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Titans make it back to State

Prologue
Off to Tartan for the section 4AAAA championship between Tartan and Woodbury. Good size crowd but not a problem getting a seat in the upper level. The students very vocal and somewhat crass at times. That triggered a tongue thrashing from the public address guy at halftime. No concessions tonight but a nice stop for Jersey Mike's during the pregame. Concordia in the building with SW MN State assistant Chad Welk (a Concordia asst until last year). St. Mary's also in the building. Hollywood, Mr. Clean and The Reverend are your officials.

Song of the DayWe are the Champions - Queen

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 1356 ounces (123 games, 105 days)

12 oz 7 Up

20 oz Barq's Root Beer

20 oz Mug Root Beer

80 oz Sprite

84 oz Dr Pepper

160 oz Red Powerade

252 oz Red Gatorade

184 oz Coke

544 oz Pepsi

Game TimeTartan off to a great start. Brody Jackson takes the UNC secondary break back screen for 2 and another postup for a 7-0 lead. Eric Winter again gets the defensive chore for the Titans. This time its faceguarding Matt Ambriz. Jordan Horn starts to heat up as he goes off the ball screen for 3. 21-12 Tartan at 7:35. Isaiah Coddon for Woodbury catches at the right elbow, jabs right and goes left down the lane for the thunderous finish, seriously nasty there. Horn counters with another trey, Coddon 2 free throws, Horn a 3 point play and after a Woodbury bucket Horn with 2 free throws. That's 11 straight Titans points for Horn. Jackson takes the post feed for 2 more and the lead is 13 at 4:45. Horn fouled on a 3 and makes all 3 free throws and makes 2 more threes in the half. 45-35 Tartan at the half. Horn with 4 3s and 20 points to carry the offense.

First 5 of the second half to Tartan and it looks like the game could get out of hand quickly. Woodbury counters but Tartan tries to blow it open again. Tommy Hanson buries a kickout pass for 3 and then off a turnover Horn goes to the spin move for the 3 point play. That move is legal because The (slimmed down) Nutty Professor isn't working the game. 60-44 Tartan with 12:52 left and Woodbury takes time to try and figure out a solution. Matt Ambriz with a 4 point play and Coddon takes a turnover and smashes that on the break with 2 hands and the lead is down to 10 quickly. Tartan's role players make big shots. Jake Lyle a pair of bombs off the bench and Winter shows with one. Strange event with 9:08 left and Woodbury down 13. Ambriz fouled and steps up to shoot the 1 and 1. He misses the 1st and nobody plays it. Finally Hollywood just grabs it and both teams almost tackle him for it. We get a conference and not much choice but to go to the arrow and give it to Woodbury. Woodbury would have 1 last spurt in them. Nick Yan drives for 2, Coddon with 2 free throws and a 3 and the lead is down to 6, 73-67 Tartan 6:15 left. Winter counters with another 3 as Tartan takes the timeout at that point to regroup. Tartan would be patient with the offense after that and never be threatened the rest of the way. Tartan wins 90-78.

Post Game
Coach Scott Swanson's career at Woodbury comes to an end with the loss. Many outstanding seasons for him with the Royals. He finishes his 13 year career there with a record of 216-146 with 4 trips to state (last 2 years) along with a least 2 other trips to the section final. Matt Ambriz finishes his outstanding senior season with 22 points before fouling out. Isaiah Coddon and Nick Yan both add 20 points. But the Royals get 0 points from their bench.

Tartan makes their 1st trip to state since their run of 8 straight trips ended with their last trip in 2005. Freshman point guard Jordan Horn was even better today than he was in the semifinals. 20 of his 28 points in the 1st half to lead all scorers. Keenan Bellaphant with a bunch of late free throws to reach 12 points. Tommy Hanson 3 bombs for 11, Eric Winter and Jake Lyle each with 2 bombs for 8. Brody Jackson got touches early in each half by design and scored 10 points. Think about all the players Tartan lost that could have been on this team (Marshawn Wilson, Donnell Gresham, Simeon and Jahleel Davis) and they're still going. Fun display after the game, Tartan players storm the court, then they mob their coaches (love that). Then the students storm the court to celebrate with the team.

6 comments:

Really impressed with Horn- man he's got a future. Will miss watching Ambriz (24pts while being denied/faceguarded all night!?! Legit). Is Isaiah Coddon going anywhere? Seems like he's athletic enough to play, maybe even at D2 level (still somewhat raw though). Also, interesting note on Tartan players that transferred out. It looked as though they had some decent talent on the bench too that never saw minutes. Could this be the revival?

99% of spin moves are illegal - watch the pivot foot. Once they pick up the pivot foot- they can't put it down. The only reason why you and others think it is legal is because college and NBA DECIDE not to call it traveling. That's fine if they want to change the rule book. Otherwise - I challenge you to watch the play on video - player typically drives right- picks up his right foot (making his left foot his pivot), pivots, picks up and puts down his right foot. Last time I checked- picking up the pivot foot and putting it down before passing or shooting is a travel. If you want showtime - then don't call it but if you want to follow the rulebook - it is a travel

Rex, don't generalize my thoughts when you clearly don't know what they are. I actually agree with you that most spin moves are illegal (Olajuwon drove me nuts). The Horn move I thought was legal because it was on the break. My comment was having fun with one official who is known for automatically calling a travel on the move.

Fair response- but curious that you thought the spin move was legal given it was on the break as generally the "faster" the player is going- the more likely the spin is illegal. If the player can start the pivot before he spins or can add a small spin dribble - then it can be a great legal move. And yes - the comments about the Nutty professor have been and are amusing.

Not to flame the fire, but I actually disagree. I think the spin dribble middle has the same exact foot work as a layup. If you think about it, most players pick up their dribble on the first step (same as a spin dribble), plant their next foot (same as the spin dribble), then lift their other foot off the ground as they go up towards the hoop (same as a spin dribble). With the 2 step rule (3... sometimes 4 in the NBA :) ), this is perfectly legal. Unless all layups are illegal. Watch a video to confirm. Same footwork!