St. Louis Park Orioles traveled to Wayzata to take on the Trojans in a boys' region basketball game. The winner of the game will play in the semifinals of the tournament. This was the first time the teams faced each other this season. Going into the contest St. Louis Park had a record of 14-12 and was the number 5 seed in the region. Wayzata had a record of 18-7 going into the contest and they were the number 4 seed in the region.
Both of these teams looked relaxed and focused when they were in they were going through warm ups. That was also the case when they took to the floor. The coaches for each team were also intense.
St. Louis Park moved the ball around the three-point line as they looked for their shots. Wayzata started out in a zone defense. St. Louis Park was able to confuse Wayzata on the defensive end.
Wayzata's Kyle Kalivoda who started the game took the ball hard to the basket. He was able to score off some contested lay-ups. St. Louis Park had multiple players guarding him. Kalivoda was able to what he wanted to do on the offensive end.
There was blood on the floor with after playing only 7:07. As a result the call was made to clean up the floor the score was St. Louis Park 12 and Wayzata 6.
St. Louis Park got the ball into the hands of Makhi Taylor Moore. Moore was quick on his feet and was able to get to the basket from the paint. Moore got the ball from point guard Kashif Hayes near the top of the key. Moore usually drove to the basket as he looked to get a lay-up from the free throw line. Hayes also went coast-to-coast on a couple of plays. He played with a lot of emotion and energy and his teammates played off that.
Wayzata did a lot of switching on the defensive end. They didn't want Hayes or Moore to get easy baskets. St. Louis Park took quick shots and maintained a frenetic pace throughout the game.
St. Louis Park was able to step up big and drained consecutive shots. Wayzata wanted to slow down the momentum so they called a timeout with 6:07 left in regulation. The score was St. Louis Park 26 and Wayzata 18.
Out of the timeout Wayzata went to a zone defense. St. Louis Park looked to trap the ball out of the timeout. Hayes did a good job. St. Louis Park called a 30 second timeout with 4:27 left in the first half. The score was St. Louis Park 27 and Wayzata 20.
Wayzata went on a run after they called a timeout at the 4:27 timeout. St. Louis Park called a timeout with 3:35 left in the half; the score St. Louis Park 27 and Wayzata 26. Wayzata's Kyle Kalivoda scored a basket at the three minute mark to give Wayzata the lead. That was the Wayzata's first lead of the game.
Colin Nugent played well in the first half. He started the game and shot the ball well in the first half. He knew where he was on the floor and he got his teammates involved in the offense by passing them the ball when they were open by the basket.
Zach Robertson came up big in the first half. He found his shot early and often.
At halftime the score was Wayzata 34 and St. Louis Park 27.
Both teams brought back their starter to begin the second half. Wayzata came out in zone defense which provide to be helpful in slowing St. Louis Parks offensive threat
Both coaches stood for most of the second half. I thought that they did a good job of shouting out instructions to their players. They really let the kids dictate the outcome of the game.
St. Louis Park ran plays to get lay-ups. They set screens in their motion offense and they looked for guys to come off the screens in the paint as they were looking for their shots. Most of their points came from in the paint.
In the Wayzata offense they ran a lot of motion. Everyone on the floor was moving and they were calling out screens. Their motion offense gave them options to drive first or pass it back out to an open shooter. St. Louis Park tried to play zone in the second half but Wayzata was able to attack the gaps in the zone and get to the basket.
Wayzata pulled away with 8:00 left in the second half. St. Louis Park maintained their composure and looked to score from the arc. Robertson drained a three-point shot and St. Louis Park called a timeout with 7:36 left in regulation. The score was Wayzata 53 and St. Louis Park 39.
With 6:00 left in regulation Wayzata looked to burn time off the clock. They passed the ball around the three-point line as they burned time off the clock.
Wayzata went to a trapping defense and which forced St. Louis Park to turn the ball over. Nugent came up with some good lay-ups off of the steals. St. Louis Park called a full timeout with 4:15 left in regulation. The score was Wayzata 61 and St. Louis Park 45.
St. Louis Park went to a full court press after the timeout. They wanted to trap the ball and looked to get easy steals. St. Louis Park was able to pick up a few easy points off the steals. But it was not enough to get them back into the game.
Both teams brought a good student fan base and both supported their teams with good team spirit. Both student sections stood the whole entire game.
In a hard fought game Wayzata came away with the 71-56 victory over St. Louis Park. The leading scorers for Wayzata were Zach Robertson with 24 points, Colin Nugent with 21 points and Kyle Kalvoda with 9 points. The leading scorers for St. Louis Park were Kashif Hayes with 17 points and Dj Pollard with 18 points.
I was joined by the Twin Cities Hoop Czar. Check out his thoughts of the St. Louis Park vs. Wayzata boys' region basketball game.
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