Preps Game Blog: Stillwater vs Cretin-Derham Hall

PREGAME BLOG

Stillwater faced Cretin-Derham Hall earlier in the season and gave the Raiders their first loss of the year 54-50…A Raider win at home ties these two teams in the conference race but a Stillwater victory means a two game lead for them…These teams are in the same section along with Tartan and Henry Sibley. All four programs are ranked in this week's Breakdown top ten poll…Very nice crowd on hand for am important game…

FIRST HALF

Michael Floyd freezes the opponent off the bounce with a pull-up 16-footer that swishes and then steals a pass at midcourt to score with a leaning one-handed jam. It's his 1,000th career point and the game is stopped, by the scorer's table?...Joel Armstronghits a three-pointer and its 7-6 with CDH up. I did not know Armstrong has that kind of range…Now I get it, Armstrong scores strong inside and the scorer's table stops the game again. This time for Armstrong's 1,000th career point, so congrats to Floyd and Armstrong and its good to see the schools had something set up there…

Armstrong takes the ball at the basket from the elbow and he is a lot more athletic then I had originally thought. I'm thinking Winona State is getting a steal…Floyd's jumper looks fantastic. He just hit a three-pointer and it's his third long jumper of the game. In addition to being a five-star football player I think Mike is proving himself at about the top six or eight of Minnesota high school basketball players as well…Seantrel Henderson has scored twice on the block. Stillwater is trying to defend three-quarters front with Armstrong on him but Seantrel is just holding him off with one arm and finishing. And 6-foot-0 sophomore Paul Franklin is not going to do anything with Henderson (at 310 pounds) on the backside help…

Floyd fakes left and goes hard right. His move was then finished as he just soared in the air and finished a baseline eight-footer with a soft arcing touch…John Nance also had a three-point play as he was fouled going at the bucket and acrobatically managed to finish with his long arms. Score is 22-13 with Raiders ahead…Franklin just led a fast break with a beautiful no-look pass to Armstrong…

Raiders look too athletic for the Ponies right now. Nance scores with a put-back, Floyd scores with a turn-around jumper, and the CDH ball pressure is giving the Stillwater guards all sorts of problems. The Ponies really can't get into their sets, Armstrong is getting few touches, and there have been to many turnovers…WOW, Floyd just went baseline, hung in the air, and dunked with a full two handed pump in traffic. There is another Michael Floyd candidate for dunk of the year…Now Floyd flashes across the lane, catches and squares up to hit a 15-footer. Floyd is on fire. 32-23 with CDH ahead…

Tom Hannon hits a three and its his second made shot from deep. The last I saw of him he was coming from the deep bench and making the score against Hopkins closer then it appeared. Looks like he has worked his way into the line-up. Tom just had a nice post-feed to Henderson for a lay-in…Stillwater has gone 3-2 zone…Ponies throw the ball away and its another Floyd highlight play, 39-26…CDH is stalling against the Ponies trying to bring them out of the zone. Stillwater is staying with the zone and CDH is getting a great rest for Floyd, Nance, and Henderson who are out. This could be Stillwater's chance to close the gap. The Ponies finally get a 5-second call but two minutes came off the clock and the Ponies make no ground on the lead with those guys sitting…39-27…

SECOND HALF

Raiders up 11 in the second half. Nance shows off his pretty stroke with an 18-footer and he shook a defender off the bounce…Armstrong hits a three-pointer once again. He has really shown a nice touch and at this size Joel should have a great career at Winona State. Stillwater now throws a lob to Armstrong off a B.O.B. and Joel hangs in the air to catch and finish with a soft touch. Its 47-38 as Stillwater is edging back in…

Nance has to sit at 13-minute mark with four fouls. I swear he gets in foul trouble every game I have ever seen him play. This foul gives Armstrong two free throws and its 47-40…Hannon scores twice now underneath the bucket. To think that just a couple weeks ago he was one of the last guys in. Good to see this from a senior working his way back…Floyd can rebound with just about everybody as he is so quick off his feet… Stillwater has been working relentlessly underneath with Henderson sitting. Aaron Anderson scores and so does Armstrong and it's a five point game, 51-46…

Floyd hits another three and then Hannon goes back on defense to take a charge from Armstrong. Those are two huge momentum plays and it's an eight-point game again… Floyd hits another three!!! Maybe he's top five in state on the court?...Henderson just obliterates Franklin with a shoulder. The same ref just called the charge down there on Armstrong and nothing here? Henderson scores again as Stillwater is fronting with help from Franklin. This is just not working as Seantrel is to strong and to agile…59-49…

Armstrong rebounds and sends a beautiful full-court outlet the other direction to Andrew Walker who scores a lay-in and this is a six point game. 61-55 with five minutes left…Nance is being guarded by Walker all the way up and he blows right by sending a nice pass to a cutting Jake Esch for a lay-in…Stillwater is trying to guard in hip-pocket and Floyd drives right by for a score….Holy cow does this ref not want to call a charge. Nance clearly should have been called for a charge but the ref doesn't want to give him foul number five I guess. And as a result Armstrong picks up a bad over the back call. Two free throws are hit and its 69-55. The Raiders have definitely played a better game here and deserve to be up, no question. But they are clearly getting the benefit of some calls…

Anderson hits a three for the Ponies to make the score 74-62. Anderson is a good scoring option for Stillwater and when he gets set he will sink from long range. As will Joe Mergens and the two are both 6-foot-3 seniors that look nearly the same…81-69 is final score and Floyd finished with 34 points…

POSTGAME BLOG

I left the game very impressed with Floyd and Armstrong. The consensus of many of the basketball veteran gurus in the crowd is that Floyd is one of the top three or four backcourt players in the state of Minnesota. Floyd can hit the pull-up jumper, he has consistent long range shooting, Mike can attack and finish at the rim, and he is tremendous in the open floor. Armstrong has more versatility then I was aware of. He can finish in the paint but he also has three-point shooting range and Joel has some slashing ability as well…

In addition to Floyd's 34 points, Nance and Henderson scored ten points eachm and then senior Torres Tillman produced ten himself including a three-pointer. Armstrong led Stillwater with 21 points, Anderson had 20, and Mergens put up 11…

How good is section 4AAAA? Tartan is ranked 10th in state and there is a chance that they may be the five seed. They are 15-4 right now while St. Paul Central is 14-4 and these are the teams in the middle of the pack. Right above them with an important win over Tartan is Henry Sibley at 15-4. Sibley also has beaten Stillwater who now sits at 16-3 and then CDH is on top at 15-2. Of course records is not how teams vote when section play comes but this would be the current prediction…