The Full Court Press: Armstrong Pulls It Off

Ryan James January 9, 2019 @ 06:21 PM

Jon Bryant is the new Head Coach at Robbinsdale Armstrong and this Falcons made the state of Minnesota take notice on Tuesday by knocking off #1 Park Center.

Falcons Knock Off #1

The Falcons opened the year with a one score loss to eight non-experienced Apple Valley players followed by an embarrassing 37 point defeat at home to Edina. In relative silence Armstrong won six straight games and five of those contests were won by double digits. Then after losing to Maple Grove last Friday the Falcons really caught Minnesota's attention with a 62-56 victory over Park Center.

Six-foot-3 junior wing Adam Biewen has led the Falcons in scoring this year and Tuesday night he scored a game high 18 points in the Falcons win. Biewen was one of several Armstrong players that took advantage of the team's outstanding ball movement that led to an early 23-8 lead. Biewen's cutting three point play against a late arriving Pirate defense was one of the biggest momentum boosters of half one.

Devyn Frye lived in the corner knocking out multiple triples and scoring 13 points after strong Falcon ball movement. Jake Breitbach also had 13 while junior worker Hezekiah Iaywe (6-foot-5) worked his way to low post position to finish off several strong Armstrong possession. The Falcons were able to get Dain Dainja in foul trouble and limit him to eight points.

The games don't get easier for Armstrong who have Osseo and Spring Lake Park coming up next. That said, this group knocked off Park Center so they should have a shot to beat everybody on their schedule.

The Zephyrs Make a Statement

Mahtomedi has taken control of the Metro East Conference and not in a subtle way. They went out and beat Tartan followed by last night's absolute embarrassment of St. Thomas Academy. The Zephyrs had a 41-22 lead at the break and won 80-49 overall.

J'Vonne Hadley is quickly becoming one of the most impressive players state wide. He had 21 at the half last night and had the Zephyrs not been crushing the Cadets he would of scored much more than the 26 he put in the book. Nebraska-Omaha and South Dakota have been in to see Hadley as of late to get a look at a near 30 point per game scorer.

It was more than Hadley. Zac Centers scored 18 and helped limit Jack Thompson to a dozen points and the rest of the team to single digits. Devin Melzer scored 12 for the 7-3 Zephyrs. Mahtomedi has played a tough schedule and the loss to Woodbury (part of a three game losing streak) knocked them out of the Class AAA polls. Expect the Zephyrs to be back in the Class AAA top ten listing Monday.

Best of the Best

Cornell Richardson hit another game winner for Osseo as part of his 17 points in the victory over Champlin Park.
In the game of the night Minnehaha defeated Eden Prairie 61-60 in a huge victory. Jalen Suggs scored 18 and had the game winning block.
Six-foot-3 junior Jarrell Jacobs scored 40 for Cass Lake-Bena who remains undefeated beating Deer River by seven.
BSM knocked off Waconia with Dylan Drees scoring 16. Waconia is ranked so it was a crucial victory for the Red Knights.
Thomas Gieske had 23, Alex Virnig as Sartell keeps on rolling with a defeat of St. Cloud Cathedral.
No Jamison Battle? No problem. Kameron Givens put together the top high school game of his career scoring 20 next to Tyrell Terry's 23 as DeLaSalle defeated Minneapolis North 66-57.
Luke Gitzen had 23 in Chanhassen's 93-86 win over Tonka
Western Illinois signed Jaeden King scored 36 win the CDH 96-63 win over Forest Lake