Thoughts as they Occur on ND-SCW

Well. We're about set to tip it up for the State Championship. I'm following the gig live on MSHSAA's website. They've put together a pretty good webcast here. I'll be trying my best to stay with it as we go. Feel free to add thoughts if anyone is out there.

A big, bold prediction by Young Son Kramer, if the claims are true. We'll see how it goes. But when high school athletes start predicting victories in state championship games, you get the feeling the kid has got a little bigger head than his shoulders are built for. And I wonder if that will be his demise.

Stay tuned.

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Absolutely rousing rendition of our National Anthem by Mary Bauer. Good work, Mary!

*Notre Dame 9-7: I can tell you right now that its a hell of a lot harder to sit here and watch your brother from 1200 miles away then it is to just get phone calls every quarter. You can stop thinking about it for a few minutes when you're not watching, but it's pretty much tight butt-cheeks the whole way when you're watching.

So far, so good. Soderberg started with two quick turnovers and a missed three point attempt, but got back on track with a long bomb to tie the score at 7.

*That Mauer? kid from SCW is shooting 50% from the floor, and 52% from the arc this season. It seems like these guys can shoot the ball a little bit. So far they've nailed three from downtown, but have taken 8 attempts. I expect the same gunslinging attitude the rest of the way. They can't beat ND in the paint. That much is obvious.

*End of first. ND 19, SCW 18. A couple thoughts. Willen, Williams, and Himmelberg slinging back to back to back threes was huge. ND finishes the quarter 3-4 from downtwon. SCW finished 4-7 from downtown, or so they say. But I think I've seen at least 8, and possibly nine three point attempts from SCW.

Soderberg finishes the quarter with nine points. His pregame guarantee aside, I must say that I'm already sick of seeing him limping around when he doesn't have the ball and then taking it to the hole like he's got four good wheels when he does have it. I don't doubt he's in pain, but spare me the details, kid.

*22-22, 2:54 to go in the 2nd quarter: In the first couple minutes of the quarter, ND got away from going inside and they couldn't convert. No need for lazy passes either, not at this stage. And I've seen a couple made on ND's side.

ND will have to clean up better on the defensive boards. SCW is too good of a perimeter team to get second chances.

SCW is scary. They won't go away. And I doubt ND will either. But SCW has some guards that certainly look like they aren't afraid to step up and make big shots. So I expect some of that down the stretch of this game, as ND keeps picking away inside. Be ready for a nail-biting finish, this one is going to be barn-burner.

*28-28. Halftime. Logan Glueck had a big play off the bench, out of the timeout. He grabbed a rebound on a missed Willen shot, made the lay-in and drew the foul. Good hustle off the bench, a little spark for ND.

Unofficially, we had 8 ties and 8 lead changes in the first half with the biggest lead being a ND three point advantage. Soderberg finished with 12. Willen had 16.

The disputed call about Soderberg's three point attempt was the right call. Soderberg did attempt to get a shot off, but that idea came to him long after contact was made. It was a scary play, though. Especially seing it on replay. I'm glad both kids are ok.

MSHSAA is doing a damn good job with this broadcast. The video isn't as clear as KFVS12's webcast, but the play-by-play is tremendous and they're using FSN headers and footers, and stat bars. It looks a lot like a collegiate game because of it. Not to mention, both of these teams were playing collegiate style basketball in the first quarter. Both teams were extremely patient when they needed to be, and both teams pushed the ball when they needed to. The second quarter wasn't near as pretty. I have to say that ND is the team that looks to be a little nervous. Some unnecessary turnovers are taking place, and that's what allowing SCW to stay in it.

Watch for the drive and kick-out that SCW is making look very good. One guard to the other. So far, ND doesn't have an answer to it and it could bite them in the end. They need to be a little quicker.

*ND 39-32. End of third. Willen touched the ball 5 of 9 trips down the floor for ND (last second shot wasn't counted). But only two of those touches were in the post. And he stepped up, took a big risk, but got the charge call on Soderberg.

They did it without him that quarter. But he'll have to answer Soderberg's attempt to take this game over. You can see it in Kramer's eyes all the way from here, he's going to be trying to some stuff here in the last quarter.

*Man I'm nervous as hell. Pacing like crazy. I'm not sure that I like the stall method. Let's play some basketball and keep our momentum.

*Well, hale. It worked. Way to go Bulldogs. Man oh man, I remember just four years ago a boys basketball state championship at ND was unheard of. It wasn't even worth thinking about. Now it's reality.

Good defense got it done, and efficient offense. Willen ended up with 19. Greer had 12. Williams 7, Himmelberg 5, Unterreiner 3, Logan Glueck 2. Only three players scored for SCW. They ended up 6-21 from behind the arc, missing their last 13 attempts. Some of them were a bit crazy, a little early. ND never stopped playing smart, that was the difference.

Twenty years since the last one. 573 wins now Paul Hale. Kudos to him. Great coach and I know those kids love playing for him.

Way to Go Bulldogs!

Webcast Quote of the Night: Announcers were talking about the numerous state championships that most of those ND kids have won, then they said: "And they're all great football players as well. You can just tell, all of them are strong and well-built. Not only do they have great soccer and basketball teams, but they have an excellent football team as well."