The bottom line: Neither of the 2 teams I saw tonight is a threat to Hopkins at the state tournament. But there's a catch. Cretin was without 6-8 post Seantrel Henderson and 6-4 sophomore forward Taylor Montero, the team's #1 and #3 scorers during the month of February. It's not hard to imagine Cretin--assuming both Henderson and Montero are back on the court at full strength--turning the tables on the Ponies in Section 4AAAA play. I was told by a Raider fan that Henderson has a sore ankle, but would be back on the court as soon as the games mean something. I didn't get a report on Montero's injury.
With Henderson out, Stillwater opened up by pounding the ball in to 6-9 post Ryan Duxbury down low, and the senior responded by hitting his first 3 shots of the game. The Ponies quickly were in charge 6-0 and then 13-2. Cretin adjusted, however, and Duxbury didn't score another field goal the rest of the night. Alex Oman took over the scoring leadership the rest of the 1st half, and Stillwater led 6-0, 13-2, 23-12 and 28-17. Cretin began to creep back into contention after shifting to a trapping 2-3 zone defense at about the 4:00 mark. The Ponies shot 52 percent for the half, but just 33 percent against Cretin's zone. The score at the half was Stillwater 30 Cretin 22. Cretin shot just 35 percent.
Stillwater took its largest lead at 37-24 at 14:50 of the 2nd half, as Miles Heller scored 5 of the Ponies' 1st 7 points. The Raiders went back into their trapping 2-3 zone about this time, and picked up the intensity a notch or three. Stillwater was able to protect the ball, but now the Ponies weren't getting the shots they wanted. Meanwhile, Raijon Kelly suddenly became a 1-man wrecking crew. Kelly scored all of his 23 points in the 2nd half on 8-of-11 shooting, including dipsy-doodle drives to the hoop, rainbow 3s, 15-footers, and even a put-back. Suddenly, Cretin was ahead 40-39 at 9:28, then 45-41 at 8:38, and 52-49 at 3:22.
Still, 2 plays by Brian Smith characterized the Raiders' night. Trailing 37-24, Smith drove to the hoop from the right wing, but had his shot blocked. The ball was on the floor for what seemed like 30 seconds when Smith finally recovered it and called a timeout. A few seconds later, Kelly scored his 1st 2 points of the night, the 1st 2 of what would become a 7-0 and then an 18-2 and a 21-4 run for the Raiders.
Then, leading 52-51 at 2:32, Smith again drove to the hoop from the right wing, and laid the ball into the hoop. Long after the shot had left his hand, Smith came back down to earth on top of Stillwater's Oman. He was called for the charge and instead of leading by 3, the lead remained at 1. Fifteen seconds later Heller scored on an alley oop from guard Paul Franklin, Heller's 7th straight Pony point, for a 53-52 Stillwater lead. Kelly now missed a shot, Franklin drove for 2 more Pony points, and the FT shooting contest began. The Ponies hit just enough of them, 5-0f-7, to hold on for the win.
Cretin shot 58 percent from the field in the 2nd half and a respectable 46 percent for the night, but Kelly was the only Raider in double figures with those 23 points. The Ponies shot 48 percent from the field, as Heller scored 18 and Oman 15. Both teams made a combined 14-of-29 FT.
Seedings for section 4AAAA were done before the game with CDH getting the 1 seed and Sibley the 2. Should be great semifinals at East Ridge on the 16th with CDH taking on the winner of Tartan at White Bear Lake and Sibley liking taking on Stillwater. But the Ponies have to get past Woodbury first which isn't a given.
ReplyDeleteThx Mr. Czar for clearing up the seedings. I think they got 'em right even with Cretin's loss Tuesday night. Cretin should beat White Bear, while Sibley-Stillwater will be a great game. But from what I've seen, Sibley will advance and then give Cretin a scare or maybe even a loss.
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