Menomonie Memorial Day Classic

#1 posting 5.28.2006

MENOMONIE MEMORIAL DAY CLASSIC
Today I went East to see the players, teams and tournament action at the UW Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin. The brackets I focused on the most were the 16Gold/18U level which had the more high powered teams. Play opened on Saturday in pools
A
CWCC 37, HLC16 33
Team WI17 64, HLC16 21
Team WI17 49, CWCC 23
B
MN Summit 48, YMCA Lady Cats 36
HLC17 40, YMCA Lady Cats 39
MN Summit 49, HLC17 33
C
TriState Storm 35, MN Lady Suns 23
Team WI Red16 39, MN Lady Suns 28
Team WI Red16 40, TriState Storm 37
D
Randolph 43, South MN Elite 28
Team WI Select16 57, Randolph 30
Team WI Select16 61, South MN Elite 20
BRACKET PLAY
FIRST ROUND
If there are no scores it is because they were no posted on the bracket sheet on the wall. Only the winners were posted.
Tri State Storm beat YWCA Lady Cats
Randolph beat HLC16
CWCC beat Southern MN Elite
MN Lady Suns beat HLC17
QUARTERFINALS
CWCC 37, Team WI Red16 36 This was considered somewhat of an upset. (Monday Out&About)
Team WI16 Select beat Lady Suns
Team WI17 65, Tri State Storm 22 (Tuesday Out&About)
Randolph beat Summit
SEMIFINALS
Team WI17 beat Randolph by 7
Team WI16 Select 48, CWCC 35 (Wednesday Out&About)
FINALS
Team W16 Select 53, Team WI17 33. This was considered a major upset. (Thursday Out&About)

The gyms were hot, sticky and there was no air circulation. They weren't quite as bad as Shreveport in July, but it wasn't pleasant. The doors had to stay closed because the floor has just been finished and they wanted to keep the moisture off it.

There were players that usually play for one team, but were playing for another team this weekend. Angel Robinson, St. Paul Central was playing for a team called Exelon along with other Central kids. Their team won the 16 Blue division easily. We didn't watch that level since the better teams were in the gold/18 division.

Another factor in the tournament was running time right from the tap. They had a 20 minute clock. Possessions were definitely less than the 16 minute stop time in the MN State AAU tournament held last weekend. That is why some of the scores are pretty low.

I will also be writing about the 12u championship. Erica Haugen (Osseo 1997, Iowa State 2001) is the coach of this team, and I coached Erica back when she was a little kid. The Lady Cats beat them 46-39. I will do an Out & About for that game on Friday.

I have more AAU rosters added from this tournament.

AAU ROSTERS

CONFERENCE NEWS
COLLEGE
The Midcontinent is in danger of losing its automatic entry into the NCAA tournament now that it will be down to seven members. Valparaiso is leaving to join the Horizon. Chicago State dropped out early in the spring. There are some interested parties joining the league: North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and IPFW. Here is more from the Burlington IA Hawkeye.

Newman College will be joining the Heartland Conference in D2. Newman was a NAIA member. Others in the Heartland Conference include St. Mary's in San Antonio, Dallas Baptist, and others in the Southwest. Here is the article from the Milwaukee Business Journal. Don't ask me how it relates to Wisconsin.

CO-OPS
ND/MN
Many smaller schools are joining forces. Their will be more on the way. Here are some stories from the front lines in the consolidation games. Next up to consolidate will be Kittson Central and Kittson County North in Minnesota. Here is the Grand Forks Herald with details.

SUMMER LEAGUE
Hawaii is getting a summer league thanks to the effort of Nani Crockett, former U of Hawaii player. Games will be held on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Here is more from the Honolulu Advertiser.

COACHING OPENINGS

VERBALS

Next up: tomorrow with Thorpe on a Soap Box and a look at the Lynx vs Washington game from Saturday. Later in the day we start analyze the games from the Memorial Day Classic in Menomonie. First up will be CWCC vs Team WI Red16