State Tournament Game Blog: Sibley vs Mayo

FIRST HALF

Chris Halvorsen scores fast and already the defense of Chris on Jordan Hicks has produced a steal. The same could be said for Mike Bruesewitz on Lucas Kuipers as Mike fought right over the top of Lucas for a steal…Lots of nerves already as all four of these D-1 forwards have missed looks mid-range and in…Halvorsen goes out after a foul and Kavon Martin comes in. Instantly Hicks goes at Martin and creates a pass for Kuipers and Lucas gets a three-point play…3-2 Mayo…

Mayo has several turnovers already…Hicks scores again with a put-back and it was after a monster Bruesewitz block…Now Sibley turns the ball over and a huge dunk from Hicks in transition make the monster Mayo crowd go nuts. The turnovers are coming from Sibley now as they throw a pass to Martin on the block where he's giving up five inches and Kuipers takes it. The other way Mayo scores with Alex Benson inside and a Sibley TO comes with them down 9-4…

Jordan Hicks now with an impressive block and he looks very good at the start of this one…Bruesewitz turns down his mid-range jumper to pass inside and that results in another Hicks swat. Mike should have shot that…Peter Leslie hits back to back threes from the same spot and the Warriors are now down one at 11-10…

Sibley does not have an answer for Kuipers' skill down low right now as he has put up points in the paint the last two possessions. Lucas catches and just fights to create space down low and with Martin guarding Kuipers the Mayo forward is basically able to push him off to shoot…Five straight points from Chris Halvorsen ties the game 15. Chris scored with a three-point play from the block then picked off the in-bounds pass and jammed…

With 5:51 to go in the half Bruesewitz scores with a free throw to give Sibley the lead. That was Mike's first point thus far….This game is a complete war right now. Both teams are playing hard and the battle between Bruesewitz and Kuipers is physical. Mike just went to the line and missed one free throw bad and then banked in the other…This has been a great game so far…24-21 Sibley…

Jordan Hicks with another steal and another jam. I've said it before but I'll say it again, Chicago Loyola is getting a steal with Hicks…Bruesewitz is dominating the glass right now…Hicks scores as Halvorsen leaves to double and the backside help from Sibley did not drop down fast enough. Very impressed with the ball movement from Mayo today as they just took the lead 25-24. That is the halftime score in a very physical contest…

SECOND HALF

After making zero of his first four shots in the first half Bruesewitz shakes off the jitters to score with a face-up jumper on the baseline and then his offensive rebound was turned into a great pass to Maurice Hernandez for points…27-25 Sibley…Kuipers is going to Rice and if nothing else next year he will set some monster screens on people as Halvorsen ran into Lucas's screen. Its not that Kuipers is super huge, he just knows how to set the screens. Now Kuipers scores off of the Jordan Hicks creation and Hicks-Kuipers are getting the better of the Bruesewitz-Halvorsen match-up right now…

Bruesewitz continues to struggle as Hicks blocks his shot and then Kuipers scores on him inside on the other end. But Sibley stays ahead because for the second time today Peter Leslie has hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions from the same spot and its 35-33 Sibley. Now Leslie penetrates and kicks to Noah Kaiser for a three and its 38-33…Bruesewitz with a great seal on Kuipers and Mike catches the lob for a seven-point lead…

The two on two match-up of the D-1s has been talked about but the difference in the game is starting to show in the supporting cast as Sibley's is making a big difference. Leslie just made a pair of free throws. And as I say that Mayo junior Aaron Aaland hits his first shot of the game and it's a three-pointer…41-36 Sibley…

Ever since I talked about the Mayo supporting cast being down compared to Sibley they have stepped up to start a 7-0 run and its 41-40…Beautiful fading jumper out of the post from Jordan Hicks and Mayo takes the lead but that is short lived as Bruesewitz scores inside to take the lead back…High low for Sibley and Hicks is guarding Bruesewitz instead of Kuipers. And Mike sealed Jordan for the second straight possession off that high low to produce points inside…

These teams have gone back and forth scoring for the last three possessions including Kuipers scoring down low twice and then hitting a three-pointer to take a one-point 49-48 lead. But then Sibley hits back-to-back three-pointers from Leslie and Kaiser and this game continues to excite…Halvorsen with a gorgeous move around the bucket finishing athletically and Sibley is up 53-49 with five minutes left…

For the second time today the double back screen works for a Warrior three-pointer and this three again comes from Noah Kaiser who is shooting the lights out after a tough start…Love that move from Bruesewitz. After he gets his shot blocked he recovered to score and what he did was put his shoulder down to clear space and then he finished. Very few players out there play with this level of toughness…58-49 Sibley…

Hicks catches the ball at the top of the key and turns to the hoop. He jumped and used his body control to float around Bruesewitz and finger roll the ball in. Jordan was fouled and completed the three-point play…Mayo closes the gap with a jumper and the nine-point Sibley lead is four with two minutes to go…Sibley goes stall and it brought out the Mayo defense. Warriors then go to Bruesewitz in the middle who passes to Halvorsen on the baseline and it's a two-handed flush with 90 seconds to go…60-54…

Mayo now has to foul and Sibley misses some tosses but Bruesewitz with the hustle to get the board. That turns into another foul, some free throws, and a 64-55 lead…Bruesewitz continues to explode off the ground and grab strong boards throughout this game…Sibley wins 68-58…

POSTGAME

The difference in the game was the three-point shooting of Kaiser and Leslie. This was a hard fought game and Mayo has nothing to hang their heads about but the outside shooting of Sibley was the ultimate difference.

Peter hit five of five three-pointers while Kaiser nailed four of seven threes. As a team Sibley hit nine of 15 for the game and they had all five starters in double figures. Leslie had the 19, Kaiser scored 15, Bruesewitz put up 13, Halvorsen 11, and Hernandez ten.

Brusewitz's line was five of 11 from the field for the 13 points and nine rebounds.

Mayo's Kuipers made eight of 21 shots for 18 points and 11 rebounds while Hicks scored 15 points with ten boards. Hal Sundt scored 11 for Mayo.