Towle leads Concordia to Roseville bragging rights

Zach Towle

The battle for bragging rights in Roseville tonight as Concordia made the hop, skip and jump across town. Soph guard David Stanley getting the start tonight for Roseville to defend Zach Towle. Concordia comes out 1-2-2 and we get to see if their zone offense is any better tonight than it was against Cretin-Derham Hall 9 days ago. Muscala at the foul line and it looks like the top guy (Jordan Schneidermann) in the zone is playing man-man due to the lack of movement.

Back and forth early as soph Lucas Brown with a couple of layins early. 7-6 Roseville at 12:55. Towle then starts to heat up. A triple at 12:40, a pullup for 3 at 10:05, an assist to Lorenzo Davis who beat the Roseville D back and then another bomb at 8:50 to make it 17-9 Concordia. After a Austin Hultman layup for Roseville, Towle finds Chad Koepke for 2 and then makes another three. 22-11 Beacons. 16-4 is the run over 6 minutes with Towle involved in all 16. Roseville claws back. Ken Farmer with a jumper (the only Roseville outside shot of the half not by Muscala), Hultman with 2 free throws and Farmer with a steal for 2. That cuts it to 23-18 Concordia with 4 minutes left in the half. But Muscala picked up his 2nd foul going over the back at 4:21 and he's done for the half. Towle has another bucket and another triple in the half. 28-20 Concordia at halftime. Towle with 19 on 7-14 shooting and 5 treys. Muscala with 5 and 3 and 3 blocks.

Lucas Brown banks home a triple to start the half. Oh my. Towle still going with a runner and 2 free throws. 32-23 Concordia at 15:59. Brown with a free throw and a tap in before a Towle hoop makes it 35-28. Muscala with back to back blocks, a free throw and a putback. Ryan Yungers also puts one back to cut the Beacons lead to 37-33 with 11:15 left. David Michaelson off the bench for Roseville and he provides a spark. He bookends a 9-1 Roseville run over 2:20 with triples. That gives Roseville a 42-40 lead with 8:40 left. Schneidermann and Stanley trade triples. Towle then with another triple and then a short floater on the left baseline. 48-45 Concordia back on top with 6:10 left. Muscala with 2 free throws after grabbing his own miss. 49-48 Concordia at 5:02. Schneidermann a big 3 on a pick and pop from Towle. Muscala counters with a nice drive from the foul line and lefty finish. 52-50 Concordia with 3:30 remaining. Towle with 2 FTs. Muscala with a pretty feed to Hultman for a layup at 2:15. 54-52 Concordia. Schneidermann with 4 FTs sandwiched around a Muscala missed putback. 58-52 Concordia with 1:08 left. Michaelson has a 3 go in and out with 52 seconds left. Towle tacks on 4 more free throws before David Stanley makes a 3 at the buzzer that doesn't matter. 64-62 Concordia wins the battle of Roseville.

For Roseville, Mike Muscala with 20 points. I also had him unofficially with 12 rebounds, 2 steals and 9 blocks as he controlled the inside defensively in the 2nd half. 6-15 shooting is what I had for him. I like that Roseville had him running the baseline a bit tonight in their zone offense. But Concordia didn't do much in the 2nd half to keep him from touching it at the high post or on the dive from the high post like he did in the CDH game. Tough spot for Roseville tonight with needing Stanley for defense on Towle but also need the shooting of Rylee Hernandez at that spot. No real outside game again tonight. David Michaelson with 3 triples in limited minutes (also played extensive JV minutes) with a nice night.

For Concordia, Zach Towle with 36 including 6 treys. I had him with 11-23 shooting, 5 rebounds, 3 assists 5 turnovers. Roseville didn't get out on him enough but hard to get out on a guy that quick and he had it going tonight. Jordan Schneidermann with 15 and 7. Nice job by Concordia of backing off the non-shooters (Stanley, Farmer) and of finding Muscala at the high post or in the corner in the 1st half. They showed man with Muscala out, but were exclusively in that 1-2-2 with Muscala in. With the way that Roseville runs their zone offense, you could have the top guy be the post cover and it would almost look like a box and 1 or like a flat 3-2.

Zach Towle picture courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

08-09 Week 8 Tuesday Night Scoreboard Club

Here's a look at what caught my eye from Tuesday's games (1/20/09).

• No real surprises in the Classic Suburban. Mike Bruesewitz dominant in a big win to put Sibley alone on top of the Classic Suburban.
• Jefferson over Eastview in the Lake. The Jaguars get 23 from Moses Alipate in the win. They stay 1 game behind Eden Prairie.
• Burnsville easily defeats Eagan. They too are 1 game back of EP and host EP on Friday night.
• Henry lost 2 in Chicago over the weekend and then got drilled by Hopkins 101-28. No Jordan Hughes for the Patriots in that one though. I didn't see anything from Marcus Williams for Hopkins in the box either. If Williams doesn't go on Saturday and Broghammer is visiting Notre Dame, maybe my hometown Aquinas Blugolds have a glimmer of hope.
• How about Matt Zager of Shakopee putting up 50 on Farmington last night. Against guys like Josh Zitzmann and Jake Lippert that's a big time performance.
• Nathan Johnson with 35 for Heritage, but SPA gets 24 and 11 from Evan McMillan to hang on for the 4 point road win. (Czar's Note 1/21/09, Heritage won that game by 4)
  
• 29 from Trey Scott as Spring Lake Park goes to Cooper and gives all they want in a 4 point loss. Rodney Williams Jr with 22 in the win that gives Cooper sole possession of 1st.
  
• Irondale loses by 8 at BSM and they've lost 10 of 11, but there's hope. 6'3 Soph Bryan Sprang put up 31 on Rodney Williams last Friday and had 21 last night. But they gave up 25 to Darren Glover while holding Peter Crawford to 12. Irondale with 13 triples in that game.
  
• Jacob Thomas with only 14 but Columbia Heights still manages to survive 46 from Fridley's Isaiah Thomas. Back-to-Back 46 point games for the 6'6 wing. Monster season for him and the reason they're 9-4. This loss puts them 3 back of Cooper and 2 back of Spring Lake Park.
• What a night in the NW Suburban. Park Center gets a buzzer beater to win in OT at Blaine. Elk River gets clobbered at Centennial and they're now 0-4 in the league. Ho hum, Sam Dower with 33 as Osseo wins again. Centennial goes to Maple Grove on Friday as both teams only have 1 league loss. Look for the size of MG to be a factor in that one as I think they win easily.
• Hastings gives up 41 to Woodbury's Nick Quicksell, but they get the OT win at Woodbury.
• Mike Muscala with 35 as Roseville defeats Forest Lake. Roseville staying right in the thick of the Suburban East race.
  
• St. Paul Harding gets their 1st win of the year with a 2 pt home OT win over Southwest. Dominique Dawson with 30 for the Lakers and they give up 34 to Ernest Mang.
  
• Spectrum goes on the road and upsets New Life Academy with Grant Spark only getting 8 points and allowing Robbie Anderstrom to get his 22. NLA now 6-7. Spectrum has now defeated NLA and they won at MCAA leader Lester Prairie at Christmas. They're now 6-4. Could they be making a run at a high seed in the west subsection of 4A. They'll have their chance with games against West Lutheran, Heritage, PACT and Meadow Creek.
• Some outstate flavor too. Triple OT as Bethlehem Academy hangs on for a 76-73 road win over the Awesome Blossoms of Blooming Prairie. That wins puts the #4A Cardinals in control of the Gopher Conference (head-head wins over the 2 teams they're tied with).
  

Minnehaha grinds out win against De La Salle

Game 2 of the rare Tuesday night double-dip takes just down Lake Street to Minnehaha Academy for their Tri-Metro West game against De La Salle. This was the 2nd half of a boys/girls doubleheader with the Minnehaha girls (also very good) winning 49-37. Minnehaha trying to stay undefeated in league play and push DLS 2 games back.

No Greg Meyer in the starting lineup for Minnehaha but he's on the exercise bike just to my left. Minnehaha with the 1st 4 and then another 2 before DLS finally gets a FG, a Jalen Jaspers triple, 4 minutes in. 6-4 Minnehaha. Meyer makes his 1st appearance at 13:04. Back and forth til the 10 minute mark and we're tied at 10. 5 in a row for Minnehaha culminated with a nice backcut by Taylor Sparkman for 2 at 8:30 and its 15-10 Minnehaha. Timeout De La Salle. Minnehaha only gets 2 more FGs the rest of the half as the DLS D cranks up. But their offense continues to be methodical to say the least. They only get 5 points the rest of the half. 19-15 Minnehaha at halftime. Oof! Jaspers with 8 and 5. Sparkman with 7. Taylor Hanson 6 points and 5 boards.

AJ Barker finally starts to get it going for DLS after a very cold (with some forces) 1st half. He nails a 3 with 15 minutes left. He counters a David Burnham spin for 2 with a layup off poor defense and its 23-22 Minnehaha with 14:25 left. DLS gets the ball back down 1 and Jaspers makes 1 of 2 to tie at 23 with 13:30 left. They get it back tied and Barker misses a quick 3. Minnehaha gets the next 9 thanks to 2 Austin Brown buckets and a nice kickout to Parker Hines for a triple. 32-23 Minnehaha at 9:40. Barker with 2 free throws after being fouled on a inbounds jumpshot (never foul a jump shooter!). 32-27 Minnehaha. Taylor Sparkman taking advantage of a matchup with John Hertle. He gets a layup on a high/low look then 4 bonus free throws after 2 questionable holding calls on Hertle. He adds on a drive at 5:25 and then counters a Barker jumper with a big 3 at 4:25. 43-33 Minnehaha. DLS won't go away as Jaspers makes 2 FTs, Meyer misses the front end of the bonus, Barker nails a J and its 43-37 Minnehaha with 3:35 left. Sparkman has a triple go in and out but Walter Franklin turns it over. DLS has it back with under 2 to play and Barker gets called for the charge at 1:47. Brown then misses a pair of bonus free throws. Jaspers then with 2 and a tick-tack touch for the and 1. 43-40 Minnehaha with 90 seconds left. Brown with 1 of 2 with 1:04 left. Interesting to me that DLS didn't go with a set play for Jaspers or Barker here. Just base offense. Walter Franklin with a hesitant miss, but Jonah Travis grabs it. He makes 1 of 2 FTs with 48.7 left, 44-41 Minnehaha. Meyer gets the bomb on the inbounds and lays it in to ultimately seal it. Minnehaha wins a war 48-42.

For DLS, Jalen Jaspers with 18 and 9. AJ Barker with 16 and 6 despite a cold 1st half. Barker is their only real shooter and he was cold in the 1st half. Their other guys to their credit understand this so they're VERY patient in their motion offense. I'd like to see more post ups out of Jaspers and Jonah Travis. Not enough touches on the box for these guys. Most of their stuff tonight was 4 out motion with the 1 playing the foul line area. Defensively, they are as good as anybody in their man defense. Extremely sound, they don't foul, they help.

For Minnehaha, Taylor Sparkman was a matchup problem for DLS. I had him for 18 and 11 tonight. Only 8 points combined from Greg Meyer and David Burnham, but Austin Brown gave them that great stretch midway through the 2nd half. I was surprised that after seeing what DLS did against zone D (Redhawks go zone on underneath out of bounds plays), they didn't play more of it.

MN Transitions breaks the Roosevelt curse

So MN Transitions had lost 4 straight to Roosevelt. That included a bitter loss last year where Roosevelt came from behind to win. Would Kevin Noreen finally get a win against the Teddies?

MTS comes out in their standard 1-2-1-1 press. They make 5 of 6 free throws and get a Jerrell Washington layup for the 1st 7 of the game in 1:04. Roosevelt gives up the 1st 10 before James Smith makes a couple free throws at 14:53. Gobana Sameru with the 1st Roosevelt FG, a three, at 14:05 and its 10-5 MTS. Daniel Bolden with 3 at 11:41 to keep the margin at 5, 20-15 Wolves. Roosevelt doing a good enough job against the press to get MTS out of it and using a 2-3 zone to slow pace. But MTS won't be denied. They get a big dunk from Washington for a 32-17 lead. Kevin Noreen picks up his 3rd foul on a reach in at 5:15 and he's gone to the bench for the rest of the half but the margin is 38-20. Washington goes off in his absence converting half court Roosevelt turnovers into 2 big dunks and another layin. 44-20 Wolves. He then knocks down back to back triples late in the half for a 54-23 MTS halftime lead. Washington with 21 on 4 dunks. Kevin Noreen with 14 quick ones and finishes the half with 18.

Kevin Noreen comes out en fuego in the 2nd half. 9 of the 1st 11 points and he assisted on the other 2. No defense at all early in the half as both teams go up and down and get whatever they want. Noreen gets his 4th at 13:28 on a charge but he'll stay in with a 74-33 lead. He then gets a couple of buckets, 2 and the foul and makes a 3. 88-43 at the 11 minute mark and Kevin has 24 in the half. He adds 1 more triple before the mercy rule sets in and the stars sit out all of the mercy rule time. 112-61 Minnesota Transitions wins.

For Roosevelt, Calvin Jenkins with 17 as he was left open for 3 triples. They have South and Armstrong this week. Funny that South coach Joe Hyser showed up for the 2nd half of this one to scout. I can't imagine he got much out of that.

For MTS, Kevin Noreen finishes with 42 points, but because he was out high in the MTS halfcourt trap, only 2 rebounds. But big brother giveth as I had Kyle Noreen for 13 rebounds. Jerrell Washington with 30 and he had a couple of monster dunks where he really got up. When he stayed straight up and down on his shot from deep he was effective, but he had at least 3 misses where he was fading away unnecessarily. Interesting that Washington and especially Noreen played out high in the MTS trap with Kyle Noreen and Mac Ingram on the 2nd line. Kevin Noreen may be long at 6'8, but he's not quick. MTS gave up a ton of dribble penetration in the zone trap which is never good. They also didn't shoot it well tonight. Kyle Noreen was especially cold. MTS gets to face a couple of interesting players coming up as they host Cotton on Saturday and then I'll see them again next Monday against Robbie Anderstrom and New Life Academy. That dribble drive motion that NLA runs would be nice against the MTS zones.

I won't embarrass the person who mentioned this to me, but this was an interesting point and is the subject of the poll that went up tonight. With St. Bernard's and Minnehaha losing very good groups of seniors and Zach Towle graduating for Concordia, should MTS move to AA. This year ends the current 2 year classification period and MTS could opt up for 2 years starting next year. Vote now.

Washburn at Henry rescheduled

Last Friday's big Washburn at Henry game in the Mpls City was postponed due to a water pipe breaking in the lobby just before the games (what a lake and mess that was). That game has rescheduled for Saturday February 7th at 4 PM at Henry. They'll play again at Washburn on Thursday February 19th.

Next happenings in the conference realignment saga

John Millea gave some updates on the next steps in the process of the conference realignment. Some of the highlights.

• Wright County votes on Hutchinson, how it might impact the Missota.
  
• All 4 Classic Lake schools will have met the criteria for being placed in a new league with 2 league applications denied.
  
• Conference placement in October.

Read the entire entry from the Star Tribune Preps Blog here.

The Czar talks Sam Dower with Gonzaga blog

For those of you who have kept up on Sam Dower here, you'll know that I've often referenced the Gonzaga blog, The Kennel Report. The good folks there have had their site rolled into one of the better named sites on the net, The Slipper Still Fits. Its a terrific source for anything with Gonzaga sports and they do a terrific job following the Zags recruiting scene. They were kind enough to ask me to give them some thoughts on their 2009 recruit Sam Dower. I had tons of fun doing this (and how nice after I just saw Dower play 3 times in the last 2 weeks). I only wish I could ask questions like they do.

Read my interview with The Slipper Still Fits here.

08-09 Week 7 Rewind

Thoughts from the Friday and Saturday games of Week 7.

Friday

• Alex Richter with 38 on 13-15 FGs and Blake Shay with 33 for Lakeville South as they put up 98 on Apple Valey. Varmah Sonie with 19, Thomas Shalk with 12 in the loss for AV.
• SPA over DLS 51-43. What is up with the De La Salle offense? I'll find out as I'll see them a handful of times in the last month of the season.
• Park over Stillwater 48-48. The Ponies fall to 4-8 and that includes a win over Northfield. Hard to figure them out.
• Jefferson knocks off Chaska 59-55. Marcus Alipate with 20. Combine that with the Eastview win at Burnsville and Eden Prairie sits alone on top of the Lake at 6-1. Jefferson, Chaska and Burnsville all 1 game back. Lakeville North and Eastview 2 back in the loss column. Eden Prairie goes to Burnsville on Friday.

Saturday

• CDH gets down 18 at half to Eastview and loses on the road. Drew Bjordal with 26 for Eastview.
• Northfield gets it done in section 1AAAA with a home win over Owatonna. The bigs cancel each other out, but Christian Shepley with 16 in the win.
• Bo Shiffler with 21 and Nick Quicksell with 20 for Woodbury and Matt Zager with only 8 for Shakopee but the Sabers still manage an 11 point win. Sophomore Jason Perkins with 15 to lead Shakopee.

Be sure to check out my MN Preps column this week. I take a look at MN Transitions and the big games of the week including the 2 big Min

If you missed any of the games I saw this week (shame on you if you did), here's the complete list.

• 1/12: CHOF at Bethany
• 1/13: Roseville at Cretin-Derham Hall
• 1/15: Champlin Park at Osseo (B/G)
• 1/16: Johnson at Como Park
• 1/17: #6 Wayzata at #5 Osseo
• 1/17: Minnetonka at Columbia Heights
• 1/17: Duluth East at Maple Grove

My schedule for the week can be found on the right side in "The Czar's Schedule" section. A fun week with a rare in-week multi-location doubleheader and The Emperor will join me all weekend for the East Metro Showcase.

Duluth East at Maple Grove Thoughts

Big Osseo vs Maple Grove hockey game going on tonight so a smallish crowd on hand. But I had a chance to have a nice visit with some of the young Maple Grove players tonight. Always fun to chat with the kids. A couple of interesting X and O notes from the JV game. Nice 2-3 press break (I think this was MG's break) and Duluth East placing 2 players on the other end of the court in the corners when the opponent was shooting free throws. Duluth East (V or JV I don't remember) also ran a nice set where they had 2 guys going off back screens for layups on an underneath out of bounds. A nice way to end the night as after the game was over the PA played "Closing Time" by Semisonic. How appropriate.

Josh Pedretti starts the scoring (3 minutes in) with 2 and the foul for Maple Grove. He then catches a ball going out of bounds and drills East's Matt Florestano with it (maybe a little low if you know what I mean). A discussion ensues and we have double Ts. Alex Geisenhoff with a couple of buckets before 2010 East star guard Dyami Starks gets a 3 point play at 10:19 for a 11-3 Maple Grove lead. Tyler Catania then knocks down a 3 and gets a steal for 2 and Marcus Murtha and Brett Torance add buckets for a 20-3 Crimson lead at 7:55. Funny that the MG kids said they start slow. Starks then sits (2-3 turnovers) and you wonder where the offense is going to come from for Duluth East The answer is Johnny Woodard. He knocks down a couple of triples and makes a nice backcut for a layup and its 24-14 Crimson at 3:35. Ian Nelson with a couple of buckets for East to cut the lead to 7. Woodard then banks home an NBA 3 and banks a foul line jumper at the end of the half. Maple Grove leads 29-25 at the break. Woodard with 13 points in the last 5:35 of the half. Josh Pedretti with 8 points for Maple Grove. Duluth East was a -17 with Starks and +13 without him. 3 points, 2-3 turnovers on 1-2 shooting.

Duluth East comes out for the 2nd half and Starks is on the bench. Geisenhoff with a layin, Pedretti with a dunk, Geisenhoff with a triple and then 2 and the foul (missed the FT) all off of 5 straight Greyhounds turnovers. 38-26 Crimson at 15:11. 40-29 Maple Grove at 14:32 when Starks enters for the half and has a couple of quick misses. Woodard with a couple of more 3s. 45-35 Maple Grove at 11:20. Maple Grove then goes on a 20-6 run over the next 5:20 before Starks leaves for the night. 71-47 Maple Grove wins.

For Duluth East, Dyami Starks with 6 points on 1-6 shooting, 3-5 turnovers. Nice job by the Maple Grove guards on him. The +- stat isn't totally relevant here but the Greyhounds by my math were -30 with Starks, +6 without him. Their offense had a different feel to it when he was in vs when he wasn't. Johnny Woodard with 22 on 5 triples. Duluth East is now 8-7 with a Grand Rapids on Friday.

For Maple Grove, Josh Pedretti with 20 and 8. Alex Geisenhoff with 16 and nice defense. They're 7-4 with 3 losses to Wayzata, Sibley and Johnson by 24 points. Nobody spectacular but they're solid across the board.

Top guards in 2010 battle at Columbia Heights

Game 2 of this Saturday takes me to Columbia Heights for their battle with Minnetonka. 2010 star guards Cole Stefan and Jacob Thomas on display in this one. The MN Glory on hand to watch along with, that's right, Rene Pulley.

Stefan starts the day with a 3 (surprise, surprise). 2 Thomas FTs make it 8-6 Tonka at 13:25. The Skippers counter with 8 of the next 9 thanks to a pair of triples from Nick Latzke. 16-7 Tonka at 10:50. Thomas nails a triple and Stefan counters with a deep 3 of his own. 19-10 Tonka. Akuro Imbu with 4 of the next 5, 19-15 Skippers at 6:50. Stefan then with a drive for 2, he finds Taylor Nelson for 2 more and then nails another triple for 7 in a row over 95 seconds. 26-15 Tonka at 5:15. 8 in a row from Columbia Heights to close the gap to 3 at 2:20. 32-28 Minnetonka at half. Thomas and Stefan cancel each other out with 13 each. I had Thomas 3-9 and Stefan 5-10 from the floor.

Taylor Nelson with a putback and a layup from Stefan push the lead to 8 quickly in the 2nd half. Latzke later gets a layin and then a nails triple on a pass from Stefan for a 49-37 Skippers lead at 12:35. Latzke gets fouled and makes a circus layup at 9:18 for a 55-43 Tonka lead. Minnetonka in their Amoeba defense and not rebounding well out of it and not finding Thomas. He nails a triple at 7:30 to cut it to 58-50. Kyle Risinger with 2 FTs at 5:53 to push the lead back to 13, 66-53. Imbu with a steal for 2 followed by Thomas 3 FTs make it 67-58 with 4:39 left. Risinger fouls out at 3:21. Kendrick Mills with a putback at 2:50 to cut it to 69-62. Tonka goes stall and promptly turns the ball over (drives coaches nuts). Harold Rainey with the layin that cuts it to 5 at 2:20. They force the held ball and have the arrow but Imbu throws it away at 1:32. After 1 Stefan FT, D'Karlos Craig gets called for an illegal screen at 1:21. Stefan turns it over (playing point with Risinger gone) but Thomas misses a 3. He turns it over again which Mills converts into a 3 with 23.4 left. 70-67 Minnetonka. Taylor Nelson makes 1 of 2 FTs. Heights turns it over for a Leonard Glass dunk to end it . 73-67 Minnetonka wins.

For Columbia Heights, they fall to 5-6 and had some chances late. Jacob Thomas finishes with 30 points via 11-13 FTs and 5 triples. But I had him for 7-25 shooting (and that doesn't count 6 misses on shooting fouls) for him. No makes in the last 6:30 though and only the 1 set of 3 FTs that he took after being fouled on a 3. Very aggressive getting to the basket in the 1st half. In fairness some of those misses were late looking for 3s to get back in it. Kendrick Mills gave them very nice minutes off the bench with 11 and 10 on my sheet. Harold Rainey and Akuro Imbu had their trouble running the point and getting Heights into sets.

For Minnetonka, they improve to 8-5. They host a couple of Lake Conference teams this week, Rosemount and Lakeville North. Cole Stefan with 20 and I had 7-17 from the floor. He also took major turns playing the point guard role. But his 5 assists were mainly out of their dribble drive offense. Nick Latzke with 18 and Taylor Nelson with 18 and 10. Their bench gives them very little forcing coach Hedstrom to play his starters despite any foul trouble they may be in. Latzke is quickly developing into one of the best shooters in the metro. He's a guy you just can't leave.

Dower powers Osseo over Wayzata

A big matchup of #5 Osseo hosting #6 Wayzata. Both teams came in at 10-1. Osseo's only loss to Sibley and Wayzata's only loss to Cooper. Trent Lockett on hand to watch as well as the Hopkins coaches. An interesting side note to this one. Sam Dower and Kyle Mason of Osseo played with Wayzata's Kellen Taylor and Jarrod Peterson played together for Net Gain Sports last summer. And I did make sure I didn't miss out on the pizza.

Eren Cur with the assignment on Dower. But Dower is guarding Taylor on the other end. Taylor starts the day with 2 free throws and a steal for a dunk with Jamar Franks adding an offensive rebound 2 and finishing up the 9-2 Wayzata start with a triple 4 minutes in. 3 straight Osseo turnovers in this span. Taylor then puts a nice spin move on Dower for an 11-4 Wayzata lead at 12:45. Jayvin Reynolds once again gone to the bench with 2 very quick fouls. Osseo with 8 in a row to get the lead back at 12-11 with 10:35 left in the half as Dower finishes the run with a dunk. 10 of the 1st 12 for Osseo go to Dower. Taylor gets his 3rd at 8:36 diving for a loose ball on a questionable call and Wayzata coach Mike Anderson is not happy with the zebras on this day. DJ Phillips with a pullup jumper at 5:45 puts Osseo out to a 20-13 lead. 16-2 Osseo over 7 minutes. Peterson with a jumper and then Cur gets a steal for 2 plus the foul at 5:09. Jamar Franks for some reason gets a T on the play and Dower makes the FTs. 22-18 Osseo. The end of the half sees a parade to the foul line. 35-27 Osseo at the break. Dower with 22 and 7 in the half and totally unstoppable. Jamar Franks and Jarrod Peterson with 7 each for Wayzata.

Bobby Fischer (does he play chess?) with a triple and fouled for the rare 4 point play to start the half. He got the start today and fills an important shooting role for them. Don't know how much that had to do with Aaron Anderson taking a practice ACT exam (Anderson did play today). Dower adds 2 more buckets as Osseo gets the 1st 10 of the 2nd half for a 45-27 lead at 14:35. Wayzata never gets closer than 12 after that. Jayvin Reynolds with a big 2nd half getting inside hoops and cleaning the glass (did that part vs Champlin Park too in the 2nd half). Dower adds a huge dunk off a couple of back screens late for some tasty icing on the cake. Osseo wins 81-59.

For Wayzata, they again struggle with post people after giving up 32 to Ra'Shede Hageman last Saturday. Disappointed they didn't seem to have anything special in for defending Dower. 4 guys in double figures with Kellen Taylor having 15 on my sheet. They fall to 10-2 with a couple of interesting games next weekend. St. Paul Central on Friday and then Milwaukee Lutheran in the East Metro Showcase next Saturday night.

For Osseo, they're on an 11 game win streak. Sam Dower was a monster with 37 points and 9 rebs on my sheet and I had something like 14-19 shooting. Jayvin Reynolds is an animal on the glass. 17 points and 7 boards basically in the 2nd half due to his 1st half fouls. They held Nolan Odland in check and didn't give Wayzata many good looks from outside the arc.

Johnson at Como Park Thoughts

The Czar going hockey style today and changing on the fly (that'd be an interesting basketball concept). My plan was to do the Washburn at Henry game but when I showed up for the freshman game, the street was full of water and the lobby was a lake. Turns out a pipe busted in the lobby and forced all activities at Henry for today and tomorrow to be called off. So I decided to proceed over to Como Park and take a look at their club and friend of blog John Carrier's freshman squad. A fun matchup as Al Harris coaches the Johnson freshmen. This one was ugly and John stays winless against Al.

The varsity wasn't a pretty game either, but wasn't nearly as 1 sided. Very sloppy with turnovers and really ugly offense on both sides. Jordan Jackson with a layup to tie it at 28 before the half. Johnson with 7 of the last 8 of the half for a 35-29 lead at the break. Lamar Anderson 11 for the Governors. Jackson with 10 for Como Park. Johnson did generate some offense late in the half using point guard Estan Tyler in a high/screen roll set. Johnson gave up a couple of real cheap home runs off the press that help Como Park stay in it.

The 1st 4 points of the half by Dion Suggs of Johnson give them an 11-1 run across haltime for a 39-29 lead at the 16 minute mark. A nice double clutch banker in there. Como Park gets 6 in a row with a Jackson steal for a layup and a floater by Joe Conley to cut it to 39-35 with 14:30 left. Tyler with a triple at 10:55 to push the Johnson lead to 51-43. Reggie Ray gets undercut on a lob with 6 minutes left and comes down hard. He's OK and makes both free throws for the Cougars to cut the lead to 57-50. Johnson runs away and hides the rest of the way as they score 10 of the next 11 for a blowout win. 78-63 Johnson wins.

Johnson will drive you nuts with their defense. On offense they have a finisher (of plays and of games) in Dion Suggs (witness his Willis Reed type performance vs Washburn in the double OT thriller back in December). Suggs with 16 tonight. Lamar Anderson with 15. Force them to play in the halfcourt and don't turn the ball over. Easier said than done with the waves of pressure they throw at you. They're 9-3 now and 2-0 in the St. Paul City.

For Como Park, they fall to 2-10. Run and gun offense, they're small so they don't rebound well and defensively the points allowed numbers speak clearly. Jordan Jackson can really score, Joe Conley and Reggie Ray are nice players. Adrian Wackett plays the point and flops more than any player I've seen ever. But to his credit, he drew a handful of charges tonight. 4 of the 5 starters return next season. Talent wise they're far and away better than their record indicates.

Impact of the HS Shot Clock

While Minnesota has not yet fully adopted the 35-second shot clock, South Dakota has implemented it fully this season for their 17 biggest schools (Class AA). The Sioux Falls Argus Leader had an article yesterday on how its gone so far. Some interesting number crunching there.

While many teams can't (and don't) hold the ball for 35 seconds, I've never been a shot clock fan. I've never liked the idea of having it for just certain levels as that creates a separation of classes. And what would a team like De La Salle do if we implemented the shot clock for just AAA and AAAA. They're a AAA team in a AA league and would play without it for most of the 2nd half of the season and then have to use it in tournaments. A shot clock for small schools who don't have the talent would be really ugly to watch.

Armstrong moves to NW Suburban

As reported by John Millea on the Star Trib Preps Blog, Armstrong has been admitted to the NW Suburban for the 2010-2011 season. I'm surprised that came down so quickly. No surprise though as I had previously written that the NW Suburban liked Armstrong. The folks at Armstrong are really excited for the move from what I'm told.

Now that the league has 11 teams, I expect something else to happen there. 11 is a really strange number (granted the N Suburban has made it work). 12 is a nice number (add Cooper or Wayzata for instance) and would allow a nice north and south of the river split like this.

North
Centennial
Anoka
Andover
Blaine
Coon Rapids
Elk River

South
Cooper/Wayzata
Armstrong
Park Center
Osseo
Maple Grove
Champlin Park

Champlin Park at Osseo Thoughts

As Ernie Banks once said, "Let's Play Two" as I'm in Osseo for a girls and boys doubleheader. Girls JV goes way over and we don't get started with girls game until almost 6:30. Osseo girls hang on 57-52. CP had an early 15-4 lead in that one. Once again I miss out on pizza, but the hot dog was worthwhile. Now to the important action.

CP goes with an interesting defensive choice in the boys game. Kyle Zimmerman (CP best big) guarding DJ Phillips (Osseo's PG). Sam Dower doubled on every touch but usually not by Zimmerman in a surprise. CP catches a break when Jayvin Reynolds picks up his 2nd foul 2 minutes in and he's gone for the rest of the half. The 1st 10 minutes are back and forth before Josh Pella breaks the press with a dunk and then off a Jasper Duberry steal he makes 1 of 2 FTs for a 17-14 Champlin Park lead at 6:53 of the 1st half. Nick Djerf with 4 of Osseo's 6 in a row as he finishes that spurt with a steal for 2 to put Osseo on top 20-17 at 5:40. Zimmerman makes 2 free throws after an offensive rebound and its 20-19 Osseo at 5:31. Osseo then goes on a 12-2 run capped by a nice set to get Dower a alley-oop dunk (we'll describe this later). Bobby Fischer off the bench with 2 triples in the run. 32-23 Osseo at the half. Dower with 12 and 5 in the half. Zimmerman 8 and 5.

Bobby Fischer with 2 more 3s for Osseo early in the half to offset a couple of CP triples. Osseo leads 38-29 3 minutes into the half. Zimmerman and Scott Theisen get buckets and the margin is only 5. The Orioles counter with a 12-2 run of their own over the next 5 minutes as Djerf gets 4 in the run. 50-35 Osseo with 9:10 to play. Theisen with 2 layups on nice feeds from Pella before a Dower bucket. Then Dower picks up his 4th foul (all in 2nd half) at 7:21 and it looks like CP has some life. That foul sends Zimmerman to the line down 52-39. He misses the front end. Osseo then gets 9 of the next 11 with Dower out (Djerf 5) and they have a commanding 61-41 lead when Dower returns at 4:47 (did he really need to come back in?). He gets a nice assist to Djerf and a couple of free throws and a bucket in that time. Osseo wins 75-54.

For Champlin Park, Scott Theisen leads the way with 20 points and I had 7 rebounds for him. 13 of those points in the 2nd half. They're now 7-5 and 3-1 in the NW Suburban. 3 league road games await them. Overall I thought they did an alright job on Dower, but did a poor job rotating to shooters. DJ Phillips is the guy you want to force to beat you. CP didn't take care of the ball when they had their chance with Dower out.

For Osseo, they are now 4-0 and stand alone on top of the NW Suburban. 10-1 overall with 10 wins in a row after that opening loss at Sibley. Great job by the Osseo bench. Nick Djerf with 15 points and Bobby Fischer (he plays basketball and chess too?) with 14 (4 triples) off the bench. John Rowland with 10 off the bench. They needed it with no one besides Sam Dower over 4 points from the starting lineup. Dower finishes with 20 and 10 on my sheet and had a couple of monster blocks in the 2nd half. Everything inside tonight, no settling for FT line jumpers which is nice. I'd like to see him show a counter or something else besides that lefty jump hook. They've got a good one vs Wayzata on Saturday and I'll be in attendance.

Play of the Day
In our play of the day, a look at the lob dunk for Dower at the end of the 1st half. Standard 1-4 high set with Dower on left elbow. Point guard takes the ball 1 or 2 dribbles 1 way and then comes back to the other side (we'll say right to left in this case). Left wing clears out. Right wing comes over the top of a Dower screen to the left box. Dower pops back to the top of the key for the pass from the PG who's on the left side now. The wing that cleared comes off a down screen from the other post and gets the ball at the right wing. Dower then gets a back screen from the guard that previously curled to the left box and they throw it up to him.

Big matchup of 2009 stars on TV.

If you're a hoops fan but don't want to brave the bitter cold, ESPN2 has a real good one for you tonight at 8 PM in a battle of 2009 stars. #2 DeMarcus Cousins of Mobile LeFlore vs #4 Derrick Favors (committed to Georgia Tech last night) of South Atlanta, GA tonight (rankings from Rivals.com). Game is being played at Alabama-Birmingham's gym. That's where Cousins wants to go (him and coach Mike Davis are tight), but they wouldn't give him language to get out of his letter of intent if Davis left. LeFlore and Cousins played here in the 2008 Timberwolves Shootout in a tight game against Jared Berggren and Princeton.

Read this "What to Watch For" including matchups and other players of note in the game from ESPNRise.

More dominoes fall in conference realignment

To maintain the timeline of events, a note on the 2010-2001 conference realignment. As expected, the Lake Conference officially denied all of the Classic Lake members (sans Armstrong) admission. 3 of the 5 schools have now met the MSHSL criteria for the not pleasant process of the MSHSL determining where they end up. (Note I'm using 3, but the 2 links below have conflicting numbers. 1 says 2 teams, the other says 3)

Here are the bits from the Star Tribune.

• Classic Lake denied admission to Lake.
• John Millea's preps blog post with more details.
  

08-09 Week 7 Tuesday Night Scoreboard Club

Here's a stream of insanity look at what caught my eye from the Tuesday games 1/13/09.

• How about 49 for Jordan Smith of Orono on the road at Annandale in a 78-75 win. He can really shoot it.
• Edina suffers their 1st loss as they lost 64-58 at Shakopee. Matt Zager with 19 in the win. The Sabers are now 6-4 and have won 3 in a row. They'll be very tough in the Missota.
  
• Richfield stays undefeated in the Classic Suburban with a 55-52 home win over Tartan. Phillip Freeman with a late triple in that one. They go to Hopkins on Friday and then Sibley next Tuesday. OUCH!
• Thomas Schalk goes nuts for 34 as Apple Valley blows out Minnetonka by 23. Only 3 for Cole Stefan?
  
• Dajon Newell with 20 for Lakeville N, but not enough as Ethan Wragge gets 21 for a Eden Prairie win. That snaps the 8 game winning streak for the Panthers.
  
• Jefferson continues to win as they hold off Eagan in OT. They're 5-3 but their 3 losses are by a total of 8 points. Eagan has lost 6 games by 6 points or less.
  
• One more from the Lake at Chaska holds off Lakeville S in OT. Sophomores big in this one. Alex Richter of LS with 22, Jake White with 21 for Chaska. Burnsville, Chaska and EP all 5-1 on top of the Lake with Jefferson 1 game back. Chaska is at Jefferson Friday night.
  
• Jasper Duberry beats the buzzer as Champlin Park wins at Blaine 75-73. Kyle Zimmerman continues to play big with 25 points. Dylan Rodriguez with 34 in the loss for Blaine (25 2nd half). The Rebels have now won 5 in a row and go to Osseo tomorrow while Blaine has now lost 7 straight. Read the thoughts from the Champlin Park blog here.
• Speaking of Osseo, Sam Dower with 38 and 18 in a big win over Coon Rapids.
• Johnson gets a buzzer beating layup from Lamar Anderson to beat Central. Central having a very nice year despite the losses of Dylan Hale and Larry Brown from last year's team. Jordan Larson with 22 in the loss.
  
• Spring Lake Park gets past Benilde-St. Margaret's in OT in the North Suburban. Peter Crawford with 32 for BSM. Trey Scott with 32 for SLP. Spring Lake Park was up 10 at half in that one.
• Henry gets a late 3 from Evan Gray for a 67-64 win at South. Gray leads the way for Henry with 23, 20 for Jordan Hughes. Can you say trap game for Henry with Washburn coming up on Friday? Alonzo Traylor huge again inside for South with 27 and 17.
• PACT goes to Maranatha and wins 54-52. Wonder what the Basketblogger thinks of that one (he'll probably know when the last MCA home loss was, it's been a while). PACT is 7-5 and they've won 4 in a row. MCA got 18 from Darian Pittman in the loss. They're now 10-2 but they don't have a real standout win. Next major test is Jan 30th at home against Caleb Palkert and SW Christian. Both of those teams need help to catch Lester Prairie.
• Meadow Creek goes to New Life and wins for the 2nd league loss for NLA. MCCA got the game winner with 2.5 to go. Robbie Anderstrom with 16 in the loss.
• Como Park comes from 16-14 down at half to put up 49 in the 2nd half in a 63-31 win over Harding. The reverse has happened to the Cougars in the last 2 games.
  

CDH hands Roseville 1st 08-09 Suburban East loss

A not quite as frigid as expected adventure to Cretin-Derham Hall tonight (one of my favorite buildings) as they look for revenge against Roseville. At least we know the Raiders will win. Roseville won the prior meeting in the Catholic Spirit semifinals 60-57. Mike Muscala and Seantrel Henderson both had 21 in that game. Hopkins looking on for their Jan 30th game at CDH. Dan Brink in the building as well. He may have a relative that plays for Roseville's JV after checking the program. Former CDH stars John Nance and Broderick Binns also in the house tonight. While Binns does have the Hawkeyes cover for his phone (Go Hawks!), he was munching on Cheetos and a cookie while wearing a green Miami Hurricanes jersey. Boo! Props to CDH coach Jerry Kline Jr for pulling out the coat and tie tonight. The coaching staff almost always has the CDH pullovers on.

Roseville goes on a 8-3 run after the 1st CDH bucket for a 8-5 lead at 13:35. Mike Muscala with 4 quick points and he's got the duty defending Seantrel Henderson. Henderson with a nice drive on him from the foul line for 2 at 7:25 and we're all tied at 13. The CDH 2-3 zone is really slowing the pace of this game down. Muscala hits a jumper for the last points of the half. 23-22 CDH at halftime. Muscala with 11 and 6 on 5-9 shooting. Henderson with 2 points and 4 boards on 1-5.

Roseville with the 1st 8 of the 2nd half thanks to 2 FTs and a bucket from lefty Austin Hultman. 30-23 Roseville with 15:47 to play. Roseville turns it over allowing Elliot Owusu to break the run with a dunk. Muscala getting mugged at the high post in the Roseville zone offense with no calls. He gets a really tough lefty shot to go for a 34-31 Roseville lead with 9:05 left. Raijon Kelly knocks down a triple to tie it at 34 with 7:42 remaining. David Bettenburg with a triple and then Henderson puts back a miss for a 41-38 CDH lead with 5 to play. A pair of Muscala FTs at 3:34 makes it 41-40 CDH. Rylee Hernandez then with a tough bucket to put Roseville back on tiop 42-41 with 3 minutes left. Bettenburg clutch with a triple at 2:25. The teams can't score on their next possessions. Roseville ball with 1:18 left, timeout CDH with a 44-42 lead. CDH comes out of the timeout in a 1-3-1 but with Marcus Binns on top and Clay Horne in the back. The opposite seems more natural to me. But maybe its just me talking about my hatred of odd-man front zones with little guys on top. Full Disclosure: I've been one of those guys. A pass goes off Lucas Brown's hands for a Roseville turnover with 54.6 left. Kelly knocks down a clutch 1 and 1 with 29 seconds left and Henderson adds the final point for a 47-42 Cretin-Derham Hall win.

For Roseville, they fall to 3-1 in the Suburban East and 5-5 overall. 4 of those wins are by a total of 12 points. Mike Muscala got it done with 17 and 14 rebounds on 7-16 shooting and 3 blocks (on my sheet anyway). I like how he's able and willing to use both hands around the basket. The Raiders travel to White Bear Lake on Friday. I'll see them in their rivalry game (Floyd of Rosedale, I mean the pride of Roseville at stake) against Concordia Academy next Thursday night. They were running a 1-3-1 clock offense against the CDH 2-3 with Muscala at the foul line. They had success sending the ball to the corner, having the wing cut thru and then Muscala fill in behind that. He was open on that all night. In the 2nd half, they got away from that and Rylee Hernandez seemed to sit out a ton and he's the best shooter they have.

For CDH, they're now 6-4 and 3-1 in the league. Woodbury sits on top of the league as they go to Forest Lake on Friday. Woodbury has won 4 in a row now after starting 1-4. But I digress. Raijon Kelly leads the way with 9 points and 5 rebounds. Seantrel Henderson with 7 points and 8 rebounds on 3-8 shooting (1-6 FTs) and 3 blocks (again unofficially). David Bettenburg's 2 triples for 6 in the 2nd half were huge. Tough grind it out win (read UGLY win). They go to Hastings Thursday and an interesting non-conference tilt at Eastview on Saturday night.

Pioneer Press finally weighs in on Conference Realignment

Tim Leighton of the Pioneer Press did their 1st article on the whole conference realignment saga (John Millea of the Star Trib is far more on top of this). Leighton does give a quick bit of insight into what Millea previously mentioned was going on in the east metro. Lots of schools are happy where they are so this will be a long drawn out process.

I've added a label for this topic since its been ongoing since May. You can find that in the MN Basketball Resources section on the left hand side.

Read the Pioneer Press article here.

Here are links to the realignment plans that I first posted in August 2007.

• The Czar's 4A Realignment Plan
• The Czar's Realignment plan for everyone else.

CHOF at Bethany Thoughts

Back to back adventures with CHOF as I see them on the road tonight after Saturday's game vs St. Croix Lutheran. Always nice to a game at an MCAA gym with classy fans. I missed out on the pizza though, shameful.

After Bethany gets the 1st triple of the game, CHOF goes on a 16-2 run over 7:30 for a 16-5 lead. Bethany goes scoreless for 7 minutes before they break the run. The lead stays at 10 before Cody Sarbacker nails back to back triples for CHOF against a Bethany 2-3 zone and adds 4 more points in an 11-1 run over the last 2:30 of the half. 36-17 Lions at the break. Nate Fiscus with 12 points and 5 rebounds in the half. Sarbacker also with 12 for CHOF.

CHOF opens the 2nd half with 12 of the 1st 14 in the 1st 3 minutes of the half to extend the lead to 48-19. The only remaining drama of the night is when will the mercy rule take over. Bethany holds off the mercy rule until 54 seconds remain. CHOF was up 34 with 8 minutes left. CHOF wins in a rout, 76-39.

Ben Peters with 10 points for Bethany. Another long season for the Eagles, but they'll return all 5 starters next season. They fall to 2-7. Their schedule now moves to mostly MCAA games. A trip to Trinity and a home game with Heritage await in the next 3 days.

CHOF improves to 5-5 with the win. Nate Fiscus with 23 points and 9 rebounds for CHOF. He now has 994 career points. He looks to pass the 1000 point mark at home vs a very good Park Christian team on Saturday afternoon. Park Christian's only loss is to North Dakota recruit Brandon Brekke and East Grand Forks by 2 points. They're arguably the #1 seed in section 6A as they won at Norman County East after that loss to EGF. Read the list of all Minnesota D1 and D2 recruits in the 2009 class here.

Steve Froemming from Steven's Sports Report also did the game. Read his thoughts here.

Jan 2009 updates on Jett, Calcaterra, Bjorklund

Last Friday NY2LA Sports released comments on Marshall Bjorklund, Chad Calcaterra and Jordair Jett (I'm cheating calling him a 2010 kid since he'll do prep school for a year). They list a handful of offers for Jett and see Bjorklund getting high major offers this year (not sure if I personally agree with that due to Bjorklund's height, but you have to like his game.) They also project where a couple of these kids will play this summer. No huge surprises there but worth noting anyway.

They also reference Minnetonka sophomore Nick Latzke who I talked about when I saw Minnetonka take on Hopkins last week.

I saw Terry Taylor play at the start of the season. Nice player as a point guard. #4 Frosh in Wisconsin Tony Mayfield was also in that game and he'll be a nice player too.

It'll be interesting to see what role (if any) Phillip Nolan plays for Milwaukee Vincent in the East Metro Showcase (he's also mentioned in the piece). He was #5 in the class of 2012 rankings released by Wishoops last week.

Read the full NY2LA Sports article here.

08-09 Week 6 Rewind

Random thoughts from the Friday and Saturday games of week 6 of the 08-09 season (1/9 and 1/10/09)

(Czar's note: 1/12/09) I forgot to add to my Prior Lake game article that the fire alarm went off just after the lineups were announced and before the tip. Nice job by the Prior Lake students to get in the "We're on Fire!" chant while we were waiting for the system to reset. Culprit? The popcorn machine to which the PA told everyone not to buy popcorn. Bad news for the concession stand.)

Friday:

• Tartan wins by 11 at St. Thomas Academy. Luke Preiner with 11 for Tartan in that one. He wasn't in the rotation when I saw Tartan in their holiday tournament. STA short-handed with no Mike Ratelle. Mike Fitzgerald with 22 in the loss. Marc Sonnen with 18 in the win.
  
• Apple Valley loses a close one at Chaska. They've lost 3 tough ones in a row now to Plainview-Elgin-Millville, Eden Praire and now Chaska. AV 22-37 from the line this week with the 2 losses by a total of 10 points. Jake White with 23 and 12 in the Chaska win. Thomas Schalk with 15 and 7 in the loss.
• Cretin-Derham Hall handles Forest Lake with a big 2nd half. Seantrel Henderson with 22 and Raijon Kelly with 14 in the Raiders win. Zach Riedeman held to a season low of 11 in the loss, but he's still averaging 19.6 a night for the Rangers.
• Roseville gets it done again with another 2 point home conference win. This one over Stillwater after beating Mounds View at home by 2 earlier in the week. Mike Muscala with 22 for Roseville. Ryan Duxbury with 8 for Stillwater. Don't look now but Roseville sits atop the Suburban East at 3-0 with Woodbury. Who would have guessed that. They go to CDH on Tuesday in a grudge match. Roseville beat CDH by 3 in the Catholic Spirit tournament.
• Shelby Moats with 21 as Waconia wins at Holy Angels. The Stars loss makes them 1-9 with 4 games coming up that they probably won't be favored in.

Saturday:

• Holy Family takes Waukesha, WI Catholic Memorial to OT before falling by 5. Nice performance by the Fire. TJ Bray and Derek Schnell make up a very nice backcourt for Catholic Memorial. Bray had 18 in the game.
  
• Edina still rolling as they stay undefeated with a 3 point win over Jefferson.
• Surprised Eagan took Northfield to OT. Charley Baker with 21 for Eagan as Jameson Parsons has been out of the box scores for a while now. Christian Shepley with 23 and Emmanuel Addo with 17 for Northfield.
• Como Park blows a 19 point halftime lead against White Bear Lake at home for a 2 point loss. They give up 47 in the 2nd half after allowing 21 in the 1st half. Spencer Cummings with 28 for White Bear Lake. Reggie Ray with 17 for Como Park. Jordan Jackson, Joe Conley and Adrian Wackett all with 12 for the Cougars.

Be sure to check out my MN Preps column this week. I take a look at the Minneapolis City and St. Paul City conferences and some of the top games of the week around the state and metro.

If you missed any of the games I saw this week, here's the complete list.

• 1/5: Roosevelt at BC
• 1/6: Northfield at AHA
• 1/8: Minnetonka at Hopkins
• 1/9: Hopkins at Sibley
• 1/10: Wayzata at Washburn
• 1/10: SCL at CHOF
• 1/10: Eastview at Prior Lake

My schedule for the week can be found on the right side in "The Czar's Schedule" section.

Eastview at Prior Lake Thoughts

Vinard Birch

We end this Saturday of week 6 of the 08-09 season with the night session in Prior Lake for their non-conference tilt against Eastview. Chaska and Holy Angels amongst the teams looking on tonight. Nice job by the Prior Lake pep band (my band of the year so far). Gotta like the sail with the compass for the on-court logo. And the high quality (dare I say restaurant quality) choice of Davanni's for the pizza. mmm, mmm.

Vinard Birch with the assignment on Ben Snyder tonight. Prior Lake with the 1st 8 points of the night as Snyder has a layin and then finds Jake Bolks for 2 at 13:30. Eastview gets Drew Bjordal going as they get 8 points from him in a 27-6 run over the next 8:30. 27-14 Eastview with 5 minutes left in the half. But Tim Massie (only big and was guarding Deryck Ludwig), Birch and Drew Johnson all pick up their 2nd fouls in the next 2 minutes and sit. Prior Lake cuts it to 34-24 Eastview at halftime. Snyder 12, Ludwig 4. Bjordal 13, Birch 6. Prior Lake 2-12 at the foul line (that counts a missed bonus front end) and not taking care of the ball.

The Lightning extend the lead to 48-30 on a Karl Otto J with 12:45 remaining. Interesting sequence during this time where Eastview posted Birch via a UCLA cut and had him looking to create from there. 8:19 to go when it gets a little interesting. Jake Bolks misses 2 FTs, but Ludwig rebounds the 2nd miss and Bolks turns that into a bucket and 1. Another Eastview player gets a T in the process. TJ Larson makes the 2 Ts and Bolks scores on the possession and its 55-44 with 8 minutes left. But Prior Lake gets no closer. Eastview makes late free throws for a 72-57 win.

For Prior Lake, Ben Snyder with 26. Surprising since Birch was on him much of the night. But nobody else with more than 7. 9-27 from the foul line for the Lakers and that counts 4-4 by TJ Larson. YIKES.

For Eastview, Drew Bjordal with 26 and 6 triples. He's filling the Spencer Pratt role very nicely for them. He's come out of nowhere from my point of view as I don't remember him at all from last season. Vinard Birch did his usual job of being a major pest for anyone bringing the ball up. He had 17 points tonight. 11-14 FTs which you need out of a good point guard. Eastview just sucks the life out of you. You come down, can't get a shot, take a tough shot, they rebound. They walk it up, be patient and then get a hoop. Weak inside as Tim Massie is their only size as he's more of a banger than anything. But with their defense and guard trio of Drew Johnson, Birch and Bjordal with Andrew McLean playing the Johnie Sanders role, they'll be tough in the Lake.

Vinard Birch picture courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

Steve Froemming from Steven's Sports Report also attended the game. You can read his thoughts here.

St. Croix Lutheran at CHOF Thoughts

Cole Piepkorn

Always nice to see a game at the SAL in St. Paul. Vocal and loyal fans. This was also a chance to see St. Croix Lutheran and Chris Breuer after missing out on them vs Minnesota Valley Lutheran last month. Biggest news of the day is that CHOF senior point guard Cole Piepkorn is gone for the year with an injured ankle. He's been a 4 year starter for them and a real leader. A major blow for the Lions.

Nate Fiscus vs Breuer in a nice matchup of post players. St. Croix Lutheran gets the 1st 7 of the night. The post you'll see plenty more of for CHOF over the next 3+ seasons is frosh Tyler Strandlund. He breaks the spurt with a bucket at 13:50 but picks up his 2nd foul moments later. Aaron Hulsebus with 6 points including a jumper and a steal to conclude a spurt that puts St. Croix Lutheran up 18-4 at the 10:30 mark. CHOF fights back as Fiscus gets it going. He gets 12 points in the last 10 minutes of the half. Breuer is cold from the field and the Crusaders can't keep the momentum vs the CHOF 2-3 zone. 31-26 St. Croix Lutheran at the half. Fiscus with 14 and 10. Breuer 5 but 2-8 shooting.

CHOF with the 1st 6 of the second half to take their 1st (and only) lead of the game. Fiscus getting mugged on a defensive rebound swings the arms and gets foul #4 at the 11:55 mark. Strandlund with a jumper for CHOF at 10:05 and CHOF is only down 4, 42-38. Ben Gavin with a triple at 7:45 for SCL and the lead is 9. 51-44 with 6:27 left after 2 Fiscus FTs. CHOF has to press and they have Fiscus back protecting the basket with 4 fouls. He's also playing the middle of the zone and guarding Breuer at the high post. Hulsebus gets 2 and Breuer with back to back hoops. Gavin with 2 more on the press and Fiscus has to let him go. 59-46 Crusaders with 4:45 left and that run puts it away. 67-52 St. Croix Lutheran wins.

For CHOF, Nate Fiscus was a monster with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Tyler Strandlund with 12 and 8. Only 16 points from the rest of the team. They have the bigs to compete in section 4A, but they'll need to figure out the point guard situation with Piepkorn out. Turnovers were a problem today.

For St. Croix Lutheran, Chris Breuer leads the way with 12 of his 17 in the 2nd half. The starting backcourt of Ben Gavin and Aaron Hulsebus with 14 each. With those 2 on the wings and Breuer at the foul line against a zone, that's a zone offense that can cause teams problems. Breuer drove Fiscus nuts all night with ball fakes on the perimeter. Very well executed and made me think of TWolves star Al Jefferson the way he shows the ball. Then at the high post and Fiscus with 4 fouls, he could do whatever he wanted. Poor job of adjusting by CHOF.

Cole Piepkorn picture courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

Wayzata hangs on after big lead vs Washburn.

Cedric Martin

A very nice start to this Saturday as #6AAAA Wayzata travels to #3AAA Washburn. Very disappointing crowd for this one. Former Wayzata coach Phil Ward and the Novaks on hand. And Rene Pulley (cha ching). Mike Much on hand but without the yellow shirt. What's the world coming too?

Kellen Taylor matched up with Cedric Martin in this one in a nice matchup. Nolan Odland off to a very quick start in this one for Wayzata as he hits 3 triples. Wayzata gets 3 more triples as threes make up their first 18 points. 18-12 Wayzata at 12:50. Ra'Shede Hageman trying to keep Washburn in it with play in the post. He makes a nice spin move for 2 and its 20-16 Wayzata at 10:30. But Washburn doesn't go back to Hageman and Wayzata goes on a 19-3 run over the next 6:45 for a 39-19 lead. Taylor makes a 3 to keep the lead at 20 with 2:30 left in the half (44-24). Washburn counters with an 11-1 run to end the half. Hageman with 14 and 5 in the half. Nolan Odland huge with 19 for Wayzata in the half. Wayzata with 8 triples in the half. Dylan Hale with only 2 points and 3 fouls. Cedric Martin with only 4 points in the half.

The first 6:30 of the 2nd half finds the teams trading buckets. Maybe more appropriately Wayzata trading with Hageman as he gets 4 post buckets during that time and that doesn't include another couple of trips to the foul line. 61-52 with 11:30 left. Martin then hangs and gets banged for a 3 point play. Taylor with a layin off a Millers turnover. Hageman again on the post. 63-57 Wayzata with 7:45 to play. Jordan Osberg puts back a miss to cut it to 4. Jamar Franks with 1 of 2. 66-60 Wayzata with 5:13 to go. Martin with a tough hoop and Osberg converts a Wayzata turnover into a layup. 66-64 Trojans at 4:39 and Wayzata takes a timeout. Hageman again on the block for 68-66 Wayzata at 3:40, then 2 FTs at 3:02 for 70-68 Wayzata. Franks with both ends of the bonus at 2:02 for a 72-68 lead. Hageman again at 1:45. Brandon King strips Franks and goes the other way for the layup to tie it at 72 with 1:18 left. Washburn all the way back from 20 down and they have momentum. Franks with a layup with 52 seconds left off a insanely good pass from Eren Cur to break the tie. Out of a timeout, Washburn runs a Hageman down screen for Hale who quick triggers the open triple and misses. Franks fouled and misses the front end of the bonus with 30 seconds left. Osburg with a good look in the lane but its no good and Jarrod Peterson hauls in that rebound too. Franks misses the front end of the bonus again with 7 seconds left. Washburn rushes the rebound to the front court and takes timeout with 4 seconds left. Then run Hale off a double screen to the top of the key but that's just an illusion to throw a lob to Hageman on the right block. But Cedric Martin throws it right thru the hoop and Wayzata has it back. Franks makes 2 FTs with 3 seconds left for the 76-72 Wayzata win.

For Wayzata, Nolan Odland with 23 (19 in the 1st half). Kellen Taylor with a nice game of 15 and 9. Jarrod Peterson solid with 15 points and a couple of clutch rebounds late. I was stunned that they stayed behind Hageman all night. They did try a couple of doubles late, but they were half-hearted or from the wrong direction and had zero impact. The few times they fronted they had success but never went back to it. I did like how their posts did a nice job of making themselves available as outlets in their motion offense (Cur and Taylor).

For Washburn, how big was Hageman? 7 rebounds to go with 32 points. All him all day. Hard to imagine a post player of his caliber getting that many good touches and looks. But that took Martin and Hale out of it. Those 2 combined for a total of 3 field goals and 13 points. The call for Hale late seemed strange when Hageman was having so much success on the left block. You could have run that to the other side for Martin and had it as a 2 way option (Martin for 3 and then look for Hageman inside).

Cedric Martin picture courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

#1 Hopkins holds off #2 Henry Sibley

Chris Halvorsen

Ah the big affair that was #1 Hopkins making the trek to #2 Sibley. A full house at Sibley (what a nightmare parking was). Blake Hoffarber, Ben Biewen and Edina, Greg Meyer and Minnehaha and Jonah Travis from DLS. All the usual AAU suspects in attendance too with Rene Pulley (cha ching), Al Harris (43 Hoops) and Tom Krosschel (MN Pump N Run) all watching for talent. And of course, the famous Taco In A Bag! Huge Sibley student crowd tonight and they are amped up as they're chanting even before warmups start (but surprisingly docile during the JV game).

Hopkins with the 1st 6 of the night in 2:41 as Sibley is very sloppy against the Hopkins pressure D. Sibley trying to play some 1-2-2 zone to hold the Royals down. Very interesting considering Hopkins hit 13 triples last night. But that zone does allow you to get to shooters (in theory). Sibley claws back to 16-11 as Maurice Hernandez gets a bucket off the flex (aaaah, electric shock). Hopkins goes on a 13-4 run over the next 3:45. Coach Novak really hot at the 1 of the young officals during the run and gets a Technical (that official had a really bad night with at least half a dozen whistles that were way late or dreadfully wrong). Mike Bruesewitz with 1 of the 2 free throws but Sibley couldn't make anything of the possession. After the run, the other young official (who I actually think does a good job) calls an absolutely horrendous T on Trent Lockett for slapping the backboard trying to block a shot. You don't make that call in this type of game, period. Bruesewitz with 1 of 2 again and then converts a bucket on the possession. Jimmy Ryan with late Sibley points in the half for a spark and Sibley survives down 43-33 at the break. Cowles 4 triples for 12, Trent Lockett 8, Royce 7. Rostampour and Bruesewitz with 6 each. Sibley couldn't get into any offense and they didn't use Francis Bungue all that much to handle. Sibley 4-11 FTs in the half to 11-14 for Hopkins (3-6 Royce after 1-8 yesterday).

Royce starts the half with an isolation from the right elbow for 2. Nice set to take advantage of Royce's skills and stay within the system (it comes out of their base motion set). Broghammer with 2 inside for a 50-37 lead at 15:25. But Hopkins is taking quick 3s in transition and they're not going. Coach Novak not pleased and he wants time out. 2 FTs from Marcus Williams gives Hopkins a 56-44 lead with 12:43 to go. But every good team has a run in them and Sibley's starts now. Bruesewitz with 2 free throws, Jake Kreuser with a bucket, Royce with a quick miss and then Halvorsen goes around him for 2. Hopkins turns it over and Kreuser scores again on an offensive rebound. 56-52 Hopkins after an 8-0 Sibley run and the crowd is back in it. Timeout Royals at 10:17.

Broghammer with 2 FTs and then Royce with a dunk off a Sibley turnover. 60-52 Hopkins with 7:39 left. Then a bad Sibley sequence. Broghammer ends up on Maurice Hernandez but they never get him the ball with the opportunity to exploit the mismatch. Kelvin Minnig ends up missing a bad shot instead. Hernandez does get a 3 after Royce misses on another iso. 60-55 Hopkins with 6 minutes left. Lockett with a layin and then Broghammer puts it down from the foul line for 2+1 at 5:14 and the lead is 65-55 and it looks like Hopkins has survived the run. But on the next possession at 5:01, Royce fouls Bruesewitz hard going to the rim and then proceeds to make a demonstration with some comments which earns him a technical. Let's just say that my other obligations unfortunately force me to keep my feelings on this issue to myself. Bruesewitz only makes 2 of the 4 free throws, they get nothing on the possession as Hernandez misses a triple. Kreuser misses the front end of the bonus at 4:44. 66-57 Hopkins and this one is basically over. Hopkins makes enough free throws to win it 77-66.

For Sibley, a tough loss but credit to them for fighting back to within 4 and only being down 10 at the half despite playing very poorly. Mike Bruesewitz leads the way with 15 points (only 3 FGs and 9-13 FTs). Chris Halvorsen and Maurice Hernandez with 12 each. I was surprised that Sibley didn't try to take more advantage of Bruesewitz on the outside when Broghammer was guarding him late (after Royce went to the bench with the T and 4 fouls). Unfortunately in the zone they didn't find Cowles and didn't rebound well so they had to play more man defense than they may have initially wanted to. They did settle down and take better care of the ball in the 2nd half. They're now 8-2 and the rest of their schedule is in the Classic Suburban except for the Border Battle game vs Kaukauna, WI on January 24th.

For Hopkins, Mike Broghammer with a nice night of 17 points to lead Hopkins (9-11 FTs). Ray Cowles with 5 more triples for 15 points. Trent Lockett slashed his way to 15 points also. Royce White quiet with 11 points and had a disappointing night. He made some nice plays but he seemed kind of out of it tonight. Next major challenge for the Royals may be against Milwaukee Vincent at the East Metro Showcase on January 23rd.

Chris Halvorsen picture courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

08-09 Week 6 Thursday Showdowns

Some thoughts from the games of 1/6/09. A couple of league contenders fall.

Jefferson slays the 1st dragon with a win at Burnsville. The Blaze get 30 from Devon Knopke, but the Alipates combine for 39 as Jefferson wins the 2nd half by 8 in a 7 point win. That makes a mess of the Lake Conference race as you now have Burnsville, Chaska and Eden Prairie all with 1 loss. Only 4 undefeated teams remain in AAAA.

No team in the Lake is on fire more than Lakeville North. They won their 8th in a row last night with a win over Eastview. Dajon Newell with 13 as he continues to have a nice season for the Panthers. That offset 26 from Eastview's Vinard Birch. Lakeville North only 1 game back with Jefferson. A whole truckload of teams 2 games back with Eagan at 0-5 in the basement.

Alex Richter with 21 as he continues to get it done for Lakeville South. They got a 6 point win over Farmington.

Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity slays the other dragon with a 70-67 double OT win at SW Christian. Caleb Palkert with 19 and 12 with 5 stls and 7 blocks for SW Christian. Chris Neumann with 31 for Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity. LP/HT with the inside track now to the MCAA regular season title as they host New Life next Thursday (they have already beaten MCA). The only other possible hiccup is a home game with West Lutheran on February 3rd.

Roosevelt was within 10 of Henry at the break, but Henry turns it on in the 2nd half for a 40 point win. Jordan Hughes with 36 for the Patriots.

North lost by 15 to Washburn, but Kevin Thompson is a beast. He had 19 points to lead all scorers in that game.

Sophomore Jonah Travis with 15 for DLS as they beat Blake by 6. AJ Barker with 27 to lead the way for DLS. David Nash with 27 for Blake.

Hopkins blows out Minnetonka

Ray Cowles

Ah, the thrill, the pagentry, the game that is Hopkins vs Minnetonka. My first time seeing these 2 teams in their rivalry. Disappointing student section from Minnetonka as very few of their kids showed up. The Hopkins students out in force of course and a nice crowd of adults in the stands. Armstrong and Sibley looking on along with Northern Illinois. Rodney Williams and Cooper's longtime assistant also on hand for this one.

Early we have free throws for a 7-1 Hopkins lead. Nick Latzke with a triple for the 1st Tonka FG of the night at 15:10. Lockett with a 3 at 14:35 and its 12-5 Hopkins in a furious pace. Latzke again with a 3 at 11:10 to cut the Hopkins lead to 22-18. After Royce White misses 2 free throws, Cole Stefan with a triple at 9:41 and Minnetonka is within 26-21. Blake Nelson with a 3 point play for Tonka at 8:10, 31-24 Hopkins. Then the roof caves in for Tonka. Royce White nails a triple, Cowles with a 3, Lockett from deep again, Broghammer with a dunk off a Tonka turnover, Cowles with another 3, Lockett again for 3 and Cowles beats the halftime horn with a triple. 60-30 Hopkins at the break. Tonka with 2 field goals in the last 7 minutes of the half as Hopkins ends it with a 34-9 run. 9 triples for Hopkins. Lockett with 5 of them for 15 points, Cowles with 3 more for 17 points and 6 rebounds. Marvin Singleton with 9 and 5 off the bench. Royce with 5 points but 0-6 FTs. Nick Latzke with 3 triples for 11 points. Cole Stefan with 5 on 2-10 shooting.

Royce comes out on fire in the 2nd half. A bucket to start the half, an assist to Lockett, 2 more then an assist to Broghammer that Royce probably should have scored himself. He gets a triple and then concludes his night with a dunk in a 2-1 that I was surprised he didn't give up (being he was looking for assists per the Star Trib article from last week). The top 10 sit the last 8:45 as Hopkins uses a 12-0 run over 2 minutes to put us over the top of the mercy rule. Hopkins wins 106-62.

For Minnetonka, Cole Stefan with 15 on 5-16 shooting by my sheet (3-9 on 3s). He tried to force some shots with Lockett guarding him, but nothing would have mattered on this night. Nick Latzke looks to be a better shooter than his brother Andrew who had a very nice career for the Skippers. 5 more triples for 21 points tonight. The Skippers fall to 6-4 and 0-1 in the Classic Lake. They go on the road for 3 with trips to Kennedy, Apple Valley and Columbia Heights in the next 9 days before getting 6 of 7 at home (exception is the Jan 24th trip to Cooper). Tor Anderson lit up the JV game with 5 triples and 21 points on 7-21 FGs. Joe Coleman played the 1st half of the JV game and had a handful (4-5) dunks slashing thru the Tonka D.

For Hopkins, Ray Cowles with his 17 and 6 in the 1st half. Royce White finishes with 15 but 1-8 from the foul line. He had 2 or 3 silly turnovers trying to get assists. Trent Lockett with 17. Marvin Singleton with a nice night off the bench inside. Hopkins made everything and hit the boards hard. 13 total 3s for the Royals. If they shoot it that well, forget about it. They easily could have put up 125-140 in this one as they had 94 before the mercy rule could even go into effect. They didn't hit 100 until 4:45 left. Joe Coleman played the 1st half of the JV game and had a handful (4-5) dunks slashing thru the Tonka D. Hopkins 9-0 going into the monster game at Sibley.

Mike Broghammer had some comments on the team and news on a trip to Notre Dame if you missed that scroll earlier today. Read that here.

Raymond Cowles picture courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

Steve Froemming from Steven's Sports Report also attended the game. Read his article here.

Broghammer comments on Hopkins season

Read a quick bit on Hopkins from Scout.com. Mike Broghammer of Hopkins will be at Notre Dame on January 24th to watch his future Irish teammates. Hopkins plays Milwaukee Vincent in the East Metro Showcase the night before. He comments that playing on such a star-studded team at Hopkins means he'll be happy to share the ball at Notre Dame.

Read the Scout.com article with Broghammer's comments here.

StarTrib updates on Conference Realignment

On the StarTrib preps blog, John Millea updated the conference realignment saga. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw Edina, Minnetonka and Wayzata had applied to the Lake. 12 teams already there and they don't want any part of the full blown realignment discussions amongst all the big conferences. If they take more than 5 seconds to consider that application, I'll be surprised.

Armstrong would rather be in the NW Suburban due to a better mix of teams. There aren't as many teams at the lower levels in the N Suburban which would cost some of their teams games. While the NW Suburban denied Armstrong, it wasn't because they didn't like having them in the league. They're just waiting to sort all of this out which I think is the right move.

Once again here's the realignment plan that I put together back in August of 2007 (before anybody including John Millea) and still holds today with East Ridge in the Suburban East and Chanhassen with Chaska in that section of the Lake. I also realigned the smaller conferences too.

(Czar's Note: 1/8/09. Millea also added in this post after the original post.)

Week 6 Tuesday Night Scoreboard Club

A look from Monday and Tuesday results 1/5 and 1/6/09.

CHOF gets a Monday section win over St. Agnes. I'll see them twice coming up with their game vs St. Croix Lutheran on Saturday and at Bethany on Monday.

Tuesday Games

• Classic Lake teams with a couple of nice wins as Edina beats New Prague and Wayzata beats Orono. Wayzata gives up 22 to Jordan Smith but the Trojans had 6 players in double-figures. Edina now 9-0 with their win and they could be undefeated when they host Washburn on February 3rd.
  
• The winners were no surprise in the Classic Suburban, but Tartan's inability to score vs Sibley (only 15 1st half points) was. Marc Sonnen held to 13 in the loss.
• In the Lake, Eden Prairie with a good road win at Apple Valley by 2. Ethan Wragge with 21. The Eagles travel to Lakeville North next Tuesday in a big game. Lakeville North still rolling with their big win over Chaska. The Hawks on a downturn now. Burnsville stays undefeated at 8-0 with a home win over Prior Lake. Rosemount with a double OT win at Jefferson. Zach Vraa with a nice season of 17 a night for the Irish.
• No surprises in the MCAA going into a couple of interesting games on Thursday. Lester Prairie at SW Christian (LP/HT has already beaten MCA) and West Lutheran at MCA.
• Minneapolis South hammered St. Paul Highland Park. The Mpls City opens league play on Thursday.
• In the North Suburban no surprises in the results. Fridley improves to 7-2 with their losses to Spring Lake Park and a close one to Henry that they could/should have won. Isaiah Thomas with 30 to offset 31 from Josh Figini. Benji Figini also having a nice season for Chisago Lakes.
• In the Northwest Suburban, no real surprises here either. Osseo wins at Blaine with Sam Dower getting 27. Dylan Rodriguez with 18 for Blaine. The Bengals now have lost 5 in a row. Junior Jesse Briggity averaging double-figures at guard for Blaine.
• Forest Lake with a nice road win at Stillwater. CDH loses at Woodbury and they've now lost 3 in a row. Only 8 points for Seantrel Henderson. Roseville after losing their 1st 3 has now won 4 out of 5 (and they were leading St. Bernard's at the half in the loss) with their home win over Mounds View. I can't figure out Mounds View. They started 5-0 and they've lost 4 of 5 now (starting with a loss at Spring Lake Park and a loss to Eden Prairie) but the 1 win was a 72-38 blowout of Minnetonka that amazes me more now that I see these results.
• No surprises in the St. Paul City as Harding and Highland Park lose home blowouts to Farmington and South. Johnson is worthy of their #1 AAA ranking and Central is better than I thought, but the rest of the league is 5-36. Those 5 wins are over Great River, Mpls SW (2), Roseville and Dunwoody Academy. (SW avenged 1 of those losses to HP in the Hastings tournament)
  
• In the Tri-Metro, Zach Towle huge as always with 30 for Concordia as they beat Brooklyn Center. Freddie Young with 17 for the Centaurs. St. Croix Lutheran holds off St. Agnes. Aaron Hulsebus and Chris Breuer with 23 each. Overall no real surprises here either.
  

Northfield at Holy Angels Thoughts

Game 56 takes me to one of the venues that I see many games at, Holy Angels, for their early Missota Conference opener against Northfield. From the useless information department, only the 2nd conference game I've seen this season. Love the AHA concessions as they're one of the few places with pizza (and I believe its Dominoes which isn't a bad thing in my book). Always good to see (and hear) the AHA Public Address announcer, though he was fighting a new microphone tonight. Nice crowd from Northfield on hand for this one.

Northern Colorado recruit Emmanuel Addo off with the 1st 2 of the night for a 2-0 Northfield lead. The Raiders get the 1st 7. RD Brown with a bucket and 1 at 13:48 to cut the Northfield lead to 11-10. Addo with 5 points in a 17-5 Northfield run over the next almost 6 minutes to give Northfield their biggest lead of the night 28-15 with 7 minutes left in the half. Tyler Emanuel with 5 points and Bonzi Wells (to me, Sahr Ngekia to the rest of the world) with 4 in a 16-6 AHA spurt to almost end the half. But Bonzi fouls Sam Maus on a 3 with 2.9 left in the half to kill the AHA momentum. Maus makes 1 of the 3 for a 35-31 Northfield lead at halftime. Addo with 11 on 5-11 shooting and 6 rebounds. RD Brown with 10.

Andy Jirik with the 1st 4 of the half for the Stars and they've come all the way back to tie it at 35 with 15:11 to go. Addo and Bonzi trade layups before a 13-6 Raiders run over 2 minutes. 50-43 Northfield with 12:43 to play. Christian Shepley with the 1st 5 for Northfield during the run. Taylor Schroyer also with 5 in the run including a 3 point play to end it. But Holy Angels won't go away. Jirik with a nice lefty move to surprise Addo for 2 on the block. Brown with a nice reverse layin, Bonzi inside for 2 and Brown puts back a miss. With an Addo bucket in there, we're tied at 52 with 7 minutes left. Bonzi with 2 free throws to tie it at 54, 6 minutes left. Addo layin at 5:30. Tyler Emanuel with a triple at 5:10 for the 1st AHA lead of the night, 57-56. Nice baseline triple screen for him. Addo 1 of 2 FTs at 4:22 to tie it at 57. Bonzi then gets Addo at the 3 point line in the left corner and goes by him for 2. 59-57 AHA with 3:30 left. Dan Pengra with a layup. Addo commits his 4th on Jirik with 2:59 to go, but Jirik misses both FTs. Alex Bisch (in for Addo) gets a bucket on the block at 2:35, 61-59 Northfield. Jirik misses a jump hook from the right box at 2:10. Shepley with a bad shot that results in a Northfield turnover. That brings Addo back at 1:42. Tyler Emanuel misses a tough shot in the lane. Shepley then fouled outside with 1:02 left. He makes both, 63-59 Northfield. Bonzi inside for 2 with 38 seconds left. Pengra misses the front end of the penalty at 24.6 and AHA has life. They take time with 10.5 to go down 2. They find Bonzi on the right box, but he misses a hanger. Addo adds on the final free throw for a tight 64-61 Northfield win.

For AHA, they fall to 1-8. Bonzi Wells with 16 and 6 thanks to a very good 2nd half. 11 from Tyler Emanuel. Andy Jirik with 11 on my sheet and overall a nice night for him inside considering he was also guarding Addo. Star of the night though for AHA was RD Brown. The junior guard finished with 14 points on my unofficial sheet and 8 rebounds. The Stars have a brutal next 5 games with home games against Waconia, Edina and Washburn and then trips to Prior Lake and New Prague in the 1st official week of Missota Conference play.

For Northfield, Emmanuel Addo with 19 points and 9 rebounds (2 stls and 3 blks too) on my unofficial sheet. I had him at about 50% shooting. Everything was right side and go left. They'd feed him on the right box or let him iso from 15-20 feet out on the right wing. From there he showed a very nice ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the paint or close enough to it to score. At times, they'd go 1-4 high and give him a diagonal screen to that right box. But a pet play was a high screen/roll to the right side of the floor with Shepley and Addo. It'll be interesting to see if teams start forcing that play left away from where it wants to go and make the player in the left corner beat them. Christian Shepley quiet with 11 points. They have an interesting home game with Eagan on Saturday (Charlie Baker vs Shepley) before hosting Owatonna on the 17th to finish non-conference play (Steinbauer and Melcher vs Addo). That game could have big implications in the race for the #1 seed in section 1AAAA.

Roosevelt at Brooklyn Center Thoughts

DLS and Concordia on hand to get a look at Brooklyn Center tonight. Nice size of crowd for this one and very vocal. BC star soph Freddie Young with 3 quick steals for layups. Roosevelt giving the ball away early for a 10-5 BC lead at 13:20. But they settle down enough to have Eddie Boler make a jumper and then Boler finds Gobana Sameru for 3 to give Roosevelt a 12-10 lead 3 minutes later. Brooklyn Center then uses a 10-0 run to take 25-14 lead with 4:40 to go in the half. BC 29-20 at the break. Boler with 6 at the break but very cold at approximately 3-11 shooting. Young with 11 with 4 steals for layins.

Shawn Edwards then goes off inside for BC to start the 2nd half. A bucket on the the post, then another and finally 2 more and the foul. Greg Snowden with 2 inside to conclude a 12-4 BC run to start the half. 41-24 BC at 13:50. Roosevelt tries to stop the bleeding but they can't throw it in the ocean. Snowden with a foul line J and a layup. Edwards with a putback and layup of his own to conclude a 10-2 run that blows this one wide open 55-30 with 8:50 left. BC rolls 65-45. Eddie Boler with 8 points on 4-5000 shooting (actually 4-20 or so but my unofficial estimates). Calvin Jenkins led Roosevelt with 10 points. Shawn Edwards with 17 of his 23 in the 2nd half and all inside. Freddie Young with all 11 of his in the 1st half. Roosevelt struggled rebounding in this one on both ends.

Roosevelt falls to 3-6 and they really struggle to score points. They go to Henry on Thursday. BC improves to 3-5 and they go to Concordia tomorrow before getting into the heart of their Tri-Metro West schedule next week. The loss of D'Angelo Potter to Dunwoody Academy took one of the Centaurs best scorers away. Both appear to be in the 5 or 6 seed range on each side of section 4AA.

2009 Timberwolves Shootout Thoughts

Here's what I saw at the 2009 Timberwolves Shootout. This is the 5th consecutive shootout I've attended. In terms of competitve games, this was the worst one I've been to with 4 blowouts and 1 other game that got back to 4 points, but wasn't in doubt for much of the game. At least the Sibley/Memorial game lived up to the hype. That and a couple of Rodney Williams dunks were the main highlights.

Game 1: Cloquet vs Pelican Rapids
I got the not close part of the prediction correct as Pelican Rapids made 7 1st half 3s and got 29 total points from their stars Tydan Storrusten and Eric Shulstad. Nothing like triples to bust zones. Very strange that Chad Calcaterra played very limited 1st half minutes. Only 6 and 4 in the 1st half for him. He finished with 21 and 10 and 2 blocks (and 4 dunks, more on that later). Beyond Chad, Cloquet has almost nothing. Their inability to deal with the Pelican Rapids halfcourt trap was really painful to watch. They may have most of their roster returning for next season but that won't be enough. Pelican Rapids with all seniors except for 1 sophomore. Very impressive to watch. Storrusten with 29, Shulstad with 27 in the 87-56 win.

Game 2: Osseo vs Sioux Falls Roosevelt
Sam Dower with only 1 1st half point and 2 fouls that forced him to sit the last 13:15 of the 1st half. Osseo still had a 30-20 halftime lead as Aaron Anderson stepped up with 8 points. Osseo cranked up the 2nd half defense and Dower dominated inside in the 2nd half. 82-43 Osseo in another rout. Dower with 22. He hit jump hook after jump hook inside with no Roosevelt answer. Cody Larson with 14 for the Roughriders but didn't do anything of note. I did almost get their point total right. Nice job by Osseo with their full court scramble to generate some points from their defense.

Game 3: Henry Sibley vs Madison Memorial
Final Score 67-64 Memorial, I predicted 65-64 Memorial in my preview. Better to be lucky than good. Jeronne Maymon was an absolute stud in this one and clearly the MVP of the day. Totally unguardable. He scored the 9 of the 1st 11 Memorial points in the 2nd half and then got a couple of assists not long after that. Late in the game, Chris Halvorsen stripped him clean for a reverse dunk that brought Sibley back to a 56-55 lead after being down 55-50. But then he made a jumper and hit Vander Blue for a triple. Sibley with 3 straight turnovers vs the Memorial 1-3-1 in a 1 minute span with 3 minutes left that just killed them. Memorial missed a couple of late free throws that gave Maurice Hernandez a good look from the NBA line that would have tied it but no good and Memorial wins a thriller 67-64. Maymon with 26, Vander Blue with 16 all in the 2nd half including 9 in a row and he didn't start. Frosh Junior Lomomba didn't start either and finished with 6 points. He made a clutch shot late to push the lead to 5. Mike Bruesewitz with 20 and 10 for Sibley, but he was overmatched against Maymon.

Game 4: Hopkins vs Lake Geneva Badger
50-15 at the half as Hopkins used a 28-2 run over 8:30 to blow this game wide open. Royce White still put on a show with 13 and 6 in the 1st half as he showed all his skills. Trent Lockett with a couple of nice dunks during the half too. 79-41 Hopkins rolls as the clock runs the last 8 minutes (not 9 thanks to the scorer's table).

This game was totally pointless for both teams and shouldn't have been played. But the fans turned out in force for it so they got the financial part right. This game was a huge black eye to the Shootout. Badger is well coached, but they had no business being here. Not a single player in the rankings of any class in Wisconsin. It would have been one thing if this had happened in the Border Battle or East Metro Showcase. But this is the Minnesota showcase event, put on by our professional team with maybe the best Minnesota high school team ever. This cannot happen again. I know they tried to get teams like Chicago Whitney Young and other very good teams to come in and couldn't get anybody. I'm not criticizing the effort, but I have a hard time buying the idea that there were no teams in the midwest with a noteworthy player that would have come here for this instead of Badger.

Game 5: Eden Prairie vs Cooper
Rodney Williams with a double-clutch jumper and then a floater to beat the 1st half buzzer on a steal for a 28-18 Cooper lead at the half. Williams had 8 points with 3 blocks (2 of the volleyball spike variety) in the half. Ethan Wragge 5 points but cold shooting. Cooper stretches the lead to 16 in the 2nd half before Cooper goes back to their 1 on 1 offense and allows EP to come back within 4. Rodney gets a 360 dunk and then a half-court lob for a reverse dunk that puts the icing on the cake. He gets another lob but misses the dunk to make Chad Calcaterra the happiest guy in the building as both finish with 4 dunks on the day. 57-50 Cooper wins. Rodney with 16 points on 4 dunks and 4 blocks. Again, not a shooter. Brett Ervin with a big 2nd half as he finishes with 17 points. Ethan Wragge with 9 points but he couldn't buy a shot (he was something like 3-15). But his misses were all good looks (except 1 or maybe 2) against Rodney so I'm not buying the Rodney shut him down argument.

Game 6: St. Cloud Tech vs Manitowoc Roncalli
The building empties out which is a shame because they should have stayed for Nate Wolters of Tech. He had 9 first half points. Roncalli star soph Ben Stelzer 11 for a 35-34 Tech lead at the half. But Wolters gets 17 in the 2nd half with 3 steals for layups. They don't need him to guard Stelzer as Roncalli couldn't buy a shot in the 2nd half. 78-49 Tech rolls. Alex Hanks with 15. Stelzer finishes with 18. Nate Wolters with 28 points and a half dozen steals. Whatever school ends up with him is going to be very happy as I think they're getting a steal.

All Shootout Teams
1st Team
Jeronne Maymon - Madison Memorial (MVP)
Royce White - Hopkins
Sam Dower - Osseo
Vander Blue - Madison Memorial
Nate Wolters - St. Cloud Tech

2nd Team
Eric Shulstad - Pelican Rapids
Mike Bruesewitz - Sibley
Chad Calcaterra - Cloquet
Rodney Williams Jr - Cooper
Tydan Storrusten - Pelican Rapids