This is part 2 in my series previewing and predicting the metro sections. If you missed part 1 on section 4A and 4AA, you can read that here. In part 2, a look at sections 3AAA, 4AAA and 6AAA.
Section 3AAA
Quarterfinals: 3/11 (High Seed)
Semifinals: 3/17 at Blaine
Section Championship: 3/20 at Blaine
Team to beat: Spring Lake Park
Contenders: Columbia Heights, Minneapolis Henry
Predictions:
Quarterfinals: Spring Lake Park, Minneapolis Henry, Fridley, Columbia Heights
Semifinals: Spring Lake Park, Columbia Heights
Section champion: Columbia Heights
Section Thoughts: Minneapolis Henry lurks here but they haven't played well since Jordan Hughes returned so I can't pick them over Spring Lake Park in the semis as much as I'd like to. Columbia Heights is the pick since they beat Fridley twice and won the last meeting with Spring Lake Park. Not to mention I'm not a fan of how Spring Lake Park has played in big games. They revolve too much around Shaun Jensen which I think hurts them and they get nothing in the post which is nice for Columbia Heights. Beware of that Fridley vs St. Anthony game in the 3 vs 6 matchup. When these teams met before Christmas, St. Anthony frustrated the heck out of Isaiah Thomas with a box and 1. I would almost guarantee you'll see this again.
Section 4AAA
Quarterfinals: 3/13 (High Seed)
Semifinals: 3/17 at St. Paul Central
Section Championship: 3/20 at St. Paul Central
Team to beat: Johnson
Contenders: Mahtomedi
Predictions:
Quarterfinals: Johnson, Hill-Murray, Arlington, Mahtomedi
Semifinals: Johnson, Mahtomedi
Section champion: Johnson
Section Thoughts: Hill-Murray started 8-3 before losing 13 of 15 to end the season. But they hammered Highland Park 74-42 on December 12 so I'm thinking this will be one of the least competitive 4 vs 5 games out there. Johnson is the hands down favorite to win the section. Arlington is more talented but Mahtomedi so that game could be interesting.
Section 6AAA
Quarterfinals: 3/11 (High Seed)
Semifinals: 3/14 at Concordia-St. Paul
Section Championship: 3/19 at Concordia-St. Paul
Team to beat: Washburn
Contenders: Waconia, DeLaSalle, Benilde-St. Margaret's, Delano
Predictions:
Quarterfinals: Washburn, Benilde-St. Margaret's, De La Salle, Holy Angels
Semifinals: Washburn, Holy Angels
Section champion: Washburn
Section Thoughts: A very difficult section here with controversy surronding the seedings. Holy Angels is playing way above their seed right now and they were beating Waconia by double-digits in the regular season meeting. De La Salle can't score, especially without AJ Barker. I think they survive Orono, but not AHA. Delano will come out determined to prove they earned a home game, but Benilde will be too much in one of the best 4 vs 5 games out there. Let's hope that De La Salle and Waconia don't meet in the 2nd round as watching that will be worse than having teeth pulled. 1st team to 30 points wins (if either gets that far).
08-09 Section 4A and Section 4AA playoff preview
Labels:
08-09 Playoff Previews
This is the 1st in a 3 part series of playoff previews. We'll start with section 4A and section 4AA.
Section 4A (at high seed unless noted)
Playin Games: 3/10
Round of 16: 3/12
Quarterfinals: 3/14
Sub-Section Finals: 3/17 at Heritage
Section Championship: 3/20 at Holy Angels
Team to beat: Minnesota Transitions
Contenders: SW Christian, Maranatha
Sub-section Predictions:
Playin Games: Math & Science over Liberty Classical, AFSA over St. Paul Prep, Bethany over Ascension, 4 Directions over International School
Round of 16: MN Transitions, CHOF, New Life, Spectrum, Maranatha, Heritage, PACT, SW Christian
Sub-section semifinals: MN Transitions, New Life, Maranatha, SW Christian
Sub-section champions: MN Transitions, SW Christian
Section champion: MN Transitions
Section Thoughts: There's MTS and then everybody else in this section. The only team with a remote chance of knocking them off is SW Christian with Caleb Palkert. But SW Christian will have to get past MCA and PACT. But this isn't your brother's MCA team. They may be 21-5, but they're nothing like the teams they've had in the past. If SW Christian can Palkert enough touches they can beat anybody in this section. MCA gets the other contender nomination as Jeff Wall is arguably the top coach in the section. CHOF has their hands full with St. Agnes in the east 4 vs 5 game despite a regular win over the Aggies as Cole Piepkorn played in that game and won't be available. The health of Nate Fiscus is also an issue. I like New Life's experience and Robbie Anderstrom to upset Spectrum (who frankly should be in the west sub-section).
Section 4AA (at high seed unless noted)
Playin Games: 3/9 and 3/10
Round of 16: 3/12
Quarterfinals: 3/14
Sub-Section Finals: 3/17 at Holy Angels
Section Championship: 3/20 at Holy Angels
Teams to beat: St. Bernard's, Minnehaha Academy
Contenders: None
Sub-section Predictions:
Playin Games: Roosevelt over Providence, Trinity over Dunwoody
Round of 16: Concordia, Minnehaha, St. Croix Lutheran, Jordan, Breck, Edison, Holy Family
Sub-section semifinals: St. Bernard's, Minnehaha, Jordan, Holy Family
Sub-section champions: St. Bernard's, Holy Family
Section champion: St. Bernard's
Section Thoughts: The east sub-section is really what this is about as you have 2 of the best in AA there. St. Bernard's and Minnehaha are at another level. Holy Family and Jordan split in their 2 meetings, I take Holy Family as I think their tough schedule helps them and they've been here before. Edison over Brooklyn Center is my upset as they've played close games without wins. Minnehaha will be jacked up and really prepared for the game with St. Bernard's but I don't know how they handle the pressure from the Bulldogs that was a problem in the 1st matchup.
Section 4A (at high seed unless noted)
Playin Games: 3/10
Round of 16: 3/12
Quarterfinals: 3/14
Sub-Section Finals: 3/17 at Heritage
Section Championship: 3/20 at Holy Angels
Team to beat: Minnesota Transitions
Contenders: SW Christian, Maranatha
Sub-section Predictions:
Playin Games: Math & Science over Liberty Classical, AFSA over St. Paul Prep, Bethany over Ascension, 4 Directions over International School
Round of 16: MN Transitions, CHOF, New Life, Spectrum, Maranatha, Heritage, PACT, SW Christian
Sub-section semifinals: MN Transitions, New Life, Maranatha, SW Christian
Sub-section champions: MN Transitions, SW Christian
Section champion: MN Transitions
Section Thoughts: There's MTS and then everybody else in this section. The only team with a remote chance of knocking them off is SW Christian with Caleb Palkert. But SW Christian will have to get past MCA and PACT. But this isn't your brother's MCA team. They may be 21-5, but they're nothing like the teams they've had in the past. If SW Christian can Palkert enough touches they can beat anybody in this section. MCA gets the other contender nomination as Jeff Wall is arguably the top coach in the section. CHOF has their hands full with St. Agnes in the east 4 vs 5 game despite a regular win over the Aggies as Cole Piepkorn played in that game and won't be available. The health of Nate Fiscus is also an issue. I like New Life's experience and Robbie Anderstrom to upset Spectrum (who frankly should be in the west sub-section).
Section 4AA (at high seed unless noted)
Playin Games: 3/9 and 3/10
Round of 16: 3/12
Quarterfinals: 3/14
Sub-Section Finals: 3/17 at Holy Angels
Section Championship: 3/20 at Holy Angels
Teams to beat: St. Bernard's, Minnehaha Academy
Contenders: None
Sub-section Predictions:
Playin Games: Roosevelt over Providence, Trinity over Dunwoody
Round of 16: Concordia, Minnehaha, St. Croix Lutheran, Jordan, Breck, Edison, Holy Family
Sub-section semifinals: St. Bernard's, Minnehaha, Jordan, Holy Family
Sub-section champions: St. Bernard's, Holy Family
Section champion: St. Bernard's
Section Thoughts: The east sub-section is really what this is about as you have 2 of the best in AA there. St. Bernard's and Minnehaha are at another level. Holy Family and Jordan split in their 2 meetings, I take Holy Family as I think their tough schedule helps them and they've been here before. Edison over Brooklyn Center is my upset as they've played close games without wins. Minnehaha will be jacked up and really prepared for the game with St. Bernard's but I don't know how they handle the pressure from the Bulldogs that was a problem in the 1st matchup.
2009 Twin Cities Game Thoughts
Cedric Martin
To Arlington to end my regular season with the Twin Cities Game. Johnson with the clean sweep as they're in all 3 games. Washburn in the top 2 games and Henry in the freshman game for Minneapolis. Names to remember from the early 2 games include Ben Glover from Henry and Roosevelt Scott from Johnson. Clarence Thomas with 22 points and Dwight Anderson with 21 points to lead Washburn to a 68-53 win in the JV game. To the big game.Washburn with a quick 5 points to start the game but Johnson right back thanks to Dion Suggs-Young. He nails a 3 and after he finds Jordan Pluff on a screen roll, we're tied at 7 at the 13:25 mark. After 4 Washburn free throws, we have the ball go out of bounds and its gone. The zebras look under the stands and we've got nothing. New ball please. Ra'Shede Hageman finishes a 17-5 Washburn run with a follow-up dunk for a 24-12 Washburn lead with 6:20 to play in the half.
Johnson won't go away as they go on a 20-5 run and lead 34-31 at the half. No flow to the end of the half as it was a parade to the free throw line. The game was also marred by a brawl in the stands at the 2:10 mark for a long delay, but thankfully no issues after order was restored. Johnson with 9 guys scoring. Hageman with 6 points and 11 rebounds.
Back and forth we go in the 2nd half. Cedric Martin with a pair of free throws and a DeAaron Hearn floater put Washburn on top 39-38. Lamar Anderson and soph Anthony Lee with layups for a 47-43 Johnson lead at 12:20. Dylan Hale with 5 points in a 10-3 Washburn spurt for a 53-50 Washburn lead with 8:36 left. Washburn switching to a 2-3 zone during the run. Johnson right back with 6 in a row as Estan Tyler finds Suggs-Young and then Suggs-Young again and Maxie Rosenbloom with a layup. 56-53 Johnson with 6:40 to play. Hearn with a tough bank and Martin with a 3 point play. Hearn with a steal for 2 and Jordan Osberg runs out for a layup after a bad Johnson shot. 62-56 Washburn with 4 minutes left. Washburn with 3 straight bad possession concluding with a questionable offensive foul on Hearn with 1:35 left. Suggs-Young with 2 free throws to cut the lead to 62-60 with 1:28 left. Hale with 2 free throws and Hageman with 1 of 2 after Suggs-Young misses a 3. Suggs-Young with a 3 at 29.2 65-63 Washburn. Hale turns it over with 22 seconds left and Johnson has it back. Suggs-Young rushes it back the other way and forces a shot with 18 seconds left. Osberg fouled on the rebound with 16.1 left. The 1st FT is up and its off the back rim up and ... it falls thru. WOW! He makes the 2nd as well. 67-63 Washburn. Washburn goes to their bench thinking there's a timeout but none called. Coach Reggie Perkins rushes his guys back on to the floor for the inbound, but they've got 6 or 7 guys on the floor and that's a technical foul. Suggs-Young steps up and makes only 1 of 2. He gets a handoff on the possession but he misses the front end of the bonus. Hageman fouled at 8.2 and misses both. Johnson out of timeouts and back they come. Michael Talley open in the corner and drives but that does them no good. By the time his kickout pass gets to the opposite corner, time has expired. Washburn wins 67-64.
Washburn with 13 points from Dylan Hale and Cedric Martin. Martin 11 of 11 from the charity stripe. Ra'Shede Hageman with 9 points and I had 18 rebounds for him on my unofficial sheet. But I also had him 1-8 from the FT line. Every Washburn player made a trip to the line. 7-10 from their bench. The starters besides Hageman were a perfect 19-19. Washburn opens 6AAA play at home on Wednesday against Mound-Westonka.
Johnson got 18 points from Dion Suggs-Young. 15 of those in the 2nd half. Only 1-4 FTs and a forced shot in the last 20 seconds for one of the most clutch players in the state. Very surprising. The Governors host Harding in the opening round of 3AAA on Friday. Johnson 14-24 from the charity stripe compared to the 27-37 for Washburn.
Cedric Martin photo courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net
Conference clinchers and city battles to end the regular season
So with the end of the regular season comes joy that the playoffs are here but sadness that the end of the 08-09 season is only 3 weeks away. So why stop with 1 game when you can do 2.
Game 1: North at Edison
I saw half of this one as it was an early game and I still had to hustle to game 2. Did I mention Kevin Thompson of North is a beast? 12 points in the minutes I saw and he should have had at least another couple of trips to the foul line. 11 all early when Thompson scores a layup on a pretty screen/roll and then a steal for 2 more. Edison counters to tie it at 15 with 9:30 left in the 1st half before North goes on a 11-0 run with a pair of Mark Devine post ups included. 19-4 North over that last 9:30 for a 34-19 halftime lead. Thompson with at least 12 in the half.
Edison cuts it to 34-23 1 minute in to the 2nd half, but Edison probably won't get closer. I leave with 11+ to go and North up 43-27. North ends up winning 71-50. Thompson with 20 points and Pengi Mboma with 20. I'm surprised they don't give Spencer Puckett more time. Devine, Puckett and Mboma with Thompson and Malik El-Amin is a nice lineup. North likely has a 4 vs 5 game against Minnetonka (at Hopkins) on Tuesday. Edison travels to Brooklyn Center in 4AA west on Thursday.
Game 2: Farmington at Holy Angels
Farmington needs a win to win the Missota outright over Northfield and Shakopee who are 1 game behind. Very good Farmington crowd in terms of size and vocals and the students standing all night. But the Tigers can't get it going. An early Bonzi Wells reference (Sahr Ngekia, I miss the headband) tonight as he swipes the ball away and Tyler Bredow for a layup. Bredow with a steal to Cole Frechette for a layup and then Bredow with a jumper off a nice high screen from Bonzi. RD Brown with a steal and Bredow converts that and the foul (but misses the FT). Sam Gullickson with his 2nd triple of the night. 18-5 Holy Angels at the 10 minute mark. AHA has outscored the Tigers on turnovers alone. Jake Lippert leads the Tigers back with a layin and then spins for 2 more. After 2 Gullickson FTs, 20-9 Stars at 7:54. 11-2 Farmington over the next 3:50 to cut the lead to 2. Jake Lippert ends the half with 2 FTs to send the game to halftime tied at 26. Lippert with 12, 10 and 2 blocks in the half. Josh Ziztmann with 4 points and the other player with more than 1 item in the scoring column for Farmington. Defensively he was able to alter shots on Bonzi or Christian Larson post ups. Gullickson and Bredow with 9 each for AHA.
Christian Larson comes out possessed inside as converts 2 offensive boards into 3 of 4 FTs. After a Zitzman 3, Gullickson with a steal and finds Larson for 2 more. Zitzmann with 2 buckets for Farmington for their 1st 7 of the half. But Frechette has a pair of FTs in there so AHA leads 35-33 with 12:48 to play. After Larson grabs another board but misses 2 FTs, Conner Duffy shakes loose on an inbounds play for an open 3 and Farmington has their first lead of the game 36-35. Holy Angels responds with a Gullickson 3, Andy Jirik with layup on a textbook screen/roll and then he runs out after a rebound and Bredow finds him for an easy layup to end a 7-0 AHA run. Timeout Farmington as the Stars lead 42-36 with 9:33 to play. Zitzmann has a 3 go in and out and Jirik with great position on a stepover, but he misses the 2 free throws with 8:52 left.
David Steege scores inside for Farmington to cut the lead to 4. Jirik then commits an intentional foul after a turnover but Zitzmann misses both free throws and Steege misses a bunny inside on the possession. Things going the Stars way on this night but now they can't score. Steege scores again to cut the lead to 42-40 with 6:55 left. Lippert with a 3 point play after a bad Bonzi shot and Farmington is back on top 43-42 with a 7-0 run of their own. Justin Lavey with a steal that would make a professional pickpocket proud and Zitzmann with a layin at 4:10 to give Farmington a 47-44 lead with 4:10 to play and the momentum. Timeout Holy Angels after an 11-2 Farmington run over 5:23.
The pace slows and Holy Angels uses alternating free throws to close within 47-46 with 2:52 left. Lippert takes a really tough shot at 1:55 that misses. 5'11 Bredow with a charge on 6'10 Steege at the other end and Steege hardly even budged at the contact. Zitzmann with a tough shot that goes in at 1:10 for a 49-46 lead, wow. That shot really took the air out of the Holy Angels fans. Bonzi goes at Lippert inside and somehow Lippert gets it clean with :45 seconds left. Tough no call there. Ziztmann with 2 FTs at 33.8, 51-46 Tigers. Tyler Emanuel in the game as a shooter and the entire building knows he's getting a touch. He catches and steps inside a defender and nails a left corner 3 with 22.7 left. Both teams out of timeouts. On the dead ball after the basket, Farmington throws a long bomb for Lippert but its too far. Lippert runs the ball down and throws it off Bonzi in a great mental moment. But wait the zebras are conferencing. They agree its AHA ball but they bring it all the way back to the other end under the AHA basket. I thought Lippert got it without stepping out and even if he did, it seems like the ball should still have been at the other end. AHA on the inbounds has Bredow inbound to the wing and follow it to the corner for a surprisingly good look at a 3 but that's no good. Lippert rebounds and is fouled but misses the front end with 15.7 to play. Emanuel off baseline screens no good from the left corner. Jirik called for a strange intentional foul with 3 seconds left. Senior Brent Beenken steps up and makes both free throws to clinch the Missota outright for Farmington as they win 55-49.
For AHA, watch out for them in the tournament (more on this in my previews on Sunday, cheap promotional moment). They open Wednesday at Waconia in a rematch of a January game at AHA. Sam Gullickson with 14 points to lead the Stars. Once again they give a good opponent a great game. Interesting moment after the game as Farmington celebrated on the court and brought out a championship banner. Coach McKenzie of AHA (who it was known was going to make a post game address to the crowd) makes a guarantee of a conference title next year for AHA. I would have rather seen him say that privately to his team than to the crowd.
For Farmington, Josh Zitzmann clutch with 13 of his 17 points in the 2nd half. Jake Lippert with a quiet 2nd half but made 2 clutch free throws and had the clutch strip/block of Bonzi in the last minute. He finishes with 17 points and I had him for 15 rebounds unofficially. It looks like Farmington will be the #1 seed in section 1AAAA and host Rochester Century on Wednesday.
Game 1: North at Edison
I saw half of this one as it was an early game and I still had to hustle to game 2. Did I mention Kevin Thompson of North is a beast? 12 points in the minutes I saw and he should have had at least another couple of trips to the foul line. 11 all early when Thompson scores a layup on a pretty screen/roll and then a steal for 2 more. Edison counters to tie it at 15 with 9:30 left in the 1st half before North goes on a 11-0 run with a pair of Mark Devine post ups included. 19-4 North over that last 9:30 for a 34-19 halftime lead. Thompson with at least 12 in the half.
Edison cuts it to 34-23 1 minute in to the 2nd half, but Edison probably won't get closer. I leave with 11+ to go and North up 43-27. North ends up winning 71-50. Thompson with 20 points and Pengi Mboma with 20. I'm surprised they don't give Spencer Puckett more time. Devine, Puckett and Mboma with Thompson and Malik El-Amin is a nice lineup. North likely has a 4 vs 5 game against Minnetonka (at Hopkins) on Tuesday. Edison travels to Brooklyn Center in 4AA west on Thursday.
Game 2: Farmington at Holy Angels
Farmington needs a win to win the Missota outright over Northfield and Shakopee who are 1 game behind. Very good Farmington crowd in terms of size and vocals and the students standing all night. But the Tigers can't get it going. An early Bonzi Wells reference (Sahr Ngekia, I miss the headband) tonight as he swipes the ball away and Tyler Bredow for a layup. Bredow with a steal to Cole Frechette for a layup and then Bredow with a jumper off a nice high screen from Bonzi. RD Brown with a steal and Bredow converts that and the foul (but misses the FT). Sam Gullickson with his 2nd triple of the night. 18-5 Holy Angels at the 10 minute mark. AHA has outscored the Tigers on turnovers alone. Jake Lippert leads the Tigers back with a layin and then spins for 2 more. After 2 Gullickson FTs, 20-9 Stars at 7:54. 11-2 Farmington over the next 3:50 to cut the lead to 2. Jake Lippert ends the half with 2 FTs to send the game to halftime tied at 26. Lippert with 12, 10 and 2 blocks in the half. Josh Ziztmann with 4 points and the other player with more than 1 item in the scoring column for Farmington. Defensively he was able to alter shots on Bonzi or Christian Larson post ups. Gullickson and Bredow with 9 each for AHA.
Christian Larson comes out possessed inside as converts 2 offensive boards into 3 of 4 FTs. After a Zitzman 3, Gullickson with a steal and finds Larson for 2 more. Zitzmann with 2 buckets for Farmington for their 1st 7 of the half. But Frechette has a pair of FTs in there so AHA leads 35-33 with 12:48 to play. After Larson grabs another board but misses 2 FTs, Conner Duffy shakes loose on an inbounds play for an open 3 and Farmington has their first lead of the game 36-35. Holy Angels responds with a Gullickson 3, Andy Jirik with layup on a textbook screen/roll and then he runs out after a rebound and Bredow finds him for an easy layup to end a 7-0 AHA run. Timeout Farmington as the Stars lead 42-36 with 9:33 to play. Zitzmann has a 3 go in and out and Jirik with great position on a stepover, but he misses the 2 free throws with 8:52 left.
David Steege scores inside for Farmington to cut the lead to 4. Jirik then commits an intentional foul after a turnover but Zitzmann misses both free throws and Steege misses a bunny inside on the possession. Things going the Stars way on this night but now they can't score. Steege scores again to cut the lead to 42-40 with 6:55 left. Lippert with a 3 point play after a bad Bonzi shot and Farmington is back on top 43-42 with a 7-0 run of their own. Justin Lavey with a steal that would make a professional pickpocket proud and Zitzmann with a layin at 4:10 to give Farmington a 47-44 lead with 4:10 to play and the momentum. Timeout Holy Angels after an 11-2 Farmington run over 5:23.
The pace slows and Holy Angels uses alternating free throws to close within 47-46 with 2:52 left. Lippert takes a really tough shot at 1:55 that misses. 5'11 Bredow with a charge on 6'10 Steege at the other end and Steege hardly even budged at the contact. Zitzmann with a tough shot that goes in at 1:10 for a 49-46 lead, wow. That shot really took the air out of the Holy Angels fans. Bonzi goes at Lippert inside and somehow Lippert gets it clean with :45 seconds left. Tough no call there. Ziztmann with 2 FTs at 33.8, 51-46 Tigers. Tyler Emanuel in the game as a shooter and the entire building knows he's getting a touch. He catches and steps inside a defender and nails a left corner 3 with 22.7 left. Both teams out of timeouts. On the dead ball after the basket, Farmington throws a long bomb for Lippert but its too far. Lippert runs the ball down and throws it off Bonzi in a great mental moment. But wait the zebras are conferencing. They agree its AHA ball but they bring it all the way back to the other end under the AHA basket. I thought Lippert got it without stepping out and even if he did, it seems like the ball should still have been at the other end. AHA on the inbounds has Bredow inbound to the wing and follow it to the corner for a surprisingly good look at a 3 but that's no good. Lippert rebounds and is fouled but misses the front end with 15.7 to play. Emanuel off baseline screens no good from the left corner. Jirik called for a strange intentional foul with 3 seconds left. Senior Brent Beenken steps up and makes both free throws to clinch the Missota outright for Farmington as they win 55-49.
For AHA, watch out for them in the tournament (more on this in my previews on Sunday, cheap promotional moment). They open Wednesday at Waconia in a rematch of a January game at AHA. Sam Gullickson with 14 points to lead the Stars. Once again they give a good opponent a great game. Interesting moment after the game as Farmington celebrated on the court and brought out a championship banner. Coach McKenzie of AHA (who it was known was going to make a post game address to the crowd) makes a guarantee of a conference title next year for AHA. I would have rather seen him say that privately to his team than to the crowd.
For Farmington, Josh Zitzmann clutch with 13 of his 17 points in the 2nd half. Jake Lippert with a quiet 2nd half but made 2 clutch free throws and had the clutch strip/block of Bonzi in the last minute. He finishes with 17 points and I had him for 15 rebounds unofficially. It looks like Farmington will be the #1 seed in section 1AAAA and host Rochester Century on Wednesday.
The Czar's initial list of 2012 prospects
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2012 Recruiting
Here's a list of some of the metro freshmen that I think will be names to watch over the next 3 years and starting this summer for some of them. The names are in no particular order within each group. The main caveat is that I had to see the player in person to put them on this list so keep that in mind when reading.
Posts
Cutler Finneman - Concordia (Roseville)
Tyler Strandlund - CHOF
Chad Potas - Wayzata
Andrew Turnblad - Minnetonka
Forwards
Will Dunn - Benilde-St. Margaret's
Sean Scott - Spring Lake Park
Eric Gebeke - White Bear Lake
Zach Stahl - Hopkins
Dante Grant - Henry Sibley
Guards
Siyani Chambers - Hopkins
Isaiah Zierden - Benilde-St. Margaret's
Darian Pittman - Maranatha
Tommy McDermott - Minnetonka
Brady Wohler - Orono
Posts
Cutler Finneman - Concordia (Roseville)
Tyler Strandlund - CHOF
Chad Potas - Wayzata
Andrew Turnblad - Minnetonka
Forwards
Will Dunn - Benilde-St. Margaret's
Sean Scott - Spring Lake Park
Eric Gebeke - White Bear Lake
Zach Stahl - Hopkins
Dante Grant - Henry Sibley
Guards
Siyani Chambers - Hopkins
Isaiah Zierden - Benilde-St. Margaret's
Darian Pittman - Maranatha
Tommy McDermott - Minnetonka
Brady Wohler - Orono
Packers and Polars grudge match thoughts
To South St. Paul tonight for their rematch with North (St. Paul that is). Actually this is a reschedule of the 1st meeting which was snowed out. The Packers went into the arctic and pulled the 58-57 upset on February 17th for 1 of the 4 season wins and only one in 2009. Brandon Strickland with 27 in that one for S. St. Paul. Josh Bennett with 13 for North in that game in the loss. That win makes the Packers 1-16 since a 3 game winning streak.
SSP introduces all 6 seniors on senior night and I thought they may leave them all out there for the technical but that didn't happen. We finally have a team that goes back to the Princeton offense. Nice to see NSP running that. S. St. Paul doing everything it can on the defensive end with 3 different defenses in the 1st 100 seconds (more on this later). 4 all at the 14:53 mark (snooze). SSP's Joe Chudars and NSP's soph guard Rex Johnson trade 2 triples each in a 1 minute span and I'm thinking the scoreboard might explode. 12-10 NSP at 12:35. Strickland then 7 straight SSP points on a jumper, an inbound lob and a triple for a 17-14 Packers lead with 6:15 left in the half. Josh Fleury (related to the former hockey star Theo Fluery?) with an offensive reboard and a tough finish and the Packers go up 6 at the 5:20 mark. A Josh Bennett 3 and Johnson steal cut the lead to 2. Strickland counters with a spinning banker in the lane and a bomb from the right corner for a 26-19 Packers lead and NSP needs timeout. 26-24 Packers at the half. Strickland with 14, Johnson with 11 in the half.
Bennett with a triple and Johnson with a putback to tie it at 29 at the 15:15 mark. After 2 Chudars free throws, the Packers go cold and NSP turns up the pressure with some full court traps. Bennett with a 3 point play, Jake Knutson with a triple followed by a Bennett triple, Andrew Rangistch with an offensive board for 2 and Kyle Whyte with a nice slip of a screen for a bucket. Strickland then goes thru a trap for a charge and this one is slipping away. 42-35 North at the 8:45 mark. Over 5:45, its a 13-4 spurt for the Polars. Peter Rother with 2 and the foul (misses the FT) to cut the lead to 5 as Charlie Choinere picks up his 4th foul with 7:08 to go. That thickens the plot some as Choinere is the center in their Princeton Offense. Then again maybe not. Bennett with more long distance sniper fire, Strickland misses 2 free throws and Whyte nails a 3 from Bennett. Bennett flared off a high screen in the Princeton Chin Series, caught and drove to draw the lone defender on the weak side and Whyte nailed it. Chudars has a 3 of his own go in and out and this one is basically over in my mind. Choinere scores on the post with 4:30 to go to give the Polars a 50-39 lead and I don't see SSP coming back as I call it a night. North wins 60-48.
For South St. Paul, they fall to 4-21 and finish up at St. Thomas Academy tomorrow. They travel to Mahtomedi next Friday in the opening round of section 4AAA play. Brandon Strickland scored 20 points over his average of 16.3 for the year. Nice job by the Packers to keep it interesting on the defensive end. On misses they'd go man, on makes 3-2 zone and on dead balls they went 1-3-1. I still think they had one of the better game plans of the year when they went triangle and 2 on Sibley.
For North, Josh Bennett with 14 of his 19 in the 2nd half including all 3 of his triples. Rex Johnson with 3 triples as well and 13 points. Jake Knutson with 16 points but he must have had them late or my sheet is way off. North is definitely committed to the Princeton Offense stuff as they have a ton of it in. Fun to watch, but I think its turnover prone at the high school level especially when 1st implemented. But it can be a giant killer.
SSP introduces all 6 seniors on senior night and I thought they may leave them all out there for the technical but that didn't happen. We finally have a team that goes back to the Princeton offense. Nice to see NSP running that. S. St. Paul doing everything it can on the defensive end with 3 different defenses in the 1st 100 seconds (more on this later). 4 all at the 14:53 mark (snooze). SSP's Joe Chudars and NSP's soph guard Rex Johnson trade 2 triples each in a 1 minute span and I'm thinking the scoreboard might explode. 12-10 NSP at 12:35. Strickland then 7 straight SSP points on a jumper, an inbound lob and a triple for a 17-14 Packers lead with 6:15 left in the half. Josh Fleury (related to the former hockey star Theo Fluery?) with an offensive reboard and a tough finish and the Packers go up 6 at the 5:20 mark. A Josh Bennett 3 and Johnson steal cut the lead to 2. Strickland counters with a spinning banker in the lane and a bomb from the right corner for a 26-19 Packers lead and NSP needs timeout. 26-24 Packers at the half. Strickland with 14, Johnson with 11 in the half.
Bennett with a triple and Johnson with a putback to tie it at 29 at the 15:15 mark. After 2 Chudars free throws, the Packers go cold and NSP turns up the pressure with some full court traps. Bennett with a 3 point play, Jake Knutson with a triple followed by a Bennett triple, Andrew Rangistch with an offensive board for 2 and Kyle Whyte with a nice slip of a screen for a bucket. Strickland then goes thru a trap for a charge and this one is slipping away. 42-35 North at the 8:45 mark. Over 5:45, its a 13-4 spurt for the Polars. Peter Rother with 2 and the foul (misses the FT) to cut the lead to 5 as Charlie Choinere picks up his 4th foul with 7:08 to go. That thickens the plot some as Choinere is the center in their Princeton Offense. Then again maybe not. Bennett with more long distance sniper fire, Strickland misses 2 free throws and Whyte nails a 3 from Bennett. Bennett flared off a high screen in the Princeton Chin Series, caught and drove to draw the lone defender on the weak side and Whyte nailed it. Chudars has a 3 of his own go in and out and this one is basically over in my mind. Choinere scores on the post with 4:30 to go to give the Polars a 50-39 lead and I don't see SSP coming back as I call it a night. North wins 60-48.
For South St. Paul, they fall to 4-21 and finish up at St. Thomas Academy tomorrow. They travel to Mahtomedi next Friday in the opening round of section 4AAA play. Brandon Strickland scored 20 points over his average of 16.3 for the year. Nice job by the Packers to keep it interesting on the defensive end. On misses they'd go man, on makes 3-2 zone and on dead balls they went 1-3-1. I still think they had one of the better game plans of the year when they went triangle and 2 on Sibley.
For North, Josh Bennett with 14 of his 19 in the 2nd half including all 3 of his triples. Rex Johnson with 3 triples as well and 13 points. Jake Knutson with 16 points but he must have had them late or my sheet is way off. North is definitely committed to the Princeton Offense stuff as they have a ton of it in. Fun to watch, but I think its turnover prone at the high school level especially when 1st implemented. But it can be a giant killer.
Survey turns the table on parents
Throughout the season, I often comment on fan sections, sportsmanship issues, food and many other elements surrounding the different game environments I see. So when I heard there was a survey out there asking the players to evaluate parents in the stands, it got my attention as an interesting twist on some of the sportsmanship issues that have come up over the years.
So, if you're one of those players (in any sport) who has to hear the parents and want to give some feedback on this, The Basketball Mom has created a quick 2 minute survey to see what influence parents have on sports from the kids point of view. All the responses are anonymous and aggregrated results will be posted after the survey closes on March 15th. I'm looking forward to seeing the results and how the players turn the tables on the parents.
Click here to take the survey.
So, if you're one of those players (in any sport) who has to hear the parents and want to give some feedback on this, The Basketball Mom has created a quick 2 minute survey to see what influence parents have on sports from the kids point of view. All the responses are anonymous and aggregrated results will be posted after the survey closes on March 15th. I'm looking forward to seeing the results and how the players turn the tables on the parents.
Click here to take the survey.
Arlington at Harding Thoughts
A bleak night in the metro with only 2 bad St. Paul City games. Of course, I'm still going to 1 of the games. Since I'll probably see Central yet this season, I decided to get 1 more look at Arlington. Especially since the rumor mill says they may not have any athletics next year. Certainly the basketball program is short numbers with barely enough kids returning to field a varsity squad next year and they had no freshman program this season.
To address the problem of that nice gym at Arlington going unused (assuming that's true for a minute), how about his wacky thought. Tuesday night league doubleheaders at Arlington and then league triple headers on Saturdays. Enough daydreaming, more work.
Harding starts with a very John Gray (Arlington assistant and former Breck head coach) like backscreen triangle offense. But whenever the Knights went to it, Arlington went to a 3-2 zone on the fly. Andre Creighton hot early for Harding as he has their 1st 10 points. He ends his streak with a jumper at 11:40 that cuts the Arlington lead to 11-10. But Harding can't find the ocean from the shoreline as they only score 1 field goal in the next 9 minutes. Arlington takes advantage for a 18-2 run to bust this one open. 36-19 at the half in favor of Arlington. Creighton with 12 of the 19 for Harding.
Travon McKee with 8 points via layins off of turnovers and penetration early in the second half. 46-27 Phoenix with 13:35 left. Harding then goes cold again and after a long season, you can see the effects on the kids. Arlington goes on a 24-3 run over the next 9 minutes to put this one to mercy rule. 78-37 Arlington wins. With an early start and a quick game, we're out the door at a record time of 7:55 PM.
For Harding, their season will end next Friday in the section 4AAA quarterfinals. They're now 3-20 and they lose their 2 best kids from varsity and have a B squad that won't resupply them next year. Andre Creighton with 14 points. Ernest Mang with 4 3s and 11 of his team high 16 points in the 2nd half.
For Arlington, 4 players in double-figures with Travon Mckee's 19 leading the way. Deandre White with 17. Arlington may be 14-10 but they'll probably be the 4 seed in 4AAA behind 10-15 Hill-Murray via the Pioneers 74-64 win at Arlington on December 16th. That 4 vs 5 game is looking like it will be against Highland Park who they've beaten twice, 1 close, once in a blowout. They finish the season against Como Park on Friday.
To address the problem of that nice gym at Arlington going unused (assuming that's true for a minute), how about his wacky thought. Tuesday night league doubleheaders at Arlington and then league triple headers on Saturdays. Enough daydreaming, more work.
Harding starts with a very John Gray (Arlington assistant and former Breck head coach) like backscreen triangle offense. But whenever the Knights went to it, Arlington went to a 3-2 zone on the fly. Andre Creighton hot early for Harding as he has their 1st 10 points. He ends his streak with a jumper at 11:40 that cuts the Arlington lead to 11-10. But Harding can't find the ocean from the shoreline as they only score 1 field goal in the next 9 minutes. Arlington takes advantage for a 18-2 run to bust this one open. 36-19 at the half in favor of Arlington. Creighton with 12 of the 19 for Harding.
Travon McKee with 8 points via layins off of turnovers and penetration early in the second half. 46-27 Phoenix with 13:35 left. Harding then goes cold again and after a long season, you can see the effects on the kids. Arlington goes on a 24-3 run over the next 9 minutes to put this one to mercy rule. 78-37 Arlington wins. With an early start and a quick game, we're out the door at a record time of 7:55 PM.
For Harding, their season will end next Friday in the section 4AAA quarterfinals. They're now 3-20 and they lose their 2 best kids from varsity and have a B squad that won't resupply them next year. Andre Creighton with 14 points. Ernest Mang with 4 3s and 11 of his team high 16 points in the 2nd half.
For Arlington, 4 players in double-figures with Travon Mckee's 19 leading the way. Deandre White with 17. Arlington may be 14-10 but they'll probably be the 4 seed in 4AAA behind 10-15 Hill-Murray via the Pioneers 74-64 win at Arlington on December 16th. That 4 vs 5 game is looking like it will be against Highland Park who they've beaten twice, 1 close, once in a blowout. They finish the season against Como Park on Friday.
The Czar's 2009 Mr. Basketball Finalists
Here's who I would name as the 5 Mr. Basketball finalists (in no particular order) (Czar's Note 3/25: In this post, you'll see that I explain why I replace Williams with Jett in this list)
1) Nate Wolters - St. Cloud Tech. He'd be a stud for anybody in the metro and far more people would talk about him. He's as clutch as any player in the state (ask Tartan and Apollo) and as responsible for his team's success as anyone. He puts Tech in the ranks of the state's elite.
2) Sam Dower - Osseo. Without him, Osseo is a nice team. With him, Osseo is one of the best teams in the state. With his ability to block shots and score almost at will inside against most opponents. His projected game against Cooper in the 5AAAA section final could be a big factor in determining if he's a serious contender for the award. Speaking of Cooper...
3) Rodney Williams Jr - Robbinsdale Cooper. Wolters and Dower are more valuable to their teams because Cooper is stacked with talent, but just the threat of a Rodney dunk changes game plans. I personally would have the Rodney rules, like Chuck Daly had the Jordan rules. But does a blowout loss to Hopkins hurt his chances? Speaking of Hopkins...
4) Royce White - Hopkins. Top player on the top team and the most talented player in the state. While he has a history, to Royce's credit that hasn't been an issue this year. Therefore he earns a spot on this list. Does his performance in a win against #2 give him an advantage over...
5) Mike Bruesewitz - Henry Sibley. The player that takes the Warriors to the top level. The reason why Sibley is the 1 team with a legitimate chance to beat Hopkins. A great leader and do everything player.
1) Nate Wolters - St. Cloud Tech. He'd be a stud for anybody in the metro and far more people would talk about him. He's as clutch as any player in the state (ask Tartan and Apollo) and as responsible for his team's success as anyone. He puts Tech in the ranks of the state's elite.
2) Sam Dower - Osseo. Without him, Osseo is a nice team. With him, Osseo is one of the best teams in the state. With his ability to block shots and score almost at will inside against most opponents. His projected game against Cooper in the 5AAAA section final could be a big factor in determining if he's a serious contender for the award. Speaking of Cooper...
3) Rodney Williams Jr - Robbinsdale Cooper. Wolters and Dower are more valuable to their teams because Cooper is stacked with talent, but just the threat of a Rodney dunk changes game plans. I personally would have the Rodney rules, like Chuck Daly had the Jordan rules. But does a blowout loss to Hopkins hurt his chances? Speaking of Hopkins...
4) Royce White - Hopkins. Top player on the top team and the most talented player in the state. While he has a history, to Royce's credit that hasn't been an issue this year. Therefore he earns a spot on this list. Does his performance in a win against #2 give him an advantage over...
5) Mike Bruesewitz - Henry Sibley. The player that takes the Warriors to the top level. The reason why Sibley is the 1 team with a legitimate chance to beat Hopkins. A great leader and do everything player.
Class AAA and AAAA outstate section predictions
Labels:
08-09 Playoff Previews
This is the 3rd and final installment of my outstate section predictions. If you missed the small school predictions, use these links.
Now on to the big schools.
Class AAA
Section 1: This will be a interesting section to watch with Austin having a very good year, Connor O'Brien and Danny Geiger being a formidable duo at New Prague and the highest power ranking of the group (but 3rd best record) goes to always tough St. Thomas Academy. 3 teams, 3 leagues, always a dilemma. New Prague hammered Austin by 25 earlier in the year. I'll take New Prague to beat both teams on their way to the section title as I'm rooting for the heart-wrenching story of them winning one for their fallen coach. No Jake Syzmanski for STA really hurts their cause against New Prague as they could use his defense on Geiger. Geiger is the straw that stirs the drink in their dribble-drive motion.
Section 2: In a word, brutal. Any of the top 4 seeds could win it, but Mankato West is on another level so I'll take them. The semifinals will be must see games with Worthington, Marshall and Willmar.
Section 5: Very open section. Monticello likely the #1 seed with their 18 point win over Annandale last night. But they've lost to Rogers and have to face the Royals again to end the season. Both wins over STMA are close and STMA has 2 close wins over Rogers. Burke Lendl and Tony Cain Rogers give Rogers an inside advantage but tourney time means good guard play which STMA and Monticello both have. STMA made it last year, let's take them again behind the point guard play of Jason Dehmer and shooting from Kevin Nelson.
Section 7: Cloquet got blown out by Grand Rapids to start the season and then thanks to 18 and 14 from Chad Calcaterra only lost by 5 last night at home to the Thunderhawks. I'd love to see Cloquet pull the upset to see Calcaterra make a state trip and hear the name RaRa Jones, but that has to wait a year. Grand Rapids has too much experience and Cloquet's guards aren't up to par yet.
Section 8: The easy pick here is Apollo and for good reason as Andre Garth is on another level. Add in a talented group of sophs and this should be a no-brainer. But watch out for Little Falls, they've lost 2 tough ones to Apollo this season and remember that this is also what happened last season when Little Falls pulled the 62-60 upset.
Class AAAA
Section 1: Winona is on fire right now and they're no better than 4th in line right now. Farmington, Owatonna and Northfield are all going to be tough outs. Looking like a dynamite semifinal rematch between Owatonna and Northfield. Farmington on fire right now winning 12 of 13 after a 6-5 start (including a close loss at Owatonna). I like Owatonna here as they have the most pieces and the toughest matchup in the section, Kyle Melcher. But they'll probably have to get thru a Northfield team that already beat them this season.
Section 8: St. Cloud Tech looks like an obvious choice but hold the phone. Buffalo has won 17 of 18 and that loss was to Cooper after being up 17 with 10 minutes left. But they went 1-5 vs the Northwest Suburban before that including a 52-41 loss to my sleeper in the section, Maple Grove. The Crimson have beaten Grand Rapids and Osseo (rematch tonight) and played Henry Sibley and St. Paul Johnson very tough in the Bethel Holiday Tournament. MG is tough inside with Josh Pedretti and Brett Torrence amongst the group of bodies up front and they have solid guard play from Alex Geisenhoff and Matt Christenson. I think they beat Buffalo again in the 2 vs 3 semifinal and give Tech major heartburn before bowing out to clutch play down the stretch from Nate Wolters.
Now on to the big schools.
Class AAA
Section 1: This will be a interesting section to watch with Austin having a very good year, Connor O'Brien and Danny Geiger being a formidable duo at New Prague and the highest power ranking of the group (but 3rd best record) goes to always tough St. Thomas Academy. 3 teams, 3 leagues, always a dilemma. New Prague hammered Austin by 25 earlier in the year. I'll take New Prague to beat both teams on their way to the section title as I'm rooting for the heart-wrenching story of them winning one for their fallen coach. No Jake Syzmanski for STA really hurts their cause against New Prague as they could use his defense on Geiger. Geiger is the straw that stirs the drink in their dribble-drive motion.
Section 2: In a word, brutal. Any of the top 4 seeds could win it, but Mankato West is on another level so I'll take them. The semifinals will be must see games with Worthington, Marshall and Willmar.
Section 5: Very open section. Monticello likely the #1 seed with their 18 point win over Annandale last night. But they've lost to Rogers and have to face the Royals again to end the season. Both wins over STMA are close and STMA has 2 close wins over Rogers. Burke Lendl and Tony Cain Rogers give Rogers an inside advantage but tourney time means good guard play which STMA and Monticello both have. STMA made it last year, let's take them again behind the point guard play of Jason Dehmer and shooting from Kevin Nelson.
Section 7: Cloquet got blown out by Grand Rapids to start the season and then thanks to 18 and 14 from Chad Calcaterra only lost by 5 last night at home to the Thunderhawks. I'd love to see Cloquet pull the upset to see Calcaterra make a state trip and hear the name RaRa Jones, but that has to wait a year. Grand Rapids has too much experience and Cloquet's guards aren't up to par yet.
Section 8: The easy pick here is Apollo and for good reason as Andre Garth is on another level. Add in a talented group of sophs and this should be a no-brainer. But watch out for Little Falls, they've lost 2 tough ones to Apollo this season and remember that this is also what happened last season when Little Falls pulled the 62-60 upset.
Class AAAA
Section 1: Winona is on fire right now and they're no better than 4th in line right now. Farmington, Owatonna and Northfield are all going to be tough outs. Looking like a dynamite semifinal rematch between Owatonna and Northfield. Farmington on fire right now winning 12 of 13 after a 6-5 start (including a close loss at Owatonna). I like Owatonna here as they have the most pieces and the toughest matchup in the section, Kyle Melcher. But they'll probably have to get thru a Northfield team that already beat them this season.
Section 8: St. Cloud Tech looks like an obvious choice but hold the phone. Buffalo has won 17 of 18 and that loss was to Cooper after being up 17 with 10 minutes left. But they went 1-5 vs the Northwest Suburban before that including a 52-41 loss to my sleeper in the section, Maple Grove. The Crimson have beaten Grand Rapids and Osseo (rematch tonight) and played Henry Sibley and St. Paul Johnson very tough in the Bethel Holiday Tournament. MG is tough inside with Josh Pedretti and Brett Torrence amongst the group of bodies up front and they have solid guard play from Alex Geisenhoff and Matt Christenson. I think they beat Buffalo again in the 2 vs 3 semifinal and give Tech major heartburn before bowing out to clutch play down the stretch from Nate Wolters.
MCA survives Centaur Scare
The final week of the regular season in 08-09 takes me to Maranatha for a non-conference tilt with Brooklyn Center. An interesting night tonight for our friendly public address/timer guy. He introduces the zebras as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, HA. But then he goes after the BC cheerleaders for waving barely waving their pompoms behind the basket during MCA free throws. Not that I don't agree with his point of view, but it seemed really out of place for him to be the guy. That's what coaches and officials are for.
MCA out to a quick 6-0 lead in this battle of young point guards. MCA's frosh PG Darian Pittman finishes the run with a steal and layin. BC soph PG Freddie Young stops the run with a layup of his own. 11-10 MCA at the 11:53 mark before BC gets 7 in a row in the next 1:08. Very sloppy stretch there for MCA. But they show a 1-3-1 zone and go off on a 12-1 run over the next 6 minutes. BC survived some of that stretch with 4 bench guys on the floor so it could have been much worse. But the Centaurs find an answer for the zone and counter with their own 7-0 run over the last 4:47 of the half for a 27-23 halftime lead. In the battle of point guards, Freddie Young with 9 points on 4-8 shooting, Darian Pittman with 8 points on 2-5 FGs and only 4-8 FTs. Jay Higgins already with 10 rebounds.
11-2 MCA to start the 2nd half thanks to 7 Josh Hanson points and a huge block by Matt Eickmann. SaVaughn Jordan finishes the run with a putback and the foul. 34-29 MCA with 14:13 to play. Freddie Young with back to back triples in the Centaurs column. Another bucket forces an MCA timeout. A turnover for 1 bucket and a Shawn Edwards jumper force another MCA timeout 90 seconds later. 43-38 Centaurs with 9:30 left. Young then finds frosh Mahari Wilson with 7:45 left and its 49-40 BC after a 20-6 run over 6:28. But MCA won't go away at home. Pittman with a 3 from the left corner, Hanson with a blk that turns into a 3 point play for Jordan at the other end. That puts a spark in the MCA zone defense as they've played 1-3-1 most of the half. Young with 2 free throws at 5:37 for a 52-47 Brooklyn Center lead. Pittman with a drive for 2 and then Higgins with a 3 point play to tie it at 5:08 and this one has turned out to be a far better game than I anticipated.
The teams have an offensive drought but Wilson breaks that with a layup with 2:30 left. Higgins thru a player for a post 2 (flop/charge? probably a good no call). Then he steals an entry pass to the wing and hits Pittman for a layup and MCA leads 56-54 with 1:45 left. BC misses a layup at 1:15 but Jordan steps out of bounds against a trap with 53.6 left. Antone Darrington misses with 35 seconds left and may have been fouled. BC takes an awfully long time to foul before they send Pittman to the line with 15.1 left. He misses the front end and BC has the ball in the front court after a timeout with 10.3 left. Against the 1-3-1 they elect to start Young on top, enter to the wing and then dribble away attempting to throw back to him in the corner. He gets an OK look that goes long. Wessah Teah runs it down and throws up the 10 foot fade away at the horn and its good to tie the game at 56. BC celebrating like they won the game and I can't blame them. Mighty mo is with them for the OT.
To the OT, Hanson with a putback after a set play on the tip missed a layin. Higgins ends up with Young on him in the post and that earns him 2 FTs with 2:55 left in the OT. 60-56 MCA. Edwards with a tipin at 2:30 to cut the lead to 2. MCA travels on the next possession. Edwards with a nice cut and gets fouled. He makes 1 of 2 with 1:57 left, 60-59 MCA. Pittman banks home a runner from outside the left box with 1:28 left. Darrington goes baseline for 2 with 1:05 left. 62-61 MCA. MCA goes weave to kill the clock and they almost turn it over before calling time with 33.4 left. Very strange that they call a high screen/roll for Pittman and he throws up a tough scoop shot that's no good, but Hanson grabs it and makes 1 of 2 FTs with 24.5 left and we're back on an even number. Young penetrates and finds Darrington with 12 seconds left to tie. MCA right back the other way. Higgins misses a tough shot from the right baseline but Hanson cleans that up too and converts the bunny with 2.2 left. Young no good from halfcourt after a timeout. MCA survives a major scare 65-63.
For Brooklyn Center, Freddie Young leads the way with 17 points. I had him unofficially 6-13 from the floor with 3 assists. Shawn Edwards with 14 points and 6 rebounds as their 1 inside presence. Yuriy Malashenko from Jordan may go for 2o boards on them tomorrow in a possible 4AA west preview game. But their quickness did bother MCA and caused problems for them getting into their offense.
For Maranatha, Josh Hanson with the 2 clutch plays late. He finishes with 18 points and I had him for 8 rebounds. Darian Pittman with 18 points (5-12 FTs though, can't have that from a PG). Jay Higgins with 11 points and 16 rebounds on my sheet. SaVaughn Jordan is only listed at 6'0, but he was a very effective power forward on this night. I had him for 14 points and 10 rebounds. I was surprised at how much zone they played, specifically 1-3-1 with some 1-2-2 and 2-3 thrown in. In the past they've used an amoeba like 1-1-3. MCA only loses 1 senior and they have only 2 juniors of note. Very young all the way around. This preserves their #1 seed in the west half of section 4A. (BTW, how does Spectrum get sent to the east subsection when PACT is in the west?)
MCA out to a quick 6-0 lead in this battle of young point guards. MCA's frosh PG Darian Pittman finishes the run with a steal and layin. BC soph PG Freddie Young stops the run with a layup of his own. 11-10 MCA at the 11:53 mark before BC gets 7 in a row in the next 1:08. Very sloppy stretch there for MCA. But they show a 1-3-1 zone and go off on a 12-1 run over the next 6 minutes. BC survived some of that stretch with 4 bench guys on the floor so it could have been much worse. But the Centaurs find an answer for the zone and counter with their own 7-0 run over the last 4:47 of the half for a 27-23 halftime lead. In the battle of point guards, Freddie Young with 9 points on 4-8 shooting, Darian Pittman with 8 points on 2-5 FGs and only 4-8 FTs. Jay Higgins already with 10 rebounds.
11-2 MCA to start the 2nd half thanks to 7 Josh Hanson points and a huge block by Matt Eickmann. SaVaughn Jordan finishes the run with a putback and the foul. 34-29 MCA with 14:13 to play. Freddie Young with back to back triples in the Centaurs column. Another bucket forces an MCA timeout. A turnover for 1 bucket and a Shawn Edwards jumper force another MCA timeout 90 seconds later. 43-38 Centaurs with 9:30 left. Young then finds frosh Mahari Wilson with 7:45 left and its 49-40 BC after a 20-6 run over 6:28. But MCA won't go away at home. Pittman with a 3 from the left corner, Hanson with a blk that turns into a 3 point play for Jordan at the other end. That puts a spark in the MCA zone defense as they've played 1-3-1 most of the half. Young with 2 free throws at 5:37 for a 52-47 Brooklyn Center lead. Pittman with a drive for 2 and then Higgins with a 3 point play to tie it at 5:08 and this one has turned out to be a far better game than I anticipated.
The teams have an offensive drought but Wilson breaks that with a layup with 2:30 left. Higgins thru a player for a post 2 (flop/charge? probably a good no call). Then he steals an entry pass to the wing and hits Pittman for a layup and MCA leads 56-54 with 1:45 left. BC misses a layup at 1:15 but Jordan steps out of bounds against a trap with 53.6 left. Antone Darrington misses with 35 seconds left and may have been fouled. BC takes an awfully long time to foul before they send Pittman to the line with 15.1 left. He misses the front end and BC has the ball in the front court after a timeout with 10.3 left. Against the 1-3-1 they elect to start Young on top, enter to the wing and then dribble away attempting to throw back to him in the corner. He gets an OK look that goes long. Wessah Teah runs it down and throws up the 10 foot fade away at the horn and its good to tie the game at 56. BC celebrating like they won the game and I can't blame them. Mighty mo is with them for the OT.
To the OT, Hanson with a putback after a set play on the tip missed a layin. Higgins ends up with Young on him in the post and that earns him 2 FTs with 2:55 left in the OT. 60-56 MCA. Edwards with a tipin at 2:30 to cut the lead to 2. MCA travels on the next possession. Edwards with a nice cut and gets fouled. He makes 1 of 2 with 1:57 left, 60-59 MCA. Pittman banks home a runner from outside the left box with 1:28 left. Darrington goes baseline for 2 with 1:05 left. 62-61 MCA. MCA goes weave to kill the clock and they almost turn it over before calling time with 33.4 left. Very strange that they call a high screen/roll for Pittman and he throws up a tough scoop shot that's no good, but Hanson grabs it and makes 1 of 2 FTs with 24.5 left and we're back on an even number. Young penetrates and finds Darrington with 12 seconds left to tie. MCA right back the other way. Higgins misses a tough shot from the right baseline but Hanson cleans that up too and converts the bunny with 2.2 left. Young no good from halfcourt after a timeout. MCA survives a major scare 65-63.
For Brooklyn Center, Freddie Young leads the way with 17 points. I had him unofficially 6-13 from the floor with 3 assists. Shawn Edwards with 14 points and 6 rebounds as their 1 inside presence. Yuriy Malashenko from Jordan may go for 2o boards on them tomorrow in a possible 4AA west preview game. But their quickness did bother MCA and caused problems for them getting into their offense.
For Maranatha, Josh Hanson with the 2 clutch plays late. He finishes with 18 points and I had him for 8 rebounds. Darian Pittman with 18 points (5-12 FTs though, can't have that from a PG). Jay Higgins with 11 points and 16 rebounds on my sheet. SaVaughn Jordan is only listed at 6'0, but he was a very effective power forward on this night. I had him for 14 points and 10 rebounds. I was surprised at how much zone they played, specifically 1-3-1 with some 1-2-2 and 2-3 thrown in. In the past they've used an amoeba like 1-1-3. MCA only loses 1 senior and they have only 2 juniors of note. Very young all the way around. This preserves their #1 seed in the west half of section 4A. (BTW, how does Spectrum get sent to the east subsection when PACT is in the west?)
Class AA outstate section predictions
Labels:
08-09 Playoff Previews
If you missed part 1 of my 3 part series on outstate section predictions, you can read my class A predictions here. Part 2 covers the class AA outstate sections.
Class AA
Section 1: Plainview-Elgin-Millville has to be the favorite and I'll pick them for state. The west half should be very interesting. Yes #1 seed Rochester Lourdes beat #2 Stewartville twice, but I think Stewartville comes out of that subsection.
Section 2: Blah. This team would be a #8 team at state if AA were seeded. Give me the #2 seed out of the east Byron to win this section.
Section 3: I think there's plenty of illusion in this section as I see good records with weak schedules. Martin County West is the favorite in the south. Give me Minnesota Valley Lutheran and that partially because I missed out on the great St. Croix Lutheran vs MVL game earlier in the year.
Section 5: Sibley East has to be the pick, but watch out for Norwood-Young America who just beat Sibley East last week. HLWW has beaten Pierz once so I'll take them in the north half.
Section 6: I'll take Breckenridge after they survive a tough subsection with Morris and Staples-Motley. Albany has won 16 of 17 on the other side including 2 over section and conference rival (and Defending State Champ) New London-Spicer. I'll take Albany on the other side.
Section 7: Mora could be dangerous in the Braham and Moose Lake/Willow River half. These 3 teams went 1-1 in round robin play. In the other half, Virginia and Mesabi East split 2 close regular season games. The rubber match will determine that subsection. Give me Mesabi East to beat Braham again this season and break the Bombers streak of state trips.
Section 8: Easiest pick of these as Pelican Rapids is on another level from most teams in AA. Pequot Lakes handed Crosby-Ironton 1 of their 3 losses, that looks like a very good subsection final on the other side. UND recruit Brandon Brekke lurks in the Pelican Rapids half for East Grand Forks.
Class AA
Section 1: Plainview-Elgin-Millville has to be the favorite and I'll pick them for state. The west half should be very interesting. Yes #1 seed Rochester Lourdes beat #2 Stewartville twice, but I think Stewartville comes out of that subsection.
Section 2: Blah. This team would be a #8 team at state if AA were seeded. Give me the #2 seed out of the east Byron to win this section.
Section 3: I think there's plenty of illusion in this section as I see good records with weak schedules. Martin County West is the favorite in the south. Give me Minnesota Valley Lutheran and that partially because I missed out on the great St. Croix Lutheran vs MVL game earlier in the year.
Section 5: Sibley East has to be the pick, but watch out for Norwood-Young America who just beat Sibley East last week. HLWW has beaten Pierz once so I'll take them in the north half.
Section 6: I'll take Breckenridge after they survive a tough subsection with Morris and Staples-Motley. Albany has won 16 of 17 on the other side including 2 over section and conference rival (and Defending State Champ) New London-Spicer. I'll take Albany on the other side.
Section 7: Mora could be dangerous in the Braham and Moose Lake/Willow River half. These 3 teams went 1-1 in round robin play. In the other half, Virginia and Mesabi East split 2 close regular season games. The rubber match will determine that subsection. Give me Mesabi East to beat Braham again this season and break the Bombers streak of state trips.
Section 8: Easiest pick of these as Pelican Rapids is on another level from most teams in AA. Pequot Lakes handed Crosby-Ironton 1 of their 3 losses, that looks like a very good subsection final on the other side. UND recruit Brandon Brekke lurks in the Pelican Rapids half for East Grand Forks.
Class A outstate section predictions
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08-09 Playoff Previews
Next weekend I'll go thru the 11 metro sections that I pay attention to in detail. But the southern part of the state kicks off this week. Therefore, as a service to ignorance everywhere, I'm starting a 3 part series with my outstate predictions. We'll take care of 7 sections at a time starting with 7 class A sections.
Class A
Section1: This should come down to Spring Grove vs Bethlehem Academy. Bethlehem reminds me of all the years that Maranatha made the section final but didn't win. I think this is the year. Give me Bethlehem.
Section 2: Also straightforward with Cedar Mountain/Comfrey on 1 side and Granada-Huntley-East Chain on the other. I'm taking CMC here as I think they've faced a better schedule and that will help them in this one.
Section 3: Adrian lost a couple of close ones to Ellsworth and its tough to beat a team 3 times. Whoever wins the subsection goes to state. I'll take Ellsworth via their experience.
Section 5: This will come down to the rubber match in the west subsection between Bertha-Hewitt and Sebeka. Sebeka won the last meeting at home handly after a 3 point loss on the road. I'll take Sebeka.
Section 6: Winner will come out of the north. I'll take Park Christian but watch out for Ada-Borup and Norman County East.
Section 7: Chisholm by default
Section 8: This section will be interesting. Kittson County Central is dangerous in the west. I'm going out on a limb here. Give me Red Lake here.
Coming tomorrow 7 Class AA outstate predictions followed by AAA and AAAA later in the week.
Class A
Section1: This should come down to Spring Grove vs Bethlehem Academy. Bethlehem reminds me of all the years that Maranatha made the section final but didn't win. I think this is the year. Give me Bethlehem.
Section 2: Also straightforward with Cedar Mountain/Comfrey on 1 side and Granada-Huntley-East Chain on the other. I'm taking CMC here as I think they've faced a better schedule and that will help them in this one.
Section 3: Adrian lost a couple of close ones to Ellsworth and its tough to beat a team 3 times. Whoever wins the subsection goes to state. I'll take Ellsworth via their experience.
Section 5: This will come down to the rubber match in the west subsection between Bertha-Hewitt and Sebeka. Sebeka won the last meeting at home handly after a 3 point loss on the road. I'll take Sebeka.
Section 6: Winner will come out of the north. I'll take Park Christian but watch out for Ada-Borup and Norman County East.
Section 7: Chisholm by default
Section 8: This section will be interesting. Kittson County Central is dangerous in the west. I'm going out on a limb here. Give me Red Lake here.
Coming tomorrow 7 Class AA outstate predictions followed by AAA and AAAA later in the week.
Delano lives at the charity stripe
Westward ho as I make the trip to Delano. With a big section wrestling event in the main athletic venue, we're stuck in the back at the "old" gym. This feels like an elementary school game with a bigger set of bleachers (only 1 side with the wall right up against the far sideline). All of the city coaches from section 6AAA are in the building watching along with some of the players from Mound-Westonka. Waconia, you have to feel left out of this one.
Darius Clare of Delano with a putback at the 15:10 mark for an early 5-1 Tigers lead. Slow pace to this one with Delano playing zone and their motion offense on the other end. 5 in a row from Holy Angels includes a Cole Frechette bomb for an 8-7 Holy Angels lead at 12:30. The teams proceed to trade the lead by 1 until Christian Larson makes 2 FTs at the 3:54 mark for a 16-13 Holy Angels lead. Darius Clare gone to the bench at the 4:21 mark. Kyle Kreklow with a free throw and a triple. 17-16 Delano at the 3 minute mark. Joey Offerdahl puts back a miss and its 22-20 Delano at the half. Offerdahl with 7, Kreklow with 6 points and 7 rebounds.
Jay Stevens with a hoop and a Joe Silhaeck layin at the 14:30 mark (remember that) push the Delano lead to 29-22. Bonzi Wells (Sahr Ngekia) with a 2 and a putback and Tyler Emanuel with a 3 for Holy Angels in an 8-1 run to tie the game at 30 with 10:45 remaining. Mike Yahnke with 3 of 4 FTs and 2 bonus FTs from Kyle Kreklow at 9:20 make it 35-30 Delano. Clare with 2 FTs at 7:26 before he picks up his 4th foul 10 seconds later. 37-30 Delano. Larson with a layup and 2 FTs for AHA to cut the Delano lead to 40-36 with 4:21 remaining. Kreklow 3 of 4 from the stripe, 43-36 with 2:29 to play. Center Andy Jirik banks in a 17 foot jumper with 1:45 remaining and that demonstrates the level of offense in this one. 43-38 Delano. Clare with 2 FTs with 36 seconds left for a 47-41 Delano lead. Tyler Emanuel counters with a 3 with 27 seconds left to cut the lead in half. Jay Stevens fouled immediately and he bounces in the 1st free throw. He misses the 2nd but Mike Yahnke tips out the miss for Delano. Stevens fouled again with 20 seconds left and he misses both. AHA still has life. Larson with 1 of 2 FTs with 12 seconds left and RD Brown gets the rebound and is fouled. 48-45 Delano with 10 seconds left. Brown misses both free throws though. Kreklow makes 2 with 9 seconds left to seal it. Delano wins 50-47.
For Holy Angels, this loss breaks a 4 game winning streak after a 3-16 start. Unfortunately, they'll likely draw Washburn in the 1st round of 6AAA play. Washburn beat them at AHA 78-49 on January 20th but this is a different AHA team now. Tyler Emanuel with 11 points, Andy Jirik with 10 points.
For Delano, they're now 19-3 and are still 1 game behind Waconia for 2nd in the Wright County (teams split the season series and have very close QRFs). Delano with only 2 field goals in the entire 2nd half and they both came in a 30 second stretch. No FGs in the last 14:30. 27 of their 50 points and 24 of 28 in the 2nd half came via FTs. Kyle Kreklow with 15 points on 12-18 FTs (27-42 FTs for the team). Delano with a big lineup for the stretch run. This is a nice way to use their talent. 6'7 Kyle Kreklow at the point, 6'4 leaper Darius Clare at the 3, 6'7 Mike Yahnke at the 4 and 6'7 Joey Offerdahl in the middle with a guard at the 2. I believe Yahnke was the only bench player who played for them in this one. But when you play 2-3 or 1-3-1 zone all night, you can shorten the bench.
Seeding in section 6AAA will be very interesting. Take Waconia and Delano. Those 2 teams will be very interesting as Waconia is 17-6 and 1 game ahead of 19-3 Delano in the Wright County with both teams being almost equal in the QRF. I'm guessing they go 2 and 3 (Waconia #2) with a DLS vs BSM rematch in the 4 vs 5 game (read about the 1st meeting here). Orono, Mound-Westonka and AHA would be 6-8 if I had to seed it today. BSM is #12 in the QRF and if they beat Cooper on Friday, who knows if something could change. It does seem somewhat criminal to put the #12 QRF team as a 5 seed though. That said, there are 3 in front of them and DLS while behind, did win the 1st matchup at BSM rather easily but Peter Crawford didn't play.
Darius Clare of Delano with a putback at the 15:10 mark for an early 5-1 Tigers lead. Slow pace to this one with Delano playing zone and their motion offense on the other end. 5 in a row from Holy Angels includes a Cole Frechette bomb for an 8-7 Holy Angels lead at 12:30. The teams proceed to trade the lead by 1 until Christian Larson makes 2 FTs at the 3:54 mark for a 16-13 Holy Angels lead. Darius Clare gone to the bench at the 4:21 mark. Kyle Kreklow with a free throw and a triple. 17-16 Delano at the 3 minute mark. Joey Offerdahl puts back a miss and its 22-20 Delano at the half. Offerdahl with 7, Kreklow with 6 points and 7 rebounds.
Jay Stevens with a hoop and a Joe Silhaeck layin at the 14:30 mark (remember that) push the Delano lead to 29-22. Bonzi Wells (Sahr Ngekia) with a 2 and a putback and Tyler Emanuel with a 3 for Holy Angels in an 8-1 run to tie the game at 30 with 10:45 remaining. Mike Yahnke with 3 of 4 FTs and 2 bonus FTs from Kyle Kreklow at 9:20 make it 35-30 Delano. Clare with 2 FTs at 7:26 before he picks up his 4th foul 10 seconds later. 37-30 Delano. Larson with a layup and 2 FTs for AHA to cut the Delano lead to 40-36 with 4:21 remaining. Kreklow 3 of 4 from the stripe, 43-36 with 2:29 to play. Center Andy Jirik banks in a 17 foot jumper with 1:45 remaining and that demonstrates the level of offense in this one. 43-38 Delano. Clare with 2 FTs with 36 seconds left for a 47-41 Delano lead. Tyler Emanuel counters with a 3 with 27 seconds left to cut the lead in half. Jay Stevens fouled immediately and he bounces in the 1st free throw. He misses the 2nd but Mike Yahnke tips out the miss for Delano. Stevens fouled again with 20 seconds left and he misses both. AHA still has life. Larson with 1 of 2 FTs with 12 seconds left and RD Brown gets the rebound and is fouled. 48-45 Delano with 10 seconds left. Brown misses both free throws though. Kreklow makes 2 with 9 seconds left to seal it. Delano wins 50-47.
For Holy Angels, this loss breaks a 4 game winning streak after a 3-16 start. Unfortunately, they'll likely draw Washburn in the 1st round of 6AAA play. Washburn beat them at AHA 78-49 on January 20th but this is a different AHA team now. Tyler Emanuel with 11 points, Andy Jirik with 10 points.
For Delano, they're now 19-3 and are still 1 game behind Waconia for 2nd in the Wright County (teams split the season series and have very close QRFs). Delano with only 2 field goals in the entire 2nd half and they both came in a 30 second stretch. No FGs in the last 14:30. 27 of their 50 points and 24 of 28 in the 2nd half came via FTs. Kyle Kreklow with 15 points on 12-18 FTs (27-42 FTs for the team). Delano with a big lineup for the stretch run. This is a nice way to use their talent. 6'7 Kyle Kreklow at the point, 6'4 leaper Darius Clare at the 3, 6'7 Mike Yahnke at the 4 and 6'7 Joey Offerdahl in the middle with a guard at the 2. I believe Yahnke was the only bench player who played for them in this one. But when you play 2-3 or 1-3-1 zone all night, you can shorten the bench.
Seeding in section 6AAA will be very interesting. Take Waconia and Delano. Those 2 teams will be very interesting as Waconia is 17-6 and 1 game ahead of 19-3 Delano in the Wright County with both teams being almost equal in the QRF. I'm guessing they go 2 and 3 (Waconia #2) with a DLS vs BSM rematch in the 4 vs 5 game (read about the 1st meeting here). Orono, Mound-Westonka and AHA would be 6-8 if I had to seed it today. BSM is #12 in the QRF and if they beat Cooper on Friday, who knows if something could change. It does seem somewhat criminal to put the #12 QRF team as a 5 seed though. That said, there are 3 in front of them and DLS while behind, did win the 1st matchup at BSM rather easily but Peter Crawford didn't play.
Lakeville North survives late Raiders scare
To Lakeville North I go for a non-conference tilt with Cretin-Derham Hall. CDH a very different team since I last saw them as Marcus Binns and Jonathan Kinsel are no longer on the roster and Elliot Owusu was in street clothes. Interesting that Bemidji State signee David Berthene came off the bench for Lakeville North.
Seantrel Henderson with 6 points early including a wide open layin on a pick and roll where the Panthers defense got totally lost. Tied at 11 at the 12:30 mark. The Panthers then get it going. CJ Johnson off the bench for 3, Tyler Swanson with a couple of hoops and Thomas Clarkin off the bench with a pair of triples. 20-4 Panthers run over 5:30. 31-15 Lakeville North with 7 minutes to play in the half. Minimal offense the rest of the half as its 37-20 Lakeville North at halftime. Seantrel Henderson with 10 of the 20 points for CDH. Tyler Swanson and Chris Orgas with 8 each.
Dajon Newell buries a 3 for the Panthers at 14:05 to push the lead to 20. CDH starts to chip away. They get 7 in a row before Clay Horne picks up his 4th foul with 11:07 to play. The lead is 15, 46-31 with 10 minutes left. Henderson with a putback, post up and a pair of free throws as he finishes off a stretch of scoring all 8 points for CDH. 48-37 when Horne returns at 7:57. Then David Bettenburg comes to life for the Raiders. He makes a floater and then a nice turnaround in the lane before he buries a triple for 7 in a row. 50-44 Lakeville North at 5:50 and they need a timeout after a 20-6 CDH spurt over 8 minutes. After a Tyler Swanson bucket, Gus Gehlen with a jumper and Jake Frey converts a Henderson block of Orgas into a 3 ball. 52-49 Panthers up with 4:30 to play and we've got a good going.
CJ Johnson with a jumper for 2 and then Orgas cleans up a bad shot by Johnson at 3:20 and the lead is back to 7 for Lakeville North. Henderson with another postup to cut it to 5. 57-52 as Lakeville North spreads the floor to a delay game. A Panther drives to the hoop and Henderson sends it back again. Bettenburg clutch with another triple and its down to a 2 point game. 57-55 Lakeville North with 59.4 left. A great sideline inbound play gives Swanson a layup from Orgas with 43 seconds left. Bettenburg misses a triple, but then redeems himself with a steal for a 3 with 20 seconds left. 59-58 Lakeville North. Aaron Gallegos fouled and calmly drains both freebies with 14 seconds left. 9.8 left and CDH wants their last timeout as they get the ball to halfcourt. Out of the timeout, Lakeville North elects to foul. Very interesting. Gus Gehlen makes 1 and then misses the 2nd intentionally with 5 seconds left. Fred Newell rebounds but misses the front end, Bettenburg gets the ball to halfcourt and heaves. Off the iron and no good at the horn. Lakeville North hangs on for a 61-59 win.
For Cretin-Derham Hall, disappointing effort in the 1st half as they got outhustled. Seantrel Henderson with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 2 big 2nd half blocks on my sheet. David Bettenburg with all 13 of his points in the 2nd half. Interesting that CDH played a passive 2-3 zone most of the game. They host surging Stillwater in their final game of the regular season on Friday. This game could also determine who hosts the 4 vs 5 game between the teams in section 4AAAA.
For Lakeville North, they played a ton of people early. Maybe it went on cruise control a little early, but they struggled closing teams out as they've blown other big leads this season. Tyler Swanson leads the way with 14 points. Chris Orgas with 11 points as the only other player in double figures for the Panthers. David Berthene with 8 points off the bench. They end their regular season vs woeful Kennedy on Tuesday. They'll be the top seed in section 3AAAA. Burnsville and Eastview are right behind them and both have 1 point wins over Panthers this season.
Seantrel Henderson with 6 points early including a wide open layin on a pick and roll where the Panthers defense got totally lost. Tied at 11 at the 12:30 mark. The Panthers then get it going. CJ Johnson off the bench for 3, Tyler Swanson with a couple of hoops and Thomas Clarkin off the bench with a pair of triples. 20-4 Panthers run over 5:30. 31-15 Lakeville North with 7 minutes to play in the half. Minimal offense the rest of the half as its 37-20 Lakeville North at halftime. Seantrel Henderson with 10 of the 20 points for CDH. Tyler Swanson and Chris Orgas with 8 each.
Dajon Newell buries a 3 for the Panthers at 14:05 to push the lead to 20. CDH starts to chip away. They get 7 in a row before Clay Horne picks up his 4th foul with 11:07 to play. The lead is 15, 46-31 with 10 minutes left. Henderson with a putback, post up and a pair of free throws as he finishes off a stretch of scoring all 8 points for CDH. 48-37 when Horne returns at 7:57. Then David Bettenburg comes to life for the Raiders. He makes a floater and then a nice turnaround in the lane before he buries a triple for 7 in a row. 50-44 Lakeville North at 5:50 and they need a timeout after a 20-6 CDH spurt over 8 minutes. After a Tyler Swanson bucket, Gus Gehlen with a jumper and Jake Frey converts a Henderson block of Orgas into a 3 ball. 52-49 Panthers up with 4:30 to play and we've got a good going.
CJ Johnson with a jumper for 2 and then Orgas cleans up a bad shot by Johnson at 3:20 and the lead is back to 7 for Lakeville North. Henderson with another postup to cut it to 5. 57-52 as Lakeville North spreads the floor to a delay game. A Panther drives to the hoop and Henderson sends it back again. Bettenburg clutch with another triple and its down to a 2 point game. 57-55 Lakeville North with 59.4 left. A great sideline inbound play gives Swanson a layup from Orgas with 43 seconds left. Bettenburg misses a triple, but then redeems himself with a steal for a 3 with 20 seconds left. 59-58 Lakeville North. Aaron Gallegos fouled and calmly drains both freebies with 14 seconds left. 9.8 left and CDH wants their last timeout as they get the ball to halfcourt. Out of the timeout, Lakeville North elects to foul. Very interesting. Gus Gehlen makes 1 and then misses the 2nd intentionally with 5 seconds left. Fred Newell rebounds but misses the front end, Bettenburg gets the ball to halfcourt and heaves. Off the iron and no good at the horn. Lakeville North hangs on for a 61-59 win.
For Cretin-Derham Hall, disappointing effort in the 1st half as they got outhustled. Seantrel Henderson with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 2 big 2nd half blocks on my sheet. David Bettenburg with all 13 of his points in the 2nd half. Interesting that CDH played a passive 2-3 zone most of the game. They host surging Stillwater in their final game of the regular season on Friday. This game could also determine who hosts the 4 vs 5 game between the teams in section 4AAAA.
For Lakeville North, they played a ton of people early. Maybe it went on cruise control a little early, but they struggled closing teams out as they've blown other big leads this season. Tyler Swanson leads the way with 14 points. Chris Orgas with 11 points as the only other player in double figures for the Panthers. David Berthene with 8 points off the bench. They end their regular season vs woeful Kennedy on Tuesday. They'll be the top seed in section 3AAAA. Burnsville and Eastview are right behind them and both have 1 point wins over Panthers this season.
Cooper at Spring Lake Park Thoughts
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Rodney Williams
So after Cooper won the 1st meeting 85-81, it looked like the North Suburban could come down to this game. SLP had only lost 1 game out of 13 (the Cooper game) before losing back to back games over the last week to North Suburban contenders BSM (sans Peter Crawford) and Columbia Heights. So much for the conference race. But Rene Pulley is in the building for the 2nd half (probably watched the 1st half of Heights and Fridley just down the street) so life is all good despite only having 2 officials for this one.
Interesting matchups early as Joe Bright gets the assignment on SLP's Sean Jensen. Jensen gets the task of defending Rodney Williams. Rodney opens with a loose ball for a dunk, follows with 2 free throws and then makes the 3 ball in the side pocket for 7 quick points. Timeout Spring Lake Park as they're down 14-6 3 minutes into the game. Spring Lake Park with a 9-2 run out of the timeout and they do it in 2:20. Jensen with an assist and then a tip in to conclude the run. Cooper cranks up the running game as they go off for a 18-2 run over 5 and a half minutes. Kenquane Brown, Joe Bright and Quincy Bethea all with triples during the run. Cooper coach Dave Johnson telling his team to not dribble, so Rodney Williams promptly drives for 2. He then gets a steal and looks for the showtime breakaway dunk but Tim Weigelt prevents that with the hard foul and Joe Bright isn't happy about it. After the zebras get together, its an intentional foul. Rodney misses the 2 freebies and on the possession he takes his anger out on a 1 handed follow dunk that would have been amazing had he made it. Jamal Roberts off the bench does score on the post while Cooper retains the ball. The lead has ballooned to 38-20 with 4:45 left in the half. Y (Tyler Ylvisaker) with 3 of SLPs 5 triples in the half to keep the Panthers from getting totally blown out. 51-35 Hawks at the half. Sean Jensen with 6 points on 3-12 shooting on my sheet. Elijah Sabah with 7 points for SLP. 4 players with 8 or more for Cooper. Rodney Williams with 9 points on 3-5 shooting and 3 blocks.
No early traction for SLP. Rodney with a short jumper and Bright with a postup on Jensen and the lead is 17 at 15:55. 2 SLP buckets countered by a Bethea 3. Sabah with a triple and then a bad shot. Cooper runs out for a Bethea layup and its 69-51 Hawks with 11:05 to play. SLP with some half court traps now. That's part of a 13-4 SLP run that Y ends with a 3. 73-64 Cooper with 7:33 left and somehow this game is back to being competitive. Bright with a kick out of the post to Burton for a right wing jumper. Rodney with a blocked shot for a runout for Kenquane Brown. 7-2 SLP in points before a Brown triple pushes the lead back into double digits. 82-71 wiht 5:25 left. SLP with 4 in a row and Rodney gets Jensen in the post (1st time all night) and steps on the end line. Jensen can't convert a FT line jumper on the other end. Cooper takes time with 3:20 left and you'd think that clock management came up. Bethea counters a Scott 3 with a quick 3 of his own at 2:30, Brown puts back a quick Cooper miss inside of 2 minutes. After a SLP layup, they take time with 1:36 left down 89-82. They'll get no closer. Rodney with an alley-hoop dunk to finish it and the Hawks win 93-84.
For Spring Lake Park, Sean Jensen with 22 points and I had 6 assists on my sheet. 9-23 shooting on my sheet means 6-11 in the 2nd half. Trey Scott with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Y with 17 points on 5 of SLPs 11 triples. A nice adjustment vs the Cooper zone (more on this in the Cooper section) to move Sean Jensen into the middle and post area after initially having Sabah at the high post area. They settled for lots of 3s (having Rodney back there will do that). I still see too much of Jensen being forced to make everything happen. Lots of high screen roll in the 1st half to Jensen's left hand but I liked better a weave action they showed briefly in the 2nd half. Very disappointing how Cooper was able to run out on rebounds too as they did a poor job of getting back. Despite 3 losses in a row now, road wins over St. Louis Park and St. Francis next week should secure the #1 seed in section 3AAA. But that section is wide open as you'll see when I do my section previews next weekend (hint, hint).
For Cooper, great balance as they get 5 guys in double figures. Quincy Bethea with 14 of his 24 points in the 2nd half. Kenquane Brown with 21 points and I had him for 8 rebounds. Rodney Williams with 16 points. On my unofficial sheet for him, I had 11 rebounds, 5 blocks and 6-11 shooting with 2 missed dunks (granted 1 was the monster anger-management dunk described earlier). They were very fortunate their 3-2 zone didn't get exploited worse. A huge hole at the high post with the top line extending way far out. Then they stayed in it too long in the 2nd half when Jensen started to take advantage of that hole. Hopefully they'll work on it or ditch it because it wasn't not something to go back to as it functioned tonight. Strange how Cooper just keep running and shooting between the 3:20 and 1:36 mark with a 7 point lead. No attempts to manage the clock at all. Joe Bright, who gets my game ball for how he played Jensen, mysteriously got pulled with 3:10 left. Very strange as that's the 1 time all night I want him on the floor. And they gave up 11 makes from the great beyond, 5 to a stand-still shooter. Overall, not a performance that one would associate with a state championship contender.
Interesting matchups early as Joe Bright gets the assignment on SLP's Sean Jensen. Jensen gets the task of defending Rodney Williams. Rodney opens with a loose ball for a dunk, follows with 2 free throws and then makes the 3 ball in the side pocket for 7 quick points. Timeout Spring Lake Park as they're down 14-6 3 minutes into the game. Spring Lake Park with a 9-2 run out of the timeout and they do it in 2:20. Jensen with an assist and then a tip in to conclude the run. Cooper cranks up the running game as they go off for a 18-2 run over 5 and a half minutes. Kenquane Brown, Joe Bright and Quincy Bethea all with triples during the run. Cooper coach Dave Johnson telling his team to not dribble, so Rodney Williams promptly drives for 2. He then gets a steal and looks for the showtime breakaway dunk but Tim Weigelt prevents that with the hard foul and Joe Bright isn't happy about it. After the zebras get together, its an intentional foul. Rodney misses the 2 freebies and on the possession he takes his anger out on a 1 handed follow dunk that would have been amazing had he made it. Jamal Roberts off the bench does score on the post while Cooper retains the ball. The lead has ballooned to 38-20 with 4:45 left in the half. Y (Tyler Ylvisaker) with 3 of SLPs 5 triples in the half to keep the Panthers from getting totally blown out. 51-35 Hawks at the half. Sean Jensen with 6 points on 3-12 shooting on my sheet. Elijah Sabah with 7 points for SLP. 4 players with 8 or more for Cooper. Rodney Williams with 9 points on 3-5 shooting and 3 blocks.
No early traction for SLP. Rodney with a short jumper and Bright with a postup on Jensen and the lead is 17 at 15:55. 2 SLP buckets countered by a Bethea 3. Sabah with a triple and then a bad shot. Cooper runs out for a Bethea layup and its 69-51 Hawks with 11:05 to play. SLP with some half court traps now. That's part of a 13-4 SLP run that Y ends with a 3. 73-64 Cooper with 7:33 left and somehow this game is back to being competitive. Bright with a kick out of the post to Burton for a right wing jumper. Rodney with a blocked shot for a runout for Kenquane Brown. 7-2 SLP in points before a Brown triple pushes the lead back into double digits. 82-71 wiht 5:25 left. SLP with 4 in a row and Rodney gets Jensen in the post (1st time all night) and steps on the end line. Jensen can't convert a FT line jumper on the other end. Cooper takes time with 3:20 left and you'd think that clock management came up. Bethea counters a Scott 3 with a quick 3 of his own at 2:30, Brown puts back a quick Cooper miss inside of 2 minutes. After a SLP layup, they take time with 1:36 left down 89-82. They'll get no closer. Rodney with an alley-hoop dunk to finish it and the Hawks win 93-84.
For Spring Lake Park, Sean Jensen with 22 points and I had 6 assists on my sheet. 9-23 shooting on my sheet means 6-11 in the 2nd half. Trey Scott with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Y with 17 points on 5 of SLPs 11 triples. A nice adjustment vs the Cooper zone (more on this in the Cooper section) to move Sean Jensen into the middle and post area after initially having Sabah at the high post area. They settled for lots of 3s (having Rodney back there will do that). I still see too much of Jensen being forced to make everything happen. Lots of high screen roll in the 1st half to Jensen's left hand but I liked better a weave action they showed briefly in the 2nd half. Very disappointing how Cooper was able to run out on rebounds too as they did a poor job of getting back. Despite 3 losses in a row now, road wins over St. Louis Park and St. Francis next week should secure the #1 seed in section 3AAA. But that section is wide open as you'll see when I do my section previews next weekend (hint, hint).
For Cooper, great balance as they get 5 guys in double figures. Quincy Bethea with 14 of his 24 points in the 2nd half. Kenquane Brown with 21 points and I had him for 8 rebounds. Rodney Williams with 16 points. On my unofficial sheet for him, I had 11 rebounds, 5 blocks and 6-11 shooting with 2 missed dunks (granted 1 was the monster anger-management dunk described earlier). They were very fortunate their 3-2 zone didn't get exploited worse. A huge hole at the high post with the top line extending way far out. Then they stayed in it too long in the 2nd half when Jensen started to take advantage of that hole. Hopefully they'll work on it or ditch it because it wasn't not something to go back to as it functioned tonight. Strange how Cooper just keep running and shooting between the 3:20 and 1:36 mark with a 7 point lead. No attempts to manage the clock at all. Joe Bright, who gets my game ball for how he played Jensen, mysteriously got pulled with 3:10 left. Very strange as that's the 1 time all night I want him on the floor. And they gave up 11 makes from the great beyond, 5 to a stand-still shooter. Overall, not a performance that one would associate with a state championship contender.
Week 13 Tuesday Night Scoreboard Club
Here's what caught my eye from the games of Tuesday 2/24/09.
- Apple Valley moves ahead of Lakeville South in section 3AAAA with a 2 point win over the Cougars. AV now tied in the Lake with Burnsville and in the running for the 3rd seed.
- Armstrong makes their case for the 3rd seed in section 6AAAA with another win over Minnetonka. Cole Stefan with 15 points for the Skippers after being held to 4 in the 1st meeting.
- Speaking of section 6, Wayzata holds off Minneapolis North by 4. Kevin Thompson returns with 23 points for the Polars and that makes them a very different team. Reserve Soph Eric Robertson has been out with injury for the Trojans.
- Breck with a rout of SPA to pull within 1/2 game of SPA for 3rd in the Tri-Metro West.
- Cambridge-Isanti pulls within 1/2 game of Rogers in the Mississippi 8 with a win over the Royals. 2 big Section 7AAAA games coming up for the Bluejackets as they have Duluth East and St. Francis in their next 2 games.
- Chaska beats Jefferson in OT thanks to 21 from soph Jake White. That loss clinches the Lake for Eden Prairie.
- Columbia Heights was confident coming into their game with Spring Lake Park. Thanks to 34 from Jacob Thomas they pull the upset. The Hylanders still looking for that 2 seed in section 3AAA. A big game at Fridley on Friday to determine that. With Jordan Hughes back for Henry, beware of the Patriots in this section.
- Delano rolls over Orono 67-38, but this game was 35-8 at the half, what happened there? I'll see Delano Saturday night against another section 6AAA rival, Holy Angels.
- Elk River blows out Centennial 68-49, what happened there??
- Farmington with the win at Northfield to take control of the Missota and section 1AAAA.
- Isaiah Thomas goes nuts again for Fridley as he hangs 50 on St. Louis Park on 16-17 shooting. Soph PG Aaron Ziman with 24 for St. Louis Park.
- Sibley officially clinches the Classic Suburban with a win over Mahtomedi. That forces a 3 way tie for 3rd with Mahtomedi, Richfield and St. Thomas Academy. These 3 teams still have round-robin games with each other before the season ends.
- Sibley East gets 25 from Marshall Bjorklund but loses to Norwood-Young America in the Minnesota River. The Wolverines still lead the league by 2 games over Holy Family.
- Arlington comes from 16 down at the half to beat Central by 8. Central was outscored 39-15 in the 2nd half.
- Off a nice night at St. Michael-Albertville, Waconia's Shelby Moats goes for 28 against Mound-Westonka in a blowout win. Waconia stays 1 game up in the loss column on Delano in the Wright County.
Blaine at Park Center thoughts
Dylan Rodriguez
My 1st look at Blaine this season to see if I can diagnose what's different between the record and the talent level. No Dan Robel tonight for Blaine as he's out with a nasty injury suffered last week. A night full of 2-3 zone though. This could be ugly.6 all early as Blaine's Dylan Rodriguez scores a couple of baskets. Park Center then with a 12-2 run thanks to Lorenzo McClellan's 6 points and a couple of easy baskets via Blaine turnovers. 18-8 Pirates at the 8:10 mark. But PC can't capitalize on the good start as they one get 1 FG in the next 7:30. That was Justin Casey banking in a foul line jumper. Rodriguez sits out the last 3:34 with 2 fouls but Billy Giddings knocks down a runner and Jesse Briggity gets a layup on a runout and Blaine is right in it. 22-19 Park Center at half.
Terez Van Pelt opens the half with a triple for a 6 point Pirates lead. Blaine then goes on a 10-0 run over 2:20 to take the lead. David Leafblad with back to back 3s to end the run. 29-25 Bengals with 14:50 left. Sam Chase with a couple of buckets, the last one being a post up via the Swing Offense as PC went man. Rodriguez with a hoop and then a Chase steal for 2. 43-32 Blaine with 10:09 left. Total run is 24-7 over 7 minutes. PC never threatens again. Rodriguez puts icing on the cake with a behind the back assist to Giddings with 1 minute left. Blaine wins 64-54.
For Park Center, Lorenzo McClellan with 16 points. Justin Lynn with the double dozen as he goes for 10 points and 12 rebounds. Voltaire Nalls 2-8 shooting for 6 points. Justin Casey also held to 6 points. With those numbers, PC was fortunate to only lose by 10. I'll be keeping an eye on 8th grader Quinton Hooker down the road. He saw JV time tonight. Park Center in a dual for the 7th seed with Irondale and a very outside shot to catch Roseville for 6. Mounds vs Roseville in the 3/6 matchup looks interesting and Champlin Park/Centennial looks like a good 4 vs 5 matchup.
For Blaine, Billy Giddings with 17 points and 8 rebounds on 8-13 shooting on my sheet. Dylan Rodriguez with 16 points and 5 boards on 7-12 shooting via my stats. Jesse Briggity is the 3rd guy and he also has a scorers mentality at the point. 8 points for him. Junior Sam Chase with 11 points off the bench in a nice performance. Sophs Dan Robel, Zach Romashko, Weston Obrycki, Eric Kline and Evan Spurbeck give Blaine a nice class. With that group and Briggity returning next year, there's plenty left after Giddings and Rodriguez depart.
The Bengals are still trying to dig out of that 1-10 stretch over the holidays. Fortunately section 7AAAA is very weak and they have the 2nd best power ranking behind Forest Lake (FL beat Blaine by 17 during that bad stretch). The head-head win over Cambridge-Isanti in the 1st game of the season looms large for that #2 seed. But the Bengals need a road win at Maple Grove on Friday. Blaine won the 1st game between those teams by 7 at the end of January.
Dylan Rodriguez photo courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net
Waconia at STMA Thoughts
A quiet Monday in the immediate metro area so I make another trip to the western fringes for Waconia at St. Michael-Albertville. No surprise to see John Moore (BSM), Dave Thorson (DLS) and Reggie Perkins (Washburn) all in the building watching this one.
The teams trade a pair of hoops in the 1st 3 minutes. Then Shelby Moats starts a 7-0 Waconia run with a strong 3 point play inside. Waconia with a fast break for a hoop, wow since when do they run? Moats gets a kick back and sticks his 2nd 17 footer of the night. 11-4 Waconia at 13:26 and Moats is 3 for 3 for 7 quick points. But Waconia struggles for only 1 point over the next 4:25 due to turnovers. The Knights counter with 12 points of their own for a 16-12 lead with 9:01 left in the half. Moats with another 3 point play. STMA point guard Jason Dehmer then picks up 2 quick fouls and he's gone to the bench with 3 fouls at 6:24. That 3rd foul was on a moving screen too. Kevin Nelson with a triple to clear the 1000 career points mark and that pulls STMA with 21-19 at the 2:30 mark. But that's the only Knights field goal in the last 9 minutes as Waconia outscores them 17-3 during that time. Waconia with a pair of 3s and a Moats jumper for an 8-0 run to end the half. 29-19 Wildcats at the break. Moats with 14 and 3 on 6-8 shooting. Nelson with 6 on a pair of 3s. Waconia cut out the turnovers in the last 9 minutes and finished with 9 for the half.
Brian Anderson with 6 quick points to start the half for STMA. That brings the Knights within 6, 33-27, with 14:25 left. They'll get no closer. Moats with a drive for 2 at 9:29 forces a STMA timeout. 42-32 Waconia. The teams trade buckets the rest of the way before Ben Kortuem buries a 3 with 90 seconds left for an 11 point lead. That's the final dagger as Waconia wins 52-42.
For STMA, Kevin Nelson with 13 points as he passed the 1000 career points mark (1009 total now). He's the 8th player in STMA history to reach that milestone. They do a nice job with their power motion of being patient. Disappointing that there was no Joe Carpenter as I wanted to see his progress this season after seeing him last year.
For Waconia, Shelby Moats leads the way with 19 and 6 on 8-10 shooting on my sheet. Danny Fischbach with 14 points and he had a clutch 3 in the 1st half and 3 late baskets when the teams were trading hoops before the dagger triple by Ben Kortuem. This is a young squad with sophs B. Kortuem and Bronson Sheff returning next year at the guard spots, junior Fischbach as a wing and stud soph Moats in the middle. They will be a favorite in the Wright County again next year. They were more effective with their flex/dive offense than their 4 out-1 in. I won't use the term motion as they were very stagnant in that 4 out. On defense, tough man with plenty of 2-3 thrown in. They'll also do a little run and jump.
The teams trade a pair of hoops in the 1st 3 minutes. Then Shelby Moats starts a 7-0 Waconia run with a strong 3 point play inside. Waconia with a fast break for a hoop, wow since when do they run? Moats gets a kick back and sticks his 2nd 17 footer of the night. 11-4 Waconia at 13:26 and Moats is 3 for 3 for 7 quick points. But Waconia struggles for only 1 point over the next 4:25 due to turnovers. The Knights counter with 12 points of their own for a 16-12 lead with 9:01 left in the half. Moats with another 3 point play. STMA point guard Jason Dehmer then picks up 2 quick fouls and he's gone to the bench with 3 fouls at 6:24. That 3rd foul was on a moving screen too. Kevin Nelson with a triple to clear the 1000 career points mark and that pulls STMA with 21-19 at the 2:30 mark. But that's the only Knights field goal in the last 9 minutes as Waconia outscores them 17-3 during that time. Waconia with a pair of 3s and a Moats jumper for an 8-0 run to end the half. 29-19 Wildcats at the break. Moats with 14 and 3 on 6-8 shooting. Nelson with 6 on a pair of 3s. Waconia cut out the turnovers in the last 9 minutes and finished with 9 for the half.
Brian Anderson with 6 quick points to start the half for STMA. That brings the Knights within 6, 33-27, with 14:25 left. They'll get no closer. Moats with a drive for 2 at 9:29 forces a STMA timeout. 42-32 Waconia. The teams trade buckets the rest of the way before Ben Kortuem buries a 3 with 90 seconds left for an 11 point lead. That's the final dagger as Waconia wins 52-42.
For STMA, Kevin Nelson with 13 points as he passed the 1000 career points mark (1009 total now). He's the 8th player in STMA history to reach that milestone. They do a nice job with their power motion of being patient. Disappointing that there was no Joe Carpenter as I wanted to see his progress this season after seeing him last year.
For Waconia, Shelby Moats leads the way with 19 and 6 on 8-10 shooting on my sheet. Danny Fischbach with 14 points and he had a clutch 3 in the 1st half and 3 late baskets when the teams were trading hoops before the dagger triple by Ben Kortuem. This is a young squad with sophs B. Kortuem and Bronson Sheff returning next year at the guard spots, junior Fischbach as a wing and stud soph Moats in the middle. They will be a favorite in the Wright County again next year. They were more effective with their flex/dive offense than their 4 out-1 in. I won't use the term motion as they were very stagnant in that 4 out. On defense, tough man with plenty of 2-3 thrown in. They'll also do a little run and jump.
MTS stats correction
Last Friday at the end of my review of scores from 2/19/09, I questioned the Minnesota Transitions statistic of 36 assists on 38 made field goals against Spectrum. After another look at the box score, MTS actually had 47 field goals in that game.
I misread the original information and error is mine. I have no reason to question the final stat of 36 assists on 47 field goals.
My apologies to everyone at Minnesota Transitions.
I misread the original information and error is mine. I have no reason to question the final stat of 36 assists on 47 field goals.
My apologies to everyone at Minnesota Transitions.
Saturday Zig-zagging Across the Metro
Game 1: South at Como Park
South's junior post Alonzo Traylor goes off in another game where I saw him (read about his performance vs Central at Christmas here). He's a big part of an early 11-2 run that puts South up for good. 23 and 9 in the 1st half for him before Como Park goes box and 1 on him to start the 2nd half. Victor Easter steps up for South to start the second half. He starts the half with a 3 and then 7 in a row in the run that blows this one wide open. 41-30 Tigers at 15:33 before they go on a 22-3 run over 7:30. Many of those points with Traylor on the bench. South gets the game to the mercy rule before winning 75-42. Traylor with 27 and 12, Easter with 12 for South. Joe Conley 12 and 9 for the Cougars. Looks like Como Park has a date with Arlington in the 4 vs 5 game in section 3AAA. South could visit Armstrong in the 3 vs 6 game in section 6AAAA. More on the Falcons below.
Game 2: Washburn at Orono
A matchup in the very difficult section 6AAA here as the Millers visit the Spartans. Orono out to an early lead 14-8 in the 1st 5 minutes. Washburn then goes on a 23-3 run over the next 5 minutes. Jordan Osberg off the bench with 10 points in the run. Washburn leads 31-17 at the 7:25 mark. They extend the lead to 53-32 at the break and the game is at mercy rule left by the 11 minute mark. Washburn wins 87-49. Osberg finishes with 15 points. Jordan Smith finishes with 23 points for Orono. Orono loses only 2 seniors and both are replacable. The roster is loaded with sophomores and complemented by frosh Brady Wohler. Orono looks like they'll be the #6 seed in 6AAA. DLS and BSM both scouting before their night games. Mike Broghammer of Hopkins makes an appearance in the gym as well. Washburn looking more and more like the 5 very good losses won't cost them the #1 seed.
Game 3: Armstrong at Benilde-St. Margaret's
A very even 1st half as there's no lead bigger than 3. Fouls plague BSM as Myles Barnes sits the last 14 minutes and Darren Glover the last 8 with 2 fouls. 33 all at 13:30 before Andy Seidlitz gets hot. He has a personal 8-0 run over 1 minute to put Armstrong up for good. Frosh Isaiah Zierden with a nice give and go to cut the lead to 5 with 8:25 to play but the Red Knights get no closer. Ryan Virnig scores down low and Seidlitz buries another triple and the lead is back to 10 at 6:50. Armstrong makes their FTs down the stretch for a74-61 win. Based on record, BSM looks like the 5 seed but they have the 2nd best QRF in the section. A win over Cooper at the end of the year would be huge for seeding. DLS has a lower QRF but they have the head-head win. Tough seeding BSM, DLS, Delano and Waconia in the 2-5 slots. BSM will be very scary next year with 2 frosh and 2 sophs who saw varsity minutes tonight. Armstrong could make a strong case for the #3 seed in 6AAAA with a 2nd win over Minnetonka on Tuesday. The 3 seed keeps you out of a 2nd round game with Hopkins. Peter Crawford off the bench with 15 points and 3 blocks for BSM in about 17 minutes of action as he recovers from an injured foot. Damarius Cruz with 29 points on 12-20 shooting. Marquel Curtis with 13 points and 15 rebounds. Andy Seidlitz came off the bench with 4 triples and 16 points.
South's junior post Alonzo Traylor goes off in another game where I saw him (read about his performance vs Central at Christmas here). He's a big part of an early 11-2 run that puts South up for good. 23 and 9 in the 1st half for him before Como Park goes box and 1 on him to start the 2nd half. Victor Easter steps up for South to start the second half. He starts the half with a 3 and then 7 in a row in the run that blows this one wide open. 41-30 Tigers at 15:33 before they go on a 22-3 run over 7:30. Many of those points with Traylor on the bench. South gets the game to the mercy rule before winning 75-42. Traylor with 27 and 12, Easter with 12 for South. Joe Conley 12 and 9 for the Cougars. Looks like Como Park has a date with Arlington in the 4 vs 5 game in section 3AAA. South could visit Armstrong in the 3 vs 6 game in section 6AAAA. More on the Falcons below.
Game 2: Washburn at Orono
A matchup in the very difficult section 6AAA here as the Millers visit the Spartans. Orono out to an early lead 14-8 in the 1st 5 minutes. Washburn then goes on a 23-3 run over the next 5 minutes. Jordan Osberg off the bench with 10 points in the run. Washburn leads 31-17 at the 7:25 mark. They extend the lead to 53-32 at the break and the game is at mercy rule left by the 11 minute mark. Washburn wins 87-49. Osberg finishes with 15 points. Jordan Smith finishes with 23 points for Orono. Orono loses only 2 seniors and both are replacable. The roster is loaded with sophomores and complemented by frosh Brady Wohler. Orono looks like they'll be the #6 seed in 6AAA. DLS and BSM both scouting before their night games. Mike Broghammer of Hopkins makes an appearance in the gym as well. Washburn looking more and more like the 5 very good losses won't cost them the #1 seed.
Game 3: Armstrong at Benilde-St. Margaret's
A very even 1st half as there's no lead bigger than 3. Fouls plague BSM as Myles Barnes sits the last 14 minutes and Darren Glover the last 8 with 2 fouls. 33 all at 13:30 before Andy Seidlitz gets hot. He has a personal 8-0 run over 1 minute to put Armstrong up for good. Frosh Isaiah Zierden with a nice give and go to cut the lead to 5 with 8:25 to play but the Red Knights get no closer. Ryan Virnig scores down low and Seidlitz buries another triple and the lead is back to 10 at 6:50. Armstrong makes their FTs down the stretch for a74-61 win. Based on record, BSM looks like the 5 seed but they have the 2nd best QRF in the section. A win over Cooper at the end of the year would be huge for seeding. DLS has a lower QRF but they have the head-head win. Tough seeding BSM, DLS, Delano and Waconia in the 2-5 slots. BSM will be very scary next year with 2 frosh and 2 sophs who saw varsity minutes tonight. Armstrong could make a strong case for the #3 seed in 6AAAA with a 2nd win over Minnetonka on Tuesday. The 3 seed keeps you out of a 2nd round game with Hopkins. Peter Crawford off the bench with 15 points and 3 blocks for BSM in about 17 minutes of action as he recovers from an injured foot. Damarius Cruz with 29 points on 12-20 shooting. Marquel Curtis with 13 points and 15 rebounds. Andy Seidlitz came off the bench with 4 triples and 16 points.
Holy Angels with another Missota upset
To Holy Angels I go for this Missota showdown with New Prague. But it will be hard to surpass last night's Tech/Apollo game. New Prague 15-6 coming in and fighting for the #1 seed in section 1AAA. Holy Angels looking up at the rest of tough section 6AAA. No pizza tonight at AHA, disappointing and the new microphone still doesn't have enough volume.
New Prague has joined the Dribble Drive Motion craze. 6'9 center Isaac Cross playing the inside beneficiary spot and he gets a layup from star Danny Geiger early. Geiger tough on the bounce and he gets an And 1 at 14:03. Then he finds one of the season's best stories, Connor O'Brien for 2 more. O'Brien follows that with a pair of free throws. Stars point guard Tyler Bredow counters that with a jumper, a triple and then an assist for a Tyler Emanuel triple. 17-15 Holy Angels at 11:25 as we go to a New Prague timeout.
Now the New Prague parade to the foul line starts. AHA has 8 team fouls and we're not at the 11 minute mark yet. 19 all at 9:10 after an O'Brien putback and New Prague decides to go 1-3-1. Between that and the Holy Angels fouls, we're at a snail's pace. Jack Hogan with a pair of triples against the zone. The Stars doing a nice job of finding the high post and then quickly sending the ball opposite. Too many kids get the ball there and send it right back to the same side without even looking to the other side of the floor. Those triples give AHA a 27-22 lead with 5:20 left in the half. New Prague finally gets out of the 1-3-1 after a timeout at 3:51. The fouls are 13-5 against Holy Angels and finally it gets to coach Larry McKenzie and he earns a T. While the numbers are lopsided, that's exactly what DDM does to you. But the Trojans only make 1 of the 4 free throws and Geiger misses 2 more freebies on the ensuing possession. Finally the 11th man off the Stars bench, Zach Machacek gets to the line and makes 1 of 2. New Prague with the 1st 21 free throws of the game before that. Somehow Holy Angels is still ahead. Geiger with an assist and then a 3rd chance at a 3 point play. He converts this one and that sends New Prague to the locker up 33-32. Geiger with 8 points and 3 assists on 3-6 shooting. O'Brien with 6 points and 4 boards but only 2-9 shooting. Andy Jirik and Jack Hagen with 6 each for AHA. 16-7 is the foul count and New Prague with 22 FT attempts but only 12 makes compared to 3-4 for AHA.
Sam Dittberner with plenty of ball handling duties tonight making the DDM go and he converts a couple of banks to end a 6-0 New Prague spurt. 39-34 New Prague and it looks like they may start to pull away. Bonzi Wells (Sahr Ngekia) with 1 of 2 and a conversion from Bredow to keep AHA close. But the foul count is now 7-2 against AHA at 13:41. That's 23-9 so far and its getting comical. Sam Gullickson and Bredow with triples to counter a nice dive for 2 by O'Brien and a tough lefty finish by Geiger. 44-43 New Prague with 12:17 left.
A Cole Frechette steal for 2 and 2 Tyler Emanuel free throws give AHA a 47-44 lead with 10:32 left. Bredow and Sam Dittberner trade triples after another lefty finish by Geiger. Geiger with another hoops at 7:45 to put the Trojans up 55-52. Then Bredow with another triple. New Prague fouls after the shot so the Stars keep it and Hogan makes a bank. Hogan follows with 2 free throws on the bonus at 5:27. 59-55 Stars and they haven't committed a foul in over 8 minutes so the fouls are even at 7. That can't last as the Trojans promptly make 3 of 4. Jirik with a layup off a pretty feed, 61-58 Stars at 3:15. Geiger a tough putback at 2:50. The teams trade misses. Out of a timeout Holy Angels goes with some Swing Offense. Bredow fouled at 1:31 but he badly misses the front end of the 1 and 1. O'Brien with 2 freebies at 1:14, 62-61 New Prague. Bonzi on the right block and the foul! Where have you been all season? 64-62 AHA wiht 58.7 to play. Geiger hold on top and looking left. Jack Hogan with a great play to come from behind, knock it away and dive on the floor AND get the timeout with 43.3 left. New Prague chooses to go with a run and jump trap at half court. Bredow does a nice job to step thru a trap and eliminate the pressure. The Trojans are forced to foul. How appropriate that its Hogan and he makes 2 of 2 (10th team foul) with 29 seconds left to put AHA up 4. Geiger with a pullup at 15.4. Hogan makes 1 of 2 with 10.7 so New Prague has life but both teams are out of timeouts. Geiger gets a handoff on the right wing and somehow his defender gets hung up. He gets a wide open look at the top of the key but its short and he can't recover the long rebound before the clock runs out. AHA pulls off an exciting 67-64 upset.
For AHA, they're now 5-16 but they defeated Prior Lake on Tuesday night so they may not be as bad as their record as they're 4-3 after a 1-13 start. While they've lost badly to many of the section 6AAA contenders (Washburn, Waconia, BSM), their game at Delano next Saturday may be a better indicator of where they are. They'll return most of the rotation. If Jack Hogan or current frosh Parker Bredow can replace Tyler Bredow at the point, the Stars figure to be solid next year with 6 rotation players (and Parker Bredow who has varsity some this year). Tyler Bredow leads the way with a clutch 2nd half and a total of 16 points, 5 boards and a minimum of 4 assists. Andy Jirik with 10 points inside.
For New Prague, a tough loss as this will hurt them in the race for that #1 seed in 1AAA. If Austin gets the 1 seed, not only will we hear the shout of joy from Ryan James, but it will be very interesting to see how New Prague and St. Thomas Academy get seeded. Connor O'Brien is a 6'6 matchup nightmare. Rough night tonight with 14 points and 8 rebounds but only 4-14 shooting on my sheet. Dan Geiger with 18 points on 8-15 shooting. He's tough and smart and only a junior. Sam Dittberner gives them another tough guard and it looks like soph Alex Dittberner will take over at the point for him. Only 18-30 from the charity stripe. With all the fouls in the first half, New Prague missed a chance to have a wide margin. I thought the 1-3-1 killed their momentum. AHA may not have had anyone let had the Trojans upped the pace and stuck with their DDM offense the way that 1st 23 minutes was called. It wasn't as bad as a Holy Angels fan would tell you, but there were plenty of frustrating calls too.
New Prague has joined the Dribble Drive Motion craze. 6'9 center Isaac Cross playing the inside beneficiary spot and he gets a layup from star Danny Geiger early. Geiger tough on the bounce and he gets an And 1 at 14:03. Then he finds one of the season's best stories, Connor O'Brien for 2 more. O'Brien follows that with a pair of free throws. Stars point guard Tyler Bredow counters that with a jumper, a triple and then an assist for a Tyler Emanuel triple. 17-15 Holy Angels at 11:25 as we go to a New Prague timeout.
Now the New Prague parade to the foul line starts. AHA has 8 team fouls and we're not at the 11 minute mark yet. 19 all at 9:10 after an O'Brien putback and New Prague decides to go 1-3-1. Between that and the Holy Angels fouls, we're at a snail's pace. Jack Hogan with a pair of triples against the zone. The Stars doing a nice job of finding the high post and then quickly sending the ball opposite. Too many kids get the ball there and send it right back to the same side without even looking to the other side of the floor. Those triples give AHA a 27-22 lead with 5:20 left in the half. New Prague finally gets out of the 1-3-1 after a timeout at 3:51. The fouls are 13-5 against Holy Angels and finally it gets to coach Larry McKenzie and he earns a T. While the numbers are lopsided, that's exactly what DDM does to you. But the Trojans only make 1 of the 4 free throws and Geiger misses 2 more freebies on the ensuing possession. Finally the 11th man off the Stars bench, Zach Machacek gets to the line and makes 1 of 2. New Prague with the 1st 21 free throws of the game before that. Somehow Holy Angels is still ahead. Geiger with an assist and then a 3rd chance at a 3 point play. He converts this one and that sends New Prague to the locker up 33-32. Geiger with 8 points and 3 assists on 3-6 shooting. O'Brien with 6 points and 4 boards but only 2-9 shooting. Andy Jirik and Jack Hagen with 6 each for AHA. 16-7 is the foul count and New Prague with 22 FT attempts but only 12 makes compared to 3-4 for AHA.
Sam Dittberner with plenty of ball handling duties tonight making the DDM go and he converts a couple of banks to end a 6-0 New Prague spurt. 39-34 New Prague and it looks like they may start to pull away. Bonzi Wells (Sahr Ngekia) with 1 of 2 and a conversion from Bredow to keep AHA close. But the foul count is now 7-2 against AHA at 13:41. That's 23-9 so far and its getting comical. Sam Gullickson and Bredow with triples to counter a nice dive for 2 by O'Brien and a tough lefty finish by Geiger. 44-43 New Prague with 12:17 left.
A Cole Frechette steal for 2 and 2 Tyler Emanuel free throws give AHA a 47-44 lead with 10:32 left. Bredow and Sam Dittberner trade triples after another lefty finish by Geiger. Geiger with another hoops at 7:45 to put the Trojans up 55-52. Then Bredow with another triple. New Prague fouls after the shot so the Stars keep it and Hogan makes a bank. Hogan follows with 2 free throws on the bonus at 5:27. 59-55 Stars and they haven't committed a foul in over 8 minutes so the fouls are even at 7. That can't last as the Trojans promptly make 3 of 4. Jirik with a layup off a pretty feed, 61-58 Stars at 3:15. Geiger a tough putback at 2:50. The teams trade misses. Out of a timeout Holy Angels goes with some Swing Offense. Bredow fouled at 1:31 but he badly misses the front end of the 1 and 1. O'Brien with 2 freebies at 1:14, 62-61 New Prague. Bonzi on the right block and the foul! Where have you been all season? 64-62 AHA wiht 58.7 to play. Geiger hold on top and looking left. Jack Hogan with a great play to come from behind, knock it away and dive on the floor AND get the timeout with 43.3 left. New Prague chooses to go with a run and jump trap at half court. Bredow does a nice job to step thru a trap and eliminate the pressure. The Trojans are forced to foul. How appropriate that its Hogan and he makes 2 of 2 (10th team foul) with 29 seconds left to put AHA up 4. Geiger with a pullup at 15.4. Hogan makes 1 of 2 with 10.7 so New Prague has life but both teams are out of timeouts. Geiger gets a handoff on the right wing and somehow his defender gets hung up. He gets a wide open look at the top of the key but its short and he can't recover the long rebound before the clock runs out. AHA pulls off an exciting 67-64 upset.
For AHA, they're now 5-16 but they defeated Prior Lake on Tuesday night so they may not be as bad as their record as they're 4-3 after a 1-13 start. While they've lost badly to many of the section 6AAA contenders (Washburn, Waconia, BSM), their game at Delano next Saturday may be a better indicator of where they are. They'll return most of the rotation. If Jack Hogan or current frosh Parker Bredow can replace Tyler Bredow at the point, the Stars figure to be solid next year with 6 rotation players (and Parker Bredow who has varsity some this year). Tyler Bredow leads the way with a clutch 2nd half and a total of 16 points, 5 boards and a minimum of 4 assists. Andy Jirik with 10 points inside.
For New Prague, a tough loss as this will hurt them in the race for that #1 seed in 1AAA. If Austin gets the 1 seed, not only will we hear the shout of joy from Ryan James, but it will be very interesting to see how New Prague and St. Thomas Academy get seeded. Connor O'Brien is a 6'6 matchup nightmare. Rough night tonight with 14 points and 8 rebounds but only 4-14 shooting on my sheet. Dan Geiger with 18 points on 8-15 shooting. He's tough and smart and only a junior. Sam Dittberner gives them another tough guard and it looks like soph Alex Dittberner will take over at the point for him. Only 18-30 from the charity stripe. With all the fouls in the first half, New Prague missed a chance to have a wide margin. I thought the 1-3-1 killed their momentum. AHA may not have had anyone let had the Trojans upped the pace and stuck with their DDM offense the way that 1st 23 minutes was called. It wasn't as bad as a Holy Angels fan would tell you, but there were plenty of frustrating calls too.
Week 12 Thursday Scoreboard Watching
While I was up in St. Cloud at the Apollo vs Tech game, an interesting night in the metro.
- Jefferson holds off Eagan in a battle of top sophomores. Marcus Alipate 23 for Jefferson. Jameson Parsons with 19 for Eagan.
- Knights marching. Benilde-St. Margaret's with another OT win, this time over Spring Lake Park. Seth Marx comes up big with 18 points as Peter Crawford isn't in the box score. Sean Jensen and Trey Scott held to a combined 29 points. That loss effectively clinches the North Suburban for Cooper as the Panthers are now 2 games behind. But they're still 2 in front of BSM.
- Champlin Park loses to Andover. That pushes Champlin Park to 4th in the NW Suburban.
- Washburn gets 24 from Cedric Martin in a blowout of Henry. That officially clinches the Minneapolis City for the Millers. This will be the 1st time in 15 years that Henry or North doesn't represent Minneapolis in the Twin Cities game on March 7th.
- Nice road win for Minnehaha as they make the long trip to New London-Spicer. Greg Meyer with 25 points and Taylor Sparkman with 23.
- MN Transitions with a 52 point halftime lead and they blow out Spectrum in a section 4A game. Kevin Noreen with 38 and 14. Jerrell Washington with 33. Grant Spark with 19 for the Sting. 36 assists on 38 field goals for MTS seems a little suspicious to me though. (Czar's Note 2/22/09: Upon further review MTS actually had 47 field goals in that game, my apologies to MTS for the error)
Arlington at Park Thoughts
My first trip to see the low ceiling at Park of Cottage Grove. One of the Lakeville schools on hand scouting for sections (probably North as we'll see later). Vern Simmons from Johnson on hand for another look at Arlington. Nice 2 ball passing drill by Park in warmups with 2 guys with 2 balls doing slides while passing back and forth. 1 guy bounce pass, 1 guy chest pass. Interesting drill. They also do some nice spacing concepts in warmups to, ex: where does the post guy go when the wing drives middle vs drive baseline.
5-2 Park early when they decide to switch from man to 1-3-1. Arlington promptly gets 11 in a row. 6 Deandre White points and the other 5 from Travon McKee. Park gets out the 1-3-1 and gets 7 in a row. 13-12 Arlington at 9:40. Park with 6 in a row over the last 1:30 of the half to take a 24-22 halftime lead. Ricky Hernandez with 8 points for Park. McKee and White with 8 each for Arlington.
White with a tip in at 14:05 to cut the Park lead to 28-27 at 14:05. Park goes on a 9-1 over the next 4:50 thanks to 5 points from Drew Benson. That included a nice dive down the lane for a 3 point play from Andy Voigt. 37-28 Park with 9:15 left. Demarkeo Jones with a pair of triples for Arlington, 39-34 Park wiht 8 minutes left. Park mysteriously goes back to the 1-3-1 and White gets open on the backside for a layin. 41-36 Park at 6:37. Park thankfully goes back man. Charles Langhorne with 2 at 4:34 to cut the Park lead to 3. McKee with back to back steals and Arlington is within 1, 41-40 with 3:30 left. White with 2 postups and McKee strips Craig Brown for 2 more and Arlington leads 46-41 with 2:15 left. 12-0 Arlington run over 5:20 and it started when Park went to that 1 possession of 1-3-1. Craig Brown keeps Park in it with a putback at 1:25. Arlington misses a front end and then 0-2 to give Park life. Cody Hoffman with 2 free throws with 16.6 left to keep Park within 3, 48-45. But Langhorne makes 3 of 4 to seal the deal. Arlington wins 51-45.
For Park, they were outscored 13-0 when they played the 1-3-1. +7 with their man-man defense. Ricky Hernandez with 16 points to lead Park. Craig Brown and Andy Voigt with 8 each. Tough loss when you lead by 9 with 9 minutes left. I like their fundamentals and Cody Hofmann gives them intangibles and does the little things. Park has lost 7 of 8 and they're looking like the 8 seed in 3AAAA and a 1st round meeting with Lakeville North.
For Arlington, Deandre White clutch with 16 points. Travon McKee with 13 and his defense turned this one around. Charles Langhorne with 8 points and 11 rebounds. They played some 1-2-2, 2-3 and 1-3-1 with some 1-2-1-1 press. You can really assistant coach John Gray's influence on their offense. They run a couple of the same offenses that Gray used at Breck over the last few years and the philosophy of everything going at the basket is there. The Phoenix have won 7 out of 8 and are trying to make a case over Hill-Murray for the #3 seed in section 3AAA. Granted the only good win in that group is a home win over Roseville. So it looks like Arlington will need wins in at least 1 of their next 2 games coming up as they host Johnson on Friday and go to Central on Tuesday. You want to avoid the 4 seed and that 2nd round game with Johnson. Hill-Murray has the head-head win but they still have games with Central, Richfield, Tartan and Sibley left on the schedule.
5-2 Park early when they decide to switch from man to 1-3-1. Arlington promptly gets 11 in a row. 6 Deandre White points and the other 5 from Travon McKee. Park gets out the 1-3-1 and gets 7 in a row. 13-12 Arlington at 9:40. Park with 6 in a row over the last 1:30 of the half to take a 24-22 halftime lead. Ricky Hernandez with 8 points for Park. McKee and White with 8 each for Arlington.
White with a tip in at 14:05 to cut the Park lead to 28-27 at 14:05. Park goes on a 9-1 over the next 4:50 thanks to 5 points from Drew Benson. That included a nice dive down the lane for a 3 point play from Andy Voigt. 37-28 Park with 9:15 left. Demarkeo Jones with a pair of triples for Arlington, 39-34 Park wiht 8 minutes left. Park mysteriously goes back to the 1-3-1 and White gets open on the backside for a layin. 41-36 Park at 6:37. Park thankfully goes back man. Charles Langhorne with 2 at 4:34 to cut the Park lead to 3. McKee with back to back steals and Arlington is within 1, 41-40 with 3:30 left. White with 2 postups and McKee strips Craig Brown for 2 more and Arlington leads 46-41 with 2:15 left. 12-0 Arlington run over 5:20 and it started when Park went to that 1 possession of 1-3-1. Craig Brown keeps Park in it with a putback at 1:25. Arlington misses a front end and then 0-2 to give Park life. Cody Hoffman with 2 free throws with 16.6 left to keep Park within 3, 48-45. But Langhorne makes 3 of 4 to seal the deal. Arlington wins 51-45.
For Park, they were outscored 13-0 when they played the 1-3-1. +7 with their man-man defense. Ricky Hernandez with 16 points to lead Park. Craig Brown and Andy Voigt with 8 each. Tough loss when you lead by 9 with 9 minutes left. I like their fundamentals and Cody Hofmann gives them intangibles and does the little things. Park has lost 7 of 8 and they're looking like the 8 seed in 3AAAA and a 1st round meeting with Lakeville North.
For Arlington, Deandre White clutch with 16 points. Travon McKee with 13 and his defense turned this one around. Charles Langhorne with 8 points and 11 rebounds. They played some 1-2-2, 2-3 and 1-3-1 with some 1-2-1-1 press. You can really assistant coach John Gray's influence on their offense. They run a couple of the same offenses that Gray used at Breck over the last few years and the philosophy of everything going at the basket is there. The Phoenix have won 7 out of 8 and are trying to make a case over Hill-Murray for the #3 seed in section 3AAA. Granted the only good win in that group is a home win over Roseville. So it looks like Arlington will need wins in at least 1 of their next 2 games coming up as they host Johnson on Friday and go to Central on Tuesday. You want to avoid the 4 seed and that 2nd round game with Johnson. Hill-Murray has the head-head win but they still have games with Central, Richfield, Tartan and Sibley left on the schedule.
Week 12 Tuesday Night Scoreboard Club
Here's what caught my attention from the games of 2/17/09.
- Upset night in the Lake as Apple Valley takes out Chaska, Eagan takes out Lakeville South and Lakeville North loses again, this time to by 1 to Eastview. Not to mention the game I saw, Burnsville's win at Jefferson.
- Forest Lake in double OT over Cretin-Derham Hall. 26 for Raijon Kelly but that's not enough for CDH as Zach Riedeman blows up for 43 for the Rangers. He came on big during the football season and has really stepped during the hoops season too. CDH now 10-10 on the season and they fall into a 3 way tie with Forest Lake for 2nd in the Suburban East. All those teams 3 games behind Mounds View.
- Who's the 3rd team? Stillwater. The young Ponies have won 5 in a row after a win over Roseville last night.
- Osseo by only 5 over Coon Rapids in a nail-biter. How did Osseo give up 87 in that game? Nick Djerf with 25 for the Orioles.
- Benilde St-Margaret's gets Peter Crawford back after being out 2 weeks with an injured foot and they get an OT win at Fridley.
- Blake loses 63-60 in another tough loss to archrival Breck. That could be a 4 v 5 game in 4AA West. Blake 2-13 after a 5-2 start that saw win at Cloquet.
- Holy Angels with the 3 point upset of Prior Lake. Prior Lake now falls to 5th in the Missota and has lost 5 of 6.
- Farmington needs a late tip in to survive against Red Wing to stay 1 game ahead in the Missota race.
- Armstrong within 9 at the half of Hopkins, but Royce White finishes with season-high 30 as Hopkins opens it up in the 2nd half.
- Spectrum with a win over Heritage and a Monday win over PACT for 10 out of 12. They're the clear #3 seed now in 4A West and have a top 20 QRF. They're 7-1 against the MCAA with 2 wins over league champion Lester Prairie. The loss was at home to MCA in a game they led by 5 at halftime. They'll get hammered at MTS tomorrow but they should rack up 2 more wins against the MCAA before the tournament starts. If seeding holds they'll end up playing a full MCAA schedule.
- MN Transitions and Edison tie a state record for total points at MTS gets another blowout win. Jonathan Conner with 44 and 9 triples for Edison. MTS winning with offense and forcing turnovers but they will have to step up their defense if they want to make a run in the state tournament.
Burnsville outlasts Jefferson
My first trip to Jefferson this year. Staff Appreciation night brought to you by ... Are you kidding me? Burnsville is notorious for all of their advertising, but this??? I know schools need revenue, but do we have to go to this low of a level. We also have the Jefferson pep band playing Colors of the Wind by Vanessa Williams, which seemed somewhat out of place but at least it was performed well. Jim Dimick of Richfield taking a look at Jefferson for section play.
Moses Alipate with a layup for Jefferson for an early 4-2 Jags lead. Then Burnville heats up from deep. Patrick Rogers one for the show, two on the road, three with a hand that's steady and Landon Berge for 4 in a row. 12-2 Burnsville run over 2 minutes on those triples and Jefferson needs time. 14-6 Blaze at 13:50. Jeff Fallat with a Burnsville bucket at the 7 minute mark to extend the Blaze lead to 30-18. A post 2 by Fallat gives Burnsville their biggest lead of 13, 35-22, at 2:50. Jefferson hangs around to be down 37-27 at the break. Rogers with 4 of Burnsville's 7 triples and a bucket for 14 points. Fallat with 9. Devon Knopke quiet with 2 points on 1-5 FGs. Moses Alipate with 8 Jefferson points. Marcus Alipate with 7. With about 5 minutes left in the half, Jefferson tried to go zone and Burnsville pulled the ball out to force Jefferson back in the man defense. Fans don't like it but I'm a big fan. But if you do it and then a team comes back for the lead and then goes zone, you could have a major issue on your hands.
After giving up the 1st basket of the second half, Jefferson goes on a 12-2 run over 3 minutes. Moses Alipate with a nice sequence of knocking down a 3 and then drawing back to back charges. 41-39 Burnsville at 13:44. Burnsville pushes the lead back to 6. But Moses flashes to the post for 2 and then runs out and gets himself 2 free throws. That ties the game at 47 with 11:04 to play. Jeff Plummer hesitates but knocks down a 3 anyway and Fallat follows with a layup. Jefferson zones an inbounds and Burnsville pulls it out. Knopke drives and finds Alex Wheeler against it at 7:50. Berge with a steal for 2 at 6:58 to finish an 11-2 Burnsville run over 4:06 after Jefferson had tied it. 58-49 Blaze. Jefferson won't go away quietly though. They get 8 in a row over 1:50. Chad Foslein with a couple of layups on nice assists in the run. Marcus Alipate with both ends of the 1 and 1 at 3:47 to finish the run. 60-59 Burnsville. Knopke with a pretty backcut for 2 on the next possession. Jefferson timeout at 2:31 down 3. They attempt to run a triangle inside looking for a post up, but a pass is thrown right to Fallat at 2:03. Burnsville goes to their delay game but Chad Gilmer with a steal and finds Moses Alipate for a layup with 1:37 left. 62-61 Burnsville. Knopke drives and makes 2 free throws at 1:08. Jefferson runs a flare screen for Marcus Alipate on the next possession. Burnsville closes out on it and Marcus drives and charges with 53.1 seconds left. Jefferson looks for the steal before fouling Knopke with 36.9 left. He steps up and clutch is everything in life as he buries both ends of the 1 and 1. Burnsville goes 1-3-1 and Moses Alipate has a wide open 3 with 20 seconds left that doesn't go down. Knopke with 2 more free throws to finish the night. Burnsville wins 68-61.
For Jefferson, Moses Alipate with 19 points. Chad Gilmer with 14 points. Marcus Alipate with 7 points. Jeff Plummer did a nice job on him. As always, the Jaguars were very methodical on the offensive end and due to Burnsville's shooting I think that forced them to play more man defense than they wanted to. Jefferson did use a diamond press in the 2nd half and did have some success with it. Surprised that Burnsville didn't handle that better.
For Burnsville, Patrick Rogers with 14 of his 16 in the 1st half. Jeff Fallat with 13. Devon Knopke with 14 including the last 10 of the game. 2 on a backcut and 8 for 8 from the foul line. No Jack Ghizoni tonight. Burnsville runs more high post stuff than anybody I see and they get good looks. They started 8-0 and with this win are 5-7 since. They improve to 8-7 in the Lake and move 1 game behind Chaska who lost a chance to move into a tie for 3rd with Jefferson by losing at Apple Valley tonight.
Moses Alipate with a layup for Jefferson for an early 4-2 Jags lead. Then Burnville heats up from deep. Patrick Rogers one for the show, two on the road, three with a hand that's steady and Landon Berge for 4 in a row. 12-2 Burnsville run over 2 minutes on those triples and Jefferson needs time. 14-6 Blaze at 13:50. Jeff Fallat with a Burnsville bucket at the 7 minute mark to extend the Blaze lead to 30-18. A post 2 by Fallat gives Burnsville their biggest lead of 13, 35-22, at 2:50. Jefferson hangs around to be down 37-27 at the break. Rogers with 4 of Burnsville's 7 triples and a bucket for 14 points. Fallat with 9. Devon Knopke quiet with 2 points on 1-5 FGs. Moses Alipate with 8 Jefferson points. Marcus Alipate with 7. With about 5 minutes left in the half, Jefferson tried to go zone and Burnsville pulled the ball out to force Jefferson back in the man defense. Fans don't like it but I'm a big fan. But if you do it and then a team comes back for the lead and then goes zone, you could have a major issue on your hands.
After giving up the 1st basket of the second half, Jefferson goes on a 12-2 run over 3 minutes. Moses Alipate with a nice sequence of knocking down a 3 and then drawing back to back charges. 41-39 Burnsville at 13:44. Burnsville pushes the lead back to 6. But Moses flashes to the post for 2 and then runs out and gets himself 2 free throws. That ties the game at 47 with 11:04 to play. Jeff Plummer hesitates but knocks down a 3 anyway and Fallat follows with a layup. Jefferson zones an inbounds and Burnsville pulls it out. Knopke drives and finds Alex Wheeler against it at 7:50. Berge with a steal for 2 at 6:58 to finish an 11-2 Burnsville run over 4:06 after Jefferson had tied it. 58-49 Blaze. Jefferson won't go away quietly though. They get 8 in a row over 1:50. Chad Foslein with a couple of layups on nice assists in the run. Marcus Alipate with both ends of the 1 and 1 at 3:47 to finish the run. 60-59 Burnsville. Knopke with a pretty backcut for 2 on the next possession. Jefferson timeout at 2:31 down 3. They attempt to run a triangle inside looking for a post up, but a pass is thrown right to Fallat at 2:03. Burnsville goes to their delay game but Chad Gilmer with a steal and finds Moses Alipate for a layup with 1:37 left. 62-61 Burnsville. Knopke drives and makes 2 free throws at 1:08. Jefferson runs a flare screen for Marcus Alipate on the next possession. Burnsville closes out on it and Marcus drives and charges with 53.1 seconds left. Jefferson looks for the steal before fouling Knopke with 36.9 left. He steps up and clutch is everything in life as he buries both ends of the 1 and 1. Burnsville goes 1-3-1 and Moses Alipate has a wide open 3 with 20 seconds left that doesn't go down. Knopke with 2 more free throws to finish the night. Burnsville wins 68-61.
For Jefferson, Moses Alipate with 19 points. Chad Gilmer with 14 points. Marcus Alipate with 7 points. Jeff Plummer did a nice job on him. As always, the Jaguars were very methodical on the offensive end and due to Burnsville's shooting I think that forced them to play more man defense than they wanted to. Jefferson did use a diamond press in the 2nd half and did have some success with it. Surprised that Burnsville didn't handle that better.
For Burnsville, Patrick Rogers with 14 of his 16 in the 1st half. Jeff Fallat with 13. Devon Knopke with 14 including the last 10 of the game. 2 on a backcut and 8 for 8 from the foul line. No Jack Ghizoni tonight. Burnsville runs more high post stuff than anybody I see and they get good looks. They started 8-0 and with this win are 5-7 since. They improve to 8-7 in the Lake and move 1 game behind Chaska who lost a chance to move into a tie for 3rd with Jefferson by losing at Apple Valley tonight.
Tri-Hawks use late rally for section 4AA win.
Another trip to the not so ergonomically correct Ergotron gymnasium on this quiet President's day schedule. St. Paul Humboldt makes the trip south to Trinity for a matchup of subsection bottom feeders in section 4AA. Humboldt #115, Trinity #117 in the current QRF. Enough said.
First half is back and forth and ugly. Tied at 10 at 10 and Humboldt has 3 guys with 2 fouls. Keith Larocque with a triple at 6:25 that gives Humboldt a 19-14 lead. Dominic Capillo with a prayer to extend it to 26-20 at 1:20. Mark Olander with a late triple and Trinity goes to halftime down 26-23. 9-3 on the 1st half fouls. Olander 5 points on 1-5 shooting on my sheet. Aaron Gregg leads Trinity with 10, Tony Kuplic with 6 and 6. Josh Titus with 8 points and 4 boards to lead Humboldt.
Kuplic breaks a 29 all tie with 2 free throws at 13:15. Humboldt counters with a 7-0 run over the next 5:30. Melvin Dees with 5 points in the run and he finishes it with a putback at 7:45. 36-31 Hawks lead. Olander then comes to life. He ties it with a 3. Then a free throw followed by a steal for 2 at 5:05 to give Trinity the lead. Titus gone with his 5th foul at 4:43. Humboldt gets a pretty pick and roll but Dallas Jackson misses the easy layin. Trinity with the 2nd pass out of the baseline double team and it finds Olander for another 3 at 3:40. Timeout Humboldt down 43-38. Olander then puts drives home the dagger with another triple on the next Trinity possession. A Humboldt turnover leads to 2 Kuplic free throws and a then a Hawks miss results in 2 more Olander free throws with 1:36 left. The run is 22-3 over 6:45 before Humboldt finally breaks a field goal drought with 1 minute left. Olander with 15 of the points in that run. But the damage is done as the run gives Trinity a 14 point lead. The rest is free throws. Trinity wins 58-45.
For Humboldt, Dominic Campillo with 14 points but questionable shot selection. The Hawks are now 1-17 and have lost 17 in a row after an opening night blow out of Great River. They have Mounds Park Academy at home on Tuesday before a trip to Como Park on Friday. That starts a stretch of 5 St. Paul City games to end their regular season. Despite 3 starters returning next year, not much in the way of prospects for Humboldt's future. The Mounds Park game should determine the #8 seed in 4AA east.
For Trinity, they improve to 7-15 after an 0-8 start and they've been competitive against good teams in that stretch. Nice job really packing in their man-man defense for most of the night and really daring Humboldt to make anything outside fo 15 feet. This was the classic 1 guy on the ball, 4 guys with a foot in the paint defense. Mark Olander with 19 of his 24 points in the 2nd half. The future is brighter for the Tri-Hawks too. Sophomore point guard Tony Kuplic with 19 points and 14 rebounds tonight on my sheet. He's their leading scorer on the season. Another sophomore, Aaron Gregg, gives them a nice inside presence. He had 12 points tonight. With the exception of Olander, the entire rotation returns next season. They could sneak into that 6 seed and surprise Brooklyn Center in the 1st round of the weak 4AA West Subsection.
First half is back and forth and ugly. Tied at 10 at 10 and Humboldt has 3 guys with 2 fouls. Keith Larocque with a triple at 6:25 that gives Humboldt a 19-14 lead. Dominic Capillo with a prayer to extend it to 26-20 at 1:20. Mark Olander with a late triple and Trinity goes to halftime down 26-23. 9-3 on the 1st half fouls. Olander 5 points on 1-5 shooting on my sheet. Aaron Gregg leads Trinity with 10, Tony Kuplic with 6 and 6. Josh Titus with 8 points and 4 boards to lead Humboldt.
Kuplic breaks a 29 all tie with 2 free throws at 13:15. Humboldt counters with a 7-0 run over the next 5:30. Melvin Dees with 5 points in the run and he finishes it with a putback at 7:45. 36-31 Hawks lead. Olander then comes to life. He ties it with a 3. Then a free throw followed by a steal for 2 at 5:05 to give Trinity the lead. Titus gone with his 5th foul at 4:43. Humboldt gets a pretty pick and roll but Dallas Jackson misses the easy layin. Trinity with the 2nd pass out of the baseline double team and it finds Olander for another 3 at 3:40. Timeout Humboldt down 43-38. Olander then puts drives home the dagger with another triple on the next Trinity possession. A Humboldt turnover leads to 2 Kuplic free throws and a then a Hawks miss results in 2 more Olander free throws with 1:36 left. The run is 22-3 over 6:45 before Humboldt finally breaks a field goal drought with 1 minute left. Olander with 15 of the points in that run. But the damage is done as the run gives Trinity a 14 point lead. The rest is free throws. Trinity wins 58-45.
For Humboldt, Dominic Campillo with 14 points but questionable shot selection. The Hawks are now 1-17 and have lost 17 in a row after an opening night blow out of Great River. They have Mounds Park Academy at home on Tuesday before a trip to Como Park on Friday. That starts a stretch of 5 St. Paul City games to end their regular season. Despite 3 starters returning next year, not much in the way of prospects for Humboldt's future. The Mounds Park game should determine the #8 seed in 4AA east.
For Trinity, they improve to 7-15 after an 0-8 start and they've been competitive against good teams in that stretch. Nice job really packing in their man-man defense for most of the night and really daring Humboldt to make anything outside fo 15 feet. This was the classic 1 guy on the ball, 4 guys with a foot in the paint defense. Mark Olander with 19 of his 24 points in the 2nd half. The future is brighter for the Tri-Hawks too. Sophomore point guard Tony Kuplic with 19 points and 14 rebounds tonight on my sheet. He's their leading scorer on the season. Another sophomore, Aaron Gregg, gives them a nice inside presence. He had 12 points tonight. With the exception of Olander, the entire rotation returns next season. They could sneak into that 6 seed and surprise Brooklyn Center in the 1st round of the weak 4AA West Subsection.
08-09 Week 11 Rewind
Here's what caught my eye from the end of week 11 of the 2008-2009 season.
#1 Lester Prairie vs #8 Trinity
#2 Maranatha vs #7 West Lutheran
#3 Southwest Christian vs #6 New Life Academy
#4 Heritage vs #5 Meadow Creek Christian
Concordia-Bloomington, Bethany and Providence will be in the friendship bracket with 2 games of round robin play there.
Opening round is on Friday, I believe the high seeds host.
If you missed any of the games I saw this week, here's the complete list.
My schedule for the week can be found on the right side in "The Czar's Schedule" section.
- Brooklyn Center 1-2 this week without Freddie Young. That 1 win was by 1 point over a Breck team that has lost 8 out of 10.
- Dylan Rodriguez with 42 for Blaine in a win over Anoka. The Bengals travel to Champlin Park on Tuesday. Continue to watch Blaine to see if they can make a run in section 7AAAA.
- Speaking of section 7AAAA. Forest Lake needed 2 OT to win at section rival Duluth East. But remember that the Rangers had a tough game against White Bear Lake on Friday night.
- Jake White with 22 for Chaska in a home upset of Lakeville North. But Chaska matches up really well with Lakeville North's size.
- Charlie Baker back for Eagan as they get a home win over 2-18 Kennedy. Deron Murphy last played January 27th for the Eagles.
- Elk River with the upset of Maple Grove in OT. Bad loss for Maple Grove as they still had a chance for 2nd in the NW Suburban. The Elks are now 2-10 but still at the bottom of the league.
- After giving up 50 to Matt Zager in their 1st meeting, Farmington holds him to 10 and wins the matchup of Missota Conference leaders.
- Mounds View needed to come from 9 down at the half to win at Suburban East cellar-dwellar Park.
- Northfield with another 3 point win over Holy Angels (read about their 1st meeting here). Surprising that Northfield didn't dominate more in these matchups.
- Speaking of tough rematches, Champlin Park only lost by 4 to Osseo by holding Sam Dower to 14. That's different than the 1st matchup where Dower had 20 points and Osseo won by 21.
- Woodbury has now lost 6 of 7 after a loss at Owatonna on Saturday.
- SW Christian hammers New Life by 39 and only 11 points from Caleb Palkert. Wow. Didn't expect that one at all. I'll derive the MCAA tourney brackets below.
#1 Lester Prairie vs #8 Trinity
#2 Maranatha vs #7 West Lutheran
#3 Southwest Christian vs #6 New Life Academy
#4 Heritage vs #5 Meadow Creek Christian
Concordia-Bloomington, Bethany and Providence will be in the friendship bracket with 2 games of round robin play there.
Opening round is on Friday, I believe the high seeds host.
If you missed any of the games I saw this week, here's the complete list.
My schedule for the week can be found on the right side in "The Czar's Schedule" section.
Minnehaha, De La Salle, 2nd verse like the 1st
The night session of this February Saturday takes me to the boys/girls doubledip at De La Salle with Minnehaha being the guests. The #6 DLS girls with a furious comeback from 12 down late to cut the deficit to 1 against the #4 Redhawks but Minnehaha holds on for a 60-55 win. Star center Katelyn Adams with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks for Minnehaha. Rachel Hansen with 15 of her 18 in the 2nd half for the victors. Sophomore guard Tori Rule with 17 of her 23 in the 1st half as DLS got the last 9 of the half for a 33-24 halftime lead.
Interesting to see the DLS girls using all 5 players in shell drill during warmups, usually shell drill is a 4 on 4 drill. Nice job by the DLS band tonight with Crazy Train and When Doves Cry amongst the musical choices this evening. Coach Eric Schutte of Concordia and St. Anthony junior Josh Pratt amongst those watching tonight.
Jalen Jaspers with a couple of early hoops against David Burnham. 6-2 DLS 2 minutes in. Parker Hines with a 3, a tip in, an assist to Taylor Hanson as he slips a screen, then Hines with a steal for 2. Burnham concludes an 11-2 run with a layup after another DLS turnover. 13-8 Redhawks at 12:49 on an 11-2 run over 3:11. AJ Barker with a couple of hoops for DLS to cut the lead to 16-13 at 7:35. Jaspers with a 3 point play at 6:24, 18-16 Minnehaha. Burnham with a turnaround but then he picks up his 3rd foul at 5:11. Greg Meyer with a 3 point play and Taylor Sparkman with a layup after a DLS turnover. That forces a DLS timeout at 3:17 as the Minnehaha lead has ballooned to 25-16. Minnehaha goes 1-3-1 the rest of the half. DLS can't score the last 2 minutes against it and the Redhawks lead 29-18 at the half. Jalen Jaspers 12 for De La Salle. Nice balance for Minnehaha as Parker Hines has 9 and the wings David Burnham and Greg Meyer have 7 each. Only 2 free throws for DLS the rest of the half after the Jaspers 3 point play at 6:24. AJ Barker appeared to come down on someone's foot with 2:33 left in the half and he doesn't return for the Islanders.
Minnehaha decides to stay with the 1-3-1 in the 2nd half. Burnham with a silly reaching foul at 16:16 for his 4th and he has to sit. John Hertle with a bucket and then Melvin Collins puts back his own miss. 33-27 Minnehaha at 11:25. Hanson with a nice drive for 2 and then a 3 point play by Meyer push the lead back to 11 at 10:14. Burnham back in at 7:44 and fouls out at 4:53. Collins makes 2 free throws and its 39-33 Minnehaha. Greg Meyer with a layup and then he finds Lucas Taddonio at 3:15 for a 43-36 Minnehaha lead. Jaspers with his 1st field goal in over 13 minutes at 2:05, 43-38 Redhawks. Hanson makes a jumper on an assist from Hines, Jaspers misses and Meyer finds Sparkman for a layup with 46 seconds left to seal it. Minnehaha wins 48-40 after winning the 1st meeting 48-42 at home.
For De La Salle, the loss of AJ Barker with the injured left ankle was huge. When the only scorer on the floor is Jaspers its hard to generate any kind of offense. He finished with 20 points on 6 field goals and 8-9 FTs. Jonah Travis with 6 points and 12 rebounds despite sitting out the last 7 minutes of the 1st half with 2 fouls. It'll be interesting to see who steps up to fill the void left by Barker's absence if he's out for any length of time. This also hurts in the very difficult section 6 as they try to at worst maintain a home seed.
For Minnehaha, they're now 19-2 with the win and still trying to make a case for the #1 seed over St. Bernard's in 4AA East despite a head-head loss. Nice job with the 1-3-1 in recognizing who the scorers were and laying off those who aren't scorers. The zone also limits the cutting lanes for Jaspers who's very good slicing thru the lane in their motion offense. Greg Meyer big late. He and Taylor Sparkman lead the way with 11 points. Parker Hines with 9 points all in the 1st half. No Austin Brown tonight for the Redhawks.
Interesting to see the DLS girls using all 5 players in shell drill during warmups, usually shell drill is a 4 on 4 drill. Nice job by the DLS band tonight with Crazy Train and When Doves Cry amongst the musical choices this evening. Coach Eric Schutte of Concordia and St. Anthony junior Josh Pratt amongst those watching tonight.
Jalen Jaspers with a couple of early hoops against David Burnham. 6-2 DLS 2 minutes in. Parker Hines with a 3, a tip in, an assist to Taylor Hanson as he slips a screen, then Hines with a steal for 2. Burnham concludes an 11-2 run with a layup after another DLS turnover. 13-8 Redhawks at 12:49 on an 11-2 run over 3:11. AJ Barker with a couple of hoops for DLS to cut the lead to 16-13 at 7:35. Jaspers with a 3 point play at 6:24, 18-16 Minnehaha. Burnham with a turnaround but then he picks up his 3rd foul at 5:11. Greg Meyer with a 3 point play and Taylor Sparkman with a layup after a DLS turnover. That forces a DLS timeout at 3:17 as the Minnehaha lead has ballooned to 25-16. Minnehaha goes 1-3-1 the rest of the half. DLS can't score the last 2 minutes against it and the Redhawks lead 29-18 at the half. Jalen Jaspers 12 for De La Salle. Nice balance for Minnehaha as Parker Hines has 9 and the wings David Burnham and Greg Meyer have 7 each. Only 2 free throws for DLS the rest of the half after the Jaspers 3 point play at 6:24. AJ Barker appeared to come down on someone's foot with 2:33 left in the half and he doesn't return for the Islanders.
Minnehaha decides to stay with the 1-3-1 in the 2nd half. Burnham with a silly reaching foul at 16:16 for his 4th and he has to sit. John Hertle with a bucket and then Melvin Collins puts back his own miss. 33-27 Minnehaha at 11:25. Hanson with a nice drive for 2 and then a 3 point play by Meyer push the lead back to 11 at 10:14. Burnham back in at 7:44 and fouls out at 4:53. Collins makes 2 free throws and its 39-33 Minnehaha. Greg Meyer with a layup and then he finds Lucas Taddonio at 3:15 for a 43-36 Minnehaha lead. Jaspers with his 1st field goal in over 13 minutes at 2:05, 43-38 Redhawks. Hanson makes a jumper on an assist from Hines, Jaspers misses and Meyer finds Sparkman for a layup with 46 seconds left to seal it. Minnehaha wins 48-40 after winning the 1st meeting 48-42 at home.
For De La Salle, the loss of AJ Barker with the injured left ankle was huge. When the only scorer on the floor is Jaspers its hard to generate any kind of offense. He finished with 20 points on 6 field goals and 8-9 FTs. Jonah Travis with 6 points and 12 rebounds despite sitting out the last 7 minutes of the 1st half with 2 fouls. It'll be interesting to see who steps up to fill the void left by Barker's absence if he's out for any length of time. This also hurts in the very difficult section 6 as they try to at worst maintain a home seed.
For Minnehaha, they're now 19-2 with the win and still trying to make a case for the #1 seed over St. Bernard's in 4AA East despite a head-head loss. Nice job with the 1-3-1 in recognizing who the scorers were and laying off those who aren't scorers. The zone also limits the cutting lanes for Jaspers who's very good slicing thru the lane in their motion offense. Greg Meyer big late. He and Taylor Sparkman lead the way with 11 points. Parker Hines with 9 points all in the 1st half. No Austin Brown tonight for the Redhawks.
Mahtomedi at Harding Thoughts
This Saturday of week 11 of the 08-09 season takes me back to the east side of St. Paul for Mahtomedi's trip to Harding. No atmosphere here whatsoever.
Harding ice cold early as it takes the Knights 4:15 to make a shot from the field. Mahtomedi hot on the other end as they run the lead to 16-3 at 12:05. Mike Hagen then with productive minutes off the bench as he gets 7 straight Mahtomedi points. Harding timeout at 9:23 down 23-7 and they switch to 2-3 zone. Jon Krebs with 6 points with a dunk included to stretch the lead to 33-9 Zephyrs with 5:30 left in the half. But Harding wakes up slighty as Ernest Mang knocks down a couple of 3s and Andre Creighton also adds a triple. 40-23 Mahtomedi at half. Krebs 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting.
5 in a row for Harding to cut the lead to 12 to start the half. Hagen with a nice drive against the 2-3 zone to push the lead back to 16, 47-31 at 12:32. Then Harding goes on a 13-4 run over 3:30. Ernest Mang with a triple in the run and then a putback to conclude it. 51-44 Mahtomedi with 9:05 left and somehow this game is now competitive. But Harding only makes 2 field goals the rest of the way (1 was off an inbounds play). Mahtomedi spreads the floor to make life difficult for the Knights. Interestingly enough, Harding empties the bench at 2:06 with the deficit only at 13. That's something you never see here. Mahtomedi goes on to win 68-50.
For Harding, they fall to 2-17 (and both wins are over bad teams). With their top 2 players, Ernest Mang and Andre Creighton, seniors and nothing of note at the JV level, looks like the future isn't that bright for the Knights. Creighton with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Mang with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Harding probably looking at the #8 seed with a 1st round meeting at Johnson.
For Mahtomedi, they improve to 14-6 and have a hold on the #2 seed in the same weak section 3AAA. Interesting that they decided to show some 1-3-1 today. Jon Krebs 9-13 for 19 points and 5 rebounds. Mike Hagen with 9 points and 7 boards in a nice day off the Zephyr bench. The one returning player of note next year, lefty Bobby Sherwood, with 13 points and 7 boards from the point guard spot.
Harding ice cold early as it takes the Knights 4:15 to make a shot from the field. Mahtomedi hot on the other end as they run the lead to 16-3 at 12:05. Mike Hagen then with productive minutes off the bench as he gets 7 straight Mahtomedi points. Harding timeout at 9:23 down 23-7 and they switch to 2-3 zone. Jon Krebs with 6 points with a dunk included to stretch the lead to 33-9 Zephyrs with 5:30 left in the half. But Harding wakes up slighty as Ernest Mang knocks down a couple of 3s and Andre Creighton also adds a triple. 40-23 Mahtomedi at half. Krebs 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting.
5 in a row for Harding to cut the lead to 12 to start the half. Hagen with a nice drive against the 2-3 zone to push the lead back to 16, 47-31 at 12:32. Then Harding goes on a 13-4 run over 3:30. Ernest Mang with a triple in the run and then a putback to conclude it. 51-44 Mahtomedi with 9:05 left and somehow this game is now competitive. But Harding only makes 2 field goals the rest of the way (1 was off an inbounds play). Mahtomedi spreads the floor to make life difficult for the Knights. Interestingly enough, Harding empties the bench at 2:06 with the deficit only at 13. That's something you never see here. Mahtomedi goes on to win 68-50.
For Harding, they fall to 2-17 (and both wins are over bad teams). With their top 2 players, Ernest Mang and Andre Creighton, seniors and nothing of note at the JV level, looks like the future isn't that bright for the Knights. Creighton with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Mang with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Harding probably looking at the #8 seed with a 1st round meeting at Johnson.
For Mahtomedi, they improve to 14-6 and have a hold on the #2 seed in the same weak section 3AAA. Interesting that they decided to show some 1-3-1 today. Jon Krebs 9-13 for 19 points and 5 rebounds. Mike Hagen with 9 points and 7 boards in a nice day off the Zephyr bench. The one returning player of note next year, lefty Bobby Sherwood, with 13 points and 7 boards from the point guard spot.
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