Jayhawk Invitational

May 2-4

University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS

Xplosion has rough weekend, finishes 1-3

This weekend Minnesota Xplosion traveled south to the University of Kansas campus, home of the 2008 National Champion Jayhawks, in Lawrence, Kansas. The Jayhawk Invitational is a top notch tournament that brings in teams from around the country. In the 16U bracket there was teams from Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, New Mexico, Minnesota and Arizona. On a side note, Xplosion would be traveling without their backup point guard and defensive stopper, Dillon Hager.

Pool play consisted of 6 pools with 4 teams in each. Top 2 teams of each pool advance to the championship bracket. Minnesota Xplosion played in pool E with KC Keys, New Mexico Force and Minnesota Comets Elite.

After driving all day, the first game was Friday night at 8:30p against KC Keys, a very athletic team with some size. The game was a very fast paced game with both teams running the floor. Halftime score was 35-30, KC Keys. Shots wouldn't drop (1-14 from beyond the arc) for Xplosion and the quickness of the KC Keys proved to be too much as they pulled away at the end winning by a final score of 78-62. Jordan Reibling and Michael Rovansek scored 12 and Brent Walker finished with 9

Saturday's first pool play game was vs. the New Mexico Force. A smaller team but very quick also. As if the shooting couldn't get any worse from the day before, it did. Xplosion only had 16 at the half, all of which came from the post. Halftime score: 30-16, New Mexico Force. Shooting continued to be off in the second half and turnovers seemed to be in abundance. Final: 65-40, Force. Jordan Reibling was high scorer with 16, Anthony Webber had 8 and Eric Sandstad chipped in 6. Josh Pella had 8 rebounds, Rick Starck pulled down 6.

Final pool game and second of the day would be a rematch with MN Comets Elite. Last week Xplosion beat the Comets Elite by 19 in an upset. Comets came out strong, getting to the basket and hitting open shots. Comets obtained a 20+ lead but Jordan Reibling and Brent Walker tried to keep Xplosion in the game by dropping 12 and 8 first half points. Halftime score was Comets leading 34-25. The second half was all Josh Pella as he had 11 points in the half. Xplosion made a few runs at the Comets pulling to within 2 but were not able to take the lead. Comets Elite win the rematch 61-50. Jordan Reibling had 15, Brent Walker 13 and Josh Pella 12 with 6 rebounds. Anthony Webber pulled down 7 rebounds.

With 3 loses in the pool, Xplosion had one final game on Sunday. It would be against the 1-2 Minnesota Select team. If Xplosion were to lose this game, it would be a long ride home. A re-energized team showed up and got off to a very quick start. Blair Dittrich, Josh Pella and Anthony Webber all worked it on the inside either scoring or drawing fouls. Xplosion led at the half, 44-21. The second half continued with lots of free throws but scoring switched to Michael Rovansek, Eric Sandstad and Josh Pella. The boards were dominated throughout the game by Josh Pella. Down the stretch, free throws were what won the game. Brent Walker hit 5 of 6. MN Select did have a nice run but Xplosion held them off and wins the game, 85-78. Josh Pella collected his 4th double double by scoring 25 points and 10 rebounds. Michael Rovansek finished with 21 and Jordan Reibling contributed 10.