Out & About: Metro Stars Black 16s/Metro Stars 19s

#2 posting 5.13.2006

Minneapolis Midtown Y Tournament
Metro Stars Black 16s 42, Metro Stars 19s 40

Another Civil war went to the 16s in an upset. Elle Queen provided the winning margin after being fouled on a drive to the basket. At the time the 16s were down one.

The game strarted off with a 3 point bang from gritty Courtney Boylan of the 16s on the first possession of the game. The 16s had the initiative early and the 19s were forced to play catch up. Emily Neal tied it at 5-5 for the 19s with her three. Both teams made three 3s on the day. The 19s took the lead on the second of Breanna Salley's free throw and soon pushed it to 10-5 with a rebound basket by Salley. The 16s were in a 7 possession dry spell at the time, with three of those possessions turnovers. The 16s edged back to 10-8 after Queen scored on a Boylan pass. At this point the 19s were in an offensive siesta with their own 7 possession dry spell, but six were on turnovers. The 19s pushed their lead out to 14-8, the largest lead of the game for either team on Neal's basket. Late in the half Kelly Mullaney for the 19s showed up. She and Jillian Schurle were two Miss Basketball finalists this year. The third Miss Basketball finalist on the 19s, Jessie Miller, did not play. Toward the end of the half the 16s put together three straight scoring possessions, the final one a rebound basket by Rachel Booth to take the lead 18-17. That is how the half ended.

Queen scored on the first possession of the second half to give the 16s a 20-17 lead. The 19s went on a 14-5 run punctuated with two 3s by Mullaney and Givens, both Breck teammates during the winter season. But after pushing the lead to 31-25, the 19s were silent for five possessions. The 16s cut the lead to 31-28 on Queen’s lay up. Salley stopped the 19s drought on a pass from Schurle as they were working the back cuts. Lauren Young, back after being out last week due to an injury, made one free throw to make the score 33-29 19s. Again Queen scored on a Boylan pass to cut the score to 33-31. Cassie Johnson scored and was fouled, but failed to convert the free throw for a 35-31 19 lead. Booth made the front end of a free throw pair and the score was at 35-32. Laura Kalbfell closed the gap for the 16s 35-34. Mullaney answered right away for the 19s 37-34. Jenny Theisen had a huge three for the 16s to tie it at 37. Schurle made one free throw for the 19s to regain the lead 38-37. Queen scored on an out of bounds play to put the 16s back in front for the first time since 39-38. That did not last long as Salley made one free throw, and, after a miss by Benson, Mullaney made one free throw (notice the pattern) 40-39 19s. That set the stage for Queen’s dramatics. She scored on the drive and made the free throw for insurance purposes. A turnover by both teams resulted in the 19s getting one more crack at least to tie. Kelly Mullaney’s number was called, but her game winner was last week. This shot was from the left side and she was off balance and faded away on the shot. Benson rebounded and the 16s had beaten their big sisters 42-40.

What do the numbers mean?
http://gbbrecruit.blogspot.com/2006/05/numbers-explained.html
AAU Rosters:
http://gbbrecruit.blogspot.com/2006/05/aau-rosters.html

player, high school, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
PLAYER EVALUATIONS
METRO STARS BLACK 16S
STARTERS
Courtney Boylan, Chaska 10, 6, 167.7, .667 money player, good stroke, good instincts. plays all out. knew who had the hot hand and delivered. made tough shots. a firecracker. Tough, scrapper. I'm sold. RF: can she overcome size limitations for the big time D1s
Elle Queen, Minnetonka, 17, 15, 113.3, .533 much more impressive this weekend. Seemed to make the big play all day when it was needed. Much sharper, much more aggressive to the glass.
Abby Rittenhouse, Burnsville 2, 5, 40.0, .200 RF: had a tougher time going against the beef (O'Toole) and the swats of Cassie Johnson. was injured in the second half and did not return.
Rachel Booth, DeLaSalle 3, 2, 150.0, 1.000, came up with big rebounds late when the 19s were missing their free throws. RF: if you take a look at the possessions, only two. Needs to become more assertive and aggressive in the paint. has the size to dominate
Chelsea Lyons, Coon Rapids 0, 3, 0.0, .000 RF: also went down with an injury late, but did return for limited action
BENCH
Alyssa Benson, Minnetonka 2, 6, 33.3, .167 in at crunch time, came up with rebounds. RF: knowing shot selection rules.
Ana Garcia, Blaine 0, 3, 0.0, .000
Lauren Young, Edina 4, 6, 66.7, .500 looks a bit bigger to me as if she has sprouted another inch. first tournament back from injury. Not afraid to get hit as she went to the line three times.
Jenny Theisen, Champlin Park 4, 4, 100.0, .500 made the big three to tie it up.
Natalie Gigler, Champlin Park 0, 5, 0.0, .000 RF: size difference against bigger posts. Tried a 3--maybe out of her range.
Laura Kalbfell, Lakeville South 2, 5, 40.0, .200 RF: quiet day, need more noise

METRO STARS 19S
STARTERS
Emily Neal, Breck 7, 7, 100.0, .429 big strong guard, steady, RF: at times careless with the ball
Megan Givens, Breck 3, 4, 75.0, .250 RF: needs to play to her 3pt strength and get open and deliver
Krissy O'Toole, Wayzata 3, 3, 100.0, .667 big, strong, and has a knack of getting the job done. RF: too few touches. Could be a force if the guards used her instead of creating everything from scratch
Callie Mansour, Burnsville 2, 2, 100.0. .500 big perimeter presence. RF: needs more touches
Andi Olson, Jordan 0, 2, 0.0, .000
BENCH
Breanna Salley, St. Francis 9, 14, 64.3, .429 a specimen, can jump like there is flubber in her shoes RF: on offense tends to put the ball on the floor every time to go to the basket. In the next game she did look to shoot off the pass, but not too often in this game. Defensively let kids dribble by her, needs to be lower on defense
Jillian Schurle, Hopkins 5, 8, 62.5, .375 RF: not a typical Schurle day. In right spot, at the right time, but the ball didn't fall.
Cassie Johnson, Eastview 5, 5, 100.0, .600. good numbers, strength is defense. RF: needs more touches. She can do this by being more assertive on the blocks, demanding the ball with her eyes--something to the effect, with a look, "if you don't get me the ball I will seriously damage you." You can not be passive on the blocks. When she is at the blocks she needs to go right up through people and not try to tippy toe around them. Also squaring up after getting boards
Mindy Schmidt, Champlin Park 0, 2, 0.0, .000 RF: needs to gain weight and/or strength
Kelly Mullaney, Breck 6, 10, 60.0, .333 a tough spark type player RF: got their late and her rythym and timing were off. Tries to carry everyone, when others can help carry the load.

TRENCH PLAYER
Elle Queen for clutch plays throughout, Boylan was close

BY THE NUMBERS
MSB 16s 42, 59, 71.2, .356
MS 19s 40, 58, 69.0, .379
If you look at the numbers you see the 19s actually scored a better floor %. The problem with the 19s was they did not convert their free throw attempts. They went to the line 20 times, 5 more than the 16s. However they missed 9 times for a 45.0% rate, not championship material. And in crunch time, when the competitive juices were flowing, and everyone in the gym is watching they only were hitting one out of two. Schurle, Salley, and Mullaney, two Miss Basketball nominees and one that many felt should be, all missed chances on possessions 25, 26, and 27 respectively.

Next up: tomorrow afternoon looking at 1. ranking jobs in MN; 2. The differences between HS and AAU ball. The next Out & About from the Midtown tourney will be later tomorrow night with the South of the River vs Rochester Shock game.