DELANO WENT UP AGAINST MINNEAPOLIS DELASALLE IN A BOYS’ SECTION SEMIFINAL BASKETBALL GAME

On March 11, Delano went up against Minneapolis DeLaSalle in a boys’ Class 3A Section 6 boys’ section basketball game. Going into the game Delano had an overall record of 20-7 while DeLaSalle’s overall record was 22-3.

Fans crammed into them DeLaSalle gym to watch the game. Both student sections were full of cheering students.

DeLaSalle pushed the ball down the floor and looked to score layups in transition. 

Delano started the game in a zone defense. They wanted to make DeLaSalle take long shots. 

DeLaSalle got the ball into the hands of Gabe Kalscheur and Sage Booker. Both Kalscheur and Booker made mid-range jump shots and layups. 

Delano’s Calvin Wishart brought the ball down the floor and got his teammates involved in the offense. Even though it took Delano awhile to get into an offensive shooting rhythm they kept on shooting the ball. 

Delano called a timeout with 14:57 left in the first half. The score was DeLaSalle 13, Delano 0. 

Delano called another timeout with 14:48 left in the first half. The score remained DeLaSalle 13, Delano 0.

The defensive pressure that DeLaSalle applied made it difficult for Delano to get a shot off. Delano didn’t get any open looks at the basket. They shot with a hand in their face. 

DeLaSalle did a good job of getting everyone involved in the offense. They talked on both ends of the floor calling out screens and could get through screens. 

DeLaSalle’s Dominic Bledsoe took the ball strong to the basket. He came away with mid-range jump shots and layups. 

There were multiple jump balls in the first half. Both teams went after loose balls and rebounds on both ends of the floor. 

Delano called a timeout with 11:31 left in the first half. The score was DeLaSalle 21, Delano 5.

Delano left DeLaSalle shooters open from behind the 3-point line. The DeLaSalle players were not afraid to shoot shots that they thought that they could make. Delano had a hard time defending players behind the 3-point line. 

Wishart’s teammates did a good job of getting him the ball in spots where he could shoot it. Delano looked to create steals and looked to score layups off seals. 

Delano’s Derek Techam got into foul trouble and came out with just under 8 minutes to play with his fourth personal foul. 

Wishart came up and drained a big 3-point basket on the offensive end. Then on the next play he raced down the floor and defended well.

The Delano offense started to click late in the first half. Their shots started to drop and they came up with steals on the defensive end. 

DeLaSalle called a timeout with 3:53 left in the first half. The score was DeLaSalle 34, Delano 18. 

Delano’s Dylan Gilmer came up with mid-range jump shots and layups that gave his team energy. 

Booker and Mar both had good court awareness as they knew were their teammates were on the floor. They set screens for each other and made shots. 

At halftime, the sore was DeLaSalle 39, Delano 22. 

As the second half got underway DeLaSalle continued to look to get the ball into the hands of Kalscheur, Mar and Bledsoe on the offensive end.

Delano called a timeout with 16:25 left in regulation. The score was DeLaSalle 43, Delano 25. 

Delano attempted a lot of 3-point shots early in the half. Both teams rebounded the ball well. 

Terry split his defenders and got to the basket and made layups. He used his quickness to his advantage. The defense had a hard time slowing Terry down.

Delano attacked the basket and attacked the DeLaSalle defense. They didn’t back down to the defensive pressure that DeLaSalle applied. 

The pace of the game slowed down midway through the second half. DeLaSalle passed the ball around the 3-point line as they took time off the clock. 

Delano called a timeout with 7:33 left in regulation. The score was DeLaSalle 65, Delano 45. 

Both teams kept attacking the basket late in regulation. DeLaSalle spread the ball around and passed the ball around the 3-point line even though they didn’t go into a stall offense they took time off the clock on each possession let in the game. Both teams played their bench players late in the game as well. 

DeLaSalle came away with the 82-62 victory over Delano. 

I thought that both teams played well throughout the game. DeLaSalle was too powerful for Delano. Delano’s Wishart impressed me with his play. DeLaSalle could get Wishart in foul trouble as he fouled out of the game in the second half. The whole Delano team stepped up with Wishart fouled out and they rallied around each other and kept on attacking the basket. 

The leading scorers for Delano were Wishart with 18 points and Gilmer with 10 points. 

The leading scorers for DeLaSalle Mar with 25 points, Bledsoe with 13 points, Christian Dickson with 12 points, and Kalscheur with 11 points.