Boys 6th Grade Basketball
Friday, March 14th, 2008St. Louis Park Tournament
Saturday, 1/26/08
6A vs. Fridley
Game 1
Park lost to Fridley 36-28, in the opening game of a home tournament. Park trailed by 10 at the half, 23-13, then out-played Fridley in the second half, but still fell by eight.
Melvyn Curry led Park with 11 points, DJ Davis added 9, Grahamm Kellogg, Johnny Curren, Daniel Foltz and Jonah Resnick each tallied 2.
Curren led Park with 3 steals; Resnick led with 2 blocks; Resnick led with 8 rebounds, Foltz grabbed 4, and Max Wolk 3.
Click on Thumbnails to Enlarge!
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St. Louis Park Tournament
Saturday, 1/26/08
6A vs. Coon Rapids
Game 2
Park led 14-8 at the half, and beat Coon Rapids by 10, 32-22, in second round action Saturday.
The scoring was well-balanced, with Grahamm Kellogg, DJ Davis, and Melvyn Curry each scoring 7 points, Daniel Foltz 6, Jonah Resnick 3, and Johnny Curren 2.
Jonah Resnick led Park with 15 rebounds, and every other player had at least 2.
Resnick tallied 4 assists, Davis 3, Curren, Resnick, Daniel, and Max Wolk 1 each.
Noah Schneck didn’t get in the scoring column, but had a great all-around game with 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block.
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St. Louis Park Tournament
Saturday, 1/26/08
6A vs. Fairview
Game 3
Park lost a heart-breaker, 30-29, to Fairview on Sunday.
Park trailed 20-15 at the half, and out-scored Fairview in the second half, 14-10, but it was one point short!
Again, the scoring was spread out nicely with Melvyn Curry leading all scorers with 8, Daniel Foltz and Grahamm Kellogg added 6, Johnny Curren 4, DJ Davis and Noah Schneck 2, and Jonah Resnick 1.
Resnick led Park with 7 rebounds, Foltz added 6, Curren 5, Noah, Melvyn, Kellogg, Davis and Schneck 2 each.
Park had seven steals (Curry 3, Foltz 2, Kellogg 1, Davis 1), and Curren had Park’s only block.
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Friday, 1/18/08 @ Concordia Tourney
Park 6A vs. Rosemount
First Round Game
Park won a hard-fought game Friday night, beating Rosemount, 45-39.
The first half was a close one, with Park leading by three, 24-21, at the half. In the second half, Park cranked up the defense and held Rosemount to only 15 points.
Jonah Resnick and DJ Davis led all Park scorers with 10 points each. Melvyn Curry added 8, Johnny Curren 7, Grahamm Kellogg 6, Max Wolk 4. Davis led in assists with 5, Daniel Foltz added 2, Noah Schneck 1, Curry 1, and Resnick 1.
Resnick had a great game defensively, with 11 rebounds and 5 blocks; Davis had 3 boards, Wolk 2; and Foltz and Curren each blocked a shot.
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Sat., 1/19/08 @ Concordia Tourney
Park 6A vs. Mankato East
Second Round Game
In a game pitting David against Goliath, David squashed David like a horsefly on the windshield, with Park beating Mankato, 52-16.
Park led 34-7 at the half, and cruised to an victory.
Melvyn Curry led Park with 14 points, Johnny Curren added 11, Grahamm Kellogg 8, Jonah Resnick 7, DJ Davis 7, Daniel Foltz 4, Noah Schneck 3, and Max Wolk 2. Resnick had another great defensive game, grabbing 12 rebounds and blocking a 6 shots a-la Manute Bol. Park shot 45% from the field (excellent for 6th grade!), and had only 9 turnovers the entire game (also great for 6th grade!).
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Sat., 1/19/08 @ Concordia Tourney
Park 6A vs Woodbury
Championship Game
Ouch! Park played a great game, but fell to Woodbury in the championship game, 43-41, Saturday.
Park trailed by three, 21-18, at the half, and their comeback attempt in the second half fell one basket short.
DJ Davis led Park with 12 points, Melvyn Curry added 11, Jonah Resnick 6, Johnny Curren 5, Grahamm Kellogg 4, Max Wolk 2, and Noah Schneck 1.
Davis led Park with 4 assists, with Curry, Curren, Wolk, Schneck, and Daniel Foltz each collecting at least one each.
The only area Park struggled was in free throw shooting, where they made only 7 of 17.
Congratulations to Park for a great second place finish.
Here are a few highlights from the tournament:
• Most Points-33 Melvyn
• Field Goals-15 Melvyn
• 3 pointers- 1 each by Noah, DJ & Johnny
• Rebounds-30 Jonah
• Assists -11 DJ
• Steals -8 DJ
• Blocks - 11 Jonah
• Fewest turnovers-1 Daniel
• Highest FT %-857-Johnny
• Highest FG %-500 by Noah & DJ
• 4 Players scored in all 5 categories-Noah, Jonah, Johnny & DJ (all 8 players have now achieved this).
• Noah hit his first 3-pointer
• Johnny got his first block
• Max & Jonah combined for our first dbl block
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Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008 @ SLP JR. High
Boys 6B vs. Forest Lake
Park fell to Forest Lake, 51-8.
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Saturday, January 5, 2008 @ SLP JR. High
Boys 6B vs. Jordan
Park, playing with “the Iron 6,” had some bright spots, but fell to Jordan, 48-16.
Down 18-0, Miles Bay hit his first three-pointer of the year! Kaynan Appelbaum nailed a shot from a step inside the arc, and Jake Olson hit a banker to bring the score to 20-7. Mack Hoogenraad scored in the paint as time ran out in the half, and Park trailed 28-9.
In the second half, Michael Young hit one of two free throws, then Hoogenraad hit a nice runner to pull to 36-12. Jordan went on a 12-0 run, before Young and Jake Olson hit back to back bombs to end the scoring.
Though Park was outsized, they did a nice job of boxing out, and grabbed plenty of rebounds. Bay led Park with 8 boards, Applebaum 5, Young 4, Olson 3, Max Ingram 3, and Hoogenraad 3.
Due to some players being on winter vacation, Park played with only six players, and when Applebaum went down with a slight injury in the first half, it looked like they might have “an Iron 5!” Luckily, Applebaum recovered and had a nice all-around game.
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Saturday, January 5, 2008 @ SLP JR. High, 10am
Boys 6B vs. Lakeville North
Park played a great game, but fell short to Lakeville, 40-20 in first round action.
Michael Young led Park with 12 points, three of those coming on a long three-pointer. Max Ingram added 6, and Mack Hoogengaard 2.
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Saturday, December 15, 2007 @ St. Francis Middle School
Boys 6B vs. Champlin
1st Tournament Game
Game 1: Lost to Champlin 71-6
Notes: At the half, Park was trailing 35-2, with Park’s only basket from Miles Bay.
In the second half, Michael Young scored all Park’s four points on a three-pointer and a free throw.
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Saturday, December 15, 2007 @ St. Francis Middle School
Boys 6B vs. Forest Lake
2nd Tournament Game
Game 2: Lost to Forest Lake 49-16.
Notes: Park played much better. Park had tons of shots, with every player attempting at least two. Miles Bay and Michael Young led Park with four points each. Kaynan Appelbaum added two.
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Sunday, December 16, 2007 @ St. Francis Middle School
St. Louis Park Boys 6B vs. St. Francis
”If you’re not boxing out, you’re going to sit down,” warned Park coach Jamel McClemore. The Park players responded, boxing out and fighting for every rebound, but their shots weren’t dropping, and they fell 37-8.
There weren’t many offensive highlights, but for the third game in a row Park took tons of shots, but just couldn’t seem to connect. Trailing 4-0 in the first quarter, Michael Young was fouled on a drive and made the basket, but his free throw rimmed out, and Park trailed 4-2. St. Francis scored the last seven points of the quarter, and led 11-2.
In the second quarter, Young hit a Magic Johnson baby hook in traffic to pull Park to 15-4, but again Park went cold and the half ended with St. Francis leading 19-4.
Kaynan Appelbaum scored Park’s only basket of the third, and Miles Bay hit a long bomb, just inside the arc, in the fourth quarter, and the game ended a moment later.
Despite the score, Park’s rebounding was awesome, with Bay grabbing 8 boards, Michael, Max Ingram and Mack Hoogenraad with 4 each, Kaynan Applebaum had 3, and Jake Olson, Mats Jocobsson, and Christian Liz-Fonts each grabbed 2. Each player, especially Applebaum, boxed out well, despite giving away about three inches per man to their opponents.
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Saturday, 2/23/08 @ Roseville Tournament
SLP 6B vs. Rochester-John Marshall Rockets
Park played a fine game, but fell to a strong Rochester club, 32-15.
Park took an early lead when Max Ingram hit a runner, but the Rockets fought back and led 6-2 at the end of the first.
Park went into a shooting slump in the second quarter, with their only basket coming off a hook-shot by Kaynan Applebaum.
Park had a great third quarter, with Applebaum grabbing an offensive rebound and hitting the put-back, Michael Young making a great pass to Ingram, who made a nice shot off the glass, Young hit a nice floater, a three-pointer, and a pull-up jumper on a fast break.
Special kudos to Mack Hoogenraad, who fought for every loose ball and rebound, and played incredibly tough on defense.
Stats:
Michael Young—7 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals
Max Ingram—4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal
Kaynan Applebaum—4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal
Miles Bay—4 rebounds, 2 steals
Mats Jocobsson—1 rebound, 1 steal
Christian L.—3 rebounds
Mack Hoogenraad—5 rebounds
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Edina Classic Tournament
Friday, 2/9/08
Game 1
6A vs. Eagan
Park won their first tournament game in thrilling fashion, 44-43, in overtime.
Park trailed by eight at the half, 24-16, but exploded in the second half to force overtime, and pull out a one-point win.
Melvyn Curry led Park with 17 points, Daniel Foltz added 10, DJ Davis 6, Grahamm Kellogg and Jonah Resnick 4, and Max Wolk 3. Resnick led Park with 9 rebounds, Davis led with 4 assists and 4 steals.
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Saturday, 2/9/08
Game 2
6A vs. Minnetonka
Another close game, another win for Park, as the Orioles beat Minnetonka 39-35.
The score was tied at the half, 21-21, but Park outscored Tonka by four in the second half to pull out the victory.
DJ Davis led Park with 10 points, Daniel Foltz added 9, Jonah Resnick 6, Johnny Curran 5, Grahamm Kellogg 4, Melvyn Curry 3, and Noah Resnick 2. Resnick led with 12 rebound and 3 steals; Davis led Park with 4 assists.
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Saturday, 2/9/08
Game 3
6A vs. Champlin Park
Park lost a close game to Champlin Park, 39-35, but with their 2-1 record in pool play will play for the championship.
Melvyn Curry had a great game for Park with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals. Jonah Resnick was also in double figures, with 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists.
DJ Davis had 5 points and 3 rebounds; Daniel Foltz had 3 points and 5 rebounds; Noah Resnick grabbed 3 rebounds, Johnny Curran grabbed 2, and Grahamm Kellogg 1.
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Championship Game
Saturday, 2/10/08
6A vs. Champlin
It looked like a blow-out, but Park made it a game until the final minutes, falling to Champlin 49-35.
Over the first eight minutes of the first half, Park scored only three points, all on free throw (two by Daniel Foltz, one by Melvyn Curry). Meanwhile, Champlin hit everything they threw up, and led 16-3.
Over the last eight minutes of the half, things reversed, and Champlin scored only three points, while Park’s shots started to drop.
After a Foltz free throw, Curry made a steal and layup to cut the lead to 10, 16-6. DJ Davis was fouled and made the layup; he missed the free throw for the three point play, but grabbed the rebound and put it back in to cut the lead to six, 16-10. Foltz hit Curry with a nice pass for a layup, Jonah Resnick grabbed an offensive board and hit the putback to cut the lead to three, and with 2:40 left in the half Curry nailed a shot from behind the arc to tie the game, 17-17!
In the last minutes of the half, Resnick hit a free throw, and Park trailed by a single point at the half, 19-18.
Champlin scored the first two points of the second half before Davis hit a free throw. After two more Champlin baskets, Curry hit a bankshot, Resnick hit a putback off an offensive board, and a moment later hit two free throws to tie the game at 25-25 with 11:35 left.
Champlin scored five straight points, followed by a steal by Curry, afterwhich he went coast-to-coast for a layup to cut the Champlain lead to 30-27. Champlin scored another five points in a row before Resnick hit a banker inside, followed by a 6-point Champlain run that pushed their lead to 12, 41-29, with 5:04 remaining.
Curry scored off a nice drive, and hit an inside floater, and Resnick had another putback off an offensive rebound, and the game ended with a 14-point Champlain victory.
DJ Davis, one of Park’s scorers and ball-handlers, sat most of the second half with an injury, which may have spelled defeat for the home team.
Congratulations to the Park 6As on a great tournament. Second place isn’t all that bad, but you couldn’t tell it from the photo below!
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St. Louis Park Tournament
January 26-27, 2008
Boys 6B
Due to unforseen circumstances, no reporters were present for these games, but here are the scores:
Lost to Minneapolis Spirit 54-16
Lost to Centennial 45-28
Lost to Maple Grove 38-14
Notes: Though they didn’t win a game, Park did play well, and had some important highlights:
• Miles Bay fouled out of the first game. Though this may not sound like a highlight, Bay fouled out being agressive on the boards, and by playing tough defense!
• Kaynan hit a three-pointer, his first of the season!
• Mats Jocobsson scored his first basket of the season!
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Sunday, January 7, 2008 @ SLP H.S.
Park Boys 6A vs. Chaska
These were two teams, so evenly-matched, that only a few missed free throws allowed Park to win, 32-30. The odd thing is that it was Park that missed the aforementioned free throws. I’ll explain later.
The first half started out like Park would run the Chaska Hawks off the court. DJ Davis won the opening tap, Grahamm Kellogg picked it up and went in for a layup and a 2-0 lead. Davis stole a pass on Chaska’s next possession, and took it in for a layup and 4-0 lead. Noah Schneck was fouled and hit one of two free throws for a 5-0 lead, and Kellogg drained a three for an 8-0 lead, and Chaska had yet to put up a single shot!
Chaska took a timeout, and whatever their coach told them worked because they scored the next nine points to take a 9-8 lead.
Davis hit a reverse layup to take the lead back, Chaska took the lead back on a basket inside, and Melvun Curry hit a layup and jumper to go back up 14-11.
Kellogg got the Park team fired up on the next possession when he (85 pounds?) battled the Chaska center (170 pounds?) for a loose ball and tied him up.
Chaska took a 15-14 lead on another inside basket, but Max Wolk hit one of two from the line to tied the game at 15. With 30 seconds in the half, Davis made steal and hit a tough floater to give Park a 17-15 lead.
With five seconds left, Chaska was fouled, and went to the line to tie the game. Chaska missed both free throws, and the half ended with Park clinging to a two-point edge.
Chaska came out strong in the second half, scoring the first four points to lead 19-17, then Wolk tied the game again when he threw (he really did throw it!) in a basket from the baseline over two defenders.
Chaska went up 21-19, and Johnny Curren tied the score when he grabbed an offensive rebound and scored inside.
Things didn’t look good when Chaska scored the next seven points to take a 28-21 lead with 8:30 left.
Daniel Foltz hit back to back jumpers around a Chaska basket to pull within five, 30-25. After both teams slumped for two minutes, Curry scored on a drive with 4:10 left. With 2:35 left, Davis hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 30!
After Chaska and Park misses, Davis grabbed a huge rebound on the defensive end, and with 51 seconds left, Curry got fouled going to the basket; he hit the first, missed the second, but Davis got the rebound, passed to Jonah Resnick, who was fouled and he went to the line for a one-and-one. Resnick rimmed out the first free throw, but Park got the rebound again (remember, the clock kept ticking off seconds at a time during these misses!) and this time Wolk was fouled while shooting. Wolk missed both free throws, but…yep, Davis got the rebound, and was fouled. He hit one of two for a two-point lead, and finally Chaska got the ball back with nine seconds and no time-outs.
Chaska got the ball upcourt, ran a play, and hit a game-tying shot…except, the clock had run out a second beforehand! Final: Park 32, Chaska 30.
Davis led Park with 9 points, Curry added 7, Kellogg 5, Foltz 4, Wolk 3, Schneck 1.
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Saturday, January 5, 2008 @ SLP JR. High
Boys 6A vs. Woodbury, second tourney game
Though it pains me to say it, the better team won, and Park lost to Woodbury, 35-26.
DJ Davis got Park on the board with a basket off a feed from Melvun, and a minute later Jonah Resnick hit a legitmate hook-shot (Ward Cleaver would be so proud!) to pull Park within two, 6-4.
Woodbury went on an 11-4 run (Park’s points coming off a Max Wolk layup and two Davis free throws), before Daniel Foltz hit a long jumper, and Johnny hit one of his own to pull Park within eight, 20-12.
Foltz grabbed an offensive rebound and scored, and Johnny and Davis each hit one of two free throws in the closing minute, but Woodbury couldn’t seem to miss, and the score at half-time was Woodbury 24, Park 16.
Woodbury only out-scored Park by one in the second half, but that didn’t do the Orioles much good in the way of winning!
Grahamm scored off a nice pass from Johnny Curren to pull Park within eight, and Curry scored on a breakaway and the lead was down to six! Unfortunately, Woodbury went on a 9-6 run down the stretch to win the game. Park’s last points came on two Foltz free throws, two Davis free throws, and a nice basket by Wolk, assisted by Resnick.
During the game, Park struggled from the free throw line, and against a great team like Woodbury, they needed all the freebies they could get!
Foltz led Park with 7 points, Davis 4, Curry 4, Wolk 4, Curren 3, Kellogg 2, Jonah 2.
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Saturday, January 5, 2008 @ SLP JR. High
Park Boys 6A vs. Edina
Park ate cake Saturday, beating their rivals from the lovely town of Edina, 39-23.
Grahamm Kellogg, the David Eckstein of Park basketball (small, blonde, fiery, talented), scored 13 points to lead Park, hitting just about everything he shot.
Park outscored Edina 19-6 in the first half, and all of the Orioles’ points were from the paint. Melvun Curry scored Park’s first five points, on two layups and a free throw. DJ Davis put Park up 7-2 on an offensive rebound and put-back, and Curry put Park up 9-2 on a nice drive and banker.
Kellogg scored his first basket on a nice move down low for an 11-2 lead, then Edina scored three straight points before Jonah Resnick hit a layup off a nice pass from Curry.
Curry hit two free throws to extend the lead to 15-6, then Daniel Foltz hit Max Wolk on two straight possessions for easy baskets and a 19-6 lead at the half.
Edina scored the second half’s first basket, then Davis hit a short jumper for a 21-8 lead. Edina went on a mini three-point run to pull within 10, 21-11, before Kellogg started heating up!
Kellogg scored on a break, on a pass from Davis, hit one of two free throws, then capped his outburst with a 15-footer (the first Park basket from the perimeter) to push the lead to 28-13.
Foltz hit from outside for a 30-13 lead, then Curry hit one of two from the line for a 31-13 lead. Kellogg hit again from outside to put Park up by 20.
Down the stretch, Wolk hit a short jumper, Curry scored in the paint, and Kellogg scored again, this time on a fast break, and the game ended, 39-23.
Kellogg led all scorers with 13, Curry 12, Wolk 6, Davis 4, Resnick 2, and Foltz 2.
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Saturday, December 16, 2007 @ St. Francis Middle School
St. Louis Park Boys 6A vs. Andover
1st Tournament Game
Park lost a tough one in their opening tourney game, falling to Andover, 42-36.
The two teams were closely matched, with Park trailing by a basket, 20-18 at the half. Park matched their scoring output in the second half, again scoring 18, but Andover tallied 22 and won by 6.
Johnny Curran led Park with 15 points, DJ Davis added 12, Daniel Foltz 4, Grahamm Kellogg 3, and Jonah Resnick 2.
Resnick led all rebounders with 8, and Davis led in assists with 3. The steals were evenly divided, with Curran, Davis and Noah Schneck each grabbing 2, Foltz and Max Wolk grabbing 1 each.
The difference in the game could be found in the turnover column, as Park had 19, which was just too many against a fine Andover squad.
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Saturday, December 16, 2007 @ St. Francis Middle School
St. Louis Park Boys 6A vs. St. Francis
1st Tournament Game
Park came from behind to win a thriller over St. Francis, 32-30 in second round action Saturday.
At the end of the first half, Park trailed 14-13, but the Orioles outscored St. Francis 17-14 in the second half to win by a basket.
DJ Davis led Park with 11 points, Johnny Curran had 9, Daniel Foltz 4, Grahamm Kellogg, Noah Schneck and Max Wolk each tallied 2.
Jonah Resnick controlled the boards with 9 rebounds, Foltz had 4, Davis 3, and Curran 2. Resnick led Park with 3 assists, while Foltz, Wolk, Curran, Davis, and Kellogg each dishing out an assist.
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Sunday, December 16, 2007 @ St. Francis Middle School
St. Louis Park Boys 6A vs. Forest Lake
Consolation Game
Park dominated the 1st and 3rd quarters, held a large lead going into the fourth quarter, and weathered a Forest Lake rush in the closing minutes of the game to win, 31-29.
Forest Lake won the opening tip, raced down for a lay-up, then didn’t score the rest of the quarter. Meanwhile, Park scored 10. Grahamm Kellogg hit a jumper from the baseline to tie the game at two, then Max Wolk stole a pass, drove to the basket, was fouled, made the basket and free throw for a 5-2 lead. DJ Davis hit one of two free throws, and on the next possession scored on a nice drive. Davis drove the lane with a few seconds left in the quarter for another hoop, and the stanza ended 10-2.
The second quarter was dominated by Forest Lake, who outscored Park 8-3. Park’s only points came on a Wolk free throw, and Daniel Foltz shot in the paint off a great pass from Johnny Curran. The half ended with Park leading 13-10.
Park broke out in the third period. Davis hit Wolk with a great pass inside for an easy basket, then Jonah Resnick found Wolk for another basket a moment later. David hit a driving runner, then stole an errant pass seconds later and took it coast to coast for a lay-up and a 21-10 lead. Curran had a nice steal and fed Davis for another lay-up, and Kellogg ended Park’s scoring in the quarter with a 12 foot jumper from the baseline (that’s his shot!) and Park went into the fourth quarter with a commanding 25-12 lead. It almost wasn’t enough!
Forest Lake scored the first three points of the fourth quarter to pull within 10. 25-15, before Kellogg hit again from, where else, the baseline! Forest Lake hit a basket inside, then Kellogg made a steal and fed Davis for a lay-up and the lead was back to 12 with three minutes remaining. Plenty, right?
Forest Lake hit one of two free throws, an inside banker, and two straight three-pointers to pull within five, 29-24, with a minute left. Noah Schneck hit a big basket to put Park up 31-24, but Forest Lake hit another three to make it 31-27. Park couldn’t get the inbounds pass in after the basket and turned the ball over with 15 seconds left. Park guarded Forest Lake tight in three-point territory and a wild shot from beyond the arc bounced out, the Lakers grabbed the rebound and hit a shot from inside the arc as the buzzer sounded on the 31-29 Park win. Wow!
DJ Davis led Park with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. Everyone else played great. Max Wolk scored 8 points with 5 rebounds and 3 steals; Grahamm Kellogg scored 6 points with 2 steals and 2 rebounds; Noah Schneck scored 2 points with 3 rebounds a steal and 2 assists; Daniel Foltz scored 2 points with 3 rebounds and a steal; Johnny Curran led Park with 4 steals; and Jonah Resnick had a rebound, steal, assist and block. Melvun Curry, one of Park’s biggest offensive threats, was out of town and was sorely missed.
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Boys 6th Grade Basketball
Sunday, November 18, 2007 @ Coon Rapids H.S.
Championship Game
St. Louis Park 6A vs. Minneapolis-South
Park came close, but one exceptional South player kept them from winning the 7th grade crown as they fell 31-29 Sunday. Park and South both wiped the sleep from their eyes for the 8am game, but shots weren’t dropping for either team early. South took an early advantage, 7-5, when their best player, built like a bowling ball, powered his way in for a lay-up, was fouled, and hit the free throw; this same player scored inside again on the next possession to make it 9-5.
Park came back when Noah Schneck grabbed a rebound in traffic, threw an outlet pass to Daniel Foltz, who made a nifty pass to a streaking Melvyn Curry for lay-up as the first quarter ended with Park trailing by two, 7-9. Curry scored all seven of Park’s points. In fact, Curry would score all of Park’s five second quarter points, too. At the half, Park trailed 12-18.
South started the third quarter by hitting a runner, then hit a pair of free throws to extend their lead to 22-14.
D.J. Davis hit a tough shot and was fouled, and his free throw cut South’s lead to five. Curry stole the ball on the next possession, and, on the breakaway, pulled up and drained a three to make it a two-point game, 22-20. After South went up, 25-20, Park’s Davis caught fire and nailed back to back baskets to draw Park within a point.
Max Wolk game Park their first lead in almost three quarters when he hit two free throws to make it 26-25!
South fed their beefy forward, who was hacked, and he sunk one free throw to tie the game with 4:00 remaining. South stole the ball and again fed their big man inside for a leaner to go up 28-26. Schneck was fouled and hit one of two to draw within one, and South answered with a free throw of their own. On Park’s next possession, South stole the ball and threw it upcourt for a breakaway, but Curry hustled down, knock the ball away from behind, then took it coast-to-coast for a lay-up, tying the game at 29-apiece.
Both teams went cold for over a minute, and, with 15 seconds left in the game, South called a timeout to set up their last shot. South in-bounded the ball, and Park immediately doubled South’s dangerous big man, who passed to a teammate for a driving lay-up and a 2-point lead with three ticks left. Park’s Davis took the in-bounds pass, dribbled just past mid-court and threw up a 30-foot prayer……and it rimmed out! Ugggh!
Melvyn Curry led Park with 17 points, his best game of the year.
“I felt good,” said Curry. “The ball kept going in so I kept shooting.”
DJ Davis added 8, and Max Wolk 4. Park had three players with four rebounds apiece: Davis, Jonah Resnick and Noah Schneck; three players with two steals apiece: Curry, Davis and Wolk; and the assists were evenly distributed with no player handing out more than one.
”I can’t take too many more of those close games,” said Park coach Prentiss Cobb. “They were a good team—I’ll give them credit. But, I felt like we beat ourselves with too many turnovers.”
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Saturday, November 17, 2007 @ Coon Rapids H.S.
First Game
St. Louis Park 6A vs. Coon Rapids
Park won their first game of the tournament, edging Coon Rapids in a thriller Saturday by one point!
Park outscored the host city, 20-14, in the first half, with DJ Davis leading the scoring, and Johnny Curran making three key steals. In the second half, Daniel Foltz nailed a three pointer to put Park up by a half-dozen, but Coon Rapids kept chipping away at the lead, and, finally tied the score with under 10 seconds to play.
Park called a time-out and ran a play for Davis. Davis drove the lane, missed, grabbed the rebound, and was fouled as the horn went off. The refs ruled that Davis was fouled before the clock ran completely out, so Davis went to the free throw line, alone, as everyone in the gym looked on. A few kids on the sidelines gave the refs a piece of their minds on what they thought was a bad call, but the men stripes gained control of the situation quickly.
Though Park had already missed eight free-throws during the game, Davis coolly swished the game-winner and the Park fans erupted!
The game was a great team effort, with Davis scoring 11 point and grabbing nine rebounds, Max Walk scoring seven points with two rebounds, Johnny Curran scoring six and snatching three steals, Grahamm Kellogg scoring four points with two steals and two assists, Daniel Foltz scoring three points with a rebound and two steals, Melvyn Curry scoring two points, Jonah Resnick two points with three rebounds, and Noah Schneck with a rebound and key assist.
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Saturday, November 17, 2007 @ Coon Rapids H.S.
Second Game
St. Louis Park 6A vs. Wayzata
Park won their way into the championship game Sunday by beating Wayzata, 44-30, on Saturday afternoon.
For the second game in a row, Park shared the ball well, and seven players were in the scoring column. Johnny Curran led all scorers with 14; DJ Davis added 10; Daniel Foltz scored six; Max Wolk, Melvyn Curry and Noah Schneck each scored four; and Jonah Resnick scored two. Resnick led all rebounders with four; Resnick and Curran each had two assists; and Wolk led Park with three steals.
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Traveling Basketball Tournament, November 10-11, 2007
Supersaver (three pool play games)
6th Grade A
The 6th Grade A team started their season with a bang, and beat a tough St. Cloud team, 38-24, Saturday. DJ Davis was the leading scorer with 9, Melvin Curry tallied 7, Daniel Foltz 6, and Jonah 5. Jonah led Park with 7 rebounds, and was the defensive star with 5 steals. Davis and Foltz each handed out 3 assists. Noah Schneck and Matt Wolk both played well defensively—heck, they only gave up 24 points!
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In their second game, Park was beaten by Southside, an All-Star team coached by former Minnesota Gophers and Minnesota Timberwolves star Richard Coffey.
Southside was a bit bigger, a step faster, (not better looking!) and just too darned good for Park, and at the half our team trailed 38-9.
At the half, coach Prentiss Cobb convinced Park that they could play with Southside, and Park held the City Slickers to 34 points while scoring 23 in the second half, their best half of the young season. Despite the 72-23 loss, Park ended strong and showed flashes of what they will be a month from now.
”When we get behind, we can’t think the game’s over,” said Coach Cobb. “After we got down, some of the kids looked like they thought it was over. We have to have every player think we can play with anybody.”
Park’s top scorer was Melvin Curry with 8, DJ Davis added 4 and Jonah 2. Park shot 45% from the field, which is tremendous for 7th graders!*
*(special thanks to Mike Resnick for compiling the statistics)
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Traveling Basketball Tournament, November 10-11, 2007
Supersaver (three pool play games)
6th Grade B
The 6th Grade B team got off to a rough start Saturday, losing to Southside, 80-5.
Obviously, there weren’t too many highlights for our side, but, to be honest, Southside not only was the cream of the crop in the 6th grade pool, but they beat Park’s 6th grade A team by 49 points a few hours later!
Coach Jamel McLemore looked for positives after the game: “Southside won’t get beat in this tournament. They’re a great team. We’re just going to try to get better each game.”
Coach McLemore looked like a soothsayer when Park came out and played much better in their second game, versus St. Cloud, losing 63-16. Park trailed at the half, 36-10, but came back the second half and played great defense, holding St. Cloud to 27 points. The offense struggled, with Park missing some shots in the paint that they will make as the season progresses, and Park gave away quite a bit of height to the boys from the Granite City, but the team scrapped like a bunch of junkyard dogs until the whistle blew.
Michael Young, Park’s point guard, played a nice game, taking good care of the ball, and scored 4 points to lead the team.
Miles Bay struggled with his shooting, ending with 1 point, but played great defensively and grabbed several defensive rebounds. Applebaum, Kaghan and Ingram all played well, especially in the second half.
“We know we have to work harder,” said Young. “Especially boxing out as a team. They got too many offensive rebounds.”
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