ST. PAUL CENTRAL TOOK ON ST. PAUL JOHNSON IN A BOYS' BASKEBALL GAME

The St. Paul Central Minutemen took on the Governors of St. Paul Johnson in a boys' basketball inner
city battle. Coming into the game Central came into the game with a record of 13-10. Johnson came
into the game with a record of 22-2.

Johnson came out in man-to-man defense. They were able to slow the pace of the game and get the
tempo in their favor.
 

Johnson looked to get the ball into the hands of Marcus Marteze Marshall's hands. Marshall was a
crafty guard who was quick on both ends of the floor.
 

Johnson came out on fire as they were able to build a 7-0 lead with 16:00 left in the first half.
 

Central used a full court press. They wanted to get Johnson out of rhythm. Central was not able to do
that as Johnson was just too quick.
 

Estan Tyler for Johnson was also all over the court. Tyler would go up for defensive rebounds, grab
them and then sprint down to the other end of the court for a layup.
 

Central switched up between man-to-man and zone defense.
 

Central called a timeout with 12:53 left in the first half. The score was Johnson 17 and Central 7.
 

Johnson did a good job of jumping to the ball on the defensive end. They were able to get their hands in the passing lanes. That made it difficult for Central to make passes. Johnson was also able to pick a few of the passes off and go in for layups.
 

Roosevelt Scott for Johnson took the ball to the basket hard. He was too quick for his defenders. Scott
did a good job of faking out his opponents.
 

Central made a little run with just under 11:00 left. That didn't faze Johnson as they kept attacking the
basket when they were on offense.
 

Marshall was able to knock down a few deep three-point shots. He knew where he was on the court and called for the ball.
 

Johnson went to a full court trap. They were successful in that as they were able to make Central turn
the ball over to them.
 

Central’s Davion Johnson took the ball down the court and was able to dish it off when Central tried to
trap him. Jackson had good court awareness as he knew where both his defenders and teammates were
on the court at the same time.
 

Both teams dove on the floor after loose balls. There were many tie-ups in the first half.
 

Scott had a nice two-handed slam dunk with 4:00 left in the half. Scott threw it down with authority.
 

That gave the crowd something to cheer about and it also gave his team an energy boost.
 

Johnson called a timeout with 2:56 left in the half. The score was Johnson 42 and Central 30.
 

Johnson continued to set the tempo.
 

At halftime the score was St. Paul Johnson 48 and St. Paul Central 37.
 

As the second half got underway Johnson came out and stepped up the defensive pressure. They didn't
want to give up any easy baskets to Central.
 

Marshall continued to knock down three-point shots. He felt comfortable shooting the ball from
anywhere on the court.
 

The Johnson offense seemed to flow much better when Marshall was on the court. Vern Simmons the
head coach instructed his players to get the ball into the hands of Marshall. Marshall always knew
where was on the court and he would shoot the ball if he had an open look. If Marshall didn't have a
good look at the basket he could pass it off to any one of the other four players on the court and they
would usually finish the job.
 

Johnson looked to trap a few different times in the second half. That seemed to work because they were able to get turnovers off of it.
 

Wayland Johnson for St. Paul Johnson had a nice one-handed slam dunk to give them a 66-48 lead with
9:07 left.
 

I thought that both teams played well throughout the game. Johnson was a tad bit quicker than Central.
 

I thought that Marcus Marteze Marshall played very well. He knew where he was on the court and was
also able to shoot the ball well.
 

Central called a timeout with 5:40 left with the score Johnson 74 and Central 54.
 

Johnson continued to dominate on the boards. Johnson was much too quick for Central. They were able
to come away with the 96-72 victory over Central. The leading scorers for Central were Martin Smith
with 28 points and Montrell Williams with 11 points.
 

The leading scorers for Johnson were Roosevelt Scott with 28 points, Marcus Marshall with 19 points
and Estan Tyler and Chris Smith-Bond with 13 points each.

#2 ST. PAUL JOHNSON TOOK ON ST. PAUL CENTRAL IN A BOYS' BASKETBALL GAME

St. Paul Johnson traveled to St. Paul Central for a boys' basketball game. Johnson came into the game with a record of 15-2 and they were ranked #2 in the state in Class AAA. Central came into the game with a record of 9-7.

Both teams looked to get the game off to a quick start. Central came out in a man-to-man defense. They applied constant pressure.

Central wanted to take their time on the offensive end. They did look to get into their offense early on in the offensive series.

Central could not find their shot in the early part of the game. They took a lot of shots but they were not falling. They had trouble shooting because the they let Johnson's pressure get to them.

Central did a good job of getting to the basket. They looked to get the ball into their offense.

Roosevelt Scott came down and scored on a monstrous slam dunk. That gave Johnson a lift of confidence.

Central did a good job of getting everyone involved in the offense. Everytime Central tried to go on a run Johnson would counter.

Both teams did a good job of getting the ball out of the basket and going the other way with it. They also traded baskets for a good portion throughout the first half.

Anthony Lee for Johnson was able to make a few good baskets in transition.

Johnson went to a trapping defense with just under 10:00 left to go in the first half. They wanted to try to slow down the Central offense.

Both teams did a good job of countering what the other was doing.

Johnson did a good job of pressuring the ball and trying to get Central out of their game.

Neither team was able to go on a run in the first half. Both teams went after each other throughout the half. They both dove on the ground for loose balls and they both went after rebounds.

Johnson was able to trap Central and that created turnovers. Johnson was able to score on the turnovers. Johnson went on a run to end the first half.

At halftime the score was St. Paul Johnson 41 and St. Paul Central 33.

As the second half got underway both teams continued to go strong at each other. Johnson went on a run early in the second half.

Scott for Johnson continued to find the basket in the second half. He made some beautiful plays throughout the game.

Johnson continued to make their shots late in the game. Central made shots as well late in the game to keep the game close but they were not able to get the lead.

Scott played well throughout the game. His teammates were able to get him the ball on the court near the free-throw line. That is where Scott made most of his shots, near the top of the key.

Roosevelt Scott scored 32 points before fouling out with 6:23 left to go in regulation.

St. Paul Johnson came away with the 83-62 victory over St. Paul Central.

The leading scorers for St. Paul Central were Martin Smith with 17, Montrell Williams with 12 points and William McDonugh with 12 points.

The leading scorers for St. Paul Johnson were Roosevelt Scott with 32 points, Darius Watson with 9 points, and Anthony Lee with 11 points.

I was joined by the Twin Cities Hoop Czar. Check out his recap of the Johnson vs Central game.