ARCHIVES FROM 2008 TWIN CITIES SUMMER CLASSIC

Minnesota Xplosion 59 - Minneapolis Redhawks 60
Jack Ghizoni 16, Rick Starck 12, Jordan Reibling 11, Josh Pella 10
Final game of pool play would be against a very athletic Redhawks team. Redhawks have played most tournaments this season at the 17U level. John Rowland (Osseo) and Dalton Graff (Osseo) are just a few of the players that are big contributors for the Redhawks. Xplosion came out in a man to man putting ball pressure everywhere and forcing the Redhawks to take bad shots. Josh Pella continued to go strong to the basket early and was able to get to the line on 4 separate occasions in the first half alone. Halftime score was Xplosion up 27-25. Second half would be a defensive battle as the Redhawks tightened it up a bit. With both teams trying to get to the basket Redhawks finally go up by 1 with :30 left in the game. After a missed shot by the Xplosion, Redhawks get the rebound and are bringing it down court. A pass is made at half court and Rick Starck dives to intercept it. With a tip of the ball he is able to stay on his feet, he stumbles but is able to control the ball as he brings it down court. Redhawks are able to cover the basket and Xplosion pulls it back out. Redhawks have 4 fouls to give and there is only :20 seconds on the clock. The fouls are given just as Xplosion tries to make a move to score, eating up the clock. With :04 seconds left, Xplosion inbounds the ball to Reibling in the corner, Redhawks had him covered with 3 players and Reibling passes it to Rick Starck at the top of the 3 point line. Starck has already hit one three pointer in the game and with :01 second on the clock he shoots another. The shot was straight as can be but had just a tiny bit too much on it as it came off the back of the rim. Minneapolis Redhawks win 60-59. Josh Pella collected his 10th double double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

--Game 4
Minnesota Xplosion 68 - MN Heat 55
Jack Ghizoni 18, Josh Pella 14, Jordan Reibling 10
First round of the Championship bracket would have the #3 seed, Minnesota Xplosion, against the #2 seed, Minnesota Heat. Minnesota Heat is a tremendous program ran by Willie Vang with teams at every age level. Xplosion comes out quick both hitting outside shots and getting to the rim. Jack Ghizoni has 14 points in the first half and Xplosion lead by 13 by a score of 39-26. In the second half the Heat would not go away getting to within 4 points on 2 occasions, one of which was with 4:22 left in the game. Xplosion was able to answer each Heat run with some big shots from Jordan Reibling and Josh Pella. Xplosion go on a nice run of their own to win, 68-55.

--Game 5 (Quarter Finals)
Minnesota Xplosion 46 - Comets Elite 69