The Blue is now a "veteran" team, with 7 of the 10 players this year returning from last year's Cinderella Tournament Team that bowed out in the Final Four round.  The Blue is one year older and definitely deeper this year, as Luis Estrada, Joe Farmer and Drew Lee have brought lots of energy, spirit and tenaciousness to the team.  That was evident in the opening weekend of games.

 

    The first half of the St. Bernard game was tight.  The Cats struck first, as Jeffrey Ackels showed off his off-season work on that outside shot, swishing a 12-footer from the corner.  After the Bruins tied it, Jeffrey came right back with a 15-footer full of string music.  Ivan Maduka, who has been an inspiration to the entire team as he plays every day at practice and in games with pain, snuck inside and took a pass from Jeffrey for an easy bucket and it was 6-2.  Michael Boone followed with an offensive rebound and then put his "new look" into play, going straight up with the shot and drawing the foul.  Michael canned both free throws and it was 8-2.  A late bucket by the Bruins saw the first quarter end with SMS on top, 8-4.

 

    SMS went back to its bread and butter in the second quarter, and Jordan Tobolka getting inside position and scoring on an offensive rebound is as vanilla as it gets.  Jordan's bucket made it 10-4 but St. Bernard again answered.  But back came Jeffrey, with this third rip-cord of the day, another 14-foot swish.  Another Bruin answer before Ivan got position on an offensive rebound and was fouled.  Ivan, with that beautiful free throw stroke, was true on both and it was 14-10.  Jordan got another offensive rebound put back but the Bruins ended the half on a mini-run and the score stood SMS 16, St. Bernard 15 at intermission.

 

    The boys were itching to put the press on in the game, and the start of the third quarter was just the right time.  With the front line of Tanner Davis, Andrew Crim and Jeffrey double-teaming the ball, and the back line being patrolled by Jordan and Ivan, the next three minutes of the game were a clinic in how to blow open a tight game.  Tanner started it with a driving lay up.  Ivan with a steal and quick pass inside to Jeffrey who banks home two.  Jordan with a nice cut to the basket and Tanner finds him on an inbounds pass under the hoop for a bucket.  Tanner with a steal, lead pass to Jeffrey, and another lay in.  Then a thing of beauty, as Jordan makes a steal, swings an outlet pass to Tanner and Tanner leads a streaking Jeffrey to the basket for yet another lay up.  Tanner racks up another steal, and dribble-drives for his own lay up.  And when Jeffrey picked the guard's pocket and flipped it inside to the always-hustling Michael Boone, and Michael banged home the lay up, it was suddenly 30-15.  A 14-0 run in just under 3 minutes had turned a close game into a comfortable margin.  The pressure defense was the key.  Anytime you can get 7 buckets in under 3 minutes and no shot is from outside lay up range, you have done some nice work.  The Bruins couldn't even get a shot off until the end of the quarter and after three, SMS was in control at 30-17.

 

    The fourth quarter was a little more slow-paced, as SMS worked on some half court offense.  Still, Tanner with an offensive rebound and put back.  Ivan, skying for a rebound with as nice a vertical leap as you will see at this level, getting fouled and knocking in another free throw.  But St. Bernard would not quit, scrapping and clawing its way to within 33-23.  It was time to put the clamps down on defense, and Joe Farmer, Luis Estrada, Quin Carroll, Michael Boone and the hustling Drew Lee did just that.  Luis and Drew were definitely undersized inside, but they both did a terrific job in rotating on defense and helping out when the Bruins got the ball in the paint.  Drew was working hard on both ends of the court, and his work paid off, as he took a pass on the fast break and banked home two points that had the boys high-fiving on the sidelines.  Michael closed out the scoring with a free throw, and this one was in the books, 36-25.

 

    On Sunday, the St. Paul Packers came calling.  The last times these two teams met, it was in the epic playoff opener last March, as SMS held on for a pulsating victory.  The Packers would come into this game as a shadow of their former selves, as the loss of their ace player from last year would be difficult to overcome.  The boys came out a little flat in this one, never hitting full-stride in a game in which they were shackled by the coach and never really allowed to run on all cylinders.  Still, there was plenty of action and fine play.

 

    Jordan got it rolling with an offensive rebound and score.  When St. Paul switched to a man to man defense, Tanner recognized it and ran a beautiful play, driving to the hoop and then dishing to Jordan for an easy lay in.  And Andrew Crim found that gorgeous shooting touch, dropping in an 18-footer to close the first quarter with a 6-0 lead.

 

    SMS extended the lead with solid offense and spectacular defense in the second.  Quin went up strong on an offensive rebound and was fouled, making one of two.  Tanner grabbed his own rebound and put it in.  Jordan got hacked and hit one of two free throws.  Jordan continued his relentless inside play with another rebound and put back.  And then Michael made a brilliant play, continuing to show off new material in his arsenal, making a steal, taking it up the court, cutting to the inside, swirling in the paint, and banking home a shot.  The play made the score a comfortable 14-0 at half, the first shutout in Blue history at halftime.

 

    The second half was all about keeping the clock running in order to get home to watch the Cowboy game.  After St. Paul got on the board because SMS was defending the wrong goal, Quin got the offense back in gear with a drive for two.  After a quiet first half, Jeffrey got into the act, swishing the regular season's first three-pointer and then coming right back with a beautiful 17-foot jumper from the corner and it was up to 21-3.  The quarter ended with a breathtaking fast break, as Andrew did a nice job of drawing the defense on a drive and then threading the needle with a beautiful bounce pass to the lightning quick Joe Farmer.  Joe took the pass on the run and got the lay up and it was 23-7 after three.

 

    In the fourth quarter, Quin took a page out of the Tim Duncan play book, dropping in a bank shot from 12 feet.  And the scoring ended with a terrific play by Joe, taking a pass from Jordan, heading out of bounds, but somehow being able to put up a shot from almost behind the basket and having it go in.  Joe's bucket ended the scoring and with the 27-12 victory, SMS had its 2-0 start.

 

    With the team off to a great start, we indoctrinate the three new players to the absurdity of these articles but there is no absurdity when it comes to touting each one for the contributions they have already made to the team.  Luis showed his character by not missing a practice or a game in December, even though he was not cleared to play, but Luis came out strong in his first game action, with solid defensive play, some good rebounding, and working to get open on offense, where he has just missed on a couple of shots.  Joe has shown that he is only going to get better, as this is his first year to play, and he has been terrific on the fast break, scoring baskets, making dart-like passes into the low post, and running the floor as well as anyone.  But the headline on this first round of games goes to Drew, who has an infectious attitude that the boys love.  Drew is always running his motor, showing some nice skills both inside and out, and he works harder than anyone on the team trying to get open in the low post.  His inspired play as been "drewlee" noted.

 

    The season really begins next week, as the first two games were non-division games that do not count towards playoff standings.  Unfortunately, SMS has to begin the division games by taking on SMS Carolina.  But it should be a great game with lots of fans in the stands.  Plan on coming to watch all the action.