Maranatha clinches another MCAA title

Prologue
Its a first time trip to West Lutheran as the Warriors host Maranatha with the MCAA North Division still in flux.  West Lutheran 1 game back and they won at MCA 68-67 As is typical of an MCAA gym, pack everybody on to 1 side.  Loved the sausage and canadian bacon on the pizza.  Good to talk to injured MCA star Josh Goldschmidt during the JV game.  He hopes to be ready to go for the AAU season coming off a torn ACL during football.  Really vocal West Lutheran student section who came out on to the sideline to greet the team out of the locker room.


Game Time
Maranatha jumps out to a 10-3 lead with a quick pace in the 1st 2:37.  Ole... Ole Ole Ole.. as the West Lutheran kids are enjoying the night.  Isaiah Hanson gets it going for MCA with a bucket on the post, 2 putbacks and a 3.  21-9 Mustangs at the 8:10 mark.  The lead is 27-18 at the 6:01 mark when West Lutheran goes on a 9-2 run to get right back in it.  Justin Anderson with a couple of big 3s in that run and MCA needs a timeout at the 3:48 mark.  29-26 Maranatha with the lead.  MCA responds with a 13-0 run the rest of the half to break the game open.  42-26 Mustangs at half.

They add the 1st 4 of the 2nd half to stretch the lead to 20.  West Lutheran gets 7 in a row with the last 5 from Dustin Barth to cut the lead to 52-39 with 10 minutes left.  The Hansons put the game away.  Isaiah to the basket for 2 and frosh Jeremiah for 3 followed by Isaiah with a layup.  59-39 with 8:25 left.  West Lutheran wouldn't threaten again. Nice to see Isaiah playing hard even in a blowout.  Late in the game, he kicks out to Jamie Hammond for 3 and then hustles after a turnover to pin a layup to the board.  Maranatha wins 75-57.

Post Game
For West Lutheran, Justin Anderson with 13 of his 16 in the 1st half to lead the Warriors.  Dustin Barth with 12 of his 15 in the 2nd half to try and keep them close.  Just no answers for the MCA 1-3-1 zone and cold shooting.  The Warriors fall to 9-3 in the MCAA (2nd in the North) and 16-5 overall.  Still have to think they're a serious contender to be the 4 seed right behind MCA in section 4A.  They'll get a check of status with a trip to one of the section favorites Prairie Seeds on Tuesday.

For Maranatha, Isaiah Hanson played very well and topped all scorers with 25 points.  Garrison Gillard added 14.  Mustangs gave up a couple of runs but nicely bounced back to put the game out of reach.  They avenge their only loss in the last 3 years in league play.  Their record improves to 14-6 and 11-1 in the MCAA.  A pair of road games and then a very interesting home game with Blake on 2/21 before the MCAA tournament game.

Titans take control of conference race

Prologue
Off to St. Thomas Academy for an important Classic Suburban showdown with Tartan.  No concessions since it was a late arrival right before the varsity game.  We have the St. Thomas Academy band with nice versions of Sweet Caroline and 25 or 6 to 4.  But a surprisingly small crowd on hand considering the implications at the top of the league standings.

Game Time
Darrion Strong with the 1st 5 for Tartan and a Kharie Kirkland steal for 2. 7-3 Tartan in the 1st 3 minutes.  Thomas Sjoberg scores and then finds Nick Waldvogel for 3.  Cal Schneider adds 2 on the post and St. Thomas leads 8-7 as Tartan takes timeout at the 11:11 mark.  Mike Hudspeth off the Tartan bench knocks down a pair of 3s for a 17-13 Tartan lead inside of 5 minutes left in the half.    Then the transition defense goes away for Tartan.  Waldvogel runs out for a layup, a scramble for a Sjoberg 3, John Gould with a layup and Sjoberg follows on the break for a 2 handed jam to end a 9-0 Cadets run.  Strong with the last 5 of the half for the Titans.  25-22 St. Thomas Academy at half.

Sjoberg would start the 2nd half with 2 free throws as the offenses really struggled in the 1st part of the second half.  Schneider with slick footwork inside on the post for 2 and the Cadets lead 31-25 with 12:30 to play.  Then Strong heats up.  A give and go for 2, then his 2nd 3 of the half. Hudspeth with another 3.  Strong converts a turnover for 2 more.  10-0 Tartan run in 2 minutes for a 35-31 lead with 10:30 left.  4 in a row for the Cadets to tie before Strong isolates for 3 and nails another jumper.  15 of the 1st 18 for Tartan in the half from Strong.  That's after Kyle Von Schmidt Pauli uses a broom to get a stuck ball between from the top of the backboard and supporting post.  40-35 Titans with 7:50 left.  St. Thomas would stay close but never get over the hump.  Tartan doing a nice job of spreading the floor late and using their ability to take people off the bounce to their advantage.  A pair of Kirkland free throws with 2:02 left pushes the lead to 7.  But then an offensive foul on Strong and then 5 straight misses free throws.  Add in a long NBA range 3 from Sjoberg with 30 seconds left and we have a game.  Xavier Hall makes 1 with 28.7 left for a 55-52 lead and St. Thomas will have a chance to tie.  But they turn it over with 20.1 left and won't get any closer.  Tartan wins 59-52.

Post Game
For St. Thomas Academy, Thomas Sjoberg leads with 17 points, 12 in the 1st half.  6-18 FGs including 1-9 in the 2nd half.  His late long 3 was his only field goal in the 2nd half and only points in 15 minutes.  He added 4 assists for 10 points as well.  Cal Schneider productive with 9 points inside.  St. Thomas falls to 11-6 overall, 7-3 in the Classic Suburban.  That's tied for 2nd with Richfield.  But Richfield still hosts Tartan in a couple of weeks.  An interesting home game with River Falls (who lost 55-52 to Tartan and beat a pretty decent Baldwin-Woodville team last week) looms on Saturday and Duluth East comes to town next Friday night.

For Tartan, Darrion Strong continues to play very well.  He leads all scorers with 26 points, 15 of those in a 6 minute stretch midway through the 2nd half where Tartan was +12.  Tartan is now 9-1 in the Classic Suburban with a 2 game lead on both Richfield and St. Thomas and 3-0 vs those 2 (at Richfield on 2/21).  Overall record is 15-5 with South St. Paul and Simley on the schedule prior to that Richfield game.  The fight for the 2 seed is still out there.  Winner of the Suburban East (Roseville now) likely gets the 1, but Woodbury or Cretin-Derham hall will have a say in that and have a higher power ranking than Tartan now.

Red Knights win another tight road war

Prologue
Its my 3rd straight DeLaSalle game as its back to the island for the annual rivalry tilt with #1 Benilde-St Margaret's.  A full house in the stands and standing 2-3 deep on the baseline walls with 100 or more stuck outside by the time we get the boys game started in this doubleheader.  That includes Jay Pivec, Flip Saunders and the Mr Basketball committee in the stands.  The hot dog bun left much to be desired as it was one of the worst of the year being separated and crumbling on the touch (sorry Islanders, have to be honest, the people want to know).  Dr. Pepper is always a quality choice as the overheated gym required much refreshment.  Billy Crystal (also reminds of guy Bobcat Goldthwait picked on in Police Academy) and John Lithgow 2 of the 3 officials tonight.  As to fashion, I'm certainly no expert but Islanders AD Darcy Cascaes is one of the few who could wear a scarf in a gym that hot and pull it off.

Game Time
Benilde-St. Margaret's goes...man to man??  Very shocking for any of us who have paid any attention to DLS basketball.  Only a couple of minutes pass and there's the 1-3-1 but only for a couple of minutes and the Red Knights play man the rest of the way.  Sanjay Lumpkin to the basket for 2 on a turnover and drives for 2 more.  He scores 10 of the 1st 15 for Benilde-St. Margaret's.  That's part of a 6-0 run that forces an Islanders timeout.  17-11 BSM at the 10:45 mark.  DeLaSalle responds with a 11-2 run with Tyler Moore driving for a 3 point play and putting back a miss.  22-19 DLS at the 7:05 mark.  27-22 Islanders after a Shawn Fitzgibbons layup at the 5:40 mark.  But he sits with his 2nd foul seconds later at the 5:17 mark and takes the DLS offense with him.  BSM goes on a 12-0 run the rest of the half for a 34-27 halftime lead.

Lumpkin doing work to start the 2nd half.  He grabs a miss for 2 free throws and then runs like he robbed Fort Knox for 2 more free throws.  I don't remember seeing a kid run that hard and fast from 1 end to the other on a play all year.  40-32 Red Knights at the 14:47 mark.  BSM keeping the Islanders at arm's length with a Zierden pull up and a nice cut by Will Dunn behind his defender for a layup.  49-41 BSM with 7:10 left.  DeLaSalle at home is tough though.  Fitzgibbons for 2, Reid Travis for an inbounds bunny.  Red Knights respond with Zierden flaring off of Lumpkin for a huge 3.  Lumpkin with a block and then a rebound.  Then on the other end he finds Zierden for a layup.  54-45 BSM with 4:41 left and DeLaSalle needs a timeout.  Again the Islanders come out of a timeout on a run.  Luke Scott flares for 3, a inbounds lob for Lumpkin is tipped away and Travis takes it the other way for a big dunk.  Travis then pulls up on Lumpkin for a jumper with 2:35 left (this was after Lumpkin got him in the 1st half, fun 1 on 1 battle).  The teams trade missed 3s before Dunn makes a floater.  Moore misses and DLS looks done.

Lumpkin trying to kill time up high against Travis inside 90 seconds to play and a 58-52 BSM lead.  But Travis picks his pocket and goes the other way for what looks like a dunk.  Lumpkin gets him from behind to prevent the 2 but its an intentional foul with 1:17 left.  Oh my, now DLS has life.  Travis makes 1 of 2 and Luke Scott buries a 3 on the inbounds as DLS keeps it.  58-56 BSM ahead with the ball and 59.7 left. DLS ran that play all night and they've run it for years (we'll show it below).  Time after time, BSM gave up open looks on it and had Lumpkin jumping out off of Travis to try and challenge the look.  Poor preparation and game adjustments there from the Red Knights.  BSM walks with 47.2 left and the Islanders have a chance.  Scott flares up high for 3 and gets mugged and will shoot free throws.  He makes 2 and then after a BSM timeout makes the 3rd.  59-58 DLS has the lead with 32.7 seconds to play.  BSM inbounds and goes since they drew it up in the timeout after the 2nd free throw.  Zierden goes to his right off a top of the key ball screen from Lumpkin.  He gets a mediocre to small bump and the ball is clearly off Zierden's right shin right in front of the BSM bench. Lithgow has a picture perfect look at it as the trail official and completely blows the call as he gives it to BSM with 22.8 left.  WOW!  Zierden catches the inbounds lob and pulls up for the super clutch 18 footer with 18 seconds left. Timeout DLS down 60-59.  The last possession is super physical as Fitzgibbons gets bumped off and Travis gets mugged at the left elbow.  DLS gets nothing and a long 3 at the buzzer is no good. BSM hangs on 60-59. 

Post Game
For DeLaSalle, Luke Scott with 16 of his 18 points in the 2nd half.  Good sets to get him good looks.  Reid Travis 16 points and 6 rebounds in the head to head battle with Lumpkin..  A couple of clutch plays late with the pull up and steal for the intentional foul in the last 3 minutes.  Interesting situation at the end as the final play broke down inside 10 seconds left, do you take a timeout there to regroup and then have to get the ball in and worry about a reset and possibly different defense. Other option is to just go and throw something up and go get it off the board late for a cheap 2 (its not the shot that beats you, usually the offensive rebound does).    The irony is that coach Thorson was just talking about this type of scenario on Twitter this past week.  Great point he made.  Neither one is right or wrong in principle.  The right answer is that you go with what you've practiced, BINGO!  Coaches, how many of these situations have you prepared for on a daily basis?  I view things like this like football coaches view special teams.  Its a big part of the game and deserves fair time in practice.  The Islanders have lost 2 in a row to fall to 12-5, 10-1 in the Tri-Metro.  They have 8 games in the final 3 weeks of the season, busy schedule.  That begins with a home tilt vs Minnehaha on Saturday night.

For Benilde-St. Margaret's, I was very surprised they didn't show more zone.  Especially considering that they will play 1-3-1 and DLS has struggled all year vs zone.  Granted they had the lead most of the way so why change.  Yes I know DLS did a couple things in the couple of minutes of zone.  That said, I can't imagine that the Islanders would have gotten a better rhythm vs zone than all the great man stuff they run.  I've said it before I'll say it again, there's is NO WAY I would play man against DeLaSalle, NONE.  Make their bench and non-scorers beat you against a zone.  How will they score??  Blake did a great job of this in the 1st win but even they made the mistake of chasing non-shooters and leaving Scott for a stretch of that game.  Sanjay Lumpkin leads the Red Knights with 20 points and 6 rebounds and a couple of blocks.  Isaiah Zierden with 17 points (6-11 FGs) and came up clutch with 9 of those points in the last 5:10 including the eventual game winner with 18 seconds left.  Will Dunn with 11, Isaiah Gray with 10.  Benilde-St. Margaret's is now 18-1 and 9-0 in the North Suburban.  7 league games remain starting with a city showdown and fun guard matchup against St. Louis Park on Thursday.

Play of the Day
Here's the baseline out of bounds that DeLaSalle used all night for looks.  Box set.  Luke Scott (shooter) on the ball side elbow.  Reid Travis ball side block.  Tyler Moore weakside elbow.  Sean Fitzgibbons (slasher, scorer) taking it out.

Travis pops to ball side corner for catch.  He sends it to Scott popping to the high slot.  Scott slot to slot to Moore popping up.  Scott straight down the lane line to screen for Fitzgibbons who hard curls it to the top of the 6 foot circle.  Travis then pins down (and shapes up strong afterwards) for the sharpshooer Scott going to the original ball side corner.  Great action and defender upon defender of Scott got lost trying to help on the Fitzgibbons curl and never got back or talked.  Good reactions by Lumpkin on a couple but he was too late on the late Scott 3 that gave DLS the lead.

Royals continue rivalry dominance

Prologue
Off to Hopkins for their Lake Conference showdown against rival Minnetonka.  Had the walking taco as always but the lettuce just didn't do it for me tonight.  Soph Luke Pettersen put on a shooting gallery for Minnetonka in the JV game as the Skippers stole one 72-71 (Royals fouled on a 3 at buzzer that was called on the ground for a 1 and 1 down 3).  Surprisingly small crowd but it did start to get more people in late.  Some current music for today's song of the day despite having the Hopkins band in attendance.

Song of the Day
Avicii - Levels

Game Time
4 quick turnovers for Minnetonka with Siyani Chambers converting those into a 3, another bucket and a long assist to Demetrius Martin for a layup.  16-2 Hopkins at the 14:05 mark.  Tommy McDermott in off the Skippers bench to stabalize the offense.  He nails a 3 and pulls up for 2 more.  Then his drive and kick to Andrew Grosz for 3 at the 7:40 cuts the Hopkins lead to 25-15.  Riley Dearring getting hot with a 3, a bucket and then on the post for 2 more as switching gets him matched up with Siyani Chambers.  Add in 2 free throws for Dearring for 6 in a row.  The lead is all the way down to 4.  35-31 Hopkins with 1:39 left in the half.  But the Royals respond as they always seem to.  They score the last 6 as Chambers runs out the clock and buries the fade away.  41-31 Royals at halftime.

Tonka hanging around in the second half.  Andrew Turnblad inside for 2 and then finds McDermott on the nice give and go with 13:40 left to cut the lead to 47-40.  Tonka gives it back with Zach Stahl putting back the 2nd of 2 missed FTs and Tonka turns it over for a Jamal Davis dunk to push the lead right back to double digits.The lead is 13 when Dearring steps back for 3.  Hopkins counters with Davis scoring after Chambers strips Latrell Love on the break.  Dearring again for 3, Love fouled for 2 free throws after a Royals turnover.   Then a big moment.  Tonka out on the break, Love to the basket and his shot is rejected and the backboard gets slapped.  Original ruling is a goaltend.  Coach Dasovich (who I've discussed this rule with a ton because as you know its a pet peeve of mind) correctly points out that slapping the backboard is NEVER EVER a goaltend (which is A: Stupid and B: 95% of high school refs call it incorrectly because its an inconsistent rule) .  Either play on if its a legit play or a technical if its deemed unsportsmanlike.  Refs almost send the ball to be inbounded but they huddle up and change the call to be a technical foul.  Very tough call there.  McDermott steps up and drains both technicals with 10:06 left.  57-52 Hopkins with the lead and Tonka will get the ball after the technical.  Possible makeup call on the inbounds as Latrell Love gets called for an illegal screen.  Chambers makes 2 free throws and a turnover becomes a Martin 3. Martin with a high floater at the 7:40 mark and the lead is 13.  Tonka doesn't threaten again.  Hopkins wins 94-76.

Post Game
For Minnetonka, Tommy McDermott comes off the bench and scores 22 points.  Riley Dearring with 3 3s and 20 points on 6-15 FGs.  I would have liked to see more of him used in the post.  Latrell Love a quiet night with 13 points and 9 rebounds.  Minnetonka falls to 14-5 and 1-2 in the Lake.  Its the 9th straight loss to Hopkins for the Skippers since the epic 74-71 OT win in the 2008 section final at Osseo.  They host Marcus Tyus and Anoka in non-conference play on Friday.  They finish the 1st round of Lake play at Wayzata next Tuesday.

For Hopkins, Siyani Chambers continues to play at a high level.  He finishes with 25 points.  Zach Stahl 20 points and 10 rebounds.  Demetrius Martin 15 and Nick Jorgenson 13.  The Royals used a tighter version of their box lob play that they ran last holiday season for Joe Coleman.  Fun to see that double loop again.  More than anybody I've seen all year, their cutting and extra pass after pass is so superior to everybody.  Really a pleasure to watch.  The Royals are now 18-1 and 3-0 in the Lake.  They are at Edina on Friday and then a quick turnaround at Cooper on Saturday afternoon which should draw a good crowd.

2012 Border Battle Review

Prologue
YAAAAAWN!  It's 5:30 AM, why am I getting up at this awful hour?  Its a long day trip to one the Czar's stomping grounds in the Old Kingdom as the 2012 Border Battle visits Sun Prairie, WI (suburban Madison).  Great concept of a Fritos walking taco but in a bowl.  Everything set out to make your own.  Salsa didn't have enough kick and the cheese was seriously lacking but overall a quality meal.  Smuggle in your own beverages and food as only popcorn and water are allowed in the new gym.

Game 1: #10AA Maple River (MN) vs #3 D3 Wisconsin Dells (WI)
Maple River playing without star Jaron Denn amongst their many injuries. Forward Shane Wimann with 9 points in the 1st quarter for the Dells before he picks us his 2nd foul late in the quarter.  Maple River hangs around in the 1st quarter with 4 3s in 6 FGs vs the Chiefs 1-2-2 zone.  Dells PG MJ Delmore takes over in the 2nd quarter.  He scores 15 in the quarter as the Chiefs outscore the Eagles 18-6.  36-22 Dells at the break.  Ben Larson scores 10 in the 3rd quarter for Maple River.  His 8 in a row with a pair of 3s cut the lead to 10.  46-35 Dells going to the 4th.  Clark Minks with 1 of his 5 3s on the day cuts the Dells lead to 8 but Maple River misses 2 free throws and won't get any closer.  Wisconsin Dells wins the opener 61-47.  MJ Delmore scored 28 points, 15 in the 2nd quarter that was ultimately the difference.  Shane Wimann 17 for the Dells.  For Maple River, Clark Minks with 17 points and the 5 3s.  Ben Larson 13, Josiah Breiter 14 for the Eagles.  Only 9 points from benches combined.  Tough day for Maple River vs the 1-2-2 zone that the Dells used.  They go to it at 3/4 court make or miss.  Hadn't seen that since Waukesha Catholic Memorial a few years ago.  Very few teams will extend on a miss.

Game 2: Maranatha (MN) vs #2 D3 Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau (WI)
MCA also depleted as they played without one of their top players Josh Goldschmidt.  MCA with no answers early for GET star Riley Bambenek (Winona St recruit).  He scores 12 of the 1st 14 for a 14-7 lead.  Post Chris Johnson cleans up with 8 points late in the quarter.  MCA used 3 timeouts in the quarter to try and figure out the 1-3-1.  23-14 GET after 1.  Jamey Hammond with 3 triples in the 2nd quarter as MCA settles down.  MCA only down 38-31 at the half.  Frosh Grantham Guillard makes a pair of free throws and then a 3 from older brother Garrison at the 4 minute mark.  MCA within 44-38.  But GET would pull away from there.  They go on an 11-3 run to end the quarer and then bust the game open to 22 in the 4th .  GET wins 71-54.  Jamey Hammond 16 for MCA.  Riley Bambenek 24 points and 6 rebounds for GET.  Center Chris Johnson impressive again with 20 points.  They had the only FTs and 2 point FGs for GET.  The other 5 scorers combine for 9 3s.

Game 3: #6AAA Grand Rapids (MN) vs #6 D2 Beaver Dam (WI)
I said right before the game that this could be a sleeper game of the day but I didn't expect this.  Austin Pohlen with 2 assists for 3s and a 3 point play of his own as Grand Rapids opens on a  9-0 run.  Beaver Dam comes right back with an 11-0 run of their own. Pohlen with another assist for 3 as he's in on the 1st 12.  13-11 Grand Rapids after 1.  Beaver Dam switches from man to 1-3-1 for the whole 2nd quarter and that slows things down.  Their scoring point guard RJ Shelton scores the 1st 5 but Pohlen knocks down a pair of 3s.  23-22 Beaver Dam at half.  Pohlen 9 points and 3 assists for 9 more points (18 of the 22).  Beaver Dam back to man to start the 3rd (love the switching of defenses).  But it doesn't take long to go back to the 1-3-1.  Star frosh Alex Illikainen active for Grand Rapids in the quarter with 5 points and 6 rebounds.  Grand Rapids gets the last 4 of the quarter for a 34-33 lead going to the 4th.  Mike Spoden puts back a miss and converts a 3 point play after 2 Pohlen free throws.  Its an 11-0 run for the Thunderhawks and they lead 41-33 with 5:35 left.  Owen Salzwedel with 1 3 point play and puts back a miss for another with 3:27 left to cut the lead to 4.  Pohlen to Spoden and Illikainen for layups to sandwich a Beavers 3.  47-42 Grand Rapids with 2:25 left.  But the Thunderhawks miss 7 of 8 FTs (includes 2 front ends missed) down the stretch.  Wing Jake Heuer would make 2 with 44.8 left, Salzwedel 2 with 19.5 left and Heuer would post and be fouled.  He makes 2 more with 4.2 left and we'll go to overtime tied at 48.

Pohlen would drive for 2 and find Spoden for 2 free throws for the Grand Rapids scoring in the 1st overtime.  Grand Rapids held for the last 55 seconds but got into their look late and didn't get a good look 52 all and we'll go to a 2nd overtime.  Pohlen to the left hand to start the 2nd OT.  Beaver Dam would tie and then another long Grand Rapids possession. Pohlen would cash that in with 1:07 left for a 56-54 lead and make a FT after a Beavers turnover.  Heuer with a clutch 3 with 30 seconds left to tie it.  Grand Rapids would turn it over with 10 seconds left.  Beaver Dam used 2 timeouts to set up the final possession but couldn't convert and we'll go to a 3rd OT tied at 57.  Illikainen grabs an offensive board for 2 FTs, then Pohlen with a free throw and a steal for 2 free throws on the intentional foul on the breakaway.  David Liebe 3 of 4 FTs to push the lead to 8, 65-57 with 1:40 left.  But a pair of Thunderhawks turnovers result in 4 points.  67-65 Grand Rapids with 29.8 left but they would make their free throws from there to win 71-65 in 3 overtimes.  Jake Heuer 19 points as he was a tough matchup at the 3 and RJ Shelton 17 for Beaver Dam.  Austin Pohlen 26 points to lead Grand Rapids.  Mike Spoden 14 points mostly in the 4th quarter and overtimes.  Quiet day for frosh Alex Illikainen with 10 points and 9 boards, most of that in the 3rd quarter.

This was only the 2nd longest game in Border Battle history.  Manitowoc Roncalli beat Plainview-Elgin-Millville 91-83 in 4 overtimes at Owatonna in 2009.

Game 4: North St. Paul (MN) vs Madison Edgewood (WI)
This game was the only game of the day without a ranked team involved.  Edgewood has been playing without guard Spencer Brink and was coming off a tough loss the previous night.  Hunter Books scores the 1st 6 points for NSP as they jump out to the 6-0 lead.  Edgewood with 10 in a row to reclaim the lead and they wouldn't give it up.  UW-Milwaukee recruit Austin Arians with a 3 at the halftime buzzer for a 36-27 lead.  NSP would hang around as they hold Edgewood to only 1 FG in the 3rd quarter but they only get 1 FG until the last 30 seconds of the quarter where they get 2 of them to cut the Edgewood lead to 44-37 after 3.  Books with a jumper with 6:30 to play to cut the lead to 46-41.  Edgewood misses a layup but NSP can't convert.  Edgewood scores the next 7 and won't be threatened again.  70-59 Edgewood wins.  Austin Arians with 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Crusaders.  Hunter Books 23 for NSP.  Edgewood 23-30 FTs getting to the basket vs 10-14 for NSP.

Game 5: Tartan (MN) vs #10 D2 Waunakee (WI)
A good start for Tartan with a pair of 3s from Kyle Von Schmidt Pauli and another bucket.  Darrion Strong with a 3 and its 17-7 Tartan late in the1st.  Then Strong to Kharie Kirkland for 3 to beat the 1st quarter buzzer.  22-14 Tartan after 1.  Strong with another 3 to start the quarter for an 11 point lead.  Waunakee counters with 7 in a row to cut the lead to 4.  Strong for 3 to push the lead back to 7 before Waunakee gets 8 in a row with 5 from forward Will Decorah..  32-31 Waunakee at the 4:14 mark of the 2nd quarter.  Strong with a floater and then he beats the buzzer for 3 to give Tartan a 37-36 halftime lead.  Strong with 18 on 4 3s.  Decorah with 15 for Waunakee.  Elite defender Xavier Hall sat out almost the entire half with 2 fouls and now gets the task of slowing Decorah down.  Back and forth we go in the 3rd.  Joe Tagarelli with the 1st 6 of the quarter for Waunakee.  Tartan's star frosh Marshawn Wilson with a drive, a 3 and a free throw.  45-42 Tartan at the 3:40 mark.  Waunakee with 8 of the next 10 but Strong to Mitch Grohs for 3 to beat the 3rd quarter buzzer.  50 all going to the 4th.  A Tartan turnover results in a Waunakee bucket.  57-53 Warriors with 6:35 left.  Wilson for 3, Strong picks up a loose ball gives it up and gets it back for a layup and Wilson scores again.  61-58 Tartan with 4:35 left.  Decorah with a steal for 2 and Waunakee back on top 62-61 with 3:15 left.  Tagarelli in the post for 1 of 2 FTs with 1:22 left to tie the game at 64.  Tartan holds and Wilson is fouled on the trap with 19.7 left.  He makes 1 of 2 for a 65-64 lead.  Tagarelli spins and is fouled.  He makes 2 freebies with 5.9 left for the 1 point lead.  Strong drives and kicks to Mike Wales for an open 3 but this time Tartan doesn't beat the buzzer.  Waunakee wins 66-65.  What a battle.  Will Decorah with 23, Joe Tagarelli 17 for the Warriors.  They'll be a very tough out come tourney time.  Tartan gets 20 from Darrion Strong, 18 in 1st half.  Frosh Marshawn Wilson with all 15 of his points in the 2nd half.

Game 6: #5AAA De La Salle (MN) at Sun Prairie (WI)
UW-Milwaukee and Wisconsin with assistants in the building to watch this one.  Sean Fitzgibbons and Luke Scott with 3s for the Islanders to counter a pair of inside buckets from Sun Prairie's Andre Wallace.  6-4 DLS at the 6:20 mark.  Then the 1-3-1 is too much.  Sun Prairie goes on an 18-0 run with 9 points in a row from their D1 star Nick Fuller.  22-8 Cardinals after 1.  Fuller for 3, a drive and takes a turnover for a dunk.  29-10 Sun Prairie at the 4:10 mark, Fuller with 16 in a row.  Sun Prairie 33-15 at the half.  Fuller with 20 points.  Its blowout city from there, Sun Prairie leaves the starters in a little too long.  Sun Prairie wins 61-35 as DLS had no answer for the 1-3-1.  Nick Fuller finishes with 33 points.  DeLaSalle star Reid Travis held scoreless by the zone.

All Border Battle Team
MJ Delmore - Wisconsin Dells
Riley Bambenek - Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau
Will Decorah - Waunakee
Joe Tagarelli - Waunakee
Nick Fuller - Sun Prairie
Austin Arians - Madison Edgewood
Jake Heuer- Beaver Dam
Austin Pohlen - Grand Rapids
Darrion Strong - Tartan
Hunter Books - North (St. Paul)

History and Future
Wisconsin goes 5-1 on the day to even the all time series at 16-16.  That's payback for Minnesota going 5-0 at Eau Claire Memorial 2 years ago.  Zones were the story.  Dells 1-2-2, 1-3-1 from Beaver Dam, Sun Prairie, Waunakee and G-E-T were all very effective.  The 7th edition of the Border Battle comes to Prior Lake next season.  Here are your 2013 teams.

MN - Apple Valley, De La Salle, Hopkins, Osseo, Prior Lake, Eden Prairie and Mahtomedi.
WI - Rice Lake, Hudson, Manitowoc Roncalli, Appleton West, Madison Memorial, Eau Claire Regis and De Pere.

N Suburban showdown is AAA Classic

Prologue
There are nights when the available games and talent makes me realize that I have a major addiction to watching games.  Then there are nights like this where all the stars align.  Its #1AAA Benilde-St. Margaret's at #2AAA Spring Lake Park.  Both have 16 wins with only 1 loss and that was to #1AAAA Eastview (who got a major scare vs Eagan tonight).  Not only is this for the top spot in the polls but better yet its the defacto North Suburban title game.  Thanks to the insanity that is the unbalanced league schedule, this is the only time these teams will meet during league play this season.  I begin my night by getting a chance to see one of my former players in a 9th grade game that was won on a 3 at the buzzer.  Then blah concession fare during the JV game.  We end up with a full house of about 2000 after the long parent appreciation night ceremony.  We have John Lithgow and Dennis Haysbert as 2 of the 3 members of the quality officiating crew.  Flip Saunders in the house.  Surprised at how short he is (though he's still taller than me, I hate my life).  He took pictures with lots of the Spring Lake Park students after the game.  WCCO did their 6 PM news with a feed from the gym.

Game Time
Bryce Williams scores the 1st 5 for SLP which is countered by a 12-2 BSM run.  Sean Scott for SLP with 2 huge blocks early in the game.  SLP fights back with the next 6 with Williams taking a steal the other way for 2.  Isaiah Gray with a lefty bucket and posting off the inbounds as Benilde goes on a 9-2 run.  23-15 Red Knights at the 9:22 mark and it was their biggest lead all night.  Panthers fighting back again.  Scott makes a 3 and then smashes another shot off the glass and Zierden picks it up at the bottom of the center circle in the backcourt.  Scott with a layup and buries another triple.  25-23 BSM at the 6:50 mark.  BSM gets Zierden going with a UCLA cut into a right wing pick and roll for him.  He knocks down a 3 and then gets to the lane for 2 more off of it.  Soph guard TC Robinson puts back a miss for a 3 point play followed by Scott with back to back putbacks and SLP is back in the lead 32-30 at the 4:05 mark.  Lumpkin down the lane for a big one handed dunk at the 2:30 mark for a 36-34 BSM lead.  Scott and Williams make 3s to send SLP to the break up 40-37.

Scott flammable to start the 2nd half.  He posts for a free throw, then a head fake to send a defender flying by and 1 bounce to knock down the left wing 3.  He runs for a layup from Williams and then a sick move to ditch a defender out high and buries another 3 for 49-41 lead (biggest SLP lead all night).  2 BSM buckets before a Scott catch and 1 dribble back to get behind the line and he knocks it down from the right corner.  He has all 12 in the half to this point and BSM needs a timeout.  52-45 SLP with 13:29 left.  Then foul trouble starts to set in for SLP.  Williams sits with his 4th at the 13:12 mark.  Scott with another swat which results in a Robert Ben layup.  Then SLP's main defender on Isaiah Zierden, Jordan Thimmesch-Slepica, picks up his 4th foul with 10:52 left on a very strange Lithgow call opposite of the play and Jordan can't believe it.  I'll say it again about Lithgow like I did earlier in the year, good ref but calls way too much tick tack stuff that is ultimately meaningless in the actual play.

Lumpkin making a living at the foul line in the 2nd half for BSM.  His 2 with 9:34 left cut the lead to 3, 54-51.  But he goes over the infamous BLOB shooter inbounds and runs to the corner play and Scott makes him pay with yet another 3.  Scott adds 2 FTs inside Lumpkin pair of FTs and runout for a dunk.   BSM going to some zone but both offenses struggling.  Williams and Thimmesch-Slepica return at the 5:53 mark with SLP hanging on 61-58.  Lumpkin grabs an offensive board and as he's falling to the ground puts it back in to cut the lead to 1.  Then SLP with 2 turnovers, a missed drive to the rim and a missed front end in the next 90 seconds.  But BSM can't score any points on their end either as nothing will fall.  Scott grabs a miss with 2:52 left and scores.  Then BSM misses a bunny and turns it over after another missed SLP front end.  Scott converts that too.  65-60 SLP with 2:05 left as BSM takes timeout with the ball.

BSM turns it over and SLP misses inside.  A mysterious call on a SLP player on the ground sends Lumpkin to the line with 1:23 left.  He makes the first and misses the 2nd.  Isaiah Gray grabs the criminal offensive rebound of a free throw and converts.  SLP inbounds and promptly turns it over with 1:14 left.  Zierden is fouled with exactly a minute left and buries both to tie the game at 65.  Scott comes down and takes the quick 3 from straight away which is no good.  BSM rebounds wiht 45 seconds left and they'll hold for 1 and not take a time out.  Danon Briggs dribbles out most of the clock.  Then late the ball ends up in the left corner and we wonder what the shot will be like as it looks like OT.  But Lumpkin makes a great cut to the front of the rim and nobody sees him.  He gets the easy layup with 2.6 left.  Williams gets a decent look at 3 but its long and no good. BSM comes from 5 down in the last 2:05 to score the last 7 points.  Red Knights get a great road win 67-65 to hold on to #1 in one of the best games I've seen all year.

Post Game
For Spring Lake Park, Sean Scott was absolutely off the hook most of the night.  He finishes with 36 points (7 3s), 13 rebounds and 6 blocks on my sheet.  He had 21 of the 25 Panthers points in the 2nd half.  Bryce Williams was hot early and then foul trouble derailed him.  He scored all 12 of his points in the 1st half.  I would have liked them use Robert Ben more in the post against the small BSM lineup with Lumpkin mostly guarding Scott on the perimeter.  The Panthers had a couple of chances in the last 10 minutes where some bad shots and a couple of careless turnovers could have extended the lead and they came away with nothing.  They also missed all 3 front ends in the 2nd half (where BSM missed all 3 in the 1st half).  The Panthers fall to 8-1 in the N Suburban, 16-2 overall.  A quick turnaround with a tough road game at Centennial tomorrow afternoon and then at Irondale on Monday night.  The shame of tonight's loss is that SLP will probably drop in the polls which to me is ridiculous.  No way that should happen on an objective analysis.

For Benilde-St. Margaret's, Sanjay Lumpkin leads with 25 points and 14 rebounds on my sheet.  He had 14 of the 30 2nd half points.  That included 7 of 8 from the charity stripe.  Isaiah Zierden finished with 17 points but had a night where the ball just wouldn't go in.  I had him 7-22 shooting and missing his last 8 but good looks which we'll talk about below.  Lumpkin will be a serious contender to win Mr. Basketball and Scott really helped his cause, though a win probably was necessary to truly vault into the final 5.  The Red Knights improve to 17-1 and lead the N Suburban at 9-0.  The road is still tough as they are on the island to play at DeLaSalle on Tuesday night which should be another crazy atmosphere.

Play of the Day
Our play of the day is how Isaiah Zierden got good looks all night.  Basically a 1-4 high with Danon Briggs entering to Zierden on the right wing.  Briggs would UCLA cut through and the screener would go ball screen for Zierden.  Screener was mostly Lumpkin but Breion Creer was used here too. I like that as a different look.  Creer's a bigger screen and tougher to get around.  Lumpkin is a major threat if he's the screener.  SLP did a nice job of showing and preventing easy 3 point looks but that allowed Zierden to get by and have opportunities from the middle of the lane all night.

Tri-metro race tightens

Prologue
Off to the island for the first of 3 or 4 DeLaSalle games in a row on my schedule (something I'm not a fan of but this game, the Border Battle and the BSM game are too big to miss).  DeLaSalle trying to make up for their Tri-Metro loss back in December 50-44 at Blake. No upgrades at the concession stand tonight but A&W Root Beer is always a good variety choice.  We get one of the finest bands around in the DeLaSalle band.  They don't disappoint with this locally flavored tune for our

Song of the Day
Prince - When Doves Cry

Game Time
Blake had a ton of success with their 3-2 zone in the first game but in this one they go man to man.  Interesting start as the teams trade 5 second calls on the first possessions.  Hard to know that rule even existed anymore.  Reid Travis puts back a miss after a big Blake block.  That's his first opportunity for a 3 point play and he converts one on a lob.  7-0 DLS at the 15:30 mark and Blake goes to their zone.  The lead gets to 9-0 but the zone slows the pace.  John Veil for 3 and adds a free throw later.  Kebu Johnson down the lane and finishes right handed (he's lefty).  That cuts the DeLaSalle lead to 14-10 at the 7:30 mark.  Veil with a drive and pulls up for 3 to force a DeLaSalle timeout at the 4:46 mark.  19-15 Islanders lead.  That sparks DLS to the next 6 points, but Blake would fight back with a Veil assist for a 3 point play and Kebu drives for a righty dunk.  Trey Shepherd with a putback at the buzzer for a 27-21 halftime lead for DeLaSalle.

Then 3 Blake turnovers early in the second half are painful.  Shawn Fitzgibbons converts 1 for a layup, Luke Scott another and he follows that with a 3.  The lead balloons to 35-23 with 15:51 to play.  Blake fights back again with the next 6 as Kebu takes a turnover for a dunk and goes to the reverse layup.  35-29 DLS with 14:01 left.  DLS pushes the lead back to 11.  Blake looking for another comeback.  JR Bascom with a turnaround and then they miss a reverse layup.  Travis grabs it and throws the long bomb to Tyler Moore for a layup.  44-34 DLS with 5:05 left.  The teams trade a pair of buckets before Blake misses a pair of good looks at 3s before Kebu Johnson makes a jumper and Paul Blake scores.  49-42 DLS with 2:08 left.   But there's not enough time for a run now.  DeLaSalle wins 58-49.

Post Game
For Blake, Kebu Johnson leads with 15 points, John Veil with 13.  JR Bascom with 9 of his 11 in the 2nd half.  They ran a ton of pick and roll with Veil and Johnson being the handlers and really didn't get much out of it.  The Bears fall into a tie in the loss column at 11-1 in the Tri-Metro, 14-3 overall.  This was the 1st in a 5 game road swing.  Next is Monday at Roosevelt.  Big road test at Minnehaha in mid-February.

For DeLaSalle, Reid Travis 15 points and 8 rebounds.  He had 3 huge blocks in the 2nd half including 2 on the same possession that ended up in a turnover.  13 for Luke Scott.  The Islander offense vs zone wasn't pretty but their defense was once again outstanding.  Veil and Johnson with almost no good looks.  Islanders are now 10-1 in the Tri-Metro and 12-3 overall.  A stuff test at Sun Prairie, WI in the Border Battle on Saturday before the big showdown with #1AAA Benilde-St. Margaret's on Tuesday night.

Royals triumph in Lake opener

Prologue
Its off to Eden Prairie for the Lake Conference opener between #2AAAA Hopkins and #5AAAA Eden Prairie.  Late concession stand opening with a hot dog that by itself was pretty decent.  Deductions from the East German judge for the paper wrapping sticking to the bun which almost ruined the entire night and for the bun being whole wheat.  Thumbs up for nutrition but not here.  Sid Hartman, Dave Lee and Bud Grant all take in the first half of this one.  Performances from the EP cheerleaders and Jazz Dance squad who dance expert Tom Krosschell tells me are in the running to make state in a very tough section.  So with that in mind, for today's music, put your hands up and put a ring on it

Song of the Day
Beyonce - All the Single Ladies (yes I did the hand thing during the song, boo to me, oh oh oh guilty pleasure)

Game Time
Hopkins off to a fast start with Siyani Chambers for 3 and a turnover leads to a Jamal Davis dunk to force an Eagles timeout.  Demetrius Martin adds a 3 as the Royals score the 1st 12 points of the game.  Sander Mohn breaks the drought at the 13:30 mark.  Nick Jorgenson with nice first half inside.  His back to back hoops combined with a pair of buckets from soph SG Jake Wright put Hopkins up 26-8 inside of 7 minutes left in the half.  Andre Wallace with back to back triples and a pair of FTs for 8 in a row to cut the lead to 31-16 outside of the 5 minute mark.  Grant Schaeffer out on the break, Siyani Chambers measures him to cut across his face for the steal but WHOOOP, Schaeffer goes around his world (wraps it all the way around behind his back) for the 3 point play on one of the slickest finishes you'll see all year.  41-20 Hopkins.  Then Andre Wallace for 3 with 5 seconds left in the half only to see Siyani Chambers knock it down pure from halfcourt at the halftime buzzer.  46-27 Hopkins.  Hopkins adds the first 8 of the 2nd half and this one looks like running time 54-27 Hopkins leading.  Stop that press machine.  EP knocks down 6 3s in the half as the Eagles storm back on a 19-2 run.   Sander Mohn with 3 of those.  Jack Cottrell with a strong play to rip a rebound away and he finds Mohn all alone.  That 3 is nothing but the bottom of the net and EP is within 10, 56-46 with 8:40 to play.  But the Eagles would get no closer.  Zach Stahl banks in a 3 and then blocks a jumper from Mohn.  The run is 12-2 to push the lead right back to 20.  Hopkins cruises from there for a 76-59 win.

Post Game
For Eden Prairie, Sander Mohn and soph guard Andre Wallace lead the way with 17 each.  Wallace was 5-7 shooting from 3, but strangely 0-9 from 2.  Rare stat there.  Abrian Carpenter again active with 12 rebounds.  19 turnovers for Eden Prairie.  The Eagles fall to 13-4 and 0-1 in the Lake Conference after this back to back loss.  The road ahead is league play and that's brutal.  At Minnetonka on Friday, a tough non-conference game at Elk River on Monday and then undefeated Wayzata comes calling next Friday.

For Hopkins, Siyani Chambers 18 points and 5 assists.  Nick Jorgenson 19 points and 6 rebounds.  Zach Stahl 11 points and 4 boards with South Dakota on hand to see him.  Demetrius Martin 13 of his 15 in the first half with 3 triples.  Interesting that during the 19-2 Eden Prairie run in the 2nd half Hopkins decided to go back to their 1-2-2 matchup.  I'm all for coaching but this seemed to be too much with a 19 point lead.  Hopkins is good enough in their man, especially against an Eden Prairie team that isn't all that athletic (besides Wallace of course), that the zone could have been shelved and/or saved until 2nd meeting.  Panic button or genius?  Hind sight is always 20/20.  Hopkins is now 1-0 in the Lake, 16-1 overall.  Big game for them at #4 Wayzata (16-0) on Friday night before hosting rival Minnetonka on Monday.

A Super Saturday Showcase

Prologue
Neighboring venues on today's schedule with the Super 60 Showcase at Washburn and 3 games for me there.  But the opener was just down the street with Duluth East visiting Holy Angels.  I'm too late for the sausage pizza there and the cheese slice was greasy at AHA but the hot dogs at Washburn never disappoint.  AAU guys all over the place with Pulley, Net Gain and Pump N Run all at the AHA/Duluth East game.

Game 1: Duluth East at Holy Angels
Duluth East jumps out to a 10-0 lead thanks to a pair of turnovers and a big block from the new fad on the Minnesota high school hoops scene 6'10, 6'11 or 7' if you believe the program Akolda Manyang. Holy Angels would go to a 2-3 zone and claw their way back to take the lead right before the half.  Taylor Stafford would beat the buzzer for 3 to send Duluth East to the locker room ahead 32-30.

But Duluth East's big 3 would be too much in the 2nd half as they score all but 2 of the 49 Greyhounds points in the half.  Johnny Woodard with 22 of those 49.  Holy Angels would hang around thanks to 18 in the half from Danny Sullivan not to mention a couple of nice assists for layups.  63-57 with 4:45 left after 1 of those assists.  But Duluth East pulls away for a 81-68 win.  Johnny Woodard 34, Taylor Stafford 24 and Akolda Manyang 17 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks.  Manyang looking like a major factor for East and definitely a top, if not the top, player in the 2013 class.  Only 6 points from the East roster otherwise.  Danny Sullivan 29, Charlie Koontz 20, Jordan Dembley 10 for AHA.

Super 60 Showcase at Minneapolis Washburn
Game 2: Prairie Seeds Academy vs Lakeview Christian Academy
Everybody hustling up the street for this one and don't arrive late as Anders Broman picks up his 2nd foul at the 13:12 mark after scoring 6 quick points.  18-15 LCA at the 11:25 mark when Anders picks up his 3rd.  He sits at the 10:37 mark with LCA up 20-19.  Trent Pollard with a big half and his bucket at the 6:15 mark puts PSA up 32-29.  Then what's this?  Anders Broman back in with 6:05 left in the half.  Very surprising as it didn't at all feel like the game was out of hand or even getting to that point.  That move backfires as he gets called for a questionable pushoff going to his stepback fade at the 4:03 mark.  That's #4 and now he has to sit with LCA down 38-34.  PSA takes advantage with a 17-3 run the rest of the half.  7 points from Pollard in the run and Devin Buckley with a pair of 3s in that spurt.  55-37 PSA at the half and this one looks ugly for LCA.

Hold my calls as Anders Broman starts the 2nd half.  That propels LCA on an 11-2 run, Anders with 6 of those and now the lead is inside 10.  57-48 PSA with 14:20 left and not going at Anders at all.  PSA with a pair of buckets but then a 10-0 LCA run to cut the lead to 61-58 with 11:41 left and we definitely have a game now.  7 point game when Anders knocks down a 3 and a jumper.   Then Anders with 1 of many pull up fades and a steal for 2 with 7:56 left to tie the game.  Brother Bjorn makes 1 of 2 freebies with 7:32 left and LCA has come all the back to lead 72-71.  35-16 LCA run.  Anders backdoor to keep the lead at 73-72 with 7:10 left.  Center Gage Deis picks it up for PSA on the post and with a layup.  79-74 PSA with 6 left.  Anders with a corner 3 off the oldest BLOB play around (inbounder runs to corner and everybody inexplicably goes over the top, TRAIL THAT!).  Deis with another bunny and then a foul line jumper for a 5 point lead.  86-80 PSA when Bjorn Broman scores 2 and makes a free throws.  Then Luke Borchardt with the 3 point play with 1:54 left and we're tied at 86.  The teams trade missed 3s before 2 Buckley free throws with 56 seconds left.  Anders with a good look that's no good with 45 seconds left.  PSA takes time and for some reason Pollard drives and scores with 20 seconds left.  Anders Broman makes 2 FTs with 9 seconds left.  LCA fouls with 6 seconds left (5th on Anders) but its not the bonus and they can't get a foul on the next inbounds.  PSA wins 90-88.  Anders Broman finishes with 30 points and 6 rebounds on 11-21 FGs.  It stuck out to me that most of his offense was fade away pull ups.  Great that he has a midrange game (unheard in today's players) but nothing at the rim.  That shows me that he lacks some size and burst to play at the D1 level.  Combine that with questions about his 3 point range and position (2 in a 1s body) and I think he projects as a productive NSIC player.  Bjorn Broman again impressive with 25 points and Luke Borchardt with 20.  Very impressive comeback and effort from the Lions.  Very team oriented and not afraid to share the ball.  That contrasts with the largely 1 on 1 style of PSA.  Devin Buckley 27 points, Trent Pollard 20 (16 in 1st half).  Gage Dies 18 points and 11 rebounds mostly in the 2nd half.

Game 3: Robbinsdale Cooper vs Minneapolis South
Cooper would use a pair of 10-0 runs in the 1st half to take control.  In the 2nd of those runs, Eric Brown ends it back to back 3s vs the 2-3 zone and then hammers home a dunk off a steal.  Carnell Sheppard with 4 3s in the half to try to keep South around.  42-25 Cooper at half.  South starts the 2nd half on a 9-2 spurt ending with another Sheppard 3 to cut the lead to 10, 44-34 with 14:42 left.  Thomas Ford with a huge second half to keep South around as he was active inside.  South couldn't get stops late to cut the gap.  Cooper wins 77-65.  Rashad Vaughn 3 triples on his way to 34 points and 10 rebounds.  Thomas Ford 20 of his 28 in the 2nd half to lead South.  Carnell Sheppard 6 3s and 19 points for South.

Game 4: Totino-Grace at Minneapolis Washburn
Nick Carr dominant inside early for Totino-Grace.  6-0 Eagles lead before Washburn rains down 4 3s from 4 players in a 15-1 run to take the lead.  Carr would score 15 of the 1st 17 points for the Eagles and in the 1st half they would get 1 elbow jumper and every other field goal was at the basket.  43-29 Washburn at the break.  9 Washburn players in the book, no more than 6 for any of them, Carr with 19.

Then an early 12-2 run from the Eagles with easy buckets.  Sam Meyer with 2 layups, Carr with a putback and bucket, Andy Moritko with a puback.  47-43 Washburn with 13:25 left.  Washburn wouldn't let Totino-Grace any closer as Dwight Anderson made big shots.  He makes 3 straight 3s to stretch the lead to 9.  69-60 Washburn with 5:22 left when they take timeout.  Then finish the game on a 12-2 run for a 81-62 win.  Dwight Anderson 5 3s and 22 points (17 in last 13:15) to lead the Millers.  Jerry Pratt with 12 points.  8 other Millers with at least 4 points.  Nick Carr 29 points, Andy Moritko 13, Sam Meyer and Gabe Kastenmeier 10.

Spartans slay the mythical beast

Prologue
Its a trip to the smallest gym on my circuit as I visit St. Paul Academy to see their Tri-Metro game against Brooklyn Center.  Hot dog gets a solid A though I haven't had Pepsi in a gym in a while.  A couple of fun moments from the JV game.  First was a kid in front of me talking about making a Walking Taco with Fritos.  Sign that kid up for the space program, absolute genius!  Then on a no call on a drive to the basket, the SPA JV coach calmly says to the official "That's usually a foul".  I found it pretty funny (and good relations with the ref, voice of experience).  At halftime of the varsity I had a visit from the SPA camera crew.  Always nice to chat with the youngsters.  So with all the social conscience of the day, this song seems fitting

Song of the Day
Tracy Chapman - Talkin' About A Revolution

Game Time
Josh Gray with 5 of the first 6 for SPA and we're tied at 6 less than 4 minutes in.  Then point guard Spencer Egly and 6th man Davante Peyton (8th grader) with 3 point plays for 6 in a row from the Spartans.  12-6 SPA at 10:49.  Deandre Bell with a putback for Brooklyn Center at the 8:10 to keep the Centaurs within 15-10.  But then the Centaurs lack of firepower keeps them to 1 field goal in the next 7:10.  SPA goes on a 13-3 run with center Steven Olson beating the press for a layup and putting back a miss.  Harrison Egly curls for an inbounds layup and Josh Gray scores another bucket also during that run.  28-13 Spartans with 1:39 left in the half.  The Centaurs cut that to 30-18 at half with 5 in a row from Sammie Watkins.

Watkins with another 3 and a runout for BC nets them 2 more.  A quick SPA timeout as Coach McKenzie wasn't happy with his team's transition defense.  The teams trade triples and Bell grabs an offensive board which results in 2 free throws.  33-28 SPA with the lead and 15:08 to play.  Then Spencer Egly to the basket for back to back layups and Josh Gray drives for 2 free throws.  Spencer Egly off the high horns screen kicks to Peyton for 3 just inside of the 10 minute mark.  Gray then beats the Centaurs pressure at the 9:15 mark for 2.  44-31 SPA after the 11-3 run in just about 6 minutes.  A Centaurs 3 with 7:50 left would cut the lead to 8 but Brooklyn Center would get no closer.  Gray to Olson for a layup to again beat the press and Olson puts back a miss.  Gray for 3 and Spencer Egly's 2 FTs with 4:34 left conclude a 12-2 run.  58-40 Spartans with their biggest lead.  Brooklyn Center's pressure allows them to cut into the lead but SPA still goes on to win 65-52.

Post Game
For Brooklyn Center, soph guard Sammy Watkins leads with 13 points.  I liked his game and thought he would do more.  Tyler Wilebski with all 10 of his points in the 2nd half.  They were more athletic than SPA and took advantage as they hammered the offensive glass.  That was especially true early in the game.  But they just have no way to generate offense in the halfcourt.  Their 2-2-1 was able to bother SPA some but when you can't score to get into it, life is difficult. Most of the roster is not seniors, but at Brooklyn Center you never know what you'll have year to year.  Brooklyn Center falls to 3-12, 2-8 in the Tri-Metro.  They host St. Anthony and visit Breck next week.

For St. Paul Academy, junior guard Josh Gray leads with 22 points.  Junior PG Spencer Egly with 14 of his 17 points in the 2nd half.  Center Steven Olson with 11 points.  He's also a junior.  8th grader Dalante Peyton with 8 points off the bench and a couple of assists.  Productive outing for the youngster.  He'll have a nice career there.  The expectations that I had coming in were set very high and those expectations were quite unfair.  Its rare to see warmup drills that are unique and productive but I like the SPA slides, post feeds and got a nice tweak by combining one of the base drills with some concepts from DLS warmup drills (i.e coaches passing for extra shots).  The Spartans improve to 7-9 overall, 3-5 in the Tri-Metro.  This is after a stretch where they lost 7 of 9.  A pair of tough road games awaits as they visit DeLaSalle and Heritage next week.  That's followed by home games with Concordia, St. Anthony and trips to St. Croix Lutheran and Providence.  Tough stretch.the last month of the season.

Orioles hang on at home

Prologue
Off to St. Louis Park as the 3rd place Orioles try to keep pace in the North Suburban.  The visitor was Fridley who came in trying to stay above 500 in the league.  The hot dogs weren't ready early in the JV game which was disappointing but 2 chocolate chip cookes for a buck was worth it.  We have warmups and then its another edition of Teacher Appreciation Night where each player nominates a teacher for recognition and gives a tidbit about the teacher when the player escorts the teacher on to the court.  Great line during that from 1 player.  "He teaches history like he was there".  Very funny.  Our song of the day is not the obvious (Hot for Teacher by Van Halen).  It comes from the 1st tune on the public address system at halftime of the JV game.

Song of the Day
Bruce Springsteen - Glory Days

Game Time
Nate Geving knocks down the 1st 3 of the game and then an 11-2 run by St. Louis Park as Fridley goes 5 minutes without a field goal.  Kashif Hayes with 5 points in that run and then nails a long 2 right on the 3 point line for a 15-9 Park lead at the 10:28 mark.  That's right after another Geving bucket which would start another Fridley drought from the field.  Zach Gilbert Burke with a putback at the 6:50 mark before Hayes picks up his 2nd foul.  That results in 1 of 2 free throws for Fridley.  21-14 St. Louis Park with the lead as Hayes will sit the rest of the half.  That hurts the Park offense as they can't get a field goal to go down.  But they're getting to the charity stripe out of their dribble drive motion.  A pair of Grant Donald free throws gives Park a 26-14 lead at the 3:36 mark.  Finally Geving nails a 3 at the 3:11 mark to break a FG drought of 7:49 for the Tigers.  Geving with another 3 as the lead gets cut to 5 right before the half.  But Park comes back down the floor and DJ Pollard beats the buzzer for 3.  30-22 Park at the half.  That 3 is the only Park field goal in the last 6:38 with Hayes on the bench.  Fridley with 2 stretches of no FGs that adds up to almost 13 minutes.  Hayes and Geving combine for 7 field goals, the other 10 kids who played combined for 6.

Fridley continues their spurt as they start the half on a 7-0 run to force a Park timeout.  They have 3 chances to take the lead that they don't convert but finally Amane Akane gets a layup to fall for a 31-30 Fridley lead with 13 minutes left.  That's their first lead since 3-2.  Hayes with a driving 3 point play and a floater as Park holds a 40-34 lead with 10 minutes left.  After 2 Fridley free throws, Geving breaks a 6 minute field goal with his 5th bomb of the night.  St. Louis Park takes time hanging on to a 40-39 with 5:59 left.  DJ Pollard on a 1-4 high right elbow iso for 2 free throws as Park can't make a shot.  Matt Duehn for 3 with 4:20 left and Fridley takes a 44-43 lead.  Pollard again drives for 2 free throws off the high blur screen (more on that later).  Gilbert Burke on the post for 1 of 2 free throws countered by Michael Murray with 2 free throws.  46 all with 2:48 left.  Duehn with 1 free throw and a Hayes miss to give Fridley the ball back up 47-46 with 2:20 left.  They take time to strategize just inside of 2 to play.  Fridley comes up with an offensive board and is fouled but can't convert the 2 freebies.  St. Louis Park gets it back and then retains possession on the jump ball with 1:12 left.  Ryan Backstrom for Fridley gets bloodied so we have a stoppage to clean the floor and get him a new uniform.  Makhi Moore puts back a miss with 55 seconds left for a 48-47 Park lead.  That bucket is the first Orioles FG in over 9 minutes.  Fridley comes back and Backstrom's new uniform is just fine as he takes it to the rack and finds Geving for an easy 2 with 37 seconds left.  49-48 Fridley.  Pollard again off the blur screen with 20.5 seconds left calmly buries both free throws.  Fridley took a timeout after the 1st FT to set up a play but they promptly turn it over at the other end.  Hayes makes 2 FTs with 12.7 left.  Geving gets a dribble handoff on the left wing and gets a good look at a 3 but its off the back iron and St. Louis Park hangs on 52-49.

Post Game
For Fridley, Nate Geving leads the way with 19 points and 5 triples.  Soph guard Michael Murray 11 of 12 from the charity stripe for 13 points.  Rest of the team was 4-14 at the line.  Geving with 7 field goals (15 attempts), the rest of the team with 7.  Fridley is now 8-7, 3-4 in the North Suburban which is a tie for 6th with Cooper.  They visit neighbor Columbia Heights on Saturday afternoon.

For St. Louis Park, Kashif Hayes finishes with 17 points on 5-10 FGs and 6-9 FTs despite the first half foul trouble which cost him almost 7 minutes.  His first step is lightning quick.  DJ Pollard with 11 points on 8-8 from the foul line.  The Orioles were 12-16 from the line in the 1st half and 13-23 in the 2nd half.  Those free throws kept Park afloat when their shots wouldn't fall.  Exactly what you're looking for out of the dribble drive.  St. Louis Park is now 6-2 in the North Suburban (tied for 3rd with Totino-Grace) and 9-7 overall.  They have a pair of really tough ranked teams coming in as they host Spring Lake Park Saturday at noon and Washburn on Tuesday night.

Playbook
A couple of things that caught my eye from St. Louis Park and their Dribble Drive Motion system.  Often in dribble drive when a guard spot passes to the ball side wing, that guard will fill to the ball side similar to the strong side cut in the triangle offense.  St. Louis Park sends that passer to the basket and then out to the weak side giving a full clear out on the strong side.  On a middle drive they then fill around with the opposite guard coming over the top.

The area where Pollard got some good looks to the lane was off the blur screen.  This is a dribble drive concept where the guard passes to the other guard and then cuts to the nail (center of FT line).  The guard with the ball then drives right off this back.  Pollard would be in the left guard slot and get this pass which would take him to the basket going to his right hand.  That resulted in free throws inside of 4 minutes for a 1 point lead and his final 2 free throws that ulimately won it with 20.5 left.  Park runs this with the guard running to the nail to screen and then popping back to the other guard slot

Panther size chews up Eagles

Prologue
Its a big game in the South Suburban as Lakeville North travels to Apple Valley in a battle for 2nd place.  No taco in a bag like I think AV has had in the past.  But since its Lakeville North we get the one and only...Hat Lady.  Dark red tonight with the purple winter coat and a restaurant quality black hat that seemed very Russian.  DA!  Not as big of a crowd as I would have expected. However, we do get the special (and rare) appearance from Gopher Hole's very own Gopher Lady.  Today's music selection is totally random and pointless.  Country seemed to be good variety today.

Song of the Day
Dixie Chicks - Long Time Gone

Game Time
Trey Heid gets the initial task of guarding Tyus Jones.  Jones with a cold 0-4 start.  Lakeville North takes advantage for a 6-2 lead to force an Apple Valley timeout.  Tyus with a nice cut for 2 countered by a Tyler Flack 3.  Tyus for 2 and drives for a lefty finish.  Then back to back assists.  Then he splits a pair of free throws.  18-14 Apple Valley at the 8:47 mark and Lakeville North needs a timeout.  Dustin Fronk with a steal for a 2 and Matt Christiansen in the post for 2 more.  23-14 Apple Valley at the 6:52 mark.  Their 2-3 zone giving Lakeville North fits.  Panthers not making any shots and very stagnant in their zone offense and getting no inside looks despite a major size advantage.  Tyus with a drive for 2 and then a steal for 2 more + a subtle move to take a bump to make that a 3 point play.  32-24 Apple Valley at the half.  Tyus with 13 and the 2 assists.  Tyler Flack 8 points and 6 rebounds for Lakeville North.

The Panthers start the half strong with a 8-2 run as they start getting inside looks.  Brett Rasmussen all alone for a layup, Flack up high to lay in a lob after making 2 free throws.  Timeout Apple Valley with a 34-32 lead and 14:13 to play.  Tyus driving for another lefty finish and nailing a 3 with 13 minutes to go.  39-32 Apple Valley.  Mitch Hecshel with a pair of layups and Dustin Fronk with 2 free throws on a steal.  47-39 Apple Valley with 10:48 to play.  Zach Creighton with back to back triples, his 3rd and 4th of the night as the Panthers cut into the lead.  Then Ryan Saarela takes over inside.  He makes 1 layup, then Tyler David converts a turnover after Flack missed a dunk, Saarela with 1 layup and another off a BLOB.  53-52 Lakeville North with 7 minutes to play.  Tyus challenges Flack and makes 2 free throws.  Then Tyus blocks Saarela from behind to save 2 more.  Saarela can't be stopped or contained.  He puts back a miss with 5:20 left.  Then a drive to the basket for 2 more.  Flack fouled for 2 freebies with 3:42 left.  59-54 Lakeville North taking over as Tyus just missed back to back chances in the post.  Flack posts up next time down for 2 more from the right box.  Saarela with another bucket and 2 free throws to end a streak of 14 points in just over 7 minutes.  Lakeville North ends the game on a 15-0 run over the last 5:20.  Apple Valley goes scoreless the last 6:19 and only 1 FG in the last 10 minutes.  Tyus Jones last field goal was at the 13 minute mark and had only 2 free throws after that.  Panthers prevail 68-54.

Post Game
For Apple Valley, Tyus Jones leads with 22 points and 4 assists on my sheet.  I had 8-23 FGs on my sheet as well.  With Harry Sonie out for the season, that takes 1 of the few scoring threats out of the Eagles lineup.  Maybe that had an impact but it looked like Tyus was pressing a bit.  Most surprising and you have to credit the Lakeville North defense for this is that nobody besides Tyus made a 3 point shot in the game for Apple Valley.  Lots of 1 on 1 play with little movement contributed to that.  Dustin Fronk with 11 points was the other double figure scorer.  Apple Valley falls to 5-2 in the South Suburban and into 3rd place behind Eastview and Lakeville North.  They are 12-3 overall.  They now have 3 in a row on the road at Jefferson, Rosemount and Prior Lake thru next week.

Tyler Flack leads Lakeville North with 18 points and 12 boards on my sheet.  Ryan Saarela with 14 of his 16 in the last 10 minutes to take over the game.  Zach Creighton with 4 big 3s in the game for 12 points.  Lakeville North gets 35 points from the starters and 33 from the bench for great balance.  Lakeville North struggled vs the 2-3 in the first half and when Creighton didn't play the last 10 minutes I thought his shooting would be missed.  But the defensive work was outstanding holding Apple Valley to 2 FGs in the last 11:30.  Good adjustments against the zone in the 2nd half as Saarela and Flack were too much for the small Eagles front line.  Lakeville North is now 6-1 in the South Suburban and stays 1 game behind Eastview.  They are 14-1 overall.  They visit Rosemount on Thursday.

2012 East Metro Showcase Day 2

Day 2 of the East Metro Showcase was mostly another round of blowouts but there was 1 classic.  Here's a look at the day's games.

Game 1: Roseville vs St. John's Lutheran (FL)
Not much to see here as Roseville rolled to a 106-49 win.  2 losses for St. John's by a total of 119 points in the event.  Yikes.  65-25 at the half as Roseville pulled away.  14 players score with 4 in double figures.  Logan Brown leads with 17 points.

Game 2: Hopkins vs Milwaukee Riverside
In the game that could have been billed as the showcase game of the day, Tubby Smith and staff made an appearance for the first of 3 straight games.  One of their targets Phil Nolan of Riverside got off to a quick start with 4 points and 2 rebounds.  Then Hopkins totally dominated.  From 12-8 Hopkins to a 64-25 halftime lead.  Hopkins would coast from there to a 91-58 win.  Riverside's effort just not there on this day.  Siyani Chambers with another impressive performance with 17 of his 20 points in the 1st half.  Zach Stahl 18.  Jake Wright 18 on 6 3s.  Demetrius Martin 15 of his 17 in the first half.  Gopher targets Phil Nolan and D'Andre Downey with 13 and 11 points respectively.  Nolan with 4 rebounds and 4 blocks as wel.

Game 4: Eden Prairie vs La Crosse Aquinas
Aquinas would hang around with a tie game at 15 at about the 12 minute mark of the 1st half.  Then soph point guard Reggie Rabb picks up his 2nd foul and sits.  He's the replacement for future Badger Bronson Koenig at the point.  That means the Blugolds have to go to point guard #3 and the wheels fall off from there.  Eden Prairie goes on a 34-10 the remainder of the half.  They go on to win 72-45.  Sander Mohn leads with 15 points.  Sophs Andre Wallace and Anthony Anderson with 11 each.  Impressive game from forward Abrian Carpenter with all 15 points of his points in the 1st half.

Game 5: St. Paul Central vs Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau (WI)
Hot starts from the top 2 Red Hawks stars get GET off to a nice start.  They roll the lead to 41-23 at half, then 62-32 with 6:34 to play before the benches empty.  Central cuts that against the GET bench to a 66-44 loss.  Central's schedule has been very tough but they look like they've seriously regressed since I saw them a month ago against Tartan.  Malik Durant-Haines and Marcus Taylor-Knighten with 10 each to lead Central.  Tim Wagner 6 3s and 22 points to lead GET.  Winona State commit Riley Bambenek 21 points and 3 triples.

Game 3: Onalaska (WI) at Johnson
We'll save the best game of the day for the end.  Gopher staff stayed around to see Matt Thomas.  He didn't shoot it well but a pair of jumpers off 1 dribble (a 3 and a 2) plus another bucket with the foul put Onalaska up 21-9 with 6:35 left in the first half.  Missouri St recruit Marcus Marshall would get going for Johnson with a pair of 3s.  Combine that with UWGB signee Nick Arenz sitting the last 8 minutes with 3 fouls and Johnson would cut the lead to 26-22 at half.

Marshall with a pair of free throws to tie the game at 37 with 12 minutes left.  Then Darius Watson off the inbound defenders back for 2 with 10 minutes left.  41-38 Johnson in front.  That's followed by a soft T on Onalaska coach Craig Kowal (who was rightfully upset with the brutally awful officiating in this game).  Johnson gets 1 free throw from that but doesn't score on the possession.  Johnson does extend the lead to 49-42 with 6:36 left.  Arenz would foul out with 5:20 left and the Hilltoppers still down 51-44.  Then Thomas again comes up clutch.  He hangs for a jumper and takes the hit for a 3 point play.  Johnson would get a block on 1 end that Quashingm Smith-Pugh converted to a layup on the other.  55-47 Johnson with 4:05 left.  Thomas for 2 and then a T on Smith-Pugh for 2 more Thomas free throws.  Thomas cashes in the possession with the head fake and lean in from the foul line for a 3 point play.  That's 10 straight Thomas points.  Johnson turns it over and Ben Socha knocks down a jumper to put Onalaska ahead 56-55 with 2:45 left.  9-0 Hilltoppers run in 1:20.  Bajuan Adams counters for Johnson going to the rack for a 3 point play.  Onalaska turns it over and Watson makes 1 of 2 FTs with 1:42 left for a 59-56 Johnson lead.  Then Thomas for 3 from the top with 1:13 left to tie the game at 59.  Johnson holds the ball and then to the rim but its a charge with 25.9 left.  Tough call there as well from the officials.  Johnson takes timeout to set their defense.  Thomas gets the ball to half court and Onalaska takes time out to draw up the final play.  There's nothing like calling the timeout, drawing up a play and getting perfect execution to win.  That happened here and it clinches the season award for

Play of the Year
Star Matt Thomas in the right corner.  Ben Socha on the right block.  Double stack on the left block.  Ball in a guard's hands in the high right slot (would be the right guard position in a 2-3 high look).  Thomas takes off across the baseline to the left corner as the ball is dribbled to the left slot.  The entire building is thinking Hoosiers, PICKET FENCE!  PICKET FENCE!  PICKET FENCE!  The guard picks up the dribble as Socha flashes high.  With the dead dribble, the player spins and gives a ball fake to Socha's flash.  Socha goes backdoor and is wide open for the layup.  That wins the game for Onalaska 61-59.

2012 East Metro Showcase Day 1

Prologue
I didn't see the first game of the East Metro Showcase due to real life but there wasn't much to miss as Highland Park pounded St. John's Lutheran from Florida 98-36.  The event founder is head coach at St. John's Lutheran so that explains why they made the trip.  I arrive 20 minutes later than expected (thank you traffic) and walk into the gym with my Walking Taco and only 1 minute left in game 2 warmups.  Hmm, must multitask.  North Dakota and South Dakota both with coaches in the building to watch.

Song of the Day
Life in the Fast Lane - Eagles

Game 2: Milwaukee Riverside vs St. Paul Central
Big story of the day was the arrival of Riverside's lefty post Phil Nolan who has a boatload of high D1 offers.  But it was the hot shooting that got it going .  Jalen Currie off the always illegal foul line elevator screen for 3.  That's the 3rd Tigers 3 for a 13-5 lead just 2:23 into the game.  Central claws back with their best scorer Montrell Williams coming off the bench to knock down a 3.  20-14 Riverside at the 11:30 mark.  Then Bakari Triggs for 3 inside out from Nolan on the block.  Later Nolan gets the pass off the backboard on the break and slams it home to ignite the crowd.  Wide body RaVonn Posey with a layup, 3 point play and then puts back a missed free throw.  The run is 20-0 as Central goes scoreless for a 7 minute stretch.  40-14 at the 5:50 mark of the 1st half.  Williams would get the last 9 of the half for Central and would score the only Minutemen field goals in a 14:15 stretch into the 2nd half.  Nolan with 2 dunks and a turn and face in the post for 2 more to start the 2nd half.  We get to running time and Riverside with their bench gives up a 12-1 run to end the game.  72-48 Riverside wins.  5 in double figures for Riverside.  Bakari Triggs 19 and 5 3s.  Jalen Currie 14, Shomari Triggs, D'Andre Downey and Phil Nolan all with 10.  Nolan also added 3 blocks.  Marcus Taylor-Knighten 14 points and Montrell Williams 11 for Central.

Game 3: Hopkins at Johnson
This is a rematch of the championship game from the Best Buy Holiday Classic 3 weeks ago (read about that here).  So with that in mind expectation weren't high, but Johnson is on home turf so you never know.  The start is ominous as Marcus Marshall picks up 2 quick fouls.  Then Zach Stahl scores on the post and Andre McDonald for 3.  11-2 Hopkins at the 14:35 mark.  Johnson would come back with Waylon Johnson scoring and a block converted into 2 points by Quashingm Smith-Pugh.  15-13 Hopkins at 11:20.  Darius Watson with a great eurostep for 2 to break some Hopkins momentum.  Marshall staying in and his 3 cuts the lead to 5.  Then Stahl picks up his 2nd at the 7:28 mark and has to sit.  Marshall nails another 3 and a pair of free throws and don't look now but Johnson has their first lead at 32-30 at the 4:30 mark.  That's a 14-4 Johnson run.  Hopkins would counter with an 11-1 run of their own.  Jake Wright's 3 before halftime gives Hopkins a 44-39 going to the 2nd half.

First basket of the half goes to Hopkins and then 6 in a row for Johnson and that gets the crowd involved.  Then at a deadball we end up with a push and all 10 guys will get together and the refs have to jump in and break up what thankfully didn't become a much more serious mess.  Hopkins kids walk away all clapping and more jakked up about it than Johnson.  Waylon Johnson powers for 2 for a Johnson 1 point lead quickly countered by Demetrius Martin.  Johnson again, this time with the scoop quickly countered by Stahl.  Then a right corner BLOB 3 for Marshall puts the Govs up 52-50 with 15:10 to play.  McDonald scores to tie and a turnover results in Siyani Chambers pulling up for 3.  55-52 Hopkins.

Wait a minute, what is this?  No, this has never happened.  But it is actually happening and I'm actually witnessing something absolutely unthinkable.

Hopkins goes 3-2 zone at about the 15 minute mark of the 2nd half and plays it the rest of the way.  That is not a typo.  I am absolutely shocked and speechless 

Johnson has no answer for it.  Chambers continuing his huge half as he gets a 4 point play.  Then a pullup and a layup on a turnover.  Martin with a layup at the 11:37 mark to end an 18-2 run.  68-54 Hopkins with the lead.  Waylon Johnson with a 3 point play and a putback but Chambers counters with a 3 point play of his own.  Watson banks in a 3 from the right corner and the lead is back down to 9, 71-62 with 9:20 to play.  But Hopkins would score 12 of the next 17 to put the game away.  Chambers to Jorgenson for 3 and his own floater in that run.  Hopkins goes on to win 99-83.  Siyani Chambers with a magnificent 2nd half scoring 25 of his 31 points during that half.  Nick Jorgenson and Zach Stahl with 18 each.  Marcus Marshall 4 3s for 17 points to lead Johnson.  De'Vonta Durr and Waylon Johnson 16 points.

Day 2 features Milwaukee Riverside vs Hopkins in the 2nd game followed by Onalaska, WI vs Johnson.  A couple of Gopher interests in those games (Nolan for Riverside and Matt Thomas of Onalaska).

Bears take control of Tri-Metro

Prologue
Its a another trip to Blake and that must mean its cold.  But these Bears aren't hibernating and their opponent (St. Anthony Huskies) has a bark to match their bite.  Blake has upgraded the food which deserves great applause, but I pick the 1 night where the hard working parents don't have Walking Tacos.  Bad luck by me.  Its a matchup of Tri-Metro division leaders so it deserves a hit song.  Here's today's selection.

Song of the Day
Foreigner - Cold as Ice

Game Time
Last year Anthony Brama went off for 39 to lead the Huskies to a 70-69 win.  Brama's luck this year was sour as he picks up 2 fouls in the 1st 1:28 and has to sit.  Blake uses that to score the 1st 7 of the game.  St. Anthony would get a running half hook from Chance Blackey for their 1st field goal of the night but they were hard to come by.  Blake would take control from there.  Kebu Johnson to Alex Smith for a layup, then a Johnson steal for a 3 point play.  Paul Blake with a putback after a turnover.  St. Anthony turns it over for a 3rd consecutive time for 0 points but misses an open layup going back.  17-6 Blake at the 7:30 mark.  Brama back in the game to try to ignite the Huskies offense but to no avail.  Soph PG John Veil with his 2nd 3 of the night and the extra pass to Johnson for 3.  He sandwiches that 3 with a pair of drives. Then he swats Brama on one end and Veil buries a 3 on the other.  Johnson takes another turnover for 2 more and the rout is on.  38-10 Blake at the half.  St. Anthony with 4 FTs and 3 FGs in the half.  Unofficially the Huskies were 3-27 from the floor.  Johnson keeps it going posting right off the 2nd half inbounds.  Then a steal that he takes home for a dunk and a runout for a reverse layup.  Add 2 more bunnies and its really out of hand at 50-12 with 14:17 to go.  60-23 with 9:07 left when I call it an evening.  St. Anthony with 9 FTs and 7 FGs at that point.  Blake goes on to win 69-38.

Post Game
For St. Anthony, Anthony Brama leads with 11 points.  Nobody else more than 6.  It was fun to see St. Anthony go to the Buzz Defense. a 2-3 passing lane zone.  Coach Bratland is a hard nosed man to man kind of guy so it was interesting to see that.  They did get some traps out of it but on this night nothing worked.  St. Anthony falls to 10-2 (only other loss 54-52 at NSP) and 6-1 in the Tri-Metro.  They remain 1 game ahead of Concordia in the East division.  They visit Mahtomedi on Saturday.  Brama vs Zach Lindquist head to head will be fun.  Both teams like to pound the ball low.  Mahtomedi using their triangle type set and St. Anthony with their Kansas high low system.

For Blake, who would have seen this coming.  Their size inside was absolutely dominant with Kebu Johnson, Connor Kline and Paul Blake sending everything away and making life miserable.  Kebu Johnson finishes with 20 points and stuffing the stat sheet going for the Andrei Kirilenko 5x5.  I had at least 6 rebounds, 5 steals, and 4 blocks for him on my sheet.  John Veil adds 3 3s in the 1st half and finishes with 13 points and 7 assists.  Paul Blake with 12.  The Bears now have won 3 in a row since back to back losses to Chaska and Edina.  They're now 11-2 and 8-0 in the Tri-Metro, 1.5 games ahead of DeLaSalle in the West.  7 of the next 8 games for the Bears are on the road and only 3 home games vs 10 road games remain in the regular season.

2012 Midwest Players Classic Review

Last Saturday was the 2nd annual Midwest Players Classic at the La Crosse Center in downtown La Crosse, Wisconsin.  Once again a quality group of Minnesota teams made the trip across the river.  Here's how they fared.

Game 1: Austin vs Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau, WI
Really good crowd on hand to see local star Riley Bambenek, a Winona State commit, and the GET High (don't do drugs kids) Red Hawks take on the Austin Packers in the opener.  Austin star Joe Aase with 7 in a row to help the Packers to a 13-9 lead after 1 quarter.  The lead would get to 8 before a GET comeback.  23 all at the half.  GET's 1-3-1 is too much in the 2nd half as they hold the Packers to only 11 points.  Riley Bambenek struggles with his shooting but ends up with 13 points 10 boards and 7 assists on my sheet as GET wins 49-34.  That zone held Joe Aase to 13 points and 7 of them were in a 1st quarter spurt.

Game 2: Owatonna vs Onalaska, WI
Owatonna with a 10-0 run to end the first quarter and take a 14-7 lead to the 2nd.  Onalaska would counter with a 9-0 run to regain the lead.  Even midway thru the 2nd when Onalaska star Matt Thomas scores 10 of the last 12 Hilltoppers points.  That's in a 14-4 run to end the half and a 35-26 Hilltoppers lead.  Thomas finishes the run in the 3rd quarter with a steal for 2 and the lead balloons to 16.  Thomas with 12 in a 19-4 run that blew it open.  Owatonna gets the last 10 of the game against the Onalaska bench to cut the final margin to 54-46.  Matt Thomas 17 points and 5 rebounds to lead Onalaska.

Game 3: St. Paul Johnson vs Whitefish Bay Dominican
Johnson played this one without star PG Marcus Marshall (Missouri State commit).  Dominican had their D1 backcourt of Jamal Taylor and Duane Wilson on hand along with frosh post stud Diamond Stone.  5 all early when Dominican goes on a 21-2 run that puts this one out of reach in the 1st quarter.  Wilson all over the place in the run with a tip in, scoop, steal for a James Worthy like dunk left handed and an NBA 3.  Could definitely see why he'll be visiting Memphis at the end of the month.  Taylor goes for 24, Wilson for 21 and 8 rebounds, Stone for 11 points, 7 boards and at least 5 blocks.  Waylon Johnson with 11 in a nice outing for Johnson.  Dominican rolls 78-46.  Hard to see how they'll be challenged in division 4.

Game 4: Roseville vs Milwaukee Riverside
Riverside would get a 3 at the buzzer to take a 15-9 lead after 1 quarter.  Mack Johnson would bring Roseville back with 12 in the 2nd quarter to come from 8 down.  25-22 Roseville at halftime.  37-35 Riverside going to the 4th.  42 all with 4 minutes to go.  Roseville would get a pair of steals and miss open layups to convert on those.   Riverside helping out by holding the ball.  46-42 with 20.9 to go and Roseville goes 0-3 from the line on a 3 shot foul.  That's a dagger and means a 3 ball at the buzzer by Mack Johnson is meaningless.  47-45 Milwaukee Riverside wins.  Mack Johnson 5 3s and 25 points.  Bakari Triggs with 2 late layups for the final Riverside points.  He finishes with 16.  11 for sophomore star D'Andre Downey.

Game 5: Eastview vs Madison Memorial
This was meant to be the game of the day and it was a major shocker.  Memorial played without "Popcorn" Morris up front and point guard Brendan Ortiz came off the bench. Ortiz was the star of the triple OT state championship game last year for the Spartans.  Cleveland St commit Junior Lomomba off to a fast start with the 1st 6 Memorial points.  Eastview would counter with a pair of 3s from guard Chris Narum and Drake commit Joey King with his own 3.  Jester Weah 2 inside buckets to end the quarter.  13-10 Eastview after 1.  2 turnovers lead to points in an 8-0 Eastview run to start the quarter.  Memorial would counter with 7 in a row of their own to cut the lead to 21-17.  But Eastview finishes the half on a 10-2 run in the last 2:20.  King on the post with 1 bucket and 2 assists out of there as well.  Point guard Darin Haugh would add another steal and 2 in that run as well.  31-19 Eastview at the break.  Narum back to back 3s vs the Memorial 1-3-1 to start the half and holy cow the lead is 18.  Memorial would get a pair of 3s and a layup from Ngijol Songolo to cut the lead to 10 right before the end of the quarter.  45-33 Eastview going to the 4th.  Center Ben Oberfeld would get 4 inside buckets exploiting Memorial pressure and the Spartans couldn't score on the other end.  It gets out of hand and Eastview wins big 64-37.  Very impressive performance from Eastview, especially Darin Haugh at the point.  He won the head-head battle with Ortiz.  Eastview also played lots of 1-3-1 which isn't like them and it was very effective.  Ben Oberfeld finishes with 16 and 8.  Joey King with 11. Chris Narum 5 3s for 15. Darin Haugh 8 but it doesn't tell the story of how he ran the team, took care of the ball and was a defensive nightmare.  Junior Lomomba held to only 2 points after the 1st 6.  He finishes with 8 and 8.

Game 6: Kaukauna vs La Crosse Aquinas
Aquinas played without star point guard Bronson Koenig (Wisconsin commit) due to a hand injury that will sideline him for the rest of the high school season.  They also were missing forward Mike Conway who blew out a knee before the season started.  That's their top 2 players so you had that going against the Galloping Ghosts, scary thought.  Kaukauna would open the lead to around 15 midway through the 3rd but Aquinas would claw back to trail 39-30 going to the 4th.  Then a 16-4 run to start the quarter.  Soph guard Reggie Rabb starting in place of Koenig nailed the go ahead runner with 2:05 to play.  Rabb played here in the cities with MN Fury Black last spring.  Kaukauna would have a free throw to tie with 21 seconds left.  That was no good but they forced a turnover in the backcourt.  The scramble was wild but the Ghosts couldn't score and Aquinas steals one 47-46.

Spartans break the ice

Prologue
Its a night in the Classic Suburban with Mahtomedi visiting Richfield.  Mahtomedi off to a 7-1 start but a rough stretch last week so a chance to see the Zephrys first hand to determine where they really fit.  Cheese pizza from Little Caesars not a bad option.  A small crowd so a quiet night in the stand except for 1 pleasant surprise.  Its my first local pep band of the year but the PA system blares until 1 minute to go in warmups.  That always bugs me, one of the rare times the kids show up to play and you waste their time with the pumped in music.  Thankfully they hung around through the first half and halftime.  It also means that there's enough tunes to pick from their set list for ...

Song of the Day
All the Small Things - Blink 182

Game Time
Jared Noonan for 3 to give Richfield a 3-2 lead 25 seconds into the game.  Why does this shot matter?  Because there won't be another one from outside of 5 feet for a LONG time.  Meanwhile Mahtomedi pounds the ball inside with Mike Harris scoring and a pair of Zach Lindquist post ups.  Add in an Andrew Lindquist 3 and the run is 9-0 for a 11-3 Zephyrs lead.  Richfield would counter by pounding the offensive board (and they had plenty of opportunity for that in this game).  Dan Beyel and Deshawn Jones with putbacks followed by a pair of Richfield layups to cut the Mahtomedi lead to 16-15 at the 8:12 mark.  Mahtomedi takes timeout and counters with a 10-2 run of their own.  Andrew Lindquist with a drive, assist to Zach and then a layup on a 3 on 1 break via a pretty behind the back feed from Mike Fandler.  26-17 Mahtomedi at the 4:22 to force a Richfield timeout.  Danny Shay would work and run his way to 4 layups in the last 4 minutes to counter a pair of Noonan drives.  34-26 Mahtomedi at the half.  Zach Lindquist with 8 quick points to start the half.  He sits the last 2:50 with 2 fouls but still ends up with 13 in the half.  Jones 8 (and a huge block), Noonan 7 for Richfield.

Andrew Lindquist keeping the Zephyrs going with an assist to Zach for a 3 point play, 2 free throws and a drive for 2 more. Noonan keeping it even with a layup on a turnover in the backcourt and an assist for another layup.  Then Zach Lindquist with a jumper and Mike Harris driving for 2.  47-36 Mahtomedi with 10:56 to play.  Then the cosmic shift.  Richfield with a putback and then Zach Lindquist gets his 4th foul with 7:54 to go.  It was a loose ball and a questionable call.  48-38 Mahtomedi with the lead when Zach sits.  That triggers something as Noonan buries a 3 at the 7:37 mark.  That's the 1st outside shot for the Spartans since Noonan's 3 in the first 25 seconds or 28 minutes if you're adding it up.  Most of that with Mahtomedi playing a 3-2 zone with a taller guy on top.  Jones with a putback and Mahtomedi needs a timeout.  48-43 Mahtomedi with 6:37 left and Zach Lindquist still sitting. 

A skip pass finds Noonan for 1 bomb and after a tough Mahtomedi shot, he buries another.  49-48 Richfield takes the lead just inside of 6 minutes to play.  Zach Lindquist returns at the 5:44 mark with that score.  Erik Jimson drives for 2, Jones drives for 2 more with 5:17 left and its 53-48 Richfield to force another Zephyrs timeout.  Noonan drives left baseline and makes the high floater to push the lead to 7.  Total run for Richfield is 19-1 over over 4:09.  Mahtomedi with 2 missed front ends of the bonus in that stretch after Zach Lindquist came back in.  3 of 4 freebies from Mahtomedi cut the lead to 55-51 with 4:31 left.  They would get no closer.  Jimson with 2 free throws and then a steal leads to a Jones hammer dunk inside of 4 minutes left and the lead is 8.  Shay puts back a miss at the 3:40 mark for the 1st Mahtomedi field goal in over 7 minutes.  By that time its too late.  The rest is mostly free throws.  Richfield comes from 11 down with 11 to play to win 72-63.

Post Game
For Mahtomedi, Zach Lindquist leads the way with 27 points and 11 rebounds on my sheet.  Andrew Lindquist with 13, Danny Shay with 14.  They get only 1 point from their bench.  Bad matchup for the Zephyrs as they don't have athletes or a true point guard.  That's a bad combination against an athletic team that wants to get after you and Richfield did that with success.  Besides Zach Lindquist there's not a ton of offensive firepower either which makes them a similar matchup to St. Thomas Academy (STA beat the Zephyrs 58-51 last week).  This is the 3rd straight loss for Mahtomedi dropping their record to 7-4, 2-3 in the Classic Suburban.  3 home games are next with South St. Paul on Friday then a pair of really tough games against similar opponents St. Anthony on Saturday and Tartan on Tuesday.

For Richfield, Jared Noonan comes up big in the 2nd half with 3 straight 3s and a drive in that 19-1 second half run that ultimately won the game.  14 points off the bench for Deshawn Jones who somebody on the AAU circuit needs to find.  6'3 to 6'4 athletic and active.  Really liked him both times I've seen him this year.  23 points total from the Richfield bench.  It makes up for Siberian cold night from Shawn Bear who had only 2 FTs and I had him 0-15 shooting (0-13 from 3).  Not a single one was a bad shot either.  Plenty of good looks that just simply wouldn't go in.  Richfield improves to 7-4, 3-2 in the Classic Suburban and 6 home wins in a row since the opening day loss to Waconia.  They've lost their last 3 on the road (Grand Rapids, St. Thomas Academy and Sibley).  The road awaits them on Friday with a trip to Tartan.