|
|
|
Demmer beats buzzer and Blaine
Posted 12/21/01 by Todd Abeln Burnsville Itís been a tough start for the Burnsville boysí basketball team. The Blaze have started the season 1-5. To make matters worse, all five of their losses have been by five points or less. ìItís hard to put your finger on why youíre not winning,î head coach Doug Boe said. One reason may be that out of their six games, only one has been at home. But starting this week, the Blaze start a stretch where they play seven straight home games. In its most recent game, Burnsville lost a tough one to Hastings 64-59. Against Hastings, the Blaze took an early lead, 12-10 in the first quarter, but struggled in the second and third quarters. Hastings outscored Burnsville 37-26 in those two quarters. One of the reasons Hastings was able to push its lead was that it dominated the boards. ìThey were winning the boards and the race for the loose balls,î Boe said. In the final quarter, Burnsville made a run at Hastings, but it was a little too late. The Blaze outscored Hastings 21-17 in the four quarter. Offensively, point guard Floyd Daniels and forward Brady Daggett led the Blaze with 13 points each. ìIíve been impressed by what Brady Daggett has been doing for us,î Boe said. As for the close losses, Boe hopes the home games will solve their problems. ìWeíre just so close to winning those games,î Boe said. Eagan Everybody dreams of hitting the game-winning shot at the buzzer. Junior Brooks Demmer lived that dream when he hit a three-pointer before the buzzer went off to give Eagan a 74-73 victory against Blaine. ìIt was a pretty good game,î head coach Kurt Virgin said. The victory pushes Eaganís record to 6-1. ìIf you told me at the beginning of the season we would be 6-1, I would have taken it,î Virgin said. In the game, point guard Matt Stover set a school record with 10 steals. Stover led the offense, which scored 74 points. The leading scorer for the Wildcats was junior Nick Fellman with 22 points. At the end of the game, Blaine took a 73-71 lead with just 12 seconds remaining. On the winning play, the inbounds pass went to Stover, who dished the ball to Demmer. To begin the game, Eagan built three-point lead at 19-16. Blaine came back in the second by taking advantage of its size and went into halftime only down 40-39. All game Eagan was able to use its quickness to get up and down the court and hurt Blaine in transition and Virgin said that was the difference in the game. ìIf we werenít able to get into transition, we would have been in trouble,î he said. Blaine came out in the third quarter and took its first lead when it outscored Eagan 15-13. Then came the exciting finish. The score went back and forth between the two teams until Demmer ended it with his clutch three-pointer. Rosemount Right from the beginning, Rosemountís game against Park of Cottage Grove was dominated by the Irish. Rosemount cruised to a 71-40 victory Tuesday, Dec. 18. ìThe defensive intensity was good,î assistant coach Ben McCormick said. ìAs a team, we shot better than we have in the other games.î Mike Kootsikas broke out of a personal shooting slump to score 12 points on three-of-five shooting from three-point range. But where Kootsikas made a big difference was on defense. Rosemountís defense really played solid at the start of both halves. To start the game, the Irish held Park to only 8 points while the offense scored 15. In the second half, Rosemount had a 38-22 lead when it really put the game out of reach. The defense held Park to only two points in the third while they scored 14 of their own to blow the game wide open. Offensively, the Irish shot more than 50 percent at 22-41 from the field. The victory pushed Rosemountís record to 4-1. Apple Valley Turnovers killed the Apple Valley Eagles in their 50-36 loss to Tartan. ìWe didnít handle the basketball as well as we should and didnít shoot well,î head coach Steve Elness said. Thatís a deadly combination when you play anybody, but especially a solid team like Tartan. But all wasnít a loss, according the Elness. ìAt times we did okay,î he said. ìThe kids played hard.î One of the times that the Eagles handled the ball well was in the first quarter when they outscored Tartan 11-10. But in the second quarter, things unraveled for the Eagles and Tartan outscored them 15-10 to take a 25-21 lead into the locker room. ìWe got open looks and stuff. We just couldnít handle the ball,î Elness said. The third quarter was really bad for the Eagles. They could only manage four points, while Tartan poured in 12. With the score 37-25, Apple Valley tried to get back in the game in the fourth quarter, but couldnít make a strong run at Tartan. The loss drops Apple Valleyís record to 2- 4 on the season. Despite the loss, Elness sees good things for the future. ìOur goal is to improve every game,î he said. ìThe kids are coming together.î Lakeville After his team lost to Rochester Mayo 70-59, Lakeville head coach John Oxton didnít mince any words about his teamís play. ìI thought we played pretty poorly,î he said. ìWe struggled in every aspect of the game.î Whether it was the long trip to Rochester or the Panthersí first road game, Oxton couldnít put his finger on the reason for his teamís poor play. The difference in the game probably came at the free throw line as Mayo took 31 free throws compared to the Panthersí seven. The game against Rochester was a microcosm of the season. The Panthers have struggled to find any consistency. ìWe have to be more consistent,î Oxton said. ìOur margin for error is not that great.î
©Thisweek Newspapers |
