CONCORDIA ACADEMY 71, MAHTOMEDI 63
Concordia Academy of Roseville started off the season with six straight losses and was 1-8 to finish 2019. But now their vision is a perfect 20/20 in 2020. The Beacons went on the road and lit it up behind the arc at #12AAA Mahtomedi in 71-63 win Thursday night. That is their eighth straight victory. The fireworks started on the very first Beacon possession and it was Ivane Tensaie that was the spark that lit the fuse. The junior scored on the first two CA possessions from deep. Mahtomedi responded with a 3 sandwiched around Tensaie’s pair. She was not alone in the onslaught behind the arc for CA. Two Graces, Coultas and Landvik, chipped in to make it 14-5 with 14 minutes still to go in the half. The margin grew to 34-19 with two minutes left. Mahtomedi’s Amy Thompson cut that deficit to ten with a minute left with her 3, but CA regained some cushion in that last minute. By the end of the half the Beacons were up 38-24 on 8/10 3s—–a scorching 80%. The Zephyrs were a bit more cognizant of that long distance threat in the second half, but still CA nailed a healthy 4/9. CA stretched the lead to 16 early in the second half (42-26). Mahtomedi ramped up their defense full court & double teaming to generate four straight turnovers. The first two resulted in four more Zephyr points and a quick time out. Zoey Washington’s 3 cut the margin down to eight (52-44). With six minutes left the margin remained at eight. It was CA’s turn for a surge. Tensaie delivered another dagger with a 3 on the right side making it 64-50 with less than four minutes to go. With two minutes left CA’s Sydney Pelzer added a pair of free throws for a 68-52 advantage. On the last four Mahtomedi possessions the Zephs hit three 3s and had an &1 chance that was not completed for a final flourish of 11-2, but it was a bit too much, too little, too late, as Johnny Mathis once said.
Tensaie racked up 34 points with seven 3s (or 21 points—62% of her point total, or 29.6% of CA’s points). She also delivered eight distributions.
CA is now 9-8. Mahtomedi is 13-5 and has lost two straight.
Once upon a time I coached Mahtomedi’s coach Erica (Haugen) Zizzo at the traveling, club and high school level at Osseo. It was my first time charting her action as a head coach.
| CONCORDIA ROSEVILLE | MAHTOMEDI | |
| POINTS | 71 | 63 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 40/10 | 35/14 |
| TURNOVERS | 18 | 13 |
| 2FGA/% | 36/41.66 | 40/45.00 |
| 3FGA/% | 19/63.15 | 27/25.92 |
| FTA/% | 8/62.50 | 8/75.00 |
| PP100 | 102.9 | 90.0 |
| TOP SCORER | Ivane Tensaie 34 | Saley Underwood 21 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Ivane Tensaie with 34 points, 141.7 pp100, and a 46 score in the 31 Club.