By Dave Pedersen
March 8, 2007

Falcons hope tough basketball schedule helps in playoffs

The Armstrong boys basketball team is tournament-tested, which may come in handy since Class 4A, Section 5 is considered one of the toughest in the state.

The Falcons played one of the most difficult schedules in the state, where 22 of the 27 games played were against teams with winning records. The team enters the playoffs at 17-9.

Armstrong has defeated four of the top seven ranked teams in the state and has not lost to a team with a losing record.

One win came against Minneapolis North, the team Armstrong will face to open the section tourney at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, at home. The Falcons are the No. 4 seed behind Wayzata, Osseo and Cooper.

The winner would play either No. 1 seed Wayzata or No. 8 Maple Grove at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 10, at Osseo. The section title game is 7 p.m. Thursday, March 15, at an impartial site.

Other big wins recorded by the Falcons were against state powers Shakopee (23 wins), Woodbury (23 wins), Stillwater (17 wins), Elk River (17 wins), Wayzata (19 wins) and Minnetonka (17 wins).

Even the defeats against top teams were competitive as the Falcons lost by one point against both Minneapolis Henry and Lakeville South, plus two points against Wayzata and three to St. Paul Johnson.

Add playing in the Classic Lake Conference, where the worst team has 15 wins and Armstrong had to face No. 1 Hopkins and No. 2 Wayzata twice each.

Armstrong played a big chunk of the season without senior Carter Biewen, a 6-4 All-Conference forward who had a bad ankle injury. With Biewen, the Falcons are 11 and 4 and are 5-5 without the team leader who averages 15 points per game.

Without Biewen, Armstrong lost to Wayzata, ranked No. 2 in the state at the time. With Biewen in the mix, the Falcons beat Wayzata by 17 points the second time around.

"Carter provides shooting, scoring inside and out, defense on the other team's best post player, passing and a high basketball IQ," said Falcon coach Greg Miller. "He presents match-up problems as big guys can't stay with him and he shoots over smaller players."

Because Wayzata had to pay more attention to Biewen, that gave more room for senior guard Alex Rubin to work. He scored 30 points against the Trojans.

"When Carter was gone Alex had to be more aggressive on offense," said Miller. "I think he got a little tired in early February, but he has rebounded with strong games since Carter has returned."

In last week's 85-82 overtime victory against Minnetonka, five Falcons scored in double figures and nearly six. Biewen led with 21 points, followed by Rubin 19, senior Ben Vathing 13, senior Scott Kaitz 11, junior J.D. Robinson 12 and senior Tom Knorr had nine.

In Saturday's 59-39 victory over Edina, Rubin led with 19 points and Robinson added 11.

Also contributing as reserves in the playoffs are junior guard Wes Hoefer and senior forward Ben Bratland.

Rubin has been a steady leader throughout the ups and downs of this season, averaging 21 points per game. He just passed Jon Bryant for second on Armstrong's all-time scoring list with more than 1,200 points.

"We are playing our best basketball, winning four of the last five games," adds Miller. "Guard play often wins at tournament time and we think we have some of the best guards in the state."