Out & About: Chippewa Falls/Eau Claire North

#3 posting 3.3.2006

Chippewa Falls 55, Eau Claire North 45

Chippewa Falls, the undefeated number one team in D1 in Wisconsin, continued their march to the state tournament with a Sectional Semifinal win against Big Rivers rival Eau Claire North at River Falls. They will now play in the section finals tomorrow at Eau Claire Memorial.

First off when I drove up to River Falls HS they had flag men pointing where you to a parking spot. In the modern school there was a line waiting to get into the gym. Tickets were pre-sold for both teams. When you got up to the ticket window you had to declare what team you were for and then they gave you a coded ticket. I was under the basket with the rest of the neutrals. On my left was EC North with their columbia blue, on my right the red of Chippewa Falls. CF had more fans because ECN had some fans tied up with the hockey tournament. The atomosphere was electric 35 minutes before the start of the game. The stands were full and it had the feel of a college game with everyone wearing some approved apparel for each team. I thought it was the tournament that brought the fans in, but I was told by a deep resource in Western Wisconsin community support is quite high. That is not feeling in MN. Last night's section game in MN was pretty thin--mainly parents.

Another difference is the time and quarters. Games are only 32 minutes divided into four 8 minute quarters.

ECN took the lead first on Meghan Gehring's basket. Their biggest lead was at 6-2. CF took the lead at 10-8 on two free throws by Gretta Layman. She provided six points in the first stanza. CF closed the quarter with a 5/6 possession string and a 10-0 run. ECN had a 0/6 drought, but it was all on shooting. CF led 16-8.

In the second quarter ECN cut the lead to 16-12. CF had a four possession string starting with 3:18 to go. They had an 8-1 run at this point and held a 25-13 when the string was done. ECN faced a 0/5 drought during the run. However Stacy Lyberg made an old fashioned three to cut the lead to 25-16 CF at half.

Like the two previous quarters ECN had their best success in the first four minutes. In fact they put together a six possession string and outscored CF 13-5 to make the score 30-29 CF. Brandi Whyte had seven of the points. After a miss by Layman, ECN had an opportunity to take the lead, but Danielle Johnson missed her chance. CF was strong at the end, like in the other quarters with an 8-4 run. CF led 38-33 with one quarter to go.

ECN scored on their first two possessions and cut the lead to 38-37. Tracey Boyle closed the gap with two free throws. But CF answered the call with a 9-0 run in the span of two minutes. Monica Mayry had a strong had in that run with two assists and five points. With the score 47-37 and time slowly draining away, ECN had to fight fast and furious. They cut the lead to 47-41, but it was as close as it was going to get. CF had one more 8-2 run. In that run they had four points off second chance points. As Gehring opened the scoring, she closed it too and CF won 55-45.

Height matters: CF 5-10.6; ECN 5-9.4
Department of defense: ECN man; CF man to open, 1/3/1 most of the night

player, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
Chippewa Falls Player Evaulations
Starters
Theresa Monpas 4, 7, 57.1, .286 helps with ball handling duties. RF: body control on drives. needs to get the line.
Monica Mayry 16, 15, 106.7, .467 point guard, tough, looks to penetrate, decent vision. likes to be in charge. delivered in money/crunch time. RF: some decisions executed in a haphazard manner.
Kelsey Hewitt 10, 7, 142.9, .714 post up player. boarded fine. RF: foul problems meaning foot work not strong.
Laura Mattison 5, 3, 166.7, .667 another big body. added muscle. RF: not an offensive focus.
Gretta Layman 15, 14, 107.1, .571 strong inside, aggressive offensive boards. range extends to free throw line. RF: also vulnerable to fouls again with feet.
Bench
Kari Kaeding 4, 4, 100.0, .500 another big body off the bench.
Jessica Zwielhoffer 1, 2, 50.0, .500

Eau Claire North Player Evaluations
Starters
Hannah Quilling 7, 10, 70.0, .300 point guard. fastest kid on the floor tonight. good vision. responsible for Mayry defensively. RF: needs to be consistent on outside shot.
Tracey Boyle 6, 8, 75.0, .500 second ball handler. RF: quickness
Brandi Whyte 11, 12, 91.7, .417 active on glass, active with
Meghan Gehring 13, 12, 108.3, .583 can face up and drive, also posts. works the boards. RF: thinish, needs strength
Danielle Johnson 3, 3, 100.0, .667 big wide body in the paint. RF: needs to work on quickness with feet and quickness in getting shot off. Also jumping.
Bench
Aleisha Harper 0, 3, 0.0, .000
Stacy Lyberg 5, 3, 166.7, .667
Trench Player: Monica Mayry

BY THE NUMBERS
Chippewa Falls 55, 52, 105.8, .519
Eau Claire North 45, 51, 88.2, .412
Bench: CF 5, ECN 5
made free throws: CF 8, ECN 10

If you take a look at the pp100 numbers you can see CF is efficient with the ball and gets quite a bit out of each possession. Their floor % was strong too. ECN is better than average. The time factor is taken out of the equation with the 100 possession look. Measuring it out with MN CF comes in #13 just right behind Bloomington Kennedy (a 105.9 when they played Eastview) and their floor % numbers are the same when Minneapolis South faced Breck. CF comes in at #8 on that measure. In other words some good company as both South and Kennedy are in the upper stratsophere in MN AAAA ball. CF definitely has the size that matters to go against Kennedy. South would have the edge with quickness and speed.

next up: tomorrow am