Out & About: NC Heat/43 Hoops Lady Elite 15s

#3 posting 5.22.2006

This game took place on Saturday at Forest Lake
MN AAU 15u State Tournament Quarterfinals

NC Heat 46, 43 Hoops Lady Elite 36

43 HLE have some big players, but NCH has the quickness and speed to neutralize that height. But the entire game was a sputtering offensive production with NCH taking it on the chin at the line (see below). 43HLE held their last lead at 4-2. NCH went on a 16-5 run to take an 18-9 lead. NCH had a 4/5 string in the middle of the run. During this time 43HLE coach Trish Dornish, former St. Thomas coach, picked up a technical. NCH did not grab the opportunity as Tayler Hill made a free throw, but Brianne Edwards missed her shot. After NCH had that lead they didn't score the rest of the half. They shut down early with an 0/12 extreme drought. Nine of those possessions ended in missed shots, and actually there were three misses that were rebounded by NCH only to be missed again, so the total shooting % for the last half of the first half was 0/12. 43HLE did take some advantage of this opportunity, but only to the tune of 4/12 possession. Carly Rothfuz scored the last six points for 43HLE. There non scoring possessions were the result of 7 turnovers as they couldn't stand the Heat's pressure.

Megan Nipe finally ended the drought with a put back on Hill's missed free throw to open the half. 43HLE fell into another 0/7 possession hole with 4 turnovers ruining their chances. NCH put together a 4/5 possession string and had a 7-2 run. 7 of NCH's points in the second half came from 43HLE turnovers. By the end of the game NCH started getting into rhythm with an 8/12 possession run. Most of that was in transition.

AAU ROSTERS

NUMBERS EXPLAINED

player, high school, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
PLAYER EVALUATIONS
NC HEAT
STARTERS
Tayler Hill, Mpls South 16, 14, 114.3, .643 Major talent. zooms by defenders, explosive and can break a defenders ankles. RF: distance shooting was off, her hand was dropping and the ball was off the back rim. Also free throw shooting must get better.
Annie Berner, Forest Lake 2, 5, 40.0, .200 has a wrist in a soft case. She is a warrior and has played all year with that cast on. She gets points from me for putting in the effort, but can't be that effective. The desire is there. RF: needs to heal properly. It will be interesting to see her with two hands.
Ephesia Holmes, Mpls South 9, 13, 69.2, .308 built like Khalid Al-Amin. used to success. RF: Needs to understand what she is capable of and what she isn't. AAU players are much bigger, stronger, as quick.
Megan Nipe, Centennial, 9, 10, 90.0, .500 crashes offensive boards. decent shot. active on defense.
Gina Lange, Forest Lake 6, 10, 60.0, .300 had a reverse layup. RF: needs to cash in at the line (0/4)
BENCH
Brianne Edwards, Mpls North 4, 8, 50.0, .250
Courtney Johnson, South St. Paul, 0, 1, 0.0, .000

43 HOOPS LADY ELITE
STARTERS
Janie Burich, Roseville 2, 5, 40.0, .200 big body. RF: needs aggressive demeanor
Katya Leick, Park-Cottage Grove 7, 15, 46.7, .267 big body. RF: passing decisions
Courtney Krantz, Visitation, 5, 6, 83.3, .500 another big body. RF: experience in the fast lane
Carly Rothfuz, Eden Prairie 12, 8, 150.0, .750 can take it to the hoop, gets hit and scores. active on defense with steal and score.
Theresa Thour, Wayzata 0, 8, 0.0, .000 RF: obvious shot consistency
BENCH
Sarah Hendricks, Cretin-Derham Hall, 6, 7, 85.7, .429 another big body. good upside. RF: needs to assert more on offense.
Liz Shea, Mpls Washburn 2, 7, 28.6, .143
Kendra Harris, Cretin-Derham Hall 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000
Taylor Brown, Chaska 0, 2, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
Tayler Hill, who else did you expect?

BY THE NUMBERS
team, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
NC Heat 46, 61, 75.4, .393
43 Hoops Lady Elite 36, 60, 60.0, .317
the pp100 numbers and the floor % numbers are not good. I think we can thank the rotten free throw shooting for the low showing. NCH shot 7/19 (36.8) that is only a couple degrees above freezing. 43HLE was at 6/11 which was barely above .500. As the years go on 43HLE has some upside, while NCH bodies will not get bigger. 43HLE will get experience.
Some may want to credit the defenses, but I believe offensive skills on an individual and on a team level are not where they need to be. Some players have good (or great) offensive skills. The team portion has not impressed me that much this AAU season. Part of that is the nature of AAU--few practices, new chemistry, no flow of the game with too many subs.

Next up: tomorrow morning plus tomorrow evening with the 15 semis (Total Package/MN Stars Schmitz) and 15 finals (NC Heat/Total Package)