Anoka High School has a new basketball coach this year, Matt Fletcher. In tonight's game, the one thing that Anoka needed to be successful was to consistently hit shots from behind the three point line. If they can find a player to be the pure shooter that Fletcher was at North Branch and Southwest State, they will win games. Matt, son of Neil and grandson of Niles, had unlimited range. I got to see him close up during his games at North Branch and he could hit the J...back to the game.
The Crimson, fresh off a big win against Elk River last week, led 13-9, and then extended the lead to 38-20 in a 10 minute span in the first half. Erik Olson, got off early, pounded the glass and was able to finish, as he scored 15 of the Crimson's 29 points. Brycen Wojta, who had a game high 24, was able to get deep into the Anoka defense and create chances for his teammates, or finish at the ring. Anoka went to a 1-3-1 zone and Wojta shot them right out of it, hitting a pair of 3s to cause the Tornadoes to take a time out and change it up. Their 3/4 court trap was not effective either as the Crimson attacked and scored. At the half it was 40-20, and the outcome was no longer in doubt.
In the second half, both teams scored 28 points, the clock ran, and everyone touched the ball before there was a shot. For the officials it was como sada, as the game ended at 8:14.
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As Al McGuire used to say, "the game that was not as close as the score indicated." Elk River lost their third in a row tonight, so the Crimson now are in third place in the NWSuburban. They travel to Blaine on Friday.
