Sibley defeats Woodbury to move on

Henry Sibley defeated Woodbury tonight 76-57 in a game that was closer then the score indicated. Mike Bruesewitz finished with 18 points hitting nine of 12 attempts and he had a fantastic all around basketball game leading the team in scoring along with Peter Leslie's 18. Aaron Myers led Woodbury with 16 points in his final game.

This was a close game throughout until Woodbury's three-point shooting ran out. In the first half senior Matt Slayton hit a pair, Myers knocked down three, and Noah Petermeier made a triple as well. And the Woodbury three-point shooting opened up the drive for Myers, junior Ernest Dorsett, and sophomore Nick Quicksell. And Dorsett's quickness allowed him to blow by the Warrior closeouts and create for himself and others. At the half Sibley was only up 39-36.

But in the second half Woodbury just didn't have the shooting to keep up nor the size down low to bang consistently. Marcus Garcia and Kavon Martin played a huge role off the Warrior bench and Bruesewitz took over the game making four mid-range jumpers as well as handling the basketball.

Then there was Chris Halvorsen who had three emphatic dunks and his buckets in transition were off of costly Woodbury turnovers. Halvorsen finished the game with ten points but was also tough on the glass, he had several deflections and hustle plays leading to Sibley baskets.

Impressive in defeat was Myers who hit four triples from deep and had a pair of smooth drives were he shifted around the defense and finished with a finger roll. Myers is a real nice player who I believe could have an outstanding career at the division three level and is maybe capable of producing at division two.

Woodbury is young and will be back strong next year. Quicksell is a strong player with a good mid range jumper plus he put it on the floor for two field goals. One was in transition where he switched the dribble from left to right crossing up Halvorsen's feet and allowing Quicksell to finish. Nick had 13 and another impressive young player was Dorsett. Ernest was able to put the ball on the floor consistently against Sibley and he was effective for three field goals and some assists until Sibley's defensive rotations improved in the second half.

Bruesewitz did a lot of things well in this game. He handled the point and he was strong on the boards, Mike took another charge and his position defense continues to be impressive. Offensively he scored with a spin, a baby hook, and another shot inside plus he sunk five mid-range jumpers. A couple of the mid-range jumpers were off the bounce and others were of passes rotated to him.

Leslie hit three three-pointers and when he gets his feet set Peter is deadly. And down the stretch he sunk five of six free throws to put away the Royals. Leslie was impressive taking care of the ball in the first half and his three-pointers often countered the Royals treys. Another big contributor for Sibley was Maurice Hernandez and his four three-pointers. Maurice continues to improve defensively, he made a sweet alley-oop pass to Halvorsen for the jam, and he had 15 points. Plus Sibley received an important contribution from Noah Kaiser who scored seven in the first half and played a key roll down the stretch.