Crimson Win Opening Game of Holiday Tournament 69-59

The Crimson and Mounds View both started slowly in their opening round game of the Perkins Holiday Tournament at Bethel University. One highlight from this fan's perspective occurred when Jake Wieneke drove into the lane and hit a pullup jump shot from 8 feet, the shot on the endangered species list in the game of basketball.

But the real story was junior Matt Lindgren, who hit big shots in the first half. During a time when neither team was able to get good shots to fall, Lindgren was in the zone, and his 9 first half points were big.  By the time he made his third bomb, game management was looking for the asbestos, because Lindgren was on fire.  He finished with a career high 20 points, in front of a good sized Crimson crowd that included his brother Ben.

Wieneke continued to flash his athletic ability as he made steals, tipped the ball and disrupted the Ponies offense to create chances for Maple Grove. He finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.  In a short stretch right before the half, Wieneke scored a basket, made a steal, and fed Erik Olson for a layup. The half ended 31-26 Crimson.

Grant Kaufman opened the second half with 5 straight points with a long 3 and was on the scoring end of a fast break that started with Olson's blocked shot. The Crimson went deliberate on offense as Mound View hit three pointers and soon the game was tied at 38.

Tim Hanson, the Ponies leading scorer with 21, made a hoop to give Mounds View a 42-40 lead, in the middle of the second half.  The lead bounced back and forth until Olson snared a rebound and scored off the window to give the Crimson a 51-50 lead they never relinquished.

Lindgren's bomb from the wing made the score 54-50 and Mounds View took a timeout.  Wieneke found a seam in traffic a for another hoop that got high marks in style points, while Brycen Wojta made a steal and layup to keep the lead at 6.

The dagger was added when Kaufman found Lindgren who made a reverse layup with plenty of British for the hoop and the hack.  Lindgren scored again on a Kaufman assist and it was over.

Scoring for the Crimson: Lindgren 20, Wieneke 17, Kaufman 9, Olson 9, Wojta 6, Kane 3, Barta 3, Sterling 2.

The Crimson won their 4th in a row and with play Cooper tonight at 8 for the championship.  This game will feature of number of athletes who are getting traffic from a variety of schools for different sports