ST. CLOUD APOLLO 78, ST. CLOUD TECH 43

In the battle of St. Cloud, it was all Apollo as the visiting Eagles

swooped in to take care of Tech 78-43. The pendulum has shifted. In 2014 and 2015 Apollo didn’t win a game. Now they are in the discussion for the Central Lakes title. The Eagles led 15-3 which forced the first of three Tech time outs, the others coming at 27-8 and 37-15 (with 3:27 left in the half). The time outs were futile. Apollo hit 50 by half and was in running time territory at the nine minute mark of the second half. In the second half the edge was gone and time was moving. At the break Apollo had a pp100 of 119.  The bench dragged that number down to 108 after the second half.

Part of the Apollo renaissance is the result of the emergence of Lariah Washington. If she doesn’t have a nickname it should be “Leapin’ Lariah Washington.” The 6-0 senior, headed to Eastern Illinois, led all scorers with 22 points with points coming from beyond the arc (6), transition (8)—where she elevated close to the rim—, and slashes and back door options (6) in addition to a pair of free throws. Washington’s senior teammates Jessica Timpane and Ashley Koepp each chipped in with 18 points.

Why this game? All 64 AAAA teams are on the menu at some point. The only two AAAA teams that played tonight that had an opponent I have not charted (a prerequisite), were in the Central Lakes. The Fergus Falls at Brainerd option was too far away and with the thick fog out there was not ideal. Plus the appeal of a St. Cloud battle with fan atmosphere was certainly a draw. Also Apollo hasn’t been on my radar the last few years. 

	ST. CLOUD APOLLO	ST. CLOUD TECH
POINTS	78	43
REBOUNDS/OFF	37/12	32/15
TURNOVERS	19	25
FTA/%	11/72.7	17/64.7
2FG%/3FG%	56.5/42.9	32.3/19.0
PP100	108.3	59.7
TOP SCORER	Lariah Washington 22	Emma Borchert 11

TRENCH PLAYER: Lariah Washington with 22 points, 115.8 pp100 and 40 in the 31 Club