State Title Blog: Minnetonka vs Henry Sibley

FIRST HALF

Monster crowd for the AAAA title game as they are using the upper deck to get everybody in. No, not like the crowds at the state hockey games but pretty good for the state basketball tournament…Several loose balls early and the nervous energy is there. Mike Bruesewitz starts the game with a dunk…Sibley starts off fantastic on the defensive end moving as a five man group well. Their help has been in the right spot every time and all of the Skipper shots have been tough angled shots around the cup. Meanwhile on the other end, the Warriors have built a 7-0 lead topped by Peter Leslie's three-pointer…

Chris Halvorsen and Bruesewitz have controlled the boards throughout the start of the game…Bruesewitz goes strong on Sedrick McBounds and jams hard as there is no Tonka help. That was very impressive from Bruesewitz and great explosion off the bounce…Its 12-0 after five and a half minutes and the Warriors have forced a couple travels and have taken a couple charges. They just look much more mentally prepared for this game…Seven minutes into the game and still no points for the Skippers…CJ Erickson scores first bucket for Tonka at the 10:23 mark of the first half but its answered with a three-point play from Maurice Hernandez…15-2 Sibley…

Anthony Tucker misses a wide open three-pointer and its boarded by Bruesewitz and sent sailing in the other direction. This baseball pass was caught by Leslie and put in for a lay-in and we have a 19-4 game…Like they have done several times this year Sibley is going to Mike Bruesewitz commonly to bring the ball up the floor. And wow did Maurice Hernandez just shake UT Udo with a step back. Maurice hit the three and that was just a sick move from Hernandez…Anthony Tucker hits his first three at about the eight minute mark of the game, 22-7…Sibley works the lob so well and that one goes to Bruesewitz for another lay-in, 24-7…

Often talked about is the help side defense of CJ Erickson and Mike Bruesewitz may not block shots as often as CJ but he traps short corner and stops as well as anybody and that is another small part of his game that is huge in the eyes of coaches…Just a gorgeous tip pass from Leslie inside to Kavon Martin. Peter went up but had nothing and sent the ball fast to Kavon for two more, 30-9…Kavon Martin continues to give a huge lift for Sibley. He just fought for his third bucket in the paint off the bench and the third make was finished with a three-point play…

CJ Erickson is doing his best to try and bring back the Skippers. He's had a block, some free throws, a make inside, and a steal recently as Minnetonka attempts to build a comeback. Still down 18 at 33-15…Tucker goes to the free throw line late and he was bailed out by a bad call from the ref. Nonetheless two free tosses and its 33-17 as Sibley has went on an offensive drought…They are running into trouble with four starters having four fouls and Sibley is just trying to make it to halftime…Andy Burns hits a big three at the buzzer and Tonka goes in to the half now down 13 points at 33-20. Chris Halvorsen was called for a very questionable offensive foul and it was by the same ref who has made about three or four questionable calls in the Skippers favor…

SECOND HALF

This game and situation remind me of the Sibley/Cretin-Derham Hall sectional game two years back. Sibley had a 15-point lead on the favored Raiders but someone from CDH hit a long jumper before the buzzer to cut the lead to 13. This gave them momentum and the Raiders came back to beat Sibley. Here we are a little over two years later and the exact same scenario is in front of the Warriors…

Tonka builds on the momentum with a Tyler Schilling bucket then a Udo lay-up in transition and this game is in single digits at 33-24…Mid-range pull-up jumper from Bruesewitz looks excellent with that make but back the other way Halvorsen gets foul number four and we are only two minutes in to this half. That bogus call at the end of the half has really hurt now…A couple turnovers in straight possessions for Sibley and they have turned into buckets for Schilling and then a smooth pull-up from Tucker, 37-28 Skippers…

Tucker with two buckets in a row. One started with Burns throwing a great baseball pass to Tucker and then Andy showed a smug look to the Sibley crowd taunting them. Then on the next possession Anthony Tucker hit a beautiful step-back fade off the bounce and this is a six point game at 39-33. The defense from Burns, Udo, and Kyle Risnger amongst others is really pressuring the basketball forcing turnovers…Tucker hits a mid-range jumper and he has really heated up in the second half…

Tonka takes the lead off a lightning quick run that all boils down to Sibley not taking care of the basketball. Andrew Latzke scored a lay-up, a defensive trap turned into a CJ Erickson jam, and then a quick steal became a Tucker three-pointer and that seven points came in about 20 seconds…43-42 Tonka…Sibley turns it over yet again resulting in an easy Skipper hoop and the Warriors have about seven or eight turnovers in the last three or four minutes…

Burns hits a three and this is a 30-9 run for the Skippers since that last second bucket right before the half…Sibley has gathered themselves and started to find their offense again although Mike Bruesewtiz missed three free throws here with Sibley needing points. But back the other way Mike had a huge swat and this Badger commit has some explosion that just sneaks up on you during the game but it is also very impressive…50-47 Tonka…

Andy Burns has made two big plays starting with him opening up Schilling for a simple lay-in coming back door and then he drove himself to score in the lane. Burns has also pressured the basketball well and his play has been big as we come down the stretch at six minutes to go, 56-49…Tucker hits another pull-up and he is simply on fire right now as the Skippers have built the lead to nine points, 58-49…Bruesewitz missed two more free throws and the Skippers turned that back the other way into a Schilling lay-in…Now even Leslie is missing free throws and the charity stripe has been a big issue in this game just like the contest played between these teams back in December…

Three minutes left and it's a five point game at 60-55 and then Burns checks back in to find McBounds for an all important lay-in. But back the other way Leslie scores with a nice drive and then defending he gets hit in the face by a Tonka player and he had to receive medical attention. Not sure how Leslie got hit but the swelling on his face was huge when he finally got up looking very dazed. And there was no call on that by the way…62-59 Tonka…Having to foul the Warriors have had to foul Tucker who is not missing down the stretch calmly sinking four straight and the lead looks like to much here with 30 ticks remaining…

Foul of frustration as Bruesewitz decks Tucker hard. And then we have the enormous sign from the Tonka fans "Your Dream, Our Reality, Tonka Basketball". That is what it is. Tonka wins 68-59…