Photos by Dave Hill
With Minnesota Transitions focusing on stopping Duluth East's star players, Dusty Royseth made the biggest play of the night. The Greyhounds' senior guard hit a three-pointer from the left corner with one minute remaining. His dagger gave East a lead it would not relinquish in a 69-65 victory over the Wolves at the Breakdown Sports Tip Off Classic Saturday afternoon at Minnetonka High School.
For much of the game, it was the combination of athletic juniors Johnny Woodard (25 points) and Taylor Stafford (21 points) that kept the Greyhounds in the game. Stafford was the distributor and aggressively pushed the ball up court, while Woodard was the slasher and finisher.
Minnesota Transitions had its own big duo of seniors Matt Lanier (25 points) and Kyle Noreen (21 points). The Wolves led much of a very close game, including a 60-58 edge until Royseth's trey.
Taylor Stafford, Duluth East
The 5-foot-11 junior guard scored 21 points as one of two Greyhounds in double figures (teammate Johnny Woodard had 25) in their tight victory over Minnesota Transitions. Stafford was a key distributor in the offense, and his combination of drives to the bucket and dishes to his teammates helped East erase a late-game deficit.
Score by half:
Duluth East 33-36--69
MN Transitions 32-33--65
Duluth East: Woodard 25, Stafford 21, Lochner 8, Royseth 5, Nelson 3, Cigalio 2, Rogotzke 2, Coleman 2.
MN Transitions: Lanier 25, Noreen 21, Owens 9, Schultz 4, Sims 4, Patterson 2.