South St Paul 70 Tartan 69 – Five Things to Know

<p>Last Night South St. Paul defeated Tartan 70-69 in overtime of a hard fought Metro East contest.  For the Packers it was a historic victory. </p> <p><strong>One.  Historic</strong>.  Last night the Packers beat Tartan for the first time since 1994.  Twenty-five years between wins.  This indicates both Tartan’s dominance over the opponents in the league and South St. Paul able to turn the corner.  The Packers showed a different toughness.  This wasn’t a goot game for them offensively as [player_tooltip player_id="774816" first="Marquise" last="Gleb"] and [player_tooltip player_id="958636" first="Alonzo" last="Dodd"] missed a lot of shots at the rim while [player_tooltip player_id="958773" first="Ramontay" last="Harmon"] and Devin Newsome had tough shooting days inside and out.  The Packers also had Newsome and [player_tooltip player_id="958644" first="Shawn" last="West-Zimpel"] in foul trouble.  So how did this team get through?  Gleb and Dodd were able to gather their misses and keep fighting.  Harmon defended hard, Newsome hit a clutch three late, and everybody simply battled through problems.  The Packers won the rebound battle 43-32 which was a sign of another area where the Packers were tougher.  This wasn’t a perfect performance by any means but the Packers battled through, and put themselves on the right side of history. </p> <p>A few more numbers, South St. Paul made two more shots than South St. Paul did (24 to 22) but they attempted 15 more  mostly because they fought harder on the glass.  Both teams shot 28 foul shots (Tartan made 21, SSP 17) and the Packers overtime triple gave them five to Tartan’s four. What’s with all the numbers?  Just shows that SSP gave themselves more chances as they continually responded to their own errors.  </p> <p><strong>Two</strong>. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958636" first="Alonzo" last="Dodd"]</strong>.  We have to go basketball in bullet points to get through everything he does for his team:</p> <ul> <li>Dodd plays point guard for the Packers igniting the offense and pushing the break (had 8 assists)</li> <li>Alonzo is his team’s top rebounder both ways (grabbed 18)</li> <li>When the game was on the line he stepped up and defended Tartan’s top option</li> <li>Alonzo worked his way to the rim for his 23 points, he struggled to complete on the first chance but often battled to the second opportunity (about eight offensive boards).</li> <li>Dodd’s combination of straight line quick attack mixed with the crossover into a quick first step led to many of his foul line attempts (was 11 of 14)</li> </ul> <p>Dodd is the toughness that leads the Packers and his toughness was on full display as he attacked with his off-hand to make the game winning And1 score.  </p> <p><strong>Three.  Thompson Emerging</strong>.  [player_tooltip player_id="957203" first="Dewayne" last="Thompson"] transferred to Tartan and has given the Titans are versatile scoring threat.  He scored 18 points and sat early versus North Branch and then scored another 18 to beat Simley. Last night Thompson faced physical defenders and gave his team 23 points on 14 attempts.  What I saw was a player that scored an efficient 23 mixing in transition finishes with the right attacks in the Tartan motion offense. Mixed in some jumpers with touch in attacks.  My favorite part though was how Thompson twice scored on one end and then raced the other way to make a big defensive play (a block one time, a deflection and loose ball collect another time).  Very impressed with what I saw from Thompson last night. </p> <p><strong>Four</strong>.  <b>The Packers Could Have a Special Year.  </b>The Packers have now knocked off a very good Mound-Westonka team by 14 points and defeated a top Metro East squad from Tartan while shooting 34 percent for the game (23 of 68).  This is a team that I could see finishing the regular season between 16-2 and 18-0 if they stay healthy.  [player_tooltip player_id="774816" first="Marquise" last="Gleb"] had a double-double of 13 points and a dozen boards, newcomer Devin Newsome scored 17 points with nine assists hitting three threes, and on a rough night of foul trouble [player_tooltip player_id="958644" first="Shawn" last="West-Zimpel"] scored nine points (two threes). </p> <p><strong>Five.  Titans are always Tartan Tough</strong>. The addition of Newsome is key but this team has more than that.  [player_tooltip player_id="774927" first="Curtis" last="Favors"] has some all around ability.  He’s a solid rebounder, good passer out of the post, and has a nice touch around the basket.  Junior [player_tooltip player_id="958668" first="Aj" last="Burns"] grabbed our attention with 14 points and junior D’Marco Chelley had 11.  Junior forward Marko Vukomanovich has been Tartan’s second option all year and although he missed the game winner in overtime, he still scored in double figures for the third time.  The Titans have a new group of juniors mixed in with a quality defender in David Perkins (a senior) plus Favors and Thompson are in the same class.  </p>