It was a strange game. Everyone agreed on that. First, there was the matter of the officiating. “The officials impacted the game,” well, a whole lot, according to one college coach who was in attendance. As a result of a whole series of ticky-tack fouls down the stretch, the final 3 minutes were played with Faribault star Breuer Wolff and Northfield star Isaiah Mahal on the bench. “I didn’t come to see that,” he added.
And, then there’s the simple matter of the score. I’m pretty sure Northfield thought they had a chance to win at the final buzzer. The scoreboard said it was 63-61 Faribault. A Northfield shot might have won the game if there hadn’t been that foot on the 3 point line, and if the shot had been released before the final horn, and if it had gone in the basket. But for those 3 things, Northfield might have won 64-63. Or not. Not if 65-61 is the correct score. The Hub doesn’t have any individual stats, so I don’t know how or when or by whom they think that Faribault got to 65. I have no clue. So I’m gonna tell you that the correct final score was Faribault 63 Northfield 61.
And, then, there was the time when the officials gave the ball to a Faribault FT shooter at the line. Northfield then signalled a timeout. The officials took the ball away from the shooter in order to give Northfield its timeout. Then, after the timeout, they gave the ball back to the Faribault FT shooter. I don’t think that’s the way you do that? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that before.
Yeah, it was a funny game. But, a good game. A hard fought competitive game. There were 17 lead changes and 6 ties. But, it a funny game right from the start. There were maybe a half dozen blown calls in the 1st 5 or 6 minutes–obvious offensive fouls that weren’t called, a ticky-tack offensive foul that was, and 2 shooters who got whacked on the wrists and elbows–and every single one of them accrued to the home team. (Oh, the game was in Northfield.) After that, the fouls evened up. But within about 15 seconds around 5-and-a-half minutes of regulation, Wolff got called for a pair of ticky-tack fouls and, suddenly, he was out of the game. It was 48-48 but Faribault appeared to be in trouble. But, then, Mahal was called for not 2 but 3 ticky-tack fouls between 4 minutes and 3, and he too went to the bench. Northfield now led 55-52 but this gave Faribault new life.
The battle between the 6-4 senior guards–Northfield’s Mahal and Faribault’s Mohamed Madey–had already been stellar. Mahal is a wiry, quick, explosive 6-4, while Mahal is a strong, methodical and efficient 6-4. Mahal scored 15 points in the 1st half, including a pair of 3s, while Madey scored 11 including 3 3s. Mahal fouled out with 25 while Madey at that point had 18 including another 3. He had scored just one 2 as Mahal kept him out of the lane, not to mention that his Northfield teammates were already packing the lane anyway in a successful effort to stifle Faribault’s 6-10 junior Ryan Kreager. Northfield “had a great game plan against Kreager,” the college coach said. Wolff kind of filled that gap, scoring 10 points on 4 inside buckets and 2 throws.
But, now, with Mahal on the bench, Madey burst into the lane repeatedly. Over the last 3-and-a-half minutes, he scored on a pair of layups and 6-of-6 free throws. His throws at :38 put Faribault ahead 60-59. Junior co-captain Kayden Oakland answered for Northfield with a 2 off the O-boards, but then Madey scored a layup to put Faribault back ahead 62-61. Senior guard Nolan Vogelsberg scored just 3 points, but his steal at :48 with Faribault trailing 59-58 was huge and, now, at :05, he got another steal. That led to Kreager’s 1-of-2 FT for the final margin (it says here) of 63-61.
Guard Braden Shulz also saved Faribault’s bacon with 11 points including a pair of 3s. After Mahal and Oakland with 25 and 14, Northfield also got 11 from junior co-captain Tyler Hupton, including a pair of 3s, and they got 7 points off the bench by freshman Eli Bengtson.
The Big 9
The Big 9’s unbalanced schedule, is another thing that’s strange. It’s not clear who’s going to win the boys title.
Mankato East at 16-1? I’ve got them losing at Rochester John Marshall.
Or Rochester John Marshall at 19-2? I’ve got them losing on the road to Northfield and Owatonna.
After that I’m predicting Faribault at 15-5, Owatonna 14-6, Rochester Mayo 13-6 and Northfield 12-9.
Then in the playoffs, in Class AAAA, John Marshall, Owatonna and Mayo will be trying to do what they’ve haven’t done in many years, which is to get past Lakeville North (and also Farmington and Lakeville South) in Section 1AAAA. I don’t see it happening this year either though I’ve got to admit that if John Marshall hangs on to the #1 seed, a series of home games sounds pretty nice.
In Section 1AAA, Faribault and Northfield will be underdogs to Byron and Stewartville. Mankato East will be favored in Section 2AAA.
