MN Tournament Recap: Monday

#2 posting 2.28.2006

POINT PARADE
NEB
D2
Heather Hinz, Newcastle 25 vs Lynch 80-47 (f24)
Paige Pollard, Newcast.e 25 vs Lynch 80-47 (f24)

CONFERENCE NEWS
IA
Anamosa and Center Point-Urbana are leaving the TriRivers for the WaMac in 2007-2008.
South Tama is leaving the WaMac after this season for the Little Hawkeye.

HEADED FOR STATE
SD
7A: Bennett County 69, Todd County 61

MILESTONES
MN
Jenna Trammel, Kingsland reached the 1000 point mark in a 57-43 win over Kasson-Mantorville in the 1AA West Semis last night. She is the fifth Kingsland player to reach 1000, and second this season. Paisly Larson reached 1000 earlier in the year.

TOURNAMENT RECAP
MN
AAA
1: Lakeville South beat Faribault 68-41. This is Lakeville South's first year as a school and, as I stated in yesterday's Section preview, will be one that needs to be watched. They beat the #2 seed New Prague on D6 51-45. That was their only non AAAA opponent all year. Lakeville South is #8 in the 1AAA seedings.
AA
1: both #1 seeds Winona Cotter in the East and Kingsland in the West won yesterday. Cotter beat Chatfield 66-32. Jenny Gilbertson had 18 for Cotter. Kingsland beat Kasson-Mantorville 57-43, but led at half 27-24. Talea Ramaker scored the first 8 Kingsland points to start the second half.
A
1: Defending state champ and #1 in the east Elgin-Millville had no problems with Mabel-Canton 68-36. Megan Pick led EM with 22.
On the West side Faribault Bethlehem Academy hammered Randolph 79-45.

Next up: out & About--I wanted to be in Marshall for the 3A North semifinals, but my blood has been too high due to drive through meals. I will be attending a game closer to home, but I don't think it will be as dramatic.

Illinois AA Tournament Set

#1 posting 2.28.2006

POINT PARADE
IL
AA
Theresa Lisch, Belleville Althoff 31 vs Effingham 67-55
Kathlynn McClain, Marian Catholic 25 vs Sandburg 71-58

MN
A
Colleen McKay, Barnum 26 vs Floodwood 70-30

COACHING NEWS
WI
Dan Zoeller, Florence will retire at the end of the season. Florence takes on Phelps in a Section semifinal Friday. Zoeller is 534-122 in 29 seasons at Florence. He has notched 19 Northern Lakes Conference championships and 15 region championships.

ILLINOIS
AA SECTION FINALS
Buffalo Grove 51, Warren 48
Marian Catholic 71, Sandburg 58
Bolingbrook 35, Montini 27
Trinity 73, Harlan 58
Bishop McNamara 43, Moline 42
Maine South 40, DeKalb 34
Chicago Young 49, Loyola 29
Belleville Althoff 67, Effingham 55

AA STATE TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS
at Illinois State Friday March 3
noon Chicago Young vs Bishop McNamara
1:45 pm Bolingbrook vs Buffalo Grove
6:30 pm Trinity vs Belleville Althoff
8:15 pm Marian Catholic vs Maine South

SD
First team to make State Tournament next week
3B Final: Sully Buttes 64, James Valley Christian 47

Next up close to 4 pm

The Week ahead

#4 posting 2.27.2006

Games Do Watch:
MN
Tuesday F28
3A North Semis at Southwest State Marshall
Lakeview vs RTR
Dawson-Boyd vs Lincoln HI
I had planned to attend these games, but time/distance to travel and the diet on the road doesn't really do wonders for my blood sugar will prevent me from going, but these will be the games to see on Tuesday.
The 3A South in Luverne will also be interesting (read past blogs on what I saw Saturday)
Highly efficient Adrian will battle #1 South Murray County Central
#2 Fulda will take on #3 SW MN Chrisitan

Wednesday M1
Most of the games this day involve first round events. The most intriguing game will take place at North Branch with Mahtomedi taking on Spring Lake Park in the early game.

Thursday M2
Some more first rounders in the bigger classes.

Friday M3
The finals in the subdistricts in 3A take place in Marshall.

Saturday M4
Semifinals Saturday will give you plenty of choices from afternoon matinees with
AAAA: 2 @ Robbinsdale Armstrong; 6 @ Prior Lake
AAA: 3 @ Hastings
Evening double headers
AAAA: 3 @ St. Paul Arlington
AAA: 8 @ Moorhead State

Next up----if the recent morning lethargic computer will allow it---- 8 am. I should be back on a regular publication schedule tomorrow.

Parading Post Season

#3 posting 2.27.2006

POINT PARADE
IL
A
McKensey Long, Carthage 26 vs Flanigan 73-57 (f25)

IA
4A
Brittany Norris, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 33 vs Dubuque Senior 62-37 (f20)
Kristin Turk, Des Moines Lincoln 25 vs DM North 69-26 (f11--the paper came in late)
1A
Kala Kuhlmann, Charter Oak-Ute 30 vs Galva-Holstein 73-48 (f21)

MN
JUCO
Brittany Gladis, Rochester 27 vs Minneapolis 65-67 (f25)
AA
Anne Breland, Rochester Lourdes 29 vs Zumbrota-Mazeppa 65-40 (f25)
A
Alycia Dahl, Northern 25 vs Kittson Central 41-70 (f23)

SD
A
Sunni Busch, Todd County 26 vs Platte 83-51 (f20)
B
Carlie Uhlir, Kadoka 31 vs Jones County-Midland 72-59 (f21)
Katelynn Lamb, Sully Buttes 25 vs Edmunds Central 68-38 (f23)

WI
JUCO
Erin Voelker, Madison 35 vs UW Marathon 89-70 (f22)
D2
Rebecca DeVries, Waupun 30 vs Winneconne 59-54 (f20)
Tiffany Gregorich, Altoona 27 vs New Richmond 57-47 (f21)
Sarah Paul, Elkhorn 26 vs Delavan-Darien 64-40 (f23)
D3
Jackie Hauser, Whitehall 25 vs Melrose-Mindoro 58-43 (f21)
D4
Caitlin Flanigan, Siren 25 vs Solon Springs 56-42 (f23)
Lacy Laack, Wonewoc-Center 25, vs Brookwood 44-46 (f23)

MILESTONES
WI
Katie Mechling, Holmen reached the 1000 point mark. She is the second player in Holmen player to reach the mark.

Next up: Week ahead.

Thorpe + Soap Box

posting #2 2.27.2006

It is Monday, and that means Coach Thorpe has a few things to say:

I am sure most high school coaches would quickly admit that behind any successful high school program is a good feeder program. I know I was lucky at Osseo for all the hard working people donating their time and effort to help build a program.

What are just a couple of things I thought were important in a program??

First don’t cut the big kids!!!!!! A big lanky 7th grader is not going to be as coordinated as a smaller quick guard. At that level which kid is going to help you win?? The smaller quick and coordinated guard. It takes time for the bigger kids’ body to catch up with their coordination. I actually had kids that were cut or didn’t play much in traveling get Division 1 scholarships. I don’t know how many were cut and took up another activity where they get positive reinforcement and feel more comfortable. Emphasize to youth coaches to keep big kids!!

Second I liked to see kids play different positions. That bigger kid in 7th grade that plays with their back to the basket for 4 years but stops growing is not going to be an inside player in high school and certainly not college. It is difficult to make the transition from inside to the perimeter and face the basket. Allow kids at the younger level to do a variety of things and gain experience in different situations. I understand that all teams at all levels want to win. However the record at the lower level doesn’t always mean it is the best feeder program.

Well I need to get ready. I have a tee time I need to make. I was proud of myself yesterday. I skipped happy hour to honor a golf commitment. I shot a 40 for 9 holes. I may start selling my golf rookie card on eBay.

Hey Kevin. I am interested in the Merrimont Academy vs. Slippery Rock game in Wyoming. It’s only an 800 mile drive. Could you cover it next week?? I heard they have a good guard.
Dave Thorpe

Next up: later tonight with a backlog of papers

Guide to MN Post season

#1 posting 2.27.2006

The reason this is so late is that I have been having problems with the network. I started having problems Saturday night. And I had to take down one posting due to technical difficulties. Better late than never

POINT PARADE
MN
AAA
Tressa Beckel, Waseca 30 vs St. Clair 78-44 (f21)
AA
Katie Smith, Redwood Valley 28 vs Luverne 65-71 (f25)
Mindy Nieuwboer, Luverne 26 vs Redwood Valley 71-65 (f25)
A
Amy Kallemeyn, Edgerton 32 vs SW MN Christian 53-63 (f25)
Stephanie Roggenbuck, Osakis 29 vs Battle Lake 76-59 (f16)
Sarah Raddle, Fulda 28 vs Hills-Beaver Creek 66-57 (f25)
Sam Lynn, Adrian 28 vs SW Star 96-86, OT (f25)
Alisha Sethre, Ashby 26 vs Parkers Prairie 67-58 (f16)
Brittany Quistorff, Osakis 25 vs St. John’s Prep 82-30 (f16)
Sari Noga, Parkers Prairie 25 vs Ashby 58-67 (f16)
Jenna Snyder, SW MN Christian 25 vs Fulda 63-53 (f25)

MILESTONES
MN
Stephanie Roggenbuck, Osakis reached the 1000 point mark with 29 points in a 76-59 win over Battle Lake on F16. She is the fourth player from Osakis to reach the mark and the second on the current team joining Brittany Quistorff.

SEEDINGS
MN
2AAAA: 1. Hopkins; 2. Edina; 3. Chaska
8AAA: North: 1. Detroit Lakes; 2. Park Rapids: South: 1. Willmar; 2: Fergus Falls

A LOOK AT THE REGIONS
MN
I will give you a quick run down of the regions… who should breeze through, who has rough sledding, who is dangerous at what seed. It should be an interesting two weeks leading up to the state tournament. Any thing can happen. I remember back in the early ‘80’s on the boys side Faribault was #1 in the state, undefeated and were upset by Red Wing a #16 seed in 1AA with either one or no wins on the year. So teams can not afford to overlook anyone.
Here we go:
AAAA
Easiest path to state: Roseville (4)
#1 on thin ice: Maple Grove (5) winning margin of +3
Dangerous #2: Bloomington Kennedy—defending champ
Dangerous #3: Tartan---two losses early, beat Hopkins once
Dangerous #4: Lakeville North---beat #1 Rosemount 50-46 last time they played.
Dangerous #5: Park-Cottage Grove---beat district rival Woodbury in latest match up 43-42
Dangerous #6: Blaine---state tournament entrant, in most every game; margin -0.84
Dangerous #7: Mounds View---plays district rival Irondale, lost by 9 before, but it is a rivalry game
#8 no so dangerous
AAA
Easiest path to state: Marshall, beat Worthington by average of 20 both times they played
#1 on thin ice: DeLaSalle---against the better teams margin is +1.6
Dangerous #2: Willmar (if you count Detroit Lakes #1)
Dangerous #3; Holy Angels on a roll in new year. Margin 24.4 since J1
Dangerous #4: Fergus Falls—same principle as Willmar
Dangerous #5 Mpls North---been to state every year since 1997
Dangerous #6 Mahtomedi---just beat Hill-Murray 59-53
Not so dangerous #7
Dangerous #8 Lakeville South---plays in Lake conference against AAAA teams all year.
AA
Easiest path to state: Albany
#1 on thin ice: Benson (3AA South) margin +3.9
Dangerous #2: Rochester Lourdes---defending champ
A
Easiest path to state: Elgin-Millville---plays in AA conference, defending state champs
#1 on thin ice: Badger-Greenbush-Middle River---lost last game to Warren-Alvarado-Oslo before playoffs

Next up Thorpe on a soap box

More MN Seedings

#8 posting 2.26.2006

OK I found these seedings for MN and I didn't want to put it up in the morning (I have more info in the morning)
MN
7A South: 1. Barnum; 2. Cotton; 3. Wrenshall
7A North: 1. Chisholm; 2. Littlefork-Big Falls; 3. Mt. Iron-Buhl
7AA West: 1. Crosby-Ironton; 2. Deer River; 3. Pequot Lakes
7AA East: 1. Esko; 2. Proctor; 3. Two Harbors
3AAA: 1. DeLaSalle; 2. Hill-Murray; 3. Holy Angels
5AAA: 1. Benilde-St. Margaret's; 2. Waconia; 3. Orono
5AAAA: 1. Maple Grove; 2. Irondale; 3. Wayzata
6AAAA: 1. Mpls South; 2. Blm Kennedy; 3. Eastview
8AAAA: 1. St. Cloud Tech; 2. Moorhead; 3. Bemidji

Ok Next up Monday AM

MCCC/3A South revisited

#7 posting 2.26.2006

MCCC /3A South Revisited

First we will look at the teams, then the individuals on this busy weekend.

MCCC
Top at pp100
Ridgewater 98.6
Rochester 97.5
Minneapolis 90.5
Itasca 88.5
Rainy River 81.9
Hibbing 70.6
Mesabi Range 70
MN West 66.7

Floor %
Ridgewater .473
Rochester .450
Itasca .448
Minneapolis .432
Rainy River .361
Mesabi Range .338
Hibbing .320
MN West .310

3A South
pp100
Adrian 129.7
SW Star 114.6
SW MN Christian 100
Murray Co Central 98.5
Fulda 88
Edgerton 84.1
Hills-Beaver Creek 76
SVRLB 56.1

Floor %
Adrian .649
SW Star .520
SW MN Christian .492
Murray Co Central .478
Edgerton .429
Fulda .400
HBC .333
SVRLB .303

Looking at the numbers the top numbers at the JUCO level may be due to the shot clock and longer games. JUCO teams really push the ball compared to the class A ball. More mistakes are bound to happen at that point.

Top Individuals (limited to 15 possessions)
JUCO
Ward, Rainy River 126.7
Owens, Minneapolis 111.1
Billiet 94.7
Virkus, Itasca 94.1
Bents, MN West 93.3
If you add 10 possessions
Gladis, Rochester 130
Fitzgerald, Rochester 100
Munson, Ridgewater 100

3A South (again 15 possessions)
Hussong, SW Star 158.3
Sarah Raddle, Fulda 155.6
Henkels, SW Star 123.5
Snyder, SW MN Christian 120
Fransman, HBC 111.1
Brooke DeWall, SW Star 111.1
If you add 10 possession players
Erica Their, Adrian 188.9
Emily Bose, MCC 181.8
Katlin Wiertsema, Adrian 140

Again the numbers aren't as high in JUCO. That may be due to more aggressive defense, faster paced games.
The 3A players (all from the Red Rock conference) stack up pretty well with the Valley. According to the numbers the 3A South has better numbers than the Vally and the MCAA teams and players. The odd thing is the 3 players from SW Star made the top numbers. Adrian had players in the high numbers, but they did not have the 15 possession mark. Also you may notice some big point number players (Sam Lynn, Amy Kallemeyn) did not show up in the pp100. Both players were just a tad out of the money with Lynn at 103.7, and Kallemeyn 107.1. Both are money players, but were not as effective as the others on this day.

Also I am sorry I was unable to attended the MCCC finals in Willmar. I had family over this afternoon, and, quite frankly I am pretty tired and the heart of the tournaments are coming up.
I enjoyed going to the games, but I need my rest. My wife insists.

Next up tomorrow morning with a look ahead at the tournaments.

Out & About: SW MN Christian/Edgerton

#6 posting 2.26.2006

3A South Quarterfinals
#3 SW MN Christian 63, #6 Edgerton 53

This was the battle of Edgerton…a rivalry game. At times I thought the game was over, but Edgerton put up a spirited fight before SW pulled away at the end.

This game started off like the first game with SWC going up 16-4 early on. Jenna Snyder put up 10 of those points as she started off ready to play. Edgerton had a 0/6 string at this point. Amy Kallemeyn had 10 of Edgerton’s 12 points. Edgerton closed the gap to 16-12. SWC had their own 0/6 dry spell at this point. Late in the half SWC had a 7 possession string for a 13-5 run. Snyder provided six during this stretch with her defense on steals and transition. SWC led at half 32-22.

SWC pused the lead up to 44-30 with 12 minutes left. From that point Edgerton went on a 18-7 run to cut the lead to 51-48 with four minutes left. Leading the charge was Kallemeyn with 14 points. She was dropping shots from the right baseline and from the free throw elbow. SWC put the stop to that run and started their own with a 12-5 run. SWC will now take on Fulda.

Height Matters: SWC 5-8.6, Edgerton 5-8.4
Department of Defense: 2/3 for both to start.

SWC Player Evaluations
Starters
Jenna Snyder 24, 20, 120.0, .550 Good energy throughout the game. Came out focused. Aggressive. Active defensively RF: size post HS
Katie Vis 3, 4, 75.0, .250 made a three. RF: strength
Kelsey Van Dyke 15, 10, 150.0, .800 strong inside presence. Young. Active on boards. RF: free throw consistency.
Tiffany Van’t Hof 8, 11, 72.7, .455 strong RF: size post HS
Rebecca Schelhaas 6, 4, 150.0, .750 decent frame: RF: quickness
Bench
Darci Vander Woude 6, 6, 100.0, .500
Kayla Kreun 0, 4, 0.0, .000
Jennifer Lubben 0, 3, 0.0, .000

Edgerton Player Evaluations
Starters
Alexa Vanden Bosch 2, 8, 25.0, .125
Kelly Vanderstoep 10, 10, 100.0, .500 point guard. RF: quicker decisions,
Katie Hadler 1, 7, 14.3, .143
Heather Van Kley 10, 6, 166.7, .833 another big body. Decent enough shot. RF: needs more aggressive attitude. Quicker movements. It will depend on if she will work in the off season.
Amy Kallemeyn 30, 28, 107.1, .571 main event. Can shoot from 12 feet out. Nice touch, big time pressure on her and she delivers. RF: free throws could be better. Needs strength post HS, but has frame for big things.
Bench
Maricia Pick 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Kelly Kooiman 0, 3, 0.0, .000
Trench: Jenna Snyder

BY THE NUMBERS
SW MN Christian 63, 63, 100.0, .492
Edgerton 53, 63, 84.1, .429
Bench: SWC 6, Edgerton 0
Made Free throws: SWC 12, Edgerton 12

SWC had better depth, but the guard play was much better than Edgerton's

Next up: recap of the 3A South event

Out & About: Fulda/Hills-Beaver Creek

#5 posting 2.26.2006

3A South Quarterfinals
#2 Fulda 66, #10 Hills-Beaver Creek 57

This was a three fest with 18 threes made in the game. HBC won the 3 fest with 10 to Fulda’s 8. Two players proved to be superior target shooters with six 3s—Karri Fransman, of HBC and Sarah Raddle of Fulda.

The game opened with a 3 by Chelsi Fink of HBC. They pushed the lead up to 5-0 before Fulda went on a four possession string and 8-0 run to go up 8-5. During this phase HBC was on an 0/6 run. The game was tied at 10, and 12. Fulda pushed the lead out to 20-14 as HBC was on another drought of 0/7. They snapped out of it with two 3s and the game was tied again at 20. Sam Raddle popped a 3 for Fulda to regain that lead. HBC went on another dry run of 0/8. So the string if combined was 0/21. The half ended on a three by HBC’s Fransman for a 28-25 lead for Fulda.

Fulda grabbed a 38-32 lead early. HBC put together a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 40-39 Fulda. Again Fulda pulled away for a 44-39 lead. Karri Fransman put in two more 3s for an HBC lead for the first time of the night 45-44. HBC’s biggest lead came at 47-44, a 3 by Sarah Raddle tied it at 47. She wasn’t done as she drained another 3 to put Fulda back in the lead for good at 50. HBC’s last gasp was provided by Chelsi Fink’s 3 to tie it at 50 with six minutes to go. Sarah Raddle answered with a regular old two pointer, but Fulda held the lead the rest of the night as they closed with a 12-6 run. From the 47 tie Sarah Raddle knocked down 17 points for Fulda.

Height Matters: Fulda 5-9.8, HBC 5-5.6
Department of defense: HBC 2/3, Fulda 2/3; man pressure full court

Again most everyone needs to get stronger so I’m not going to be tedious on that.
Player, points, pp100, floor %
Fulda Player Evaluations
Starters
Sam Raddle 12, 12, 100.0, .417 provided the other two 3s for Fulda. Point guard.
Kaitlyn Kramer 8, 12, 66.7, .333 played the high post, came out to face. Moves well. Can play despite having off night. RF: not best shooting night. Looking for consistency.
Nicole Gunderman 6, 7, 85.7, .429
Chelsey Speckmeier 3, 11, 27.3, .182
Laura Kramer 5, 9, 55.6, .333 big body. RF: stronger… oops I said I wasn’t going to say it.
Bench
Sarah Raddle 28, 18, 155.6, .611 scored 20 points in second half and during crunch time provided 17. Money shooter. Coming back after foot problems earlier in the year. She would not be on the bench if she was healthy all year. I think she may be ok now. RF:
Brittany Goedtke 2, 3, 66.7, .333
Mandy Gunderman 2, 3, 66.7, .333

HBC Player Evaluations
Starters
Stacy Bush 5, 9, 55.6, .333 RF: ball handling/decisions
Kari Roozenboom 4, 6, 66.7, .500 RF: passing/ball handling
Karri Fransman 20, 18, 111.1, .389 3 point bomber. RF: needs to develop move with ball when guarded
Chelsi Fink 18, 23, 78.3, .348 aggressive, point guard, can drop 3s. take the ball hard to the glass. RF: ball handling against pressure. Favors the spin to bad ends. Decisions. vision when dribbling
Amanda Tilstra 2, 4, 50.0, .250
Bench
Brittany Helgeson 6, 12, 50.0, .167
Jocelyn Bucher 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Trench player: Sarah Raddle

BY THE NUMBERS
Fulda 66, 75, 88.0, .400
HBC 57, 75, 76.0, .333
Bench: Fulda 32, HBC 8.
Made Free throws: Fulda 5, HBC 5. Neither team aggressive to the glass.
Neither team was ultra efficient in their offense, however they both can shoot outside with the best of them.

Next up SW MN Christian/Edgerton

Out & About: Adrian/SW Star

#4 posting 2.26.2006

3A South Quarterfinals
#5 Adrian 96, #4 SW Star 86, OT

This was the only “upset” where a lower seeded team knocked off a higher ranked team. It was a game that had everything, comebacks, rallys, lead changes, white knuckled shots, clutch possessions. And efficient offense. Both teams smashed the records of the games I have been charting. This was the antithesis of the first game.

Brooke DeWall of SW Star scored the first six points for her school as they build up a 16-8 lead. Closing off the run was Shannon Hussong with 8 points, 6 on two 3s. But Adrian had just started what would turn out to be a seven possession string as they outscored SW Star 14-9. Adrian took the lead with Sam Lynn’s two free throws at 20-19. There were 9 lead changes and six ties including heading into halftime at 38. At one point in the half there was eight scoring possessions in a row switching off between each team. Adrian put together a six possession string of their own during this time. Dominating the scoring early for SW Star was Brooke DeWall with 16 points in the half.

Erica Thien of Adrian opened the scoring in the second half with a three 41-38. They maintained the lead but Linnea Henkels tied it with her own 3 from the top to tie the game at 43. Erica Thien answered right away with another 3 from the left corner. The Dragons would maintain that lead until 2:32 left in the half. Adrian’s biggest lead came at 65-54 with 8:36 to go when Kelsey Tjepkes made the front end of a free throw, missed the second, Erica Thien rebounded and the ball would work its way back to the sharpshooter as she dropped a three. At this point SW Star began a 19-7 run as they took the lead at 73-72 with Linnea Henkels two free throws. SW Star relied on the three during the comeback with Shannon Hussong, Sydney Place, and Whitney Pelzel all dialing long distance. Adrian regained the lead momentarily with Sam Lynn’s drive. Hussong found the range again with a three from the left side to make it 76-74 SW Star. Whitney Place added one free throw 77-74 with 1:11 left. Katlin Wiertsema scored off the block with 33.3 seconds left 77-76. Brooke DeWall put one free throw through with 21 seconds left 78-76. A missed drive by Lynn, a rebound by DeWall and foul with 4.6 seconds left put DeWall at the line again. SW Star took a time out. DeWall made her first, missed her second. Brittany Bullerman got the rebound for Adrian and a time out was called. Adrian had practiced such a situation the day before according to the coaches. They discussed how much time it would take and it was decided no passes after it was inbounded would work. Sam Lynn got the ball took a dribble to mid court and let it rip. It dropped in and the game was tied again. This time at 79.

That made three reinvigorated Adrian, and deflated SW Star. They were hurt by having Adri Rasche out with fouls. She fouled out with 10:30 to go in regulation. SW Star won the tip, but Hussong’s drive did not connect and Wiertsema rebounded and was fouled for Adrian. That would start a 10 possession string by Adrian with 17 made free throws. The Dragons would only attempt one shot in overtime and that was a three, but they got the offensive board to keep the possession. SW Star had four possessions without scoring. Adrian won 96-86. It was coach Randy Strand’s 300th career win.

Height Matters: SW Star 5-9.6, Adrian 5-7.2
Department of Defense: 2/3.

Adrian Player Evaluations
Starters
Emily Their 8, 5, 160.0, .800
Sam Lynn 28, 27, 103.7, .556 aggressive, not afraid to shoot, looks to drive, point guard, money shooter. RF: time and score situations.
Kayla Bullerman 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Brittany Bullerman 16, 15, 106.7, .667 worked inside, good positioning, RF: size post HS.
Katlin Wiertsema 14, 10, 140.0, .714 good rebounder, holds position, finds a way to score against bigger kids. RF: size post HS, but still young may grow.
Bench
Kelsey Tjepkes 5, 2, 250.0, 1.000
Jolene Residorfer 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Erica Their 17, 9, 188.9, .667 lefty, made 5 3s on the day, four in the second half.

SW Star
Starters
Shannon Hussong 19, 12, 158.3, .583 point guard, nice 3 shooter as she made five. Good decisions. RF: I would like to see more penetration, driving
Linnea Henkels 21, 17, 123.5, .588 strong second half with 15 points. Can hit 3. was the penetrator. RF: size post HS
Brooke DeWall 20, 18, 111.1, .611 hot early with 16 first half points. RF: thin, needs weight training.
Whitney Place 9, 9, 100.0, .444 another decent shooter. RF: strength
Adri Rasche 2, 4, 50.0, .250 RF: foul trouble=foot/movement on defense. Over the back
Bench
Whitney Pelzel 6, 3, 200.0, .667
Cali Mischke 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Sydney Place 9, 9, 100.0, .556
Breanna Rients 0, 3, 0.0, .000
Trench player: Lynn for money 3, money free throws

BY THE NUMBERS
Team, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
Adrian 96, 74, 129.7, .649
SW Star 86, 39, 114.6, .520
If we look at just regulation
Adrian 79, 64, 123.4, .594
SW Star 79, 64, 123.4, .563
In other words this was a special offensive show put on by both teams. Adrian has the new bench mark in pp100 and floor %. Both teams played within themselves. However Adrian did a better job of attacking the basket against the bigger SW Star team. SW Star had nice shooters, but never drew Adrian into foul problems like was done to them.
Bench: Adrian 24, SW Star 15
Made free throw: Adrian 34, SW Star 9. remember that 17 of Adrian’s free throws came in OT. Still it was almost a 2 to 1 margin for Adrian in made free throws. They were more aggressive in attacking the basket.
Earlier you read about Coach Schnaible and his work with the post players. It showed in the play of Bullerman and Wiertsema. They were able to score, draw fouls, and get position all day.

Next up Fulda/Hills-Beaver Creek

Out & About: Murray Co Central/SVRLB

#3 posting 2.26.2006

3A South Quarterfinals
#1 Murray Co Central 66, SVRLB 37

The first game of the day was over quickly as MCC jumped out to a 12-0 lead and never looked back. MCC had a five possession string where six different players scored. One possession Jenny Starken made the first free throw, missed the second, and Danielle Gengler rebounded and was fouled. She made a free throw as well on the same possession. SVRLB was 0/7 to start the game, 0/8 in the middle of the half. MCC caught the same bug as they were 0/6 during SVRLB’s second drought. All in all there were 13 straight possessions by both teams where no one scored. That doesn’t make for great fan viewing. MCC led at half 29-9.

The second half was more of the same. SVRLB started off cold again 0/7. MCC pushed the lead to 36-11. The only thing that kept my attention during this blow out was the play of 8th grade center Emily Bose. She scored five straight times (not possessions mind you) with 10 points. MCC subbed freely and won 66-37.

Height matters: MCC 5-7.2; SVRLB 5-6.6
Department of Defense: MCC man & press full court; SVRLB 2/3 to start

A word on these evaluations. Most all players need to get stronger, and are outsized. I’m going to talk about a few. Both teams ball handling/decision making need improvement.

Player, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
Murray County Central Player Evaluations
Starters
Laura Beers 3, 3, 100.0, .333
Jenny Starken 3, 6, 50.0,. .333
Emily Counter 5, 6, 83.3, .333
Janeane Robinson 11, 10, 110.0, .500 scored on drives and transition. RF; size
Rachel Christiansen 6, 10, 60.0, .300 Decent frame, the focus of the defense. Strong rebounder. RF: did not dominate scoring even if it is a structured defense against her. Needs to take no prisoners
Bench
Danielle Gengler 4, 5, 80.0, .600 decent size for HS inside.
Emily Bose 20, 11, 181.8, .909 8th grader. Good size, nice hands, nice touch. Good feet. Slowly working way into lineup. Good potential, will dominate in the future at this level. One to keep an eye on. RF: missed more free throws. I’m sure this will be corrected in four years. SVRLB players lost her, so some points came pretty easily
Michelle Ellefson 6, 4, 150.0, .750
Brooke Manderscheid 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Emmalee Anderson 5, 4, 125.0, .750
Caitlyn Peterson 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000
Renee Felber 1, 2, 50.0, .500
Erin Spartz 0, 2, 0.0, .000

Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster Player Evaluations
Starters
Kelli Correll 2, 11, 18.2, .091
Molly Eichenberger 5, 8, 62.5, .250
Amanda Evans 13, 15, 86.7, .400
Rachel Wilson 2, 7, 28.6, .286
Kelly Weinandt 2, 5, 40.0, .200
Bench
#24 0, 1, 0.0, .000
#44 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Sarah Schmitz 4, 8, 50.0, .250
Gabby Cross 2, 3, 66.7, .333
Amanda Baumgarn 4, 4, 100.0, .500
Krystle Doeden 1, 1, 100.0, 1.000
Elly Schmitz 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Trench player: Emily Bose

BY THE NUMBERS
Team, points, possessions, floor %
MCC 66, 67, 98.5, .478
SVRLB 37, 66, 56.1, .303
Bench: MCC 38, SVRLB 13
Made Free throws MCC 11, SVRLB 10
Obviously the MCC had superior players all the way down the line up. FT did not make difference.

Next up: Adrian/SW Star

Iowa State Set

#2 posting 2.26.2006

Sorry this has been delayed. I think either there is a network problem or my computer is very slow.

POINT PARADE
IA
3A
Shellie Mosman, Carroll 27 vs Carroll Kuemper 50-57
1A
Sofia Iwobi, Fairfield Maharishi 49 vs Highland 78-75 3ot
Rachel Yeggy, Highland 46 vs Fairfield Maharishi 75-78 3ot
Margo Muhlbauer, IKM 28 vs Ar-We-Va 70-60

MN
AAAA
Tayler Hill, Mpls South 29 vs St. Paul Central 80-72
Theiarra Taylor, St. Paul Como Park 26 vs White Bear Lake 52-69
A
Cayla Collison, Verndale 25 vs Swanville 96-40 (f24)

NEB
B
Katie Frank, South South City 25 vs Elkhorn 63-62 (f24)

ND
A
Maggie Olsen, Fargo North 25 vs Valley City 67-47

WI
D1
Lindsey LaBadie, Burlington 30 vs Wilmot 57-62
Amanda Gibson, Lakeland 27 vs Merrill 48-62
Denise Heuser, Pulaski 26 vs Bay Port 43-50
Kayleigh White, Oak Creek 25 vs South Milwaukee 50-35

BUZZER BEATERS
MN
Julia Hirssig, Rochester Mayo scored with three seconds left in a 46-44 win over Rochester John Marshall F24

MILESTONES
MN
Randy Strand, Adrian picked up career win #300 in a 3A South quarterfinal overtime win over Southwest Star 96-86.
Kali Olstad, Elgin-Millville now owns the state all time record for made 3s with four more in a 63-23 win over LeRoy-Ostrander in the 1A East quarterfinals. She now has 350 which breaks the old boys or girls record of 349 set by Ryan Giehler of Bigork in 1994.
WI
Julie Wojta, Mishicot reached the 1000 point mark with 19 in a 64-49 win over Manitowoc Lutheran. She is the second to reach the mark from Mishicot.

ILLINOIS A FINALS
Hillsboro 44, Okawville 43
For those of you not familiar… the semifinals are held Saturday morning, the finals Saturday night. Not a lot of prep or rest.

REGION/DISTRICT FINALS
IA
4A
Dowling Catholic 41, Ankeny 35—Ankeny 4 time defending champ
Johnston 38, Valley 32----first trip to state in 71 years for Johnston
Des Moines Roosevelt 41, Des Moines Hoover 35
Sioux City North 68, Fort Dodge 39
Linn-Mar 59, Cedar Falls 49
Cedar Rapids Washington 67, Bettendorf 51
Cedar Rapids Prairie 54, Ottumwa 46
Cedar Rapids Jefferson 56, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 54
3A
Ballard 47, Pella 44
Carroll Kuemper 57, Carroll 50
Cedar Rapids Xavier 46, Dubuque Wahlert 45
Spirit Lake 56, Cherokee 53
Williamsburg 44, Fairfield 42----first trip to state for Williamsburg
2A
Audubon 61, Red Oak 52
Battle Creek-Ida Grove 54, Sioux Center 42
North Butler 46, Clarion-Goldfield 34
Tipton 50, Bellevue 40
1A
Central Decatur 60, Murray 59, 3OT
Fairfield Maharishi 78, Highland 75, 3OT
IKM 70, Ar-We-Va 60

SD
16B Harding County 38, Faith 33

WI
Mishicot 64, Manitowoc Lutheran 44
Ozaukee 36, Oostburg 27---Oostburg was #1 in state
Luxemburg-Casco 64, Sturgeon Bay 52
Bay Port 50, Pulaski 43

WY
2A NE: Tongue River 56, Moorcroft 30

SEEDINGS
MN
6AAA: 1. Rogers; 2. North Branch; 3. Spring Lake Park

STATE TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS
IA
Monday March 6
1A Quarters
10 am IKM vs Southeast Webster-Grand
11:30 am Twin River Valley vs Central Decatur
1 pm Charter Oak-Ute vs Postville
2:30 pm Treynor vs Fairfield Maharishi
2A Quarters
6:30 pm North Butler vs Tipton
8 pm AGWSR vs Solon
Tuesday March 7
10 am Battle Creek-Ida Grove vs Wapsie Valley
11:30 am Audubon vs Davenport Assumption
3A Quarters
1 pm Spirit Lake vs Cedar Rapids Xavier
2:30 Norwalk vs Decorah
6:30 pm Harlan vs Williamsburg
8 pm Carroll Kuemper vs Ballard
Wednesday March 8
4A Quarters
10 am Des Moines Roosevelt vs Linn-Mar
11:30 am CR Jefferson vs Dowling Catholic
1 pm Johnston vs CR Prairie
2:30 pm Sioux City North vs CR Washington

Next up I will be doing the 3A South games in detail.

Out & About: 3A South Quarterfinals

#1 posting 2.26.2006

Yesterday I went down to Worthington to see the 3A South Quarterfinal games. I tried posting last night when I got back around midnight, but there were some technical difficulties.

I used to coach the boys in Ellsworth and it was my first time in the Worthington gym since 1987 when we lost in the district 8 finals to Pipestone. I have many different folks I saw and visited with as I charted the games today--Dean Schnaible and Randy Strand of Adrian; Loren Carlson AD at Fulda--he is the uncle of a former player I coached (Dana Carlson, Ellsworth '86); John Schmidt who is a referee and worked the Adrian/Southwest Star game; Gregg Slaathaug Fulda coach; Randy Butson, former Edgerton boys and girls basketball coach. I didn't get a chance to visit with Cal Hoekstra, SW MN Christian girls coach and former boys coach; Don Kuiper, Worthington AD, and former girls basketball coach.

Well here are the results--details to follow tomorrow
#1 Murray County Central 66, #8 Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster 37----MCC’s Emily Bose, a 6-0, 2010, C had 20 points
#5 Adrian 96, #4 Southwest Star 86 Overtime----Sam Lynn made a half court shot to send it into overtime for Adrian. In OT Adrian made 17 points, all at the free throw line. This was coach Randy Strand’s 300th career win.
#2 Fulda 66, # 10 Hills-Beaver Creek 57----The game was tied at 50 as Fulda closed out the game with a 16-7 run. Sarah Raddle of Fulda notched 11 of those points. After the game it was revealed one of their Fulda classmates was killed in a car accident. She had a sister, and a couple of cousins on the team according to coach Slaathaug.
#3 Southwest MN Christian 63, #6 Edgerton 53---In the battle of Edgerton the private school won again. The game got as close as 51-48 as Amy Kallemeyn scored 12 straight for Edgerton, but SW MN Christian closed off the game with a 12-5 run with four different players contributing.

Next up tomorrow am with more details on these games, more information on Iowa region finals, Wisconsin section play, MN section play, the Twin City game, and the IL A Finals. Also I have a mountain of papers to digest, not to mention the fleshing out of the JUCO Tournament.

Notes from Florida

#1 posting 2.25.2006

POINT PARADE
FL
3A
Chaplin, St. Petersburg 31 vs Florida High 54-55

IL
A-state tournament
Kailey Klein, Spring Valley Hall 29 vs Flanagan 62-75
Hope Schulte, Hillsboro 29 vs Byron 55-41
Kelsie Laughlin, Flanagan 26 vs Spring Valley Hall 75-62

MN
AAAA
Breanna Salley, St. Francis 41 vs Cooper 68-46
Theairra Taylor, St. Paul Como Park 28 vs St. Paul Harding 69-56
AAA
Laura Nielsen, Willmar 28 vs Sauk Rapids 60-27
Heather Smith, Mahtomedi 27 vs Hill-Murray 59-53
Amy Storer, Hill-Murray 26 vs Mahtomedi 53-59
Chanica Hall, Benilde-St. Margaret's 25 vs Irondale 87-72
Jessica Miller, Holy Angels 25 vs Prior Lake 63-53

NEB
B
Katie Frank, South Sioux City 25 vs Elkhorn 63-62

SD
A
Jade Jorgenson, Hamlin 25 vs Clark 69-48 3A Final
B
Katelynn Lamb, Sully Buttes 29 vs Hoven 87-43 6B Final

WI
D2
Lin Zastrow, Jefferson 33 vs Columbus 49-40 (f23)

BUZZER BEATERS
MN
Krista Opheim, Eden Valley-Watkins made a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left, and then made a key steal to preserve a 52-51 win over Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted.

INJURY UPDATE
MN
Caitlin Rowland, Hopkins returned to action and helped beat Edina 49-44

GAMES OF NOTE
SD
Trisha Ollerich, Baltic scored 24 points, including 6 3s to beat Colman-Egan 58-52 in the 7B Finals.

ILLINOIS STATE A TOURNAMENT
Flanagan 75, Spring Valley Hall 62
Carthage 62, Walther Lutheran 46
Hillsboro 55, Byron 41
Okawville 63, Massac County 45

IOWA REGION FINALS
3A
Harlan 63, Sioux City Heelan 36
Decorah 46, Waukon 45
Norwalk 36, Knoxville 30
2A
AGWSR 57, West Central Valley 43
Wapsie Valley 60, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 42
Solon 60, PCM 46
Davenport Assumption 66, Van Buren 38
1A
Treynor 67, Stanton 41
Twin River Valley 51, SCMT 34
Southeast Webster-Grand 53, Colo-Nesco 39
Charter Oak-Ute 59, Akron-Westfield 55
Postville 56, Clinton Prince of Peace 46

SEEDINGS
MN
5AA South: 1. Watertown-Mayer; 2. Norwood-Young America; 3. Glencoe-Silver Lake
6AA East: 1. Foley, 2. Pierz, 3. Braham
4AAA: 1. St. Michael-Albertville; 2. Becker; 3. Monticello
ND
Eastern Dakota Conference tournament @ Grand Forks Alerus Center M2, 3, 4
1. West Fargo; 2. Fargo South; 3. Grand Forks Red River

TODAYS EVENTS
Florida State Finals (Girls)
2A Tallahassee North Florida Christian (28-2) vs First Academy(29-2)
4A Titusville Astronaut(28-2) vrs Bishop Moore(28-3)
6A Miami Norland(25-5) vs Lake Mary (27-3).

THORPE'S NOTES ON FLORIDA ACTION
The top ranked team in 4A has a 6 foot 5 inch Stephanie Sarosi. She is big and powerful. They also have a good guard in La Qjinta Curry who is 6 foot 0 inches.
Stopping Sarosi(15.8 points, 9.0 rebounds) will fall largely on the shoulders of Alex Zamora a 6 foot 2 indch junior and Christine Silva a 6 foot junior.
Zamora and Sarosi played on the same AAU team.
Finals from Friday
5A Barron Collier 43, Winter Haven 36 .
Barron Jacob 11, Assarian 8 Winter Haven Hayes 13, A Smith 10
3 A Florida High 55, St Petersburg 54
Florida: Warner 13, Christie 12, Raffington 11; St Pete--- Chaplin 31
1A Shekinah 67 Sarasota Chr 38
Shekinah--- Rountree 19, Briggs 15 , Sarastota: Hochstatler 16

next up later tonight: I'm headed to Worthington, but leaving the computer behind. I hope to be back before 11 pm

Out & About: Itasca/MN West

#5 posting 2.24.2006

Game #4 MCCC Tournament
Itasca 77, MN West 58

I'll make this short and sweet since they are closing shop. Itasca led at half 32-30. They went on a 12-0 run to start the second half. MN West had a 0/12 drought stretching back to the first half. The press really got to MN West early in the second half. They burned three time outs in the first 2:10 of the second half. Itsaca never was seriously challenged after that.

You'll get the player evaluations later
Itasca Player Evaluations
Starters
Cary Zimmer 10, 11, 90.9, .455
Joslin Geisler 15, 17, 88.2, .471
Tarah Geisler 17, 26, 65.4, .346
Amy Fiala 5, 6, 83.3, .333
Kari Virkus 16, 17, 94.1, .529
Bench
Katie Kasper 4, 4, 100.0, .500
Chelsea Geisler 9, 5, 180.0, 1.000
Kelly Zavodnik 0, 1, 0.0, .000

MN West
Starters
Jitara Brame 0, 5, 0.0, .000
Katie Dekker 13, 18, 72.2, .333
Laura Bents 14, 15, 93.3, .467
Krista Beek 11, 17, 64.7, .353
Brittany Williams 5, 10, 50.0, .200
Bench
Taryn Jansen 4, 8, 50.0, .250
Nyreshia Davis 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000
Amanda Nash 0, 5, 0.0, .000
Paige Bergeland 7, 5, 140.0, .600
Katie Soderholm 2, 2, 100.0, .500


BY THE NUMBERS
Itasca 77, 87, 88.5, .448
MN West 58, 87, 66.7, .310
There were turnovers like pin ball in this contest. Neither team was extremely sharp.

Sorry this is short, but I need to get back home too.
Check back later (like Sunday) for full detail. I'm planning on being in Worthington tomorrow for the 3A South quarterfinals.

Next up tomorrow am.

Out & About: Ridgewater/Rainy River

#4 posting 2.24.2006

Game #3 MCCC Tournament
Ridgewater 73, Rainy River 59

This is going to be brief. They are closing up shop.

Ridgewater went on a 13-2 run after being tied at 47 to take command of the game. Ridgewater was aggressive on the boards--sometimes getting four cracks at a basket. They played a physical style that took it's toll

Ridgewater Player Evaluations
Starters
Kayla Karnes 7, 7, 100.0, .429
Jenny Cunningham 17, 14, 121.4, .571
Terra Billiet 18, 19, 94.7, .526
Katie Johnson 7, 10, 70.0, .300
Jaime Munson 13, 13, 100.0, .385
Bench
Ashley Olson 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000
Sarah Primus 6, 5, 120.0, .600
Amy Ballard 0, 2, 0.0, .000
Melissa Sterkel 3, 3, 100.0, .667

Rainy River Player Evaluations
Starters
Linsey Roppe 0, 6, 0.0, .000
Randi Cool 13, 21, 61.9, .286
Ashley Lubbers 6, 4, 150.0, .750
Tiffany Ward 19, 15, 126.7, .467
Michelle Cheney 13, 16, 81.3, .438
Bench
Tara Boos 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Melissa Hargrove 8, 8, 100.0, .375
Melissa Hams 0, 1, 0.0, .000

BY THE NUMBERS
Ridgewater 73, 74, 98.6, .473
Rainy River 59, 72, 81.9, .361
Bench: Ridgewater 11, Rainy River 8

Next up the Itasca/MN West game

Out & About: Rochester/Mesabi Range

#3 posting 2.24.2006

Game # 2 at the MCCC State Tournament

Rochester 78, Mesabi Range 56

Rochester led right from the start in a battle between the #3 South (Rochester) and #2 North (Mesabi). The only tie in this game was at 2. Again the South took the contest. Rochester did so on the basis of their sharper, quicker passing. They led 15-4 early on, and led 38-20 at half.

In the second half it was more of the same as Rochester kept adding to their lead. Roch put together an 8 possession string and 9/10 where they went on a 17-9 run and put the game out of reach 66-36. Roch ran the secondary break often during this stretch as their athleticism and crispness would beat Mesabi down court most of the time. Jessica O'Leary was doing quite a bit of the damage at this point with 8 of the points during the run. Rochester subbed freely and the final was 78-56.

Rochester will take on Minneapolis tomorrow at 6 pm in the semis.

Rochester Player Evaluations
Starters
Rachel Tews 10, 12, 83.3, .333
Jenna Maggert 3, 6, 50.0, .167
Rebekah Fitzgerald 10, 10, 100.0, .500
Katy Schlicker 12, 9, 133.3, .556
Brittany Gladis 17, 13, 130.8, .615
Bench
Jessica O'Leary 16, 9, 177.8, .889 x
Chelsea Jajowka 7, 6, 116.7, .500
Megan Linbo 2, 4, 50.0, .250
Breanna Streu 4, 4, 100.0, .500
Katie Krominga 2, 7, 28.6, .143

Mesabi Range Player Evaluations
Starters
Breann Stottler 7, 11, 63.6, .273
Elissa Holst 8, 8, 100.0, .500
Jenna Norman 19, 23, 82.6, .435
Ashley St. Arnold 6, 10, 60.0, .300
Liz Switzer 2, 5, 40.0, .200
Bench
Sara Oliver 5, 10, 50.0, .200
Laura Vake 4, 9, 44.4, .111
Annie Greenwood 4, 4, 100.0, .500

BY THE NUMBERS
Rochester 78, 80, 97.5, .450
Mesabi 56, 80, 70.0, .338
Bench: Rochester 31, Mesabi 13

Sorry for the rush jobs on these, I will flesh them out later. Right now I need to get ready for the 6 pm game and eat.

Next up after the two evening games from Willmar.

Out & About: Minneapolis/Hibbing

#2 posting 2.24.2006

This is my first foray into remote blogging. I brought my computer with to Ridgewater CC in Willmar, site of the MCCC State Tournament (MN Junior College)

First Game
Minneapolis 67, Hibbing 53

I will just give a thumb nail: Hibbing led early 6-0, but eventually the speed, athleticism would wear them out as Minneapolis. Hibbing was competitive and in the game the first half as they led 28-29 at the break

They extended that lead to 31-28 on the first possession of the second half, but with Hibbing up 34-32 at the 15:05 mark Mpls went on a six possession scoring string and 14-2 run to take command. Leading the way for Mpls was Shakira Owens who had 12 of those points--six points on two 3s, and six on three cherry picking layups. With the score 45-40 Mpls. again the Mauraders went on a tear. Again it was a six possession scoring string and a 12-0 run. Doing the most damage at this point was Lakita Davis with 8 points, 6 of which came on put backs. At this point Mpls lead 57-40 and was not seriously challenged the rest of the way.

Minneapolis Player Evaluations
Starters
Gabriella Gustafson 12, 11, 109.1, .545
Shakira Owens 20, 18, 111.1, .500
Gwen Young 8, 7, 114.3, .571 x
Jayme Young 0, 4, 0.0, .000
Lakita Davis 10, 9, 111.1, .556
Bench
Amy Kelvie 8, 10, 80.0, .400
Huldah Omesa 8, 11, 72.7, .364
LaVera Jeffrie 4, 3, 133.3, .667

Hibbing Player Evaluations
Starters
Lacey Clark 12, 16, 75.0, .375
Stephanie Morrisette 9, 12, 75.0, .250
Marie Anderson 9, 16, 56.3, .313
Amanda Adams 7, 9, 77.8, .444
Kelly Ramsdell 10, 13, 76.9, .538
Bench
Ashlee Strandberg 0, 3, 0.0, .000
Kristin Paine 0, 4, 0.0, .000
Kristina Keller 2, 2, 100.0, .500

BY THE NUMBERS
Minneapolis 67, 74, 90.5, .432
Hibbing 53, 75, 70.6, .320
Bench: Mpls 20, Hibbing 2

Note I will have to flesh these stories out later. The next game is coming at 6 pm
Next up an abbrievated synopsis of Rochester/Mesabi Range

ND B Tournament Set, Trinity beats #1 Fenwick

#1 Posting 2.24.2006

POINT PARADE
IL
AA
Andrea Downs, Chicago Harlan 30 vs Chicago Simeon 60-52
Jennnifer Juergens, Kankakee Bishop McNamara 27 vs Bloomington 64-29
Ashley Thomas, Moline 26 vs Washington 64-47

MN
AAAA
Tayler Hill, Mpls South 29 vs Mpls North 80-56
Tanya Dickey, White Bear Lake 27 vs Mounds View 67-62 (f21)
AAA
Jessica Miller, Holy Angels 33 vs Orono 74-61
Patrice Thomas, Mpls Washburn 29 vs Edison 74-31
A
Kelsey Jacobson, Barnesville 32 (10 3s) vs West Central 72-52
Leah Ashburn, Buffalo Lake-Hector 29 vs Sleepy Eye 51-45
Chelsi Fink, Hills-Beaver Creek 26 vs Ellsworth 82-81 2OT
Megan Madigan, St. Bernard's 25 vs St. Paul Academy 44-58
Tomi McDonald, Ely 25 vs Orr 52-44
Amy Kallemeyn, Edgerton 25 vs WWG 63-33

WI
D3
Kristin Bauer, Florence 26 (8 3s) vs Pembine 62-42
D4
Christin Coles, Hustisford 28 vs Sheboygan Christian 47-33


BUZZER BEATERS
IL
Lykendra Johnson, Trinity made a three point play with five seconds left to beat #1 Fenwick 51-50
MN
Chelsi Fink, Hills-Beaver Creek made three free throws at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime and then provided a three pointer with five seconds left in the 82-81 double overtime win over Ellsworth.
ND
Caitlin Roe, Kindred made a shot with 5.5 seconds left in a 57-55 win over Maple Valley in the Region 1 finals.

GAMES OF NOTE
IL
Amanda Thompson, Chicago Young provided 21 points in a 45-40 win over Chicago Hope. It was a rematch of the City Championship game won by Young.

MILESTONES
IL
Jennifer Juergens, Kankakee Bishop McNamara went over the 2000 point mark during the season. This is the first time it is reported here.
Kim Ebbesen, Bartlett went over the 1000 point mark during the playoffs.
MN
Junior post player Jess Peterson surpassed the 900 point mark for her career with her 26 point 12 rebound effort in a win at Grand Rapids on Saturday Feb. 18th. The scoring outburst pushed Peterson to 2nd all time on the Chisago Lakes girls basketball all time scoring list. (Kari Schmidt is #1 with over 1400). Jess has scored 410 points this season averaging16.4ppg. She has also grabbed over 200 rebounds averaging 8.5 rpg
Maggie Slawson, Holy Angels went over the 1000 point mark with 16 points in a 74-61 win over Orono.

SEEDINGS
MN
4A West: 1. West Lutheran; 2. Mounds Park; 3. Christ's Household of Faith
8A East: 1. Red Lake County Central; 2. Clearbrook-Gonvick; 3. Fosston
8A West: 1. Badger-Greenbush-Middle River; 2. Kittson Central; 3. Northern

TOURNAMENT
ND
B RESULTS
1 Kindred 47, Maple Valley 45
2 Midway-Minto 38, Dakota Prairie 33
3 Linton 51, SDWT 44
4 Adams-Edmore 72, Four Winds-Warwick 55
5 New Salem 44, Bismarck Shiloh Christian 37
6 Bottineau 69, Minot Our Redeemer's 42
7 Dickinston Trinity 67, Richardton-Taylor 48
8 Watford City 56, New Salem 46
B STATE TOURNAMENT @ Minot M2, 3, 4
1 pm Midway-Minto vs Linton
2:30 pm New Salem vs Watford City
6:30 pm Bottineau vs Dickinson Trinity
8:00 pm Kindred vs Adams-Edmore

Next posting: sometime this afternoon. It will be my first remote posting away from home at the JUCO state tournament at Ridgewater CC in Willmar. That is if they have internet connections.

Out & About: Holy Angels/Orono

#3 posting 2.23.2006

Holy Angels 75, Orono 61

Holy Angels has been on a roll and they continued that roll at Orono Thursday. They now have won 14 in a row . I saw them early in the year when they had some bugs in the system. Those bugs are gone. They are playing with confidence and authority. They are averaging 72.7 since the new year, with a margin of 24.4. They will be a force to reckoned with in 3AAA.

Orono started off with the lead as Danielle Borg scored on a put back of a missed 3. In fact in the first three possessions (2 by HA and 1 by Orono) there were five missed 3s. Orono missed one, and HA missed four. You might be asking: How can you miss four 3s in two possessions? In Holy Angels' 2nd possession they missed three 3s. They got the rebound twice to keep their possession alive, but never connected. It did not matter. HA played their pace throughout the game. Orono either held the lead or was tied up to 15-13. Borg scored the first six points for Orono, twice on rebounds, once off a press lay up. Jessica Miller hit a three from the right corner to give HA the lead for the first time and they never relinquished it the rest of the night. This was in the middle of a six possession string of scores for HA as they went on a 13-2 run for a HA 22-15 lead. Orono scored six in a row to cut it to 22-21 but that was as close as it was going to be. HA had a 0/8 drought during this period. They regained their offensive eye and soon pushed the lead back out to 31-23. HA led at half 35-30.

In the second half Megan Milusenic made two free throws to close the gap to 35-32, but HA had too much fire power, too much quickness to be challenged. Miller dropped a 3 right after Milusenic made her free throws for a 38-32 lead. After the initial flury of the second half HA led 44-36. In the next flury HA added to their lead with a 10-5 run and 54-41 lead. Maggie Slawson made a three during this stretch and in doing so passed the 1000 point mark for her career. That was the first of two 3s in a row for HA as Miller on the next possession fired one in from the left side. Before Slawson's three, Orono had cut the lead to 46-41. There was no real drama the rest of the way. HA put together a 5/6 possession string with Miller scoring six points in a 10-0 string and 74-50 lead. HA then put in the deep bench with 2 minutes to go. Orono's bench beat HA's bench with an 11-1 run and 5/6 possession string to finish the game.

Height Matters: Orono 5-10, Holy Angels 5-9.8
Department of Defense: both teams preferred 2/3 in the half court, but HA pressed with 1/2/1/1 and they also used 1/2/2 trap in 3/4 court. HA likes the double team

player, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
Holy Angels Player Evaluations
Starters
Kaitlin Robinson 0, 9, 0.0, .000 RF: shooting range, consistency
Kaley Mullin 10, 10, 100.0, .500 inside player. not the focus of the offense, but works for position, rebounds offensive boards. RF: size post HS
Rachel Jelgerhuis 7, 4, 175.0, 1.000 vastly improved from the first game I saw this year. She had one drive where she went aggressively to the glass. RF: still needs strength, not the focus
Jessica Miller 33, 22, 150.0, .636 quick, aggressive, plays with confidence, authority and players feed off that. Has awareness of where she is on the floor. Made sure her feet were behind the 3 line on a shot attempt. It was good. knows where her teammates are and what they are capable of. great body control. deceptive passer. RF: it would be nit picky
Maggie Slawson 16, 12, 133.3, .667 another player that has improved from the first time I saw her this year. Moving with much more purpose instead of going through the motions. has range, can drive and pull up. RF: foul issues which may be foot related.
Bench
Mari Gavino 1, 2, 50.0, .500
Ashley Stewart 3, 7, 42.9, .286
Sarah Jelgerhuis 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Kathryn Hanson 0, 1, 0.0. .000
Emily Backes 2, 3, 66.7, .333
Laura Rieger 0. 1, 0.0, .000
Katie Lapel 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Anne Tobyne 0, 2, 0.0, .000

Orono Player Evaluations
Starters
Bryn Erickson 4, 9, 44.4, .222 RF: hands taped due to car door accident. needs to square up on shot.
Megan Milusenic 18, 17, 105.9, .529 made a living at the line with 10 free throws. goes hard to the glass. decent leaper. RF: needs to finish even if fouled.
Danielle Borg 16, 16, 100.0, .500 nice size, nice shooting touch, decent hands RF: needs to get stronger upper body. needs to use glass from angles. could use a mean dominating streak
Caitlin McNamara 0, 7, 0.0, .000 RF: ball handling/passing
Sally Sladek 4, 8, 50.0, .375 RF: passing/decison making
Bench
Taylor Esau 8, 8, 100.0, .500 lefty
Chelsea Durland 5, 5, 100.0, .400
Micki Benson 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Sarah Luse, 4, 3, 133.3, .667
Lauren Brady 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000
Trench Player. It's Miller Time

BY THE NUMBERS
Holy Angels 75, 76, 98.7, .474
Orono 61, 75, 81.3, .413
Bench: Orono 19, Holy Angels 8
Made Free throws: Orono 23, HA 16
As you can see Orono had more made free throws. That may be a vulnerability in the post season for HA. They were not really in foul trouble since they use quite a few players. But the starters are their main point producers.
Most of the Orono turnovers took place by trying to pass to a greater distance. In other words shorten the pass. That means the receivers better come to the ball, and it means the dribbler better not eat the dribble without three options available.

Next up tomorrow am

3 x 32, 1 x 800

#2 posting 2.23.2006

POINT PARADE
IA
3A
Michelle Lund, Sioux City Heelan 32 vs Perry 62-36 (f18)
Rachelle DeHaan, MOC-Floyd Valley 25 vs Spencer 54-44 (f16)
2A
Brittany Williamson, Emmetsburg 25 vs Sioux Central 51-48 (f18)
1A
Liz Trauger, Twin River Valley 32 vs Graettinger-Terril 54-38 (f18)
Amanda Nikkel, Des Moines Christian 26 vs Van Meter 50-34 (f18)

MN
AAAA
Camille Stenhaug, Rochester JM 26 vs Faribault 65-50 (f21)
A
Robin Henrickson, Stephen-Argyle 27 vs East Grand Forks 73-67 (f18)
Gretta Hjelseth, Nevis 26 vs Clearbrook-Gonvick 56-44 (f21)
Erin Maurer, McLeod West 25 vs LeCenter 54-50 (f21)
Kelly Landsverk, Fosston 25 vs Bagley 50-68 (f21)

ND
A
Courtney Fettig, Bismarck Century 27 vs Moorhead, MN 77-69 (f17)
B
Teryl Norton, New Salem 32 vs Shiloh Christian 61-45 (f13)

SD
A
Kristin Rotert, McCook Central 29 vs West Central 63-53 (f21)
B
Jenna Kristensen, Plankinton 27 vs Corsica 47-39 (f21)

WI
D4
Lucy Dernovsek, Lake Holcombe 27 vs New Auburn 59-51 (f18)

COACHING NEWS
IA
Tom Pestka, Maquoketa Valley will resign at the end of the year. He has coached 11 years with a 214-46 record. This year's team is 9-12. They were state runner up in 2003, and made the semifinals in 2004.
Larry Niemeyer, Cedar Rapids Jefferson picked up career win #800 against Clinton 55-31 on F18
MICH
Kim Christensen resigned at Wyoming Lee

MILESTONES
SD
Chelsa Baxa, South Central reached the 1000 point mark with 20 points in a 55-33 win over Colome on F20.
WI
Celeste Hoewisch, Hortonville reached the 1000 point mark with 14 points in a 51-41 win over Appleton Xavier F17.

SEEDINGS
MN
6AA West: 1: Albany; 2: Holdingford; 3: Minnewaska
7AAAA: 1. Champlin Park; 2. Centennial; 3. Andover

Next posting: out & about close to 10:30 Orono will be charted.

More MN Seedings

# 1 posting 2.23.2006

POINT PARADE
ND
B
Jenny Strand, Our Redeemer's 33 vs Kenmare 52-47

GAMES OF NOTE
MN
Snake Bit: Shakopee has lost two straight one point overtime games--vs Hutchinson 40-39; and Farmington 54-53

INJURY UPDATE
MN
Catherine Hintz, Hastings broke her foot in practice and will miss the rest of the year. According to her coach Mike Harp she could grow to 6-9 by next season. She is 6-7 now.

MILESTONES
SD
Katie Jensen, Wolsey-Wessington has reached the 1000 point mark.

TWIN CITY GAME
MN
Minneapolis South travels to St. Paul Central on Saturday for a 1:30 game to determine the Twin City Champion. SPC won last year contest 53-48, and MS won earlier this season at the Elk River Tournament 71-53.

MORE MN SEEDINGS
6A East: 1: Nevis; 2: Menahga; 3: Verndale
4AA East: 1: Cannon Falls; 2: Concordia Roseville; 3: Visitation
4AA West: 1: Breck; 2: Jordan; 3: Rockford
1AAA: 1: Waseca; 2: New Prague; 3: Albert Lea
2AAA: 1: Marshall; 2: Worthington; 3: Litchfield
7AAA: 1: Hibbing; 2: Hermantown; 3: Duluth East
1AAAA: 1: Rosemount; 2: Rochester Mayo; 3: Owatonna

Next up close to 5 pm

HAPPY 5-0 ELIZABETH

MN JUCO Tournament

#3 posting 2.22.2006

POINT PARADE
SD
Mikayla Barondeau, Leola-Frederick 31 vs Eureka-Bowdle 66-48 (f16)
Deanna Big Crow, Pine Ridge 28 vs St. Stephen's WY 131-46 (f13)
Keisha Brewer, Pine Ridge 26 vs St. Stephen's WY 131-46 (f13)
Tyann Pourier, Little Wound 26 vs St. Francis 69-19 (f14)
B
Alicia Red Bear, Tiospaye Topa 33 vs Takini 60-49 (f14)
Alex Hoffman, Eureka-Bowdle 25 vs Leola-Frederick 48-66 (f16)

TOURNAMENT ALERT
MN JUCO State Tournament
@ Ridgewater CC, Wilmar F24, 25, 26
JUCO ball doesn't get a lot of attention. We will try to rectify that. At this point I plan on attending Friday's contests in Willmar.
Games
1 pm Hibbing vs Minneapolis
3 pm Mesabi Range vs Rochester
6 pm Rainy River vs Ridgewater
8 pm Itasca vs MN West
Itasca is the #1 team from the North Division, Minneapolis is #1 in the South
Minneapolis has the #1 overall, with #2 going to Ridgewater

Looking at the rosters and what class do the players come from
Hibbing: 1 AA, 7A
Itasca: 3AAA, 4AA, 2A
Mesabi: 1AAAA, 5AAA, 3AA, 2 A
Minneapolis: 2AAAA; 6 AAA
MN West: 4AAA; 2AA, 4A
Rainy River: 4AAAA; 4AAA; 4A
Ridgewater: 1AAA; 7AA; 3A
Rochester: 3AAAA; 1AAA; 6AA

How about the players?

The top scorer coming into the tournament is Gabriella Gustafson of Minneapolis. She played her HS ball at St. Louis Park. She averaged 15.0 in HS and this year averaged 20.9. Her rating is a 1.39 meaning one point in HS equals 1.39 in JUCO.

Krista Beek, now at MN West, played her HS ball at Murray County Central. Her points in HS came to 13.3 and she is averaging 20.5 coming into the tournament. Her rating is 1.54.

The other 20 point scorer is Rebekah Fitzgerald of Rochester. She played at Faribault in HS. Again we have a better than 1 to 1 ratio as she averaged 17.1 her last year in HS and is averaging 20.1 coming into the tournament. That breaks down to a 1.18 ratio.

Why do some of these players score more in JUCO?
First there are 8 more minutes played (32 in HS for these players, 40 in JUCO).
There is a shot clock as well to speed things up.
There may be other reasons but these leap out.

Sorry this is late, but I picked up my wife at the airport and that threw the scheduled time off. She left right at the artic blast on Friday on a trip to Mexico.

Next up: tomorrow am

Wolff Dramatics

#2 posting 2.22.2006

POINT PARADE
IA
2A
Michelle Voights, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows 29 vs Belmond-Klemme 74-44 (f18)
Jenna Myers, Van Buren 28 vs Davis County 78-54
1A
Alicia Runge, North Kossuth 26 vs Sentral 55-41 (f18)

MN
AAA
Janessa Wolff, Park Rapids 28 vs Detroit Lakes 47-46 (f16)
AA
Kali Vaughan, Braham 26 vs Hinckley-Finlayson 73-71 2 OT (f14)
A
Kayli Schumacher, EGF Sacred Heart 28 vs Fertile-Beltrami 61-38 (f20)
Amy Siebert, MN Deaf 27 vs Glenville-Emmons 38-53

SD
A
Kristin Rotert, McCook Central 28 vs Tea 72-51 (f20)
B
Megan Doyle, Hanson 27 vs Woonsocket 54-47 (f20)
Jill Young, Mitchell Christian 25 vs Sanborn Central 64-32 (f20)

WI
D1
Kassi Blumer, Milton 39 vs East Troy 64-50 (f18)
D2
Gina Mudgett, Walworth Big Foot 28 vs Beloit Turner 60-49 (f18)
D4
Lauren Pinzl, Mercer 25 vs Prentice 61-53

BUZZER BEATERS
MN
Janessa Wolff hit a three with 7 seconds left in a 47-46 win over Detroit Lakes on F16

INJURY UPDATE
MN
Devin Diedrich, Braham had appendix surgery over the weekend and may not be able to play the rest of the season.

SEEDINGS
MN
5A: 1s: Ashby, Browerville; Ortonville; Osakis
6A West: 1: Ada-Borup; 2. Ulen-Hitterdal; 3. Lake Park-Audubon

Next up close to 9 pm

Polfus Resigns

#1 posting 2.22.2006

POINT PARADE
IL
AA
Jennifer Juergens, Bishop McNamara 34 vs Lincoln 65-40
Erin Hannemann, Providence 33 vs Hillcrest 68-57
D'Frantz Smart, Chicago Young 31 vs Chicago Crane 66-45
Meshia Reed, Hillcrest 27 vs Providence 57-68
Ashley Tomzik, Maine South 26 vs Bartlett 60-51
Maggie McCloskey, Riverside-Brookfield 25 vs Trinity 57-74
Erica Carter, Naperville Central 25 vs Benet 47-57

IA
2A
Kelsey Bolte, Battle Creek-Ida Grove 27 vs Unity Christian 61-56
1A
Kelsey Castenson, Southeast Webster-Grand 25 vs Des Moines Christian 55-41

MN
AAAA
Breanna Salley, St. Francis 38 vs Spring Lake Park 68-56
Becky Rowe, Mounds View 31 vs White Bear Lake 62-67
Katie Coughenour, Wayzata 30 vs Armstrong 62-59
Christina Steele, Apple Valley 29 vs Hill-Murray 77-75
Lindsay Laur, Cretin-Derham Hall 28 vs Edina 58-59
Jenna Smith, Bloomington Kennedy 25 vs Lakeville South 76-47
Danielle Ludwig, Prior Lake 25 vs New Prague 60-65
AAA
Rachel Booth, DeLaSalle 26 vs Visitation 58-40
AA
Becca Friestleben, Holy Family 32 vs Mound-Westonka 65-51
Sarah Domrovski, Maple Lake 32 vs Pierz 85-76
Hali Haukos, Glencoe-Silver Lake 31 vs New Ulm 63-45
Amber Junker, Eden Valley-Watkins 27 vs BBE 86-65
Dani Beck, Proctor 27 vs Chisholm 70-61
Clara Anderson, Eveleth-Gilbert 26 vs Barnum 55-61
Rachel Zilmer, Foley 25 vs St. Anthony 64-50
A
Colleen McKay, Barnum 32 vs Eveleth-Gilbert 61-55
Anna Merkle, St. John's Prep 31 vs Ogilvie 50-55
Jenny Schonewill, Concordia Bloomington 30 vs Cannon Valley Lutheran 61-27
Meghan Molitor, Pact 26 vs Chisago Lakes Baptist 64-42
Maria Michalski, Silver Bay 25 vs Babbitt-Embarrass 59-44

NEB
A
Shakeela Johnson, Lincoln 33 vs Omaha North 47-54
B
Ashley Leming, Ralston 26 vs Platteview 60-46

ND
A
Jossy Bergan, Valley City 34 vs Fargo South 46-61
B
Kirstie Gillett, Dakota Prairie 29 vs Thompson 66-54

WI
D1
Shelsi Weaver, Beloit 31 vs Kenosha Bradford 50-48
Kassi Blumer, Milton 25 vs Stoughton 66-34
Janelle Gabrielson, Meonomonee Falls 25 vs Homestead 55-33
D2
Lin Zastrow, Jefferson 26 vs Lake Mills 48-26
Anna Thalacker, Westfield 25 vs Poynette 72-76 2 OT (f17)
D3
Kirsten Presser, Poynette 33 vs Westfield 76-72 2 OT (f17)
Carrie Spindler, Stratford 26 vs Rosholt 56-43
Rayelle Diedrich, Omro 25 vs Appleton Xavier 48-59
Jackie Hauser, Whitehall 25 vs Melrose-Mindoro 58-43

BUZZER BEATERS
MN
Jen Tate, Farmington made a 3 at the buzzer to beat Shakopee 54-53
Meghan Gaard, Edina hit a long 3 at the buzzer to beat Cretin-Derham Hall 59-58
Danielle Daniels, North St. Paul made a 10 footer with 1 second left in a 47-45 win over Mpls Washburn.
Kale Johnson, Apple Valley scored a layup at the buzzer in a 77-75 win over Hill-Murray
WI
Tabatha Romdenne, Two River made a 3 at the buzzer in a 48-47 playoff win over West DePere
Emily Micke, Wrightstown scored with 2 seconds left in a 44-43 playoff win over Algoma.

COACHING NEWS
MI
Paul Polfus, Carney-Nadeau has resigned. He was doing double duty coaching both boys and girls. He will now just coach the boys. He started with the girls in 1979 and ended up with a career record of 501-125 with three state titles 1989, 1990, and 2002. They have a state record 78 straight wins and 127 straight regular season wins.

GAMES OF NOTE
MN
Champlin Park was down 9 at half but came back to beat Centennial 70-65. This avenges the 116-93 game played earlier this year. Jenny Theissen, who injured her knee against Osseo Friday, played, but Katie DeWitt did not.

INJURY UPDATES
MN
Britta Hall, Elk River has returned from a knee injury.
WI
Brynn Popp, Neenah injured her knee and will be out for the rest of the playoffs it appears.

Whew
Next posting: close to 5 pm this afternoon

Out & About: Apple Valley/Hill-Murray

#3 posting 2.21.2006

Apple Valley 77, Hill-Murray 75

Another game that is decided at the buzzer. Kale Johnson of Apple Valley scored on a lay up at the buzzer to get by Hill-Murray 77-75.

There were many tempting games out there tonight. The reason I chose this one was I had only seen these teams once and they both had high powered offenses according to the pp100 numbers. I wanted to see if they were true or if it was a one game fluke. I was not disappointed.

Right from the first possession when Cassie Hubler of AV dropped a three, one could tell that the game was going to be a high scoring affair. AV never trailed in the first half. AV jumped to a 9-2 lead scoring on 4/6 of their first possessions. HM went on their own run of 9-4 on the strength of four straight scoring possessions puncuated by a recurring theme throughout the night a beyond the arc bomb by Amy Storer to make it 13-11 AV. Storer had six 3s from beyond where an NBA 3 pt line would be. AV, like the see saw, had the next run of five straight possessions and 9-5 run to make it 24-16. HM put together another 5 possession run in the middle of AV's run. HM's sequence run was 12-5 (that was from the start of their 5 string) that cut the lead to 24-23. From that point to the end of the half AV's lead was between five and two. HM had the only drought in the first half with 0/5 string late in the half. AV led at half 43-38.

AV scored their first two possessions of the second half to push their lead to 47-38. Their lead maintained around 8-10 points during this segment. Their were no droughts in this half. HM had a 10-1 run to cut the lead to 60-59. Tara Dillon had five of the points. With the score 60-54, Dillon was fouled, made the first free throw, missed the second, but Natalie Holm was their to get the put back and HM trailed 60-57. Dillon scored to get the 60-59. At that point Christina Steele scored on three straight possession to bump the AV lead back to 66-59. Both HM and AV had strings of four, with HM's about one possession behind AV. Holm scored from the left block to tie the game for the first time at 68 with about four minutes to go. The game was also tied at 70, and 72 with AV always get to the number first. With 2:32 left Lauren Habisch of AV went to the line for free throws. She made the first, but missed the second. AV led at the time 75-72, but Christina Steele picked up her 5th foul. Holm missed her free throw. Time was now at 1:58. AV ran the clock down and Ries was fouled on a drive to the glass. However she missed both free throws. Holm grabbed the rebound. Again Storer dialed long, long distance to tie the score at 75. A quick turnover and HM worked the ball around. They called time at 9 seconds. AV called time after seeing the HM set. When the ball was thrown in Dillon was forced into a travel. AV had the ball now in their back court. Their first attempt to throw it in changed the side where they threw it in as Kelsey Pitlick knocked the ball out of bounds. This second chance got the ball in and Ries drove down the left side with a 2-1 advantage. On the right block was Kale Johnson and she made the lay up at the buzzer for a parent/senior night win for the hometown Apple Valley Eagles.

Height Matters: AV 5-9.2, HM 5-8.8
Department of defense: HM man, AV varied it up through the night with man; 2/3; 1/2/2; pressing with 1/2/2

player, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
Apple Valley Player Evaluations
Starters
Caitlin Ries 2, 6, 33.3, .167 point guard, quick, good decisions. RF: need to make free throws since she will be handling the ball quite a bit at crunch time.
Cassie Hubler 5, 7, 71.4, .286 steady player.
Deidra Dirth 9, 8, 112.5, .500 strong. took ball away from a strong Dillon at the free throw line. good shooter at the baseline corners. good rebounder. RF: post HS quickness.
Lauren Habisch 20, 17, 117.6, .647 another good shooter from the baseline corners. active on boards. filled in for Steele in the post. RF strength
Christina Steele 29, 21, 138.1, .667 domintating, no one could match her for size and strength tonight. defense played behind and she was open. When she got the ball three HM players were around her. She has a nice touch around the basket. Good rebounder, ball handling is all right on the open floor. RF: Fouls, decisions on defense.
Bench
Kale Johnson 9, 7, 128.6, .571 made the big shot. was in right spot most of the night. played within herself and didn't overtry. RF: strength
Shannon Thompson 3, 2, 150.0, .500

Hill-Murray Player Evaluations
Starters
Tara Dillon 25, 19, 131.6, .684 strong, competitive, aggressive. more comfortable inside. smart player. RF: size post HS
Amy Storer 20, 15, 133.3, .467 downtown scorer. We are talking jaw dropping distance. tough gritty. money shot. RF: didn't score in 2 pt land, and she had chances.
Abbie Braun 2, 6, 33.3, .167
Taylor Cross 4, 4, 100.0, .500 RF: foul problems
Natalie Holm 17, 14, 121.4, .643 nice interior moves to score. also can shoot outside. RF: vision issues--had players open in advantageous positions, but did not see. Defense in post.
Bench
Lauren Hanzalik 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Krista Kaput 5, 5, 100.0, .400
Courtney Gage 2, 3, 66.7, .333
Kelsey Pitlick no possessions
Trench Player: Christina Steele

BY THE NUMBERS
team, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
Apple Valley 77, 68, 113.2, .544
Hill-Murray 75, 67, 111.9, .493
Bench: AV 11, HM 7
Made Free Throws: HM 18, AV 9
made 3s: HM 7, AV 2

If you look at the pp100s and floor % the assumption would be "no defense." That would be wrong. Both defenses were active and intense. Both teams worked to get most of their points. There were missed block outs, there were a few steals and lay ups, but most of the action took place in the grind it out world of half court offense. The numbers I had on these teams did not lie. Both teams have some of the better offenses I've seen this year. If you look at floor % AV's efforts place them in third place for a game, and HM comes in #12. So for two teams in one game these two have the best two offensive efforts.
Even more telling is that both teams are in the top five in pp100 after this contest. AV is #3, HM #4. No doubt the best offensive efforts by two teams this year under the charts.

Tonight an old coaching buddy was in the house--Dan Maturen. When I first started coaching girls at Mpls South back in the 80's I had an open gym trying to get girls to come to the gym and get playing. No girls showed for two weeks, but Maturen did show up. Eventually girls did start to play traveling in Minneapolis under the City of Lakes banner. Now Minneapolis girls have a lot of opportunities and choices when they were younger compared to just park board as it was back in 1987. Maturen has been under the knife for his right knee. He is involved with coaching with the Mounds Park Junior High boys teams.

I am rather disappointed with the attendance of these games. Great players and great efforts, but only a handful in the crowd. There is more community spirit in the smaller towns. I don't know if it is the suburbs or if schools are charging too much or not promoting the event in the general public or within the building, but the entertainment value is high.

Forsberg for 600

#2 posting 2.21.2006

POINT PARADE
IL
A
Kalley Klein, Hall 34 vs Wethersfield 65-46

MN
AAAA
Camille Stenhaug, Rochester JM 27 vs Mankato East 55-39 (f18)
AA
Hayley Darrington, Blue Earth 36 vs New Ulm 81-59 (f17)
A
Tiffany Citterman, Lincoln HI 33 (9 3s) vs Lakeview 71-78 3 OT (f17)
Nicole Pothan, Faribault Bethlehem Academy 26 vs Mankato Loyola 69-46 (f17)

GAMES OF NOTE/BUZZER BEATERS
MN
Deborah Samba, Truman scored the winning point in a 64-59 2 Overtime win against Martin County West.
Speaking of extra sessions: Lakeview beat Lincoln HI for the third time this year, but this time it went 3OT in a 78-71 win on F17
Chari Lehnertz, Winona scored on a 15 foot shot at the buzzer in a 52-50 win over Faribault F17.

MILESTONES
ND
Mike Forsberg, Bottineau picked up career win number 600 in a 51-43 victory over Minot Ryan in Region 6B play.

NUMBER 1s
SD
AA Brookings, A Dell Rapids; B Sully Buttes
WI
D1 Chippewa Falls; D2 Elkhorn; D3 Oostburg; D4 Wausau Newman

SEEDINGS
MN
4AAAA 1: Roseville; 2. North St. Paul; 3. St. Paul Johnson

Out & About coming: about 10:30 pm

Johnson Rewrites History Books

#1 posting 2.21.2006

POINT PARADE
IL
A
Brittany Johnson, Olney 36 vs Okawville 50-65
Kelly Albers, Okawville 29 vs Olney 65-50

IA
3A
Michelle Lund, Sioux City Heelan 29 vs Denison-Schleswig 58-57

MN
AA
Faith Tinklenberg, Pipestone 34 vs YME 62-34 (f18)
Taylor Davis, Crookston 29 vs Roseau 84-53 (f18)
A
Rachel Christiansen, Murray County Central 34 vs Hills-Beaver Creek 69-55
Rebecca Stier, Grand Meadow 28 vs Mabel-Canton 65-67
Allie Kelly, Comfrey 29 v Westbrook-Walnut Grove 74-29
Kaitlyn Kramer, Fulda 27 vs Edgerton 64-52

ND
B
Amber Titus, Hankinson 26 vs Central Cass 56-32
Brittany Westman, Max 25 vs Grant County 71-40

SD
A
Amber Wollschlager, Milbank 28 vs Sisseton 60-59

BUZZER BEATERS
IL
Brittney Thomas, Bolingbrook hit a put back at the buzzer to beat Nequa Valley 45-43.
IA
Michelle Lund, Sioux City Heelan hit a three with 17 seconds left to give the final margin in a 58-57 upset win over Schleswig-Denison in a 3A playoff game. Nicole Clausen of SD last second shot was blocked by Briana Twohig.

MILESTONES
IL
Brittany Johnson, Olney ended the year with 1045 points the second highest single season in IL history. She is 5th on the all time list at 2819 with one more year to go.

SIGNINGS
WI
Bonnie Bjorke, Cochrane-Fountain City to Winona State

next up: close to 5 pm

Out & About: Winona Cotter/Cannon Falls

#3 posting 2.20.2006

Hiawatha Valley Championship
Winona Cotter 58, Cannon Falls 41

The Gold Division Champ Cotter pressurized Blue Champ CF into numerous turnovers in a 58-41 win at Cannon Falls Monday night.

WC took the lead on their first possession with Devin Bowlin's back cut basket and they held that lead the rest of the night, except for one tie. The closest CF would get early on was 8-7. Cotter went on a 7-0 run at that point with Brooke Beyer cashing in a three from the top of the circle. CF had a 6-0 drought during this period and five of them were turnovers. The turnover bug was to be a recurring theme as CF never effectively solved the riddle of the Cotter press. CF did put together a three possession string and 6-0 run to cut the WC lead to 15-13. Korie Jackson scored twice from the corners about 15 feet out. WC put together their own three possession string with a 6-2 run. All six contributed by Jenny Gilbertson. She opened with a rebound that she took coast to coast. Her second was a runner over Cory Montgomery. Her third basket was off the press with the assist to Laura Erickson. WC led 24-18. CF, like the see saw, then went on a 6-0 run with the first four scored by Alex Montgomery. This provided the only tie of the night at 24. Cotter finished with four points to lead 28-24. Gilbertson finished the half with a steal off the press and lay up.

Cotter started off the second half without missing a beat. They extended their lead to 38-26. WC put together a 4/5 string with two conventional three point plays by Gilbertson and Beyer. CF had another string of 0/6 possessions, but this time it only had three turnovers during the stretch. WC had their own dry spell with an 0/5 string, but their misses were all on missed shots, and oddly enough Laura Erickson was responsible for all the misses. WC built their lead to 48-29 with a four possession string and 8-0 run. Erickson started and ended the run. CF then went on a 12-0 run started by Jackson's 3 on the right side. Alex Montgomery delivered seven of those points on the run including her own 3 from the left side. The score was 48-41 with 2:53 left at this point. A WC time out stopped their own 0/7 string of possessions and after the time out they converted the next five possessions for the final margin of 58-41. 8 of those points were the direct result of turnovers off the press.

Height matters: Cannon Falls 5-10; Winona Cotter 5-7.8
Department of Defense: both teams played man, Cotter played full court intensely

Player, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
Winona Cotter Player Evaluations
Starters
Devin Bowlin 9, 7, 128.6, .714 quarterback, point guard, involves everyone on offense, quickness on defense, RF: foul issues
Brooke Beyer 14, 9, 155.6, .667 takes care of the ball, smart player, plays within herself, strong defender. RF: block outs not consistent
Laura Erickson 11, 17, 64.7, .353 guarded Cory Montgomery and did a great job holding her under her average. aggressive, courageous. RF: maybe too courageous as she challenged Amanda Moen four straight times without success in the second half
Allison Kirkvold 4, 5, 80.0, .400 steady, solid,
Jenny Gilbertson 20, 18, 111.1, .556 big frame, athletic, gets on the floor. runs well. aggressive. RF: tried some off balance shots in traffic avoiding contact instead of looking to draw the foul.
Bench
Renee Pecarina 0, 1, 0.0, .000 came in for Bowlin when she was in foul trouble. Steady job, handled ball quite well. RF: size
Jessi Larson 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Whitney Wisecup 0, 4, 0.0, .000 RF: shot selection/form needs consistency
Chelsi Larson 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Janine Englerth 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Kelly Brandon 0, 0, 0.0, .000

Cannon Falls Starters
Starters
Nicole Anderson 0, 2, 0.0, .000 was not playing that much
Korie Jackson 9, 9, 100.0, .444 good corner shooter. RF: did not take the ball up so my assumption is she doesn't handle the ball all to well. If she can handle the ball she was awol.
Amanda Schreyer 6, 12, 50.0, .500 RF: WC did not guard her closely and focused their efforts on Cory Montgomery. She was open and took shots I'm sure she usually doesn't take.
Alex Montgomery 13,14, 92.9, .429 left, Cory's little (one inch) sister. has 3 range. also dropped shots from the free throw elbow.
Cory Montgomery 6, 14, 42.9, .214 would rather play on the three point line than inside. size and frame solid. RF: had chances to blow by WC Bench players and instead did a pull up jumper. Needs to go hard and aggressive to the basket. was the main ball handler against press. doesn't like pressure all too well. Relied on the spin dribble against the press. needs to be quicker. Held to 12 points under her average as she was double teamed and swarmed her.
Bench
Julia Thompson 4, 4, 100.0, .500
Tasha Douglas 3, 4, 75.0, .250 canned a 3. RF: ball handling, decisions
Tessa Thompson 0, 3, 0.0, .000
Amanda Moen 0, 1, 0.0, .000 decent size, bothered her offensive player. RF: not real involved on offense.
Trench player: the whole Cotter defense could get the nod. but I have to pick one--in this situation I'll take Gilbertson, but others are very worthy as well, including strong bench performances without scoring.

BY THE NUMBERS
team, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
Winona Cotter 58, 63, 92.1, .460
Cannon Falls 41, 63, 65.1, .317
Bench: CF 7, WC 0
direct Points off turnovers WC 22, CF 0

WC used the press to great success, but in their half court offenses they showed patience and discipline looking for the best shot most of the time. In one sequence 21 touches occured before the shot.

Next up tomorrow am

Thorpe stand alone

#2 posting 2.20.2006

THORPE'S SOAPBOX
Today former Osseo coach Dave Thorpe has the whole second posting to himself. Today's topic is officiating.

"I have always appreciated chatting with officials and realize they are a big part of the game and generally work hard and do a good job. Let's remember players and coaches and especially parents are not objective in regards to officials.

"However, I did feel that the girls were shortchanged when it came to officials. Many times they would get the rookies or the guys like me in the twilight of their career and would have difficulty getting up and down the court. I did some checking and was saddened to find out why. The reason I was given was that in the associations handling the conferences many of the better officials said they will not do girls games. Come on!! This is modern history.

"I asked an attorney if it was legal to make decisions on gender?? The answer I got was no. Would these same officials say they would not do teams of a certain color or race. If I was a head of an association I hope I would distribute games randomly and professional refs would take them regardless of boys or girls games. Because the high school league is ultimately responsible for decisions made because of public schools are involved I met with them. They agreed I was correct but the reply was we will have the associations talk to their refs. Also they said "would you want someone doing girls games who didn’t want to??" Come on do the right thing and stop the spin!!!! Why should girls get poorer refs for their games than boys??

"I am now in Florida enjoying the golf and sunshine but I wish someone would follow through and see the associations would not allow their officials to pick their games based on gender. Our girls coaches and athletes work just as hard as the boys and deserve equal respect. If associations don’t agree get groups that will."

Next up out & about close to 10:30 pm

The Tops in AAAA

#1 posting 2.20.2006

POINT PARADE
IA
2A
Courtney Warner, Van Buren 25 vs Mediapolis 65-54
1A
Melaine McCreight, Winfield-Mt. Union 29 vs Fairfield Maharishi 49-58
Sofia Iwobi, Fairfield Maharishi 25 vs Winfield-Mt. Union 58-49

MN
AAA
Maria Boever, Worthington 35 vs New Ulm 73-46

TOURNAMENT NEWS
MICH
The State tournament will be returning to the Breslin Center at Michigan State in East Lansing on Nov 30, Dec 1 and 2 in 2006.

EFFICIENT TEAMS
Today we look at the efficient/effective offensive teams. First a look at the top five games that I have charted in floor %
1. Hopkins vs Cretin-Derham Hall .647
2. Breck vs Marshall .580
3. Hopkins vs Henry Sibley .529
4. Mpls South vs Breck .519
5. Bloomington Kennedy .510 vs Eastview
If you take a look at the opponents their combined w/l record is 90-28 good for .763 winning percentage. So these teams raised their game against the best.
Looking at pp100
1. Hopkins vs Cretin-Derham Hall 125.5
2. Breck vs Marshall 124
3. Mpls South vs Breck 109.6
4. Mpls Roosevelt vs Mpls Washburn 107.5
5. Hill-Murray vs Centennial 107.4
The opponents here have a 87-30 w/l record with .744 winning percentage. The only non winning team was Mpls Washburn.

Now looking at the Multiple game teams at the AAAA level limiting the choices to those in the top 10.
In pp100
1. Hopkins 98.5
2. Mpls South 95.5
3. Cretin-Derham Hall 95.4
4. Roseville 94.7
5. St. Paul Central 88.3
6. Edina 88.2
7. St. Cloud Tech 78.9
Bloomington Kennedy, Tartan were only charted once so far.
in floor %
1. Hopkins .501
2. Roseville .485
3. Mpls South .464
4. Edina .460
5. Cretin-Derham Hall .434
6. St. Paul Central .416
7. St. Cloud Tech .375
Of the teams that were not in the top 10, but have been rated at least twice Lakeville North had some top 10 like numbers 90.9 and .462

How about Defense for the same 7?
PP100
1. St. Cloud Tech 71.7
2. St. Paul Central 72.7
3. Roseville 75.6
4. Hopkins 76.9
5. Edina 83.3
6. Mpls South 89.4
7. Cretin-Derham Hall 91.5

Floor %
1. St. Cloud Tech .323
2. Hopkins .361
3. St. Paul Central .374
4. Roseville .379
5. Mpls South .402
6. Edina .409
7. Cretin-Derham Hall .462

Now if we look at the margin between pp100
1. Hopkins 21.6
2. Roseville 19.1
3. St. Paul Central 15.6
4. St. Cloud Tech 7.2
5. Minneapolis South 6.1
6. Edina 4.9
7. Cretin-Derham Hall 3.9

Thesenumbers need to be understood that it is not the complete season, only using the "Basketball on Paper" method used by Dean Oliver in the games I have charted.

Next up: close to 3 pm.