Preps Game Blog: Burnsville vs Rosemount

PREGAME BLOG

I'm off to a great start here at Burnsville. They run out of rosters and then all I can get to drink is a red slushy with my dollar. And while I'm complaining, why do all these Lake Conference games I have been to have only two refs? And man is this announcer loud!...They just announced that last Friday night Tarell Clark scored the 1,000 point of his career so congrats to Tarell…Very clear from the start that Rosemount has a size advantage but Burnsville plays a constant run game so will they notice?…Senior guard Max Vanordstrand is in street clothes for the Blaze…Both teams are 5-4 coming into this game…

FIRST HALF

Tarell is extremely athletic. Defensively he's all over with those long arms at 6-foot-2. He pushes the ball as fast as anybody you will see. Blaze up 10-4 and they are pressing Rosemount…Blaze senior wing Nick Krogstad has hit two three-pointers already and one was created off the drive of Blaze sophomore Devan Knopke, a 6-foot-2 wing. Knopke is an impressive young underclassmen who has made plays early off the bounce…Clark has scored in the paint three times already as he's up in the air to score before the Irish senior pair of 6-foot-8 Tim Sauer or 6-foot-9 Andrew Brommer can do anything about it…

Brommer just touched the ball for the second time here six minutes in. Irish has not done a good job thus far of getting him touches. He scored on the first touch in the post with a catch, spin to the lane, and then he squared up to hit a 10-foot jumper showing off his solid touch. But then he missed a point blank lay-up…

22-12 Burnsville up as they are killing the Irish with their transition game. They run on everything and Clark just stole another pass and went coast to coast for a two-handed slam. Its 24-12 now as the Irish keep turning the ball over...Mark Wieloch, 1 6-foot-3 senior shooting guard, has hit two jumpers and its always pretty to watch his stroke…

The Irish have the size but they are getting hammered on the glass. Clark just missed his own shot and out-worked Sauer and Brommer for the basketball. He turned the carom into a three-point play…Rosemount is showing they can shoot consistently as they have hit three-pointers on three consecutive possessions. First it was Irish senior wing Troy Hoeppner hitting two and Wieloch hitting his third three of the game. Then Clark went ahead and hit his own on the other end…I was just going to say that Clark has not looked for his jumper much at all and then he buried this shot to bring his first half total up to 16 points…

Sauer is staring to control the middle with is rebounding…Clark is fantastic in the open floor and he just plays a fast paced scrappy game. Defensively he's everyplace and he just loves to attack, attack, and attack. Has done most of his work in transition, cutting to the basket, and grabbing offensive boards. Just scored again with a put-back, all his makes save the one jumper have been right at the rim. Some division one school on the West Coast who plays a fast paced transition game would love to have his athletic ability. His jumper has been inconsistent from what I've seen of him in the past but his transition play is better then anything I've seen this year from any player in Minnesota…Clark drives in halfcourt set and then gets another dunk…Sauer has played well the last eight minutes. He may be close to a double-double already…52-42 at the half and that's not a misprint…

SECOND HALF

Rosemount looks just awful defensively right now. The Blaze are on a 14-6 second half run. Brommer was sat down after a minute for what I believe was a defensive mistake when Burnsville rotated the ball for a wide open three. A coach is giving him a talking to. The whole team needs a talking to defensively…

Clark has five offensive rebounds in the second half and is approaching ten total for the game. Long arms, quick springs, and desire are out doing Rosemount's bigs for boards…Brommer has come back in and with a Rosemount big line-up he is playing small forward. Since he's came back in he had one nice bucket showing his touch and missed a pair of threes. That one minute stretch of three shots equals his shot total for the game. Next Brommer drives baseline with a quick move from the corner and scores in traffic and its 73-60…

Clark rebounds a Brommer baby hook airball and flies the other way beating everybody down the floor for a lay-in. And Tarell has double-figure offensive rebounds. He now has one possession with three of them, another with two offensive boards and he has to be near 15 boards for the game. Plus he's over 30 points for the contest. Its 81-63 with seven minutes left and this incredible athlete could get 40 points…

Rosemount just keeps turning the ball over as guard play is not very strong. As a result this has become a continual lay-up drill for Burnsville. Knopke has scored their last five points and he is very good going to the basket. He's finished a number of plays plus he's a playmaker creating for others…Clark's long arms and great body control allow him to get contact, extend the arm, and finger roll at just about any time…103-80 is final score.

POSTGAME BLOG

Tarell finished with 41 points, 16 rebounds (score table said 13 but I counted at least 16), and seven steals. Clark scored one three-pointer, about six free throws and then approximately 16 field goals scored right at the rim…Brommer shoots 6 of 12 from the field and four of eight from the free throw line scoring 17 points with six rebounds in about 28 minutes played…This was Burnsville's first game over 100 on the year although they scored 99 points against Rochester JM earlier in the year…

Clark now averaging 23.9 points per game…This game of 41 points top his previous high totals this year of 32 against Jefferson and 33 vs. Apple Valley…Vanordstrand is averaging 13.3 on the year but has missed the last two games…Brommer scored one more in this game then his 16 points per game average…Wieloch also had 17 while Sauer put in 15 points…Sophomore stud Devan Knopke scored 20 points in the victory for Burnsville…

Both teams are in section 3AAAA, which is wide open this year although Eastview is the favorite. The Lightning are 8-2 but lost last night to Kennedy and then Burnsville has the second best record now at 6-4. Several teams are a contender in this section including Lakeville North, Park of CG, Apple Valley, and Eagan along with Rosemount, Eastview, and Burnsville…