Hard Work Finals: Lockdown Moving On

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='2076429' first='Minnesota' last='Lockdown'] started their Hard Work Finals weekend with a late game win led by [player_tooltip player_id='2449186' first='Tyson' last='Moore'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Hard Work on Lock</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The [program_tooltip program_id='2076429' first='Minnesota' last='Lockdown'] have a Hopkins Royals flare. [player_tooltip player_id='2449186' first='Tyson' last='Moore'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2456058' first='Julius' last='Ellis'] were in the seven man Royal rotation this winter and are key Lockdown players, a few of the Lockdown role players are Royals, and [player_tooltip player_id='2477749' first='Keme' last='Jones'] (from Glendale, Arizona) played a key role in the win last night as well. Throw in that [player_tooltip player_id='1595734' first='JJ' last='Semanko'] is on the roster but didn't play and you have a Royal flavor!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2449186' first='Tyson' last='Moore'] was the story for the Lockdown. He scored 24 points making half of his 16 shot attempts plus he grabbed eight boards and dished out four assists. The Minnesota Rise simply didn't have a guard that was big enough, quick enough, and strong enough to deal with Moore at any point in the game. Moore was fouled on the last Lockdown possession of the game (with 3.7 seconds left) and he made the two clutch foul shots earning the win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jones scored his 16 points on five of five field goal shooting and five of seven foul shooting. He was another aggressive and athletic guard that the Rise guards couldn't defend. He was able to get to the rim regularly. Throw in the pair of threes and boards from Ellis and the six points/six boards of Eastview wing [player_tooltip player_id='1560790' first='Daniel' last='Mekonnen'] and you had a strong effort for the win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Ganden's Double</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2103251' first='Ganden' last='Gosch']'s Rise team may have taken the loss but the Mankato East forward played in a way that likely left Sioux Falls, U of Mary, St. Olaf, St John's and others watching, happy. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He put together an aggressive 17 point, 11 rebound double-double using that strong frame to control everything in the paint. Ganden scored on 7 of 16 shot attempts including a pair of threes, but it was the muscle buckets in the paint that really helped the Rise comeback from ten down against the Lockdown. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gosch should have had a chance to put the Rise up three late as he was mauled going to the rim by Ellis, however the ref went with the "straight up" observation. Even though those arms were straight up, the body rammed Gosch to the ground in what was an obvious foul to most. Gosch should have had the chance to put his team up three with ten seconds to go as the only way was stopped in the paint was physical contact. But Gosch shot one free throw all game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Overall, one of the best games I have seen Ganden play since the high school season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Koching the Heat</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The [program_tooltip program_id='2075674' first='Minnesota' last='Heat'] Kavi team did not have the size to compete with [program_tooltip program_id='2075685' first='Minnesota' last='Select'] Koch but I thought they fought as hard as they could to keep the game closer than I expected. That said....</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Six foot-10 [player_tooltip player_id='2405212' first='Tommy' last='Auge'] of Shakopee and 6-foot-8 [player_tooltip player_id='2424019' first='Andrew' last='Nolde'] were just way too much inside for the Heat to deal with. Auge blocked five shots, grabbed 11 rebounds, and scored seven points on his five shot attempts. Nolde scored a dozen points on eight shot attempts along with nine rebounds. That low post dominance in shot blocking/contesting, rebounding, and deep paint finishing was the difference. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But to make it even tougher, [player_tooltip player_id='2103401' first='Jake' last='Dedominces'] of Irondale and [player_tooltip player_id='2109883' first='Mohamed' last='Madey'], these wings were on a constant attack from each wing for Select. Dedominces had 22 points on 9 of 14 shooting going at the rim from the left side, and Madey scored 21 points on 10 of 14 shooting attacking from the right side. The pair was able to get to the rim whenever and the Heat didn't have the size to contest them in help when they got deep in the paint. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Trey Peterson hit three threes and scored 13 points for the Heat. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->