Saturday, February 19, 2011

San Antonio Double Header

San Antonio's Littleton Coliseum had the buzz and excitement reserved for a playoff game last night. It wasn't a playoof though, it was a pair of games between two district rivals who had both only lost one in district game, and that was to each other as they had split the season series. Rather than relying on a coin flip for seeding they decided to play it out.

5A:  San Antonio Reagan 71  San Antonio Churchill 64 (OT)
After having beaten each other easily once a piece, Churchill jumped out in thid game and had control of it for the majority of the contest. Leading 32-26 at the break, 2012 P 6'9" Connor Lammert was leading the way with 7 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks & doing a nice job of altering shots and patrolling the paint.  Reagan's perimeter shots weren't falling,   PG Tre Demps (Northwestern) led with 8 points, the same number as his counterpart on Churchill 2012 Scott Mammel.

As the 3rd quarter neared an end, the Chargers had the game back up to double digits but that's where Demps went to work.  At 6'3" he was bigger and stronger than any other guard on the floor and he started to impose his well getting to the rim or the free throw line when he wanted.  Reagan's first lead of the game came with 2:27 left to play as Demps capped the run with a three pointer. Outscoring Churchill 18-9, in the 4th the game went into overtime.  Once again, Demps put the dagger in, as he hit another key three pointer and off a turnover Max Yon (Air Force) had a break away dunk that sent the Reagan crowd into a frenzy.  Demps finished with 25 points, while Yon chipped in with 12.  Sophomore G Mike Williams, the heir apparent to Demps looked good. He finished with 7 points, 4 rebounds & 4 assists in limited action. Connor Lammert finshed with 16 points & 10 rebounds, while brother Clark had 14 points & 6 boards.  Mammell had 18 points to lead all scorers.
San Antonio Reagan's Northwestern bound Tre Demps looked every bit a Big Ten guard as at 6'3" 205 lbs he bullied his opponent and got stronger as the game went on.

5A is too deep and tough with plenty of talented teams.  One or the other of these squads will likely not even make it past the 3rd round, one could perhaps even be the victim of a first round Cinderella.  Free throw shooting, shot selection and taking care of the basketball is what playoff basketball is all about.

4A: New Braunfels Canyon 51  San Antonio Alamo Heights 46
The two oppponents split their home and home series and after last night's game I felt I could well be looking at the two Regional Finalists.  Down be shocked if they strap it on again for a 4th time in a couple of weeks.  They both are big and strong, complimented  with players who know their roles.  Heights jumped out to a 27-12 lead as 2012 W 6'5" Jeffrey Rodewold was the best player on the floor.  He had 10 points, 4 rebounds and a block to lead the way.  2012 W Ian Gulick had 8 points and 4 boards for Canyon, and 9 from scrappy senior guard Cody Karrer.
Mr. Outside (Sean Tollinger) & Mr. Inside (Andrew Poulter) led New Braunfels Canyon to the come from behind victory over Alamo Heights.

The second half, Canyon shut down Rodewold, limiting him to his 1st half production of 10 points although he added 4 more board to finish with 8.  Canyon's smooth shooting PG, 2012 Sean Tollinger began to take the Cougars on his back.  In the 1st encounter he had 22, while last week at AH he was held to only two points.  Two lonely points were his 1st half production last night and the Mules student section was heckling him.  Bad idea!  Canyon never had the leaduntil Tollinger's third three pointer of the night which he canned with 1:23 left to play.  He finished with 14 points. Gulick finished it out with a couple of free throws.

Senior G Clay Boggess did a nice job of running the AH offense for his father, legendary Coach Charlie Boggess while 2012 P 6'10" Andrew Poulter continues to develop scorign 10 points & snagging 5 boards and had a huge block in OT with Canyon trying to take a one point lead.  Brad Lacey notched his first District Championship as  Head Coach.