Wayzata 68 Lakeville North 52: Five Things to Know

<p>Wayzata’s 41-19 second half advantage powered them to a 68-52 victory over Lakeville North.  Guard play and a matured main five led the Trojans to the win.  Here are five things to know! </p> <p><strong>One.  The Game Changer</strong>.   [player_tooltip player_id="850713" first="Carter" last="Bjerke"] sat for much of the first half with foul trouble.  When he was on the floor in the second half he was a big part in how the game changed.  Bjerke hit a three but the biggest thing he did was establish position and turn to finish.  Right now Carter is just stronger than what the Panthers have up front so he established position, turned, and finished.  Simple as that.  His early half run took the Trojans from down and gave them the lead. </p> <p><strong>Two.  The Clutch Finisher</strong>. [player_tooltip player_id="1167554" first="Hayden" last="Tibbits"] has been big in big games this year.  All eyes of the state were on the Big 12 Classic and Hayden stepped up against Shakopee. Holiday eyes were on him and the Trojans in St. Paul against Osseo, Hayden led them to a blowout win.  And last night after Bjerke helped his team even the game, Tibbits took it home.  His back to back threes were the major game changer and then Hayden’s foul shots put the game away.   </p> <p><strong>Three. Matured Edge</strong>.  Lakeville North has been really good this year.  Defeating Eastview on Tuesday spoke volumes of who they are and what they can be.  There are a few teams out there though who I think are just a bit more physically matured and have a bit more veteran guard play right now and one of them is Wayzata.  We talked about Tibbits but [player_tooltip player_id="958661" first="Drew" last="Berkland"] - despite not scoring much - also played a key role.  And I thought [player_tooltip player_id="1201757" first="Spencer" last="Hall"] was outstanding in his "do a lot of everything" role.  You can see his stats below as Hall was seemingly involved in everything. Erik Rottinghaus also deserves some credit.  Erik had a nice first half that helped keep his team close. Add in Bjerke just being stronger inside for his double-double and I just think Wayzata’s experience and maturity were the difference. </p> <p><strong>Four. Panther Zone</strong>.  The Lakeville North zone really gave Wayzata some problems with it’s length and activity.  [player_tooltip player_id="962214" first="Nolan" last="Winter"]’s length gave the attacking Trojans a lot of problems as he got his hands on a couple balls and affected several others (especially with Carter having to sit).  With Winter in the middle, with Brayden Manning and [player_tooltip player_id="1284147" first="Jack" last="Robison"] getting their length on guys and moving actively in the corners, with steady guards playing hard, and [player_tooltip player_id="1226375" first="JT" last="Thornton"] pressuring the ball with length and lateral explosiveness, I really liked it.  The Trojans figured it out especially getting the ball in that high post but I thought the Panther zone really showed this team’s defensive potential regardless of what defense they use . </p> <p><strong>Five.  Rematch Would Be Fun</strong>. These are good teams with good coaches and a lot of talent.  I want them to play again in the state tournament if both make it through their sections.  Let’s be honest, it was heated.  There was a lot of Panther excitement when they were playing well in the first half.  There was a lot of Wayzata response to the crowd when they made their comeback.  There was a loose ball situation that got testy but that will happen when teams are playing hard and fighting for a loose ball.  There was chatter.  There was a Trojan dunk at the buzzer that really excited the Wayzata team which that brought their bench on the floor in excitement which led to chattering at the crowd.  Some of you may have the "don’t like it, stop it" mentality.  Others may have the "that wasn’t needed mentality".  The Panthers should have that "we will remember that" mentality.  And Wayzata should be have that "that was a fun win" mentality.  It’s all in fun.  And I hope they play again. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>[embed]https://twitter.com/RyanJamesMN/status/1479305507974352902[/embed]</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>