run. Washington with a listless performance and that's being nice. 62 to 12 on points in the paint, 34 turnovers. Just basic ball pressure out of the SPA 2-3 zone forced turnovers on entry passes. Nobody stopping drives the rim or giving help. Looked like a bad youth game and layup drill. Brandt Baskerville took advantage of that for 30 points , 4 3s included. 24 of those in the first half before sitting the last 12+ minutes. Clarke Baskerville 15 points. Soph wing Ethan Carter 17 points. Carter is part of a nice youth trio that SPA has coming up.

Game 3: Hope Academy 83 St. Paul Harding 54
Harding able to gain an early 7-2 lead before giving up a 25-2 run. Robert Htoo keeping Harding close with 3 late buckets. Hope by 11 at the half. But Hope's guard play too much. Elijah Wade with a couple buckets in a 12-2 run that pushes the lead over 20 and its garbage time from there. Wade finishes with 29 points and 3 triples. The other big threat in the Hope backcourt, Jordan Brown, goes for 7 triples and 27 points. Harding playing a ton of players as they rebuild. That includes a freshman point guard which can make for some growing pains.

Czar Insights
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Bad 3 point shooting was a theme of the day.