ST. CROIX LUTHERAN TOOK ON PROVIDENCE ACADEMY IN A BOYS' BASKETBALL HIGH SCHOOL GAME

St. Croix Lutheran took on Providence Academy in a boys' basketball game. St. Croix Lutheran came into the game with a record of 7-4. Providence Academy had a record of 7-6.

St. Croix started off in a man-to-man defense. They looked to apply as much pressure as they could to Providence to take them out of the game early.

St. Croix looked to get the ball into the hands of Wesley Lladrell William Tucker. Tucker was all over the court. On the offensive end he got his teammates involved in the offense. He played the forward and guard spots.

St. Croix passed the ball around the three-point line to take time off the clock.

Tucker picked up some early steals and converted them into lay-ups on the offensive end.

Providence had a hard time from the start of the game to get their shots to fall. They were not able to hit shots.

St. Croix's Jackson Goplen got hot and was able to get a few of his shots to drop.

St. Croix looked to set a quick tempo of the game as they were able to get the ball out of the net and bring it quickly down the court. Providence had trouble keeping up with St. Croix.

Providence called a timeout with 10:18 left in the first half. The score was St. Croix 18 and Providence Academy 14.

Providence guard Jackson Canfield did a good job of running the offensive for his team. He made sure his teammates were in the right spots on the floor before he would pass to them.

Tucker was not afraid to shoot the ball from anywhere on the floor. If Tucker thought that he had a good open shot he would take it. After the shot he would crash to the basket in case the shot didn't go and he would try to get his own rebound.

Providence's Joe Heck was all over the court. He was able to get his shot to fall. Heck was not afraid to shoot the ball from anywhere on the court.

The score went back and forth for a period of time in the first half. Both teams traded baskets.

St. Croix passed the ball around the three-point line to take as much time off the clock as they could.

Providence went to a full court press. They wanted to make it harder for the St. Croix guards to bring the ball down the court. The pressure didn't seem to bother the St. Croix guards as they were able to bring the ball down the court with ease.

Eric Richelsen from Providence made nice plays around the basket. He had good court awareness and called for the ball when he was close to the basket.

At halftime the score was St. Croix Lutheran 41 and Providence 38.

Tucker went down to the ground in pain. He got hit in the mouth with 16:36 left in the regulation. He was attended to by medical personnel.

Providence opened the second half on fire. They were able to knock down every shot they put up. Providence took the lead .

St. Croix called a timeout with 13:11 left in regulation. The score was Providence 53 and St. Croix Lutheran 41.

Tucker returned to the game at the 12:07 mark of the second half.

Tucker continued to shoot the ball well. He took the ball hard to the basket and was able to make easy shots.

St. Croix's Mark Lawrence was all over the floor. He worked hard. Lawrence was able to get the ball to his open teammates. If he thought that he had an open shot he would take the shot from anywhere on the court, he was not afraid to shoot the ball. Most of his shots were able to fall for him.

Richelsen continued to hit shots in the second half. His teammates found ways to get him the ball.

Providence called a timeout with 5:52 left in regulation. The score was Providence 67 and St. Croix 57.

St. Croix attacked the basket late in the contest. Neither team gave up easy shots.

The game came down to the wire. There were may ties and lead changes in the final 3:00 of the game.

St. Croix swung the ball around the three-point line late in the game. They looked to burn as much time off the clock as they could.

St. Croix Lutheran came away with the 81-76 victory over Providence Academy.

The leading scorers for St. Croix Lutheran were Wesley Lladrell William Tucker with 23 points, Mark Lawrence with 21 points, Jackson Goplen with 17 points and Matt Olson with 14 points.

The leading scorers for Providence Academy were Joe Heck with 23 points, Jackson Canfield and Eric Richelsen with 14 points each, and Ben Ratliff with 13 points.

I was joined by the Czar from Twin Cities Boys' Hoops. Check out his thoughts on the St. Croix Lutheran vs. Providence Academy boys' basketball game.

FAIRMONT TOOK ON ST CROIX LUTHERAN IN THE CLASS AAA MINNESOTA STATE HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Fairmont took ton St. Croix Lutheran in the Minnesota State High School League state class AAA football championship game.

Fairmount kicked off to St. Croix Lutheran. St. Croix got the ball on the 23 yard line. St Croix was not able to get a first down and Wesley Lladerll Tucker punted the ball to Fairmont on fourth down.

At the 9:49 media timeout the score was tied at 0.

Fairmont kept the ball on the ground on the ground on their first drive of the game. Fairmont was not able to pick up the first down and turned it over to St. Croix Lutheran.

St. Croix Lutheran got the ball on their 41 yard line. St. Croix Lutheran fumbled the ball and Carson Ricard came up with it for Fairmont.

Fairmont got he ball on the 44 yard line. They tried short passing plays to try to get the ball down the field. The running back Brandon Martin game up with some good drives for his team. On fourth down and two yards to go they went for it and Brandon Martin found the end zone on a 14 yard sprint to the end zone. Buddy Anderson's extra point attempt was good.

With 3:51 left in the first quarter the score was Fairmont 7 and St. Croix Lutheran 0.

Fairmont kicked off to St. Croix Lutheran after the touchdown.

St. Croix Lu theran got the ball on their 31 yard line. They got the ball into the hands of Wesley Lladrell Tucker and he ran in for 69 yards for the touchdown. The two point conversion was no good.

With 3:35 left in the first quarter the score was Fairmont 7 and St. Croix Lutheran 6.

St. Croix Lutheran kicked off to Fairmont after the touchdown. Fairmont got the ball after the touchdown. Fairmont kept the ball on the ground for most of the first half. They had success running the ball. Ben Kain the quarterback knew where he was on the field at all times.

St. Croix Lutheran called a timeout with 1:34 left in the first quarter.

Fairmont looked deep and Alek Borchardt came up with a nice catch. Fairmont fumbled the ball on their two yard line and St. Croix Lutheran came up with it.

At the end of the of the first quarter the score was St. Croix Lutheran 6 and Fairmont 7.

St. Croix Lutheran got the ball on their 3 yard line. Wesley Lladrell Tucker punted the ball away on fourth down and two yards to go.

There was a media timeout with 10:23 left in the second quarter.

Ben Kain found Bryce Holm for a 50 yard touchdown reception. The extra point attempt was good.

With 10:15 left in the second quarter the score was Fairmont 14 and St. Croix Lutheran 6.

Fairmont kicked off to St. Croix Lutheran after the touchdown. St. Croix Lutheran kept looking to get the ball into the hands of Wesley Lladrell Tucker. Zachary Tietz came up with a 65 yard run for St. Croix Lutheran.

Fairmont called a timeout with 7:00 left in the second quarter.

St. Croix Lutheran's Matt Olson ran in for three yards for a touchdown. The two point conversion was good.

With 6:56 left in the second quarter the score was tied at 14.

Neither team was able to get into the end zone again after the two touchdowns earlier in the quarter. Both teams’ defenses were able to hold each other and neither team got back into the end zone.

At halftime the score was tied at 14.

St. Croix kicked off to Fairmont to start the third quarter. Fairmont looked to go deep again as they wanted to get all of their receivers involved in the plays. The St. Croix Lutheran defenders stepped up big and were able to slow down the Fairmont offense.

With 10:08 left in the third quarter there was a media timeout.

St. Croix Lutheran continued to keep the ball on the ground and they also continued to look for Tucker to get the ball. On fourth doTucker punted the ball away. Fairmount fumbled the punt and Daniel Mackenthun from St. Croix Lutheran came up with the ball.

There was a media timeout with 6:49 left in the third quarter.

St. Croix Lutheran got the ball on the Fairmount 29 yard line.

St. Croix Lutheran scored a touchdown on a Jackson Goplen 29 run. The two point conversion was good on a Jackson Goplen run.

With 6:39 left in the third quarter the score was St. Croix Lutheran 22 and Fairmount 14.

St. Croix Lutheran punted the ball to Fairmount after the touchdown.

St. Croix Lutheran called a timeout with 4:17 left in the third quarter.

Fairmount looked to the end zone as they threatened to score late in the quarter. Fairmount went for it on fourth down and was not able to get a touchdown. They turned the ball over on downs. St. Croix Lutheran got the ball back on the ten yard line.

At the end of the third quarter the score was St. Croix Lutheran 22 and Fairmount 14.

Fairmount got the ball to start the fourth quarter.

There was a media timeout with 10:26 left in regulation.

Fairmount's Ben Kain found Bryce Holm for a 28-yard pass for a touchdown. The two point conversion run by Ben Kain was not good.

With 9:38 left in regulation the score was St. Croix Lutheran 22 and Fairmount 20.

Fairmount got the ball back after a botched fumble. Ben Kain found Bryce Holm in the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown.

The two point conversion was not good.

With 9:21 left in regulation the score was Fairmount 26 and St. Croix Lutheran 22.

St. Croix Lutheran got the ball back after the touchdown. St. Croix Lutheran was able to get another fist down on a Wesley Lladrell Tucker carry. St. Croix Lutheran's Jackson Goplen found the end zone on a pass. The two point conversion was no good. With 3:51 left in the fourth quarter the score was St. Croix Lutheran 28 and Fairmount 26.

Fairmount got the ball back after the St. Croix Lutheran touchdown. Fairmount fumbled the ball and St. Coix Lutheran got the ball back.

Wesley Tucker came up with another good reception.

Fairmount got the ball back and they drove the legnith of the field. Bryce Holm found Ben Kain in the end zone for a touchdown. The two point conversion failed.

St. Croix Lutheran came away with the 34-32 victory over Fairmount.

GET TO KNOW WESLEY LADELL WILLIAM TUCKER

Wesley Ladell William Tucker was born on December 22, 1992. He plays football, basketball and track at St. Croix Lutheran High School in West St. Paul.


Tucker is currently on the football, basketball and track team. Wesley says he wants to play football at the division one level. He thinks that he the potential and the skills to become a great player. Even though that he hasn't played football the longest he loves the game because it teaches him character and how to become a better person on and off the field.

He is very involved in his church and says that he attends church regularly and is very involved in activities in the church.


Tucker is  a leader both on and off the field and in the classroom. He would like to play football in college some day after high school.


Tucker will graduate in the spring of 2012.