Twofer Part Two

sorry this was late.

Game #1 Moorhead/Buffalo
Moorhead 72, Buffalo 59
This was a match up between two 8AAAA teams. This was the closest Moorhead was going to get to the Metro area until late February. Moorhead drew first blood and after Buffalo tied it at 4, Moorhead grabbed the lead on a Danielle Cook basket. The Moorhead offense was geared for the post early on as Cook and Anderson worked the post ups for points. Buffalo had three turnovers in their first four possessions. Buffalo worked through some problems early and held their only lead at 14-13 on a Kelly Ross three. After that basket Buffalo did not score for the next six possessions and only once in the next 12. Moorhead was using a variety of defenses including 1/3/1. Moorhead went on a 19-2 run to lead 32-16. During the run Jackie Dolence canned two 3s. Moorhead led at half 39-25.
Buffalo came out and scored the first four points to cut the lead to 10. Moorhead was 0/5 with their possessions. Miranda Speckel scored three straight possessions for Buffalo to help keep hope alive. But just like in the first half, Buffalo went into a six possession drought. Moorhead extended their lead to 50-33 with Gina Jaroszewski's six points in the 8-0 run, and 9 of the Spuds 11.
Then Buffalo subbed in their secret weapon JaRae Ellefson. Buffalo scored on 8 of their next 9 possessions with Ellefson gathering 11 points in a 15-4 run. Moorhead now was ahead 54-48. Cook answered a free throw. After two missed Buffalo free throws and turnovers by each squad, Cook finished an old fashioned three point play to make the score 58-48. It never was seriously challenged after that point.

Height Factor: Moorhead 5-9.8; Buffalo 5-8.4
Moorhead Player Evaluations
Danielle Cook, 21, 17, 123.5, .647 good foot work, decent hands, was able to get position. Had a season high total for points. RF: not big enough for post in D2, maybe not big enough in D3. Needs more upper body strength
Kassie Hooten, 9, 15, 60.0, .556 a baby bull. strong, RF: not big enough, or should I say tall enough for post play post HS. Needs better decision making when clearing for rebounding.
Jenna Dolence 8, 13, 61.5, .231 Long range bomber, main ball handler RF: scored nothing in the second half. Need more consistency.
Trisha Vanyo, 4, 9, 44.4, .333 RF: a bit out of control. Picked up charges. Dribbled with head down and spun
Nikki Anderson, 9, 8, 112.5, .500 Works inside and is smaller than Cook and Hooten. She is strong RF but she still is not big for inside even in high school.
Gina Jaroszewski, 15, 8, 187.5, .875 effective scorer, takes care of the ball. Scored on 3s, offensive rebounds, RF tendency to vanish. Needs to work on driving to glass.

Buffalo Player Evaluations
Miranda Speckel, 23, 26, 88.5, .423 main ball handler, team looks to her for leadership and to take the shot. RF: needs to get rest of team involved.
Kelly Ross, 10, 13, 76.9, .308 RF: too many turnovers
Kelly Cinquegrani 8, 11, 72.7, .455 RF: small inside
JaRae Ellefson, 11, 7, 157.1, .857 lefty, played without fear, was in the right spot at the right time. RF: why isn't she playing more varsity. Was this just a fluke?
Calleigh Brown, 2, 6, 33.3, .167 defensive presence; RF: not an offensive presense at all.
Sam Beilke, 4, 5, 80.0, .400
TRENCH PLAYER: Because I pick a trench player every game it will be Jaroszewski, but I want more out of all these players

BY THE NUMBERS
Team, possessions, pp100, scoring%
Moorhead 72, 80, 90.0, .425
Buffalo 59, 79, 74.7, .380
This game had a quick pace like last Saturday's matinee, but without the efficiency.

GAME #2, MARSHALL/DE LA SALLE
Marshall 50, DeLaSalle 44
This game was not a smooth flowing game as it matched to top ten teams (#1 Marshall, #6 DeLaSalle). This was the second weekend in a row for the long bus ride for Marshall up to the Metro. Marshall had the lead at 1-0 and the only time they didn't lead was when the game was tied at 9. DeLaSalle had a hard time finding the bottom of the net with a 2/13 possession scoring ratio to start the game. Marshall wasn't much better at 3/13. Michelson did not have the point guard responsibilities right from the start. Most of the time PG duties fell on Kirsten Haukom. DLS was playing man full court, Marshall was using a variety of defenses. The sputtering continued DLS 4/25, Marshall 5/25. Marshall eventually settled on zone defense to take away penetration. At the half Marshall's Julia Schultz cast up a deep three for 22-14 lead. DLS only made four field goals in the half and Aaryn Booker had two of them along with 8 points. Schultz was racking up the points for Marshall with half of their points.
At half time the offenses woke up somewhat. DLS opened with Rachel Booth dialing long distance with a 3 to cut the margin to 22-17. DLS cut it to 23-19 before Marshall popped that lead right back to 10 at 33-23. Macie Michelson led the way with six points during the 10-4 run. DLS kept creeping close with four 3s during the second half. DLS cut that lead to 33-28, but then Michelson canned a three from the right side. Marshall's biggest lead came at 40-29 as Jessica Onken was working the inside for six. Then Marshall's offense was shut down for the next six possessions. No doubt the foul trouble that was burdening Michelson, Onken, Krueger was taking the toll on the offensive efficiency. Each had four fouls. DLS came back with Booker scoring inside for two baskets. Then Anna Kovalchuk cashed a three to cut the margin to 42-39. A Marshall turnover gave DLS an opportunity to tie it, but they turned it over on a bad pass with Michelson the instigator. She finished the lay up. Booth scored on a missed Kovalchuk three to bring it back to a three point game 44-41. Marshall spent the rest of the night making free throws for a 50-44 win.

Height factor: Marshall 5-9, DeLaSalle 5-7.8
Marshall player evaluations
Julia Schultz, 15, 18, 83.3, .533 effective scorer in first half. Made the half court 3, RF: need better free throw shooting, better decisions or better passing. Needs a quicker release against the quick DLS team
Macie Michelson, 15, 13, 115.4, .467 still the heart and soul of this team. I think offense sputtered without her at the helm. Has so much energy and passion. Came up with big basketbs and big plays when needed. RF: which leads to fouls and sitting on the bench
Kirsten Haukom, 2, 11, 18.2, .091 main ball handler for most of the night. RF not much of a factor on the scoring end tonight.
Jessica Onken, 10, 9, 111.1, .556 challenged the bigger Booth. Got into rythym in the second half. active on the boards. RF: fouls keep her out of action.
Anna Full, 5, 8, 62.5, .375
Kelsie Kruger, 1, 6, 16.7, .167 RF: fouls got the best of her tonight, never got into the flow
Amanda Beekman, 2, 3, 66.7, .333

DeLaSalle player evaluations
Aaryn Booker, 17, 18, 94.4, .500 tough kid, works for position, drew fouls RF: way to small for post HS action in the paint.
Rachel Booth, 7, 14, 50.0, .214 a big kid that wasn't effective inside in the first half, so moved to the three point line in the second half. Decent three point shooter. More suited for "3" spot. RF: doesn't like physical play. Didn't score in the first half. First game out of double figures
Sheena Porter, 7, 14, 50.0, .214 Fast quick, RF: small, not a good shooting night
Treasure Clemons, 4, 9, 44.4, .333
Anna Kovalchuk, 8, 7, 114.3, .429 spot up shooter, stand alone shooter. RF: needs to work on quickness for defensive purposes, more aggressive action on the boards.
Trench Player: Not even a question---Michelson. I don't have to think long about this one like I had to for the first game.

BY THE NUMBERS
Marshall 50, 68, 73.5, .368
DeLaSalle 44, 69, 63.8, .319
You can see this was a defensive struggle. No one really had a free look all night. What did you expect from legitimate top 10 teams.