Out & About: Martin Luther/Cleveland

#4 posting 2.12.2006

VALLEY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
First we should go over impressions. Games and players got better (as expected); the players that have come up in the Point Parade are, in general, better athletes, quicker, more aggressive than those that surround them; the atmosphere is the best at small schools. That was true at Concordia Roseville; it was true at Rockford. It has been true at Breck. The AAAA games take place in gyms where I can spread out (I do enjoy that fact), but the atmosphere is pretty stale, and not real intimate. The final game the gym was packed and had a playoff atmosphere. The MCAA has their post season tournament. I would recommend this for other conferences.

On with the analysis. I am not going to go through all players in a detailed account. I will break down the numbers. As you can tell the numbers are not extremely high. There were a couple of players that grabbed by attention. These players would be able to play HS ball anywhere.

Consolation game #1
Martin Luther 52, Cleveland 36
Together these teams have a combined record of 4-38. All four of those wins belong to Martin Luther. Neither team handled the ball real well. The game started with Martin Luther scoring on their first possession as Beth Bremer made two free throws. But the scoring was few and far between after that. ML never trailed and was tied twice at 2 and 4. ML had droughts of 0/6, and 0/12 in the first half; Cleveland had an 0/12 sequence. ML's focus was getting the ball inside to their big player Erica Reinke. The method of choice was the lob. Most of the time it was forced. Neither team put together any string more than two in this half. ML led 18-13 at half.

Cleveland came out in the second half and scored on their first three possessions and was 4/5 to start the half. They had success getting the ball inside against the 1-2-2 ML zone. After that they went into hibernation with an 0/7 string. Cleveland did cut the ML lead to 26-22, but never got any closer. ML had their own three possession string with Reinke providing five of the seven points gathered. Cleveland was within six with six minutes to go, but were outscored 14-4 the rest of the way.

Height Matters: Martin Luther 5-7.8; Cleveland 5-7.6
Department of Defense: ML 1-2-2, 2-3; Cleveland man

Martin Luther player evaluations
Starters
Beth Bremer 7, 13, 53.8, .308
Desiree Bicknase 6, 12, 50.0, .250
Denise Bicknase 2, 7, 28.6, .143
Katelyn Arndt 4, 9, 44.4, .222
Erica Reinke 22, 20, 110.0, .550 tallest kid, took a charge, worked inside. RF: height post HS; Strength; passing quickness.
Bench
Alison Lemke 0, 2, 0.0, .000
Bethany Flohrs 7, 8, 87.5, .500 I was interested in her as an 8th grader. a 5-9 point guard back up. RF: experience
Brittany Spence 4, 2, 200.0, 1.000
Shelby Tomlinson 0, 1, 0.0, .000

Cleveland player evaluations
Starters
Megan Zimmerman 5, 7, 71.4, .429
Nicole Underwood 4, 2, 200.0, 100.0
Kacie Krause 4, 12, 33.3, 16.7
Abby Rohlfing 7, 22, 31.8, .136 aggressive, pint guard. RF: decisions, ball handling,
Molly Schmitz 6, 10, 60.0, .300
Bench
Amy Collins 4, 9, 44.4, .222
Jenny Hoffman 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Jessica Oliver 2, 3, 66.7, .333
Rachel Manser 0, 2, 0.0, .000
Emily Philips 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Sammi Jo Stocker 0, 2, 0.0, .000
Trench Player: Erica Reinke, Martin Luther

BY THE NUMBERS
Martin Luther 52, 74, 70.3, .365
Cleveland 36, 73, 49.3, .233
Bench: Martin Luther 11, Cleveland 10
Made Free throws: Martin Luther 13, Cleveland 5