Friday, December 21, 2018

Dec. 20--White Bear sweeps doubleheader at Mahtomedi

I wish high schools had more doubleheaders. They had one at Mahtomedi last night and, well, of course, the home team lost both games. Still, it was a great environment, a great night of basketball, capped off with a great game won by the visiting White Bear Lake boys 77-75 in 2 OT.

White Bear led most of the way after taking the lead 13-11, 16-14 and 19-16 on an Isaac Tessier 3; an and-1 for Carter Ehlers off a steal, one of 4 steals by Ehlers in about 4 minutes; and a 3 by 6-8 post Jeremy Beckler. Beckler was a titan in the 1st half, scoring 20 points on a variety of power moves down low, twice off the offensive glass and a pair of 3s. Down as many as 8 at 28-20, Mahtomedi closed to within 30-27 at the half on buckets by 3 different players, but all 3 assisted by 6-6 wing Devin Melzer.

The 2nd half was almost all J'Vonne Hadley. Ehlers had done a nice job defensively in the 1st half, holding Hadley to 8 points. Hadley was unstoppable in the 2nd half with 24 of the Zephyrs' 38 points, mostly just attacking the rim. Still, White Bear was up by as many as 9 before Mahtomedi finally caught up at 60-all with just under 5 minutes to go on a 3 by Zac Centers. The Bears quickly went back up 65-60 at 3:30 as Beckler and Tessier each scored off the offensive board. But Mahtomedi counter-punched with buckets by Melzer and Centers to tie it up at 65.

The Zephyrs took their 1st lead since 14-13 at 67-65 to open the 1st OT as Hadley got a block and a board on the defensive end, then scored on a dribble drive on the other. He added 4 more points for a 71-66 lead at the 1 minute mark. The Bears looked done. Instead Beckler scored twice and Sam Bell with a 3, all 3 buckets assisted by Tessier, and it was 73-all.

It was White Bear's turn to take a quick lead in the 2nd OT on a 3 by Steven Kliest. 6-10 Cole Chapman, who scored 4 of his 6 points in the 2 OTs, scored on a putback for the Zephyrs. Mathias Beck made 1-of-2 throws for just his 3rd point of the game, but the Bears kept it interesting by making just 2-of-10 FT in the 2 OTs. Fatigue was probably a factor. Starting guard Sam Schwartz is out with a sprained ankle, and the Bears went 44 minutes with just 6 players. Neither team scored after 1:29. Hadley did not score in the last 5 minutes of play and even got blocked by Beckler at about 50 seconds. Fatigue was probably a factor here, too. I believe Mahtomedi played 7 players, only 5 of whom scored.

Hadley finished with 38 points, Beckler 36. The Bears guards Tessier and Ehlers combined for 28. Melter was automatic down low, but didn't get the ball very often and finished with 10.

The White Bear girls defeated Mahtomedi 57-46. It was closer than than--48-46 at 2:50, but Mahtomedi didn't score after that. Courtney Crouch hit a big 3 for the Bears, and they made 6-of-8 throws down the stretch. Ella Janicki and Anna Sanders combined for 38 points for the Bears while Julia Salmen scored 18 for Mahtomedi.

Player of the Day--Beckler and Hadley

Team of the Day--White Bear Lake

Coach of the Day--Keith Lockwood, White Bear


No comments:

Post a Comment