Sioux Falls Bound

#1 posting 6.30.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

DAKOTA SHOWCASE
There were two more games last night. The SD Riders beat Triple Threat 52-49 and ND ECI Select East beat IBCA Iowa Select II 60-53. You can check out box scores and more on the link in the headline.

AAU ROSTERS

VERBALS

COACHING NEWS
MI
Jim Nelson has stepped down at East Jackson. He has coached the girls since 1982. Meeka Sova will replace him. Here is more from the Jackson Citizen Patriot.
WI
Mark Dax has been hired as the new coach at Beloit Memorial. He used to be the head boys basketball coach at Janesville Parker. Here is more from the Janesville Gazette.

COACHING OPENINGS

SUSPENSION
COLLEGE
Alcorn State will have a one year post season ban imposed on them for violations. They will be on probation for a few years after that as well. They will lose one scholarship. Alcorn State used ineligible players, improper financial aid, and travel expenses. Here is more from the MLive site of an AP feed.

TEAM CAMP
MI
Kenowa Hills won the Zeeland Shootout. They won the title by dropping Grand Rapids West Catholic. Here is more from the Grand Rapids Press.

TOURNAMENT
The NCAA tournament will not be expanding. There was talk of doubling the event to 128, and there was also talk of adding only 7 more teams. Neither proposal made it out of committee. Here is the Duluth News Tribune's AP Wire.

CALENDAR

Next up Later, much later tonight from Sioux Falls from the Dakota Showcase.

Dakota Showcase: Thursday Results

#2 posting 6.29.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

The Dakota Showcase is underway and their site Dakota Showcase has tons of information, from box scores, schedules and webcasts (already over for Thursday). Definitely check it out the site.

Here are the results so far
MN Triple Threat 68, IBCA Iowa Select II 50....Kachine Alexander led TT with 16
SD Riders 64, ND ECI Select East 48....Wagner led SDR with 14
SD Elite 69, MN Metro Stars White 47....Miller topped SDE with 16
Daubert Pinnacle NEB 69, Iowa Elite II 39...Nelson had 15 to lead DPN
IBCA Iowa Select I 61, MN Summitt 30....Kelsey Bolte led IIS with 16
ND Prairie Shooters 70, MN North Tartan Blue 52...Mic Kraft topped NDPS with 18, the same as Heather Cook of NTB
MN Metro Stars Black 49, ND ECI Select West 48...NDESW's Kayla Schmidt led all scorers with 12, but it was not enough to get the win.
Iowa Elite I 71, Northern Lites 55...Another game where the leader came out on the wrong end. Alexis Yackley had 17 for NL, but IEI had four players in double figures.
MN Metro Stars White 68, Iowa Elite II 49...Maggie Slawson erupted for 17 for MMSW
SD Elite 63, Daubert Pinnacle NEB 60...boxes not up yet.

Looking at how the states are doing
State, w-l
SD 3-1
MN 3-3
NEB 1-1
IA 2-3
ND 1-2

At this point defending champs IBCA Iowa Select I has to be considered the favorites.
Tomorrow I get up at the crack of dawn to head to the Showcase.
I am looking forward to seeing players from the states I cover in the books.

Next up Tomorrow am before I leave.

Dakota Showcase, Hancock, and Lynx

#1 posting 6.29.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

COACHING NEWS
COLLEGE
St. Mary's CA is on a nationwide search for it's new coach. They are looking for someone to replace Michelle Jacoby who was let go. The article is from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Greg Ulland has been named an assistant at North Dakota. He was an assistant at Mayville State last year. Here is the UND press release.

COACHING OPENINGS

TOURNAMENTS
DAKOTA SHOWCASE
The Dakota Showcase opens today and continues through Saturday with the finals scheduled at 6:20 at Augustana College in Sioux Falls. I plan on covering the later games Friday and the Saturday winners bracket. You will be able to find out what is happening by going to the website.
LONDON OPEN
UW Platteville has a couple of players representing the US in this tournament, and they have opened with a 3-0 record. Other UW system players are participating and the squad is coached by UW LaCrosse's Lois Hereen. Here is more from the UW Platteville press release.
12u Nationals
The AAU 12u nationals will kick off this weekend down in Kingston, TN. Erica Haugen's Suns will be headed down to the tournament. I have worked with the team for a couple of practices. Good luck to coach Haugen, as she returns to the Nationals as a coach this time, and the squad. Here is more on the 12u tournament from Kingsport Times-News.
Indigenous Games
Ruth Buffalo, coach at United Tribes CC will be wearing many hats at the Indigenous games in Colorado: player in the adult women's division and coach at the 13/14 division. Here is her story from the Bismarck Tribune.
PACESETTER
MORRIS
Hancock won the June 24 tournament with a 53-49 win over West Central
Here is the bracket scores
Quarterfinals
Staples-Motley 36, Hancock JV 19
Montevideo 40, Foley 28
Semifinals
West Central 39, Staples-Motley 28
Hancock 50, Montevideo 30 (Tara Thielke led Hancock with 18, and Bree Holleman added 12)
Consolation
Foley 31, Hancock JV 22
3rd place
Montevideo 32, Staples-Motley 28
Championship
Hancock 53, West Central 49 (Holleman 19, Thielke 16)

AAU ROSTERS

CALENDAR

SIGNINGS/VERBALS
Coach Gary Rufsvold of St. Catherine's has added 15 new players to its roster for next year. The list and their future are discussed in the St. Kate's press release.

VERBALS

ALL STAR CAMPS
MN
Here camp information for the MN Elite camp held July 25-28 at Concordia St. Paul

ALL STAR GAMES
MI
In the Blue Water Area All Star game the East topped the West 71-62. This article is from the New Baltimore paper the Voice.

SUMMER LEAGUES
MI
Here is what is happening in the St. Clair County CC Summer League. The Port Huron Times-Herald is your information source.
MN
Deer River SL: Bigfork had to cancel their match up with Grand Rapids due to player shortage.

A LOOK AT THE LYNX
vs Phoenix 6/28/2006

NUMBERS EXPLAINED
player, points, possessions, pp100, floor %

MINNESOTA
STARTERS
Amber Jacobs 6, 10, 60.0, .300
Seimone Augustus 24, 20, 120.0, .600
Svetlana Abrosimova 7, 8, 87.5, .375
Timika Williams 8, 7, 114.3, .571
Nicole Ohlde 8, 7, 114.3, .571
BENCH
Vanessa Hayden 18, 17, 105.9, .588
Tynesha Lewis 4, 5, 80.0, .400
Megan Duffy 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000
Adrian Williams 1, 1, 100.0, 1.000
Team 0, 1, 0.0, .000 (24 second violation)

PHOENIX
STARTERS
Kelly Miller 17, 14, 121.4, .500
Cappie Pondexter 19, 16, 118.8, .438
Diana Taurasi 13, 14, 92.9, .500
Kirsten Rasmussen 2, 5, 40.0, .200
Kamila Vodichkova 14, 15, 93.3, .533
BENCH
Jennifer Lacy 4, 6, 66.7, .500
Belinda Snell 4, 3, 133.3, .667
Crystal Smith 8, 6, 133.3, .500

BY THE NUMBERS
Minnesota 78, 78, 100.0, .513
Phoenix 81, 79, 102.5, .468

If you take a look at the floor % numbers you notice MN had a better ratio than Phoenix, yet Phoenix walked off the floor the winner. That is because they had 10 3 point plays--8 behind the arc, 1 free throw sequence of three, and one regular old fashioned three point play. MN managed to get two. Phoenix made 15 free throws on the day, 13 in the 4th quarter. MN made 12, 6 in the fourth quarter.
In every quarter Phoenix finished off the scoring. Taurasi scored on a rebound basket in the first quarter; Snell had a driving lay up to finish the second; Taurasi scored on a second shot in the third, and Pondexter stuck a dagger in the Lynx hearts with her 3 to break the tie. The Lynx had the lead when Phoenix nailed their shots at the end of the 2nd, and 3rd quarters.
Another sore spot was the second chance points. It was fairly close, but Phoenix had 15 to MNs 11 points. Phoenix had four chances to score on their first possession in the fourth quarter.

Thanks for all the help from the readers in getting me stories.

Next up: tomorrow morning with the general news of the day

Gillett to North Dakota, Strimlinger Opts Out

#1 posting 6.28.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball

VERBALS/SIGNINGS
Kirstie Gillett, Dakota Prairie has made a verbal to North Dakota. She averaged 18.5 ppg last season. Here is more from the Grand Forks Herald.

VERBALS

COACHING NEWS
MI
Sonja Duncan has been named the new coach at Cedarville.

COACHING OPENINGS

INJURY UPDATES
IOWA
With Solverson out with another ACL injury, Iowa's depth will be challenged. According to this article Megan Skouby had a near miss on Tuesday night. She was playing in a summer league game against teammate Krista Vande Venter. Here is more on the knees, Skouby, and what is happening at Iowa in the Daily Iowan.
IOWA STATE
Iowa State's head coach Bill Fennelly underwent surgury for the second straight year to remove some cancerous nodules from his vocal chords. Here is more on the situation from the Des Moines Register. Also the article talks about the injury progress of Rachel Pierson and Lyndsey Medders. Mackenzie Stirmlinger, a 2006 Miss Basketball winner from Missouri has decided to give up basketball and will not attend Iowa State. All these stories in the Fennelly article.

TOURNAMENTS
COLLEGE
IOWA
Here is a couple of early season tournaments that the Iowa Hawkeyes are scheduled to play this fall--the WBCA tournament in Kansas City beginning Nov 11, and hosting their own on Nov 17. Here is full details in the Iowa City Press Citizen.
MN
In the recent Pacesetter 9th grade state tournament Becker finished first, Perham was second, Adrian ended up in third place, and Nashwauk-Keewatin landed in fourth. Here is more on Adrian's tournament experience is recounted in the Nobles County Review.

SUMMER LEAGUES
MN
Lakeville North SL: Eagan beat Hopkins last night 41-39. Burnsville also beat Shakopee, but the score was unknown.
Standings: (prior to last night)
Lakeville North 2-0
Hopkins 2-0
Lakeville South 2-0
Eastview 1-0
Eagan 1-0
Shakopee 0-2
Burnsville 0-2
Red Wing 0-2
Prior Lake 0-2

ANOTHER SUMMER LEAGUE
Apple Valley has a league. It runs on Mondays with the championship scheduled on July 25. Teams involved are Apple Valley, Stillwater, Owatonna, Lakeville North, Eden Prairie; Rosemount, and Goodhue.

CALENDAR

AAU ROSTERS

THORPE
Coach Thorpe is off his soap box and is clacking away at his typewriter as he is gathering his thoughts on his upcoming book. Look for more on this literary event as the summer and fall progresses.

BOOK PROGRESS
As for my publications, I am knee deep in Iowa data entry. My part timer is working through the collegiate data entry. I will have more posted on the availability of these books in the fall when they are published. The rating systems have named the players of the year, in the states I cover, for the last two years. The numbers do add up.

Next up: tomorrow morning with all the news from around the basketball world

Out & About: Lakeville North Summer League

#2 posting 6.27.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

Tonight it was south of the river to watch the action in the Lakeville North Summer League. I watched two games and the common denominator in both was Lakeville South.
Lakeville North beat their neighbors in a civil war game 41-28. LS then in the nightcap knocked off Hopkins 38-26.

LAKEVILLE NORTH/LAKEVILLE SOUTH
Again I was late for this game (it started at 6 pm). Going from the northside to south of the river in rush hour is anything but rushed. The League plays two 20 minute halves, running time. When I arrived LN had the game in control up 20-7. When I started watching both teams scored 21 points. LS did finish strong with four straight scoring possessions. LN won 41-28.

NUMBERS EXPLAINED

player, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
LAKEVILLE NORTH
Caitlin Peterson 2, 2, 100.0, .500 went hard to the glass
Cassie Rochel 5, 2, 250.0, 1.000 great hands, feet, upside. getting more physical. can run the floor. good concentration. great touch. RF: on defense, when guarding perimeter, eyes need to be on the stomach, not the opponents eyes.
Brittany Olson 3, 4, 75.0, .500
Shayla Owodunni 4, 3, 133.3, .667 the smaller of the twin towers (by an inch), has athletic ability. starting to develop touch.
Kaiya Sygulla 1, 4, 25.0, .000* point guard, competitive. RF: tried to force passes.
Kasey Radcliffe 6, 4, 150.0, .750 I liked her scrappiness, and hustle. not afraid of getting on the floor. quick to the ball, good anticipation. hustler.
#24 0, 2, 0.0, .000
#52, 0, 1, 0.0, .000
#30 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Unknown offensive foul 0, 1, 0.0, .000

LAKEVILLE SOUTH
#21 6, 5, 120.0, .600
#44 2, 2, 100.0, .500 RF: elbow too far away on ball control issues.
Jennie Kalbfell 1, 2, 50.0, .500 inside, younger, athletic good frame.
#5 0, 2, 0.0, .000
#40 2, 3, 66.7, .333
#45 4, 3, 133.3, .667
Laura Kalbfell 4, 4, 100.0, .750 outside, older, athletic, RF: need to cash in better at the line.
#23 2, 3, 66.7, .333 RF: balance
#25 0, 1, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
Cassie Rochel

BY THE NUMBERS
points, possessions, pp100, floor %
L North (when I watched) 21, 24, 87.5, .458
L South (when I watched) 21, 25, 84.0, .480
Obviously LN was clicking before I arrived. The difference between the Lakeville and Concordia leagues, other than rules, was the energy level. Loose balls weren't loose for long. Another factor may have been the man defense played at LN. LS beat out LN at the free throw line with 13 made free throw to 6.

PART 2
LAKEVILLE SOUTH/HOPKINS
Lakeville South topped Hopkins 38 or 35 to 26. LS started off the game with a 7 possession drought, Hopkins started with 6 possessions with out scoring. Both teams never really clicked on offense. LS had another 5 possession drought later in the first half. However LS held the lead at the half 14-12.

Both teams again hit a dry spell with four straight possession for nothing, at the same time. But LS had a five possession run later in the half, Hopkins never had a run like that.

NUMBERS EXPLAINED
State/division, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
LAKEVILLE SOUTH
#5 2, 6, 33.3, .167
#25 2, 2, 100.0, .500
#21 2, 3, 66.7, .333
#45 2, 5, 40.0. .200
Laura Kalbfell 11, 11, 100.0, .364
Jennie Kalbfell 3, 4, 75.0, .500
#42 4, 3, 133.3, .667
#40 2, 3, 66.7, .333
#44 6, 3, 200.0, 1.000
#23 1, 4, 25.0, .250

HOPKINS
Rachel Johnson 10, 9, 111.1, .556
Jackie Hiebert 3, 7, 42.9, .286
Ana Garcia 2, 7, 28.6, .143
Hanna Muegge 0, 4, 0.0, .000
Jenna Lillemoe 1, 4, 25.0, .250
Hannah Oliverus 3, 6, 50.0, .167
Claire Burmeister 5, 6, 83.3, .333
Kacey Wyttenhove 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000

TRENCH PLAYER
Laura Kalbfell

BY THE NUMBERS
Lakeville South 35, 44, 79.5, .386
Hopkins 26, 44, 59.1, .295
Hopkins was without the services of Caitlin Rowland, also Jackie Hiebert missed a portion of the first half. However they now have Ana Garcia formerly of Blaine. They have moved into the Hopkins district. This will provide more depth at the guard spot, but tonight, as you can see by the .295 floor %, Hopkins was not at their normal efficient rating.

Next up: tomorrow morning with the general news of the day.

Solverson Injures ACL Again

#1 posting 6.27.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

INJURY UPDATES
IA
Johanna Solverson, Iowa, has suffered a second ACL injury to her right knee. More on Solverson and the snake bit, ACL prone Hawkeyes are found in the Iowa City Press Citizen.

ALL STAR GAMES
MI/IND
Eastern Indiana bounced Michigan 93-77 in the Sports Fest event in Mishawaka, IN. Alyssa Pittman, Elkhart Memorial led all scorers with 34. She will be headed to Eastern Michigan. Tashayla Jackson, Benton Harbor, led Michigan with 24. Here is more on the game from the Cassopolis Vigilant.

COACHING NEWS
MI
Three new coaches will be patrolling the sidelines this fall in or near Oceana County, MI: Brian Wright at Shelby; Steve Youngstrom at Hart; and Lee Oomen at Walkerville. Here is more on the trio from the Oceana Hearld Journal.
MN
Liz Mundahl has been named new coach at Chisago Lakes. She was the coach at St. Bernard's the last two years and had a record of 8-41.
Cook County has an opening.

COACHING OPENINGS

ELITE CAMP
MN
Concordia St. Paul will once again be the site of the Elite Camp. Last year the camp moved to Hamline due to scheduling conflicts.

SIGNINGS/VERBALS
MI/WI
Breanna Hover, Clayton WI will be headed to Findlandia University. Hover averaged 10 ppg last year. Here is more from the Houghton Mining Gazette.

VERBALS

SUMMER LEAGUES
MN
Chisago Lakes has a summer league. It runs on Wednesday nights until the championship game on July 31.
Here is the standings so far
North Branch 6-0
Zimmerman 4-2
Somerset, WI 4-2
Osceola, WI 3-3
Cambridge-Isanti 3-3
Chisago Lakes Gold 2-4
Chisago Lakes Green (JV) 1-5
St. Croix Falls 1-5

CALENDAR

TOURNAMENTS
MN
The South of the River Racers won the varsity division in the Star of the North State Tournament held in Rochester. They now will be headed to Portland, OR for the End of the Trail Nike tournament. They will be in the Red bracket. There are a few more MN teams involved including the Quest (red) and North Tartan (Blue)
Later SotRR will be in the Mid America Adidas tournament in Minnesota.

AAU ROSTERS

ADRIAN WILLIAMS
Here is a profile of Lynx player AW in the Pioneer Press. AW had a strong game on Saturday with both defensive and offensive numbers. I have liked her energy, and speed. I am in favor of increasing her minutes.

Next up: later tonight with another tour of the summer leagues--tonight Lakeville North

Out & About: Concordia St.Paul Summer League

#2 posting 6.26.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

CONCORDIA ST. PAUL SUMMER LEAGUE
Today I traveled to check on the summer league scene. The first stop on the tour was Concordia St. Paul. They play three 13 minutes "mini games" each team is awarded two points for a win and one point for a tie game. Non shooting fouls are worth one point, shooting fouls are worth two points. The only time a foul is shot is in the last minute of the game. There is no fouling out---I think that is because some teams have barely enough for five players.
I arrived late to the game due to two factors: 1. My part timer was having a hard time with the network today. For some reason it was throwing fits and not taking care of information entered. 2. There was construction taking place on 252 headed into Minneapolis. Traffic was down to one lane, and what was a 5 minute ride on that portion became a 20 minute ordeal.

MINNEAPOLIS SOUTHWEST/ST. PAUL CENTRAL
SPC, as has long been rumored, has Theairra Taylor on their squad. Taylor was at Como Park last year. This will add to their potent offensive attack. Also coming to SPC Jessi Bartz from Rochester JM is moving to the district and has enrolled at school. She averaged 3.3 last year at RJM.

I was able to get to the Second Mini game of the St. Paul Central/Minneapolis Southwest contest. SPC won the first game 22-17, but SW took the second game 26-13. It was 6-1 when I got there. SPC's Angel Robinson knocked in a 3 as I got in. She soon added another and SPC led 9-8. SW's Britta Syverson scored on a post up to put SW back on top and they were not to trail again. SPC went into a 7 possession drought to end any hopes for a win in this mini game. At the same time SW ran off five scoring possessions in a row, and 6/7 sequence with a 13-0 run. Fitz had 7 points in the stretch.

In the rubber game SW scored first with Syverson doing the honors. SPC scored on their next three possessions and led 7-2. Abby Gust had a 3, Theiarra Taylor was fouled on a drive for two more and Angel Robinson scored on a put back. Then SW rattled off five straight points in three possessions. Both teams traded leads SW tied it up at 18 with Miller's rebound basket. SPC missed shots on their next two possessions. Fitz grabbed the rebound on West's missed shot and was fouled. That meant she got one point. Later in that same possession Syverson scored on a missed shot by Miller and SW was up 21-18 with under 2:30 to go. West missed another 3 on SPC's next possession. Miller scored on the next SW possession, again on a put back. A time out refocused the energy and Robinson went right to the glass to cut the SW lead to 23-20. Robinson stole the ball, and Abby Gust popped in a shot to cut the lead to 23-22 with 37 seconds left. Miller missed for SW, Robinson got the rebound and was fouled. She missed the one and one situation and Fitz grabbed the rebound and was fouled. She went down to the other end and made both to give SW a 25-22 lead. Johnson's 3 shot at the end bounced off and SW picked up four points in the standings with the win. It was the first time SPC lost in the league.

MINNEAPOLIS SOUTHWEST
STARTERS
Melissa Fitz 14, 12, 116.7, .333 main ball handler, and played with confidence and poise.
#5 2, 4, 50.0, .250 RF: needs to work on ball handling.
Laura Miller 12, 9, 133.3, .667 another power inside RF: time and score situations--took a questionable shot when they were milking the clock.
Britta Syverson 14, 8, 175.0, .875 force inside, made quite a few put backs on the day.
#11 2, 4, 50.0, .250
BENCH
none

ST. PAUL CENTRAL
STARTERS
Angel Robinson 14, 13, 107.8, .462 a dominant player period. RF: needs to finish the free throw opportunities.
Theairra Taylor 6, 7, 85.7, .429 as the new kid on the block was defferrential to the other players. I have seen her take over a game with her Total Package team, Here it looked like she was trying to fit in and not step on anybodies toes.
Shayla Johnson 7, 4, 175.0, .750 banked in a 3.
Abby Gust 7, 5, 140.0, .600 good shooter. RF; needs to step up defensively.
Cyonna West 0, 5, 0.0, .000 defensive stopper RF: suffered from summeritis on defense for most of the game. needs to shoot 1000s of shots to be an offensive weapon.
Mercedes Yarborough 0, 3, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
Tonight with the wins Fitz

BY THE NUMBERS
Mpls SW 44, 37, 118.9, .514
StP Central 34, 37, 91.9, .432
If you look at the numbers you may say "wow, what great offensive performances." That would be a mistake. The offenses did what ever they wanted to. When watching this game I was thinking of the Gershwin song "summertime" with the line summertime and the living is easy. That is what the pace, energy, and atmosphere was like. A lazy summer day. The defenses did their imitation of a wet paper bag. Passive zones, brought on by the foul rule perhaps when a foul is penalized by points, were never in the offenses face. The sense of urgency was never really there until the very end of the 3rd mini game.
Also the limitations of the the number crunching was evident in this game. It usually points to who can get the job done, but their is no way a rational person would prefer Johnson to Robinson, or Syverson to Fitz. That is not to rip on the other players, but Robinson and Fitz are the heart and soul of each team.
One other factor in the game. SW was being coached by their new coach Robert Grace, while SPC was player coached.

TARTAN/RIVER FALLS
Tartan swept River Falls in the three mini games 22-9, 21-15, 21-11.
There was never any doubt in game won with Tartan opening with a 7-0 lead. RF did not connect on their first 8 possessions. The game was never in doubt. Tartan had a five possession string late in the game on a 12-2 run. And Run Tartan did.

In game 2, RF held the early lead, but it was never more than 2 points. The game was tight throughout, but Tartan broke away late breaking a 15 all tie. Again Tartan strung four possessions together late to open up a comfortable 6-0 run and a 21-15 win. RF closed with an 0/6 string. Tartan's Haas had 8 points in this mini game.

Game 3 was much like game 1 with Tartan grabbing a 6-0 lead, RF suffering a 8 possession drought. #21 had seven points for Tartan.

TARTAN
no number 2, 7, 28.6, .143
#11 Marni Privratsky 9, 8, 112.5, .375
#25 2, 4, 50.0, .250
#23 4, 5, 80.0, .400
Jenny Hooper 6, 6, 100.0, .500
#3 Lauren Pellowski 7, 9, 77.8, .333
#1 1, 1, 100.0, ???
#21 11, 7, 157.1, .714
#4 5, 5, 100.0, .400
Katie Haas 16, 10, 160.0, .800 as the biggest player, and the player with the most experience you would expect her to dominate. She did that easily. RF: needs to make her moves quickly. too labored once she gets the ball.
Tartan fans---let me know the names of the missing players. Email me--go to the profile.

RIVER FALLS
#33 2, 4, 50.0, .250
#24 5, 11, 45.5, .182
#25 4, 9, 44.4, .222
#35 0, 2, 0.0, .000
#41 6, 7, 85.7, .429
#15 2, 4, 50.0, .250
#10 0, 3, 0.0, .000
#20 2, 4, 50.0, .250
#12 8, 9, 88.9, .444 big guard. tried to get things moving
#44 5, 7, 71.4, .286
#21 1, 1, 100.0, ???
#35 0, 1, 0.0, .000
For you River Falls Fans--if you know the numbers and names let me know. email me from my profile.

TRENCH PLAYER
Katie Haas

BY THE NUMBERS
Tartan 63, 62, 101.6, .452
River Falls 35, 62, 56.5, .258
Never really a mystery. Tartan had the size and speed advantage. In this game both teams brought 10+ players. So what we saw was the wave substitution pattern.
Both winning teams tonight were over the gold standard of 100 pp100, again it was a hot knife through butter with offenses doing what they wanted, well at least Tartan was able to do what they wanted.

CSP STANDINGS
coming into tonight's action
Bloomington Kennedy 22
Holy Angels 22
St. Paul Central 20
Hastings 19
Benilde-St. Margaret's 18
Minnehaha 18
Concordia Roseville 17
Mpls Southwest 16
Mpls South 15
River Falls 14
Richfield 10
St. Anthony 10
Irondale 9
Elk River 9
Park-Cottage Grove 8
Tartan 8
Henry Sibley 4
Hudson 4
Visitation 2
CHOF 2
South St. Paul 1

Championship in the CSP summer league will be Wednesday, July 12 at 8 pm

Next up: tomorrow morning with the general news of the day

Comparisions with AAU, HS, and WNBA

#1 posting 6.26.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

HS/AAU/WNBA COMPARISION
Here is a look at the pp100 and floor % with HS, AAU, and the WNBA for the games I have seen this last year. Execution is better at the HS level than the AAU probably due to longer practice time together.
A general truism for the AAU--the younger you go the efficiency drops. The anomoly is at 19s where efficiency drops again.
At the HS level, the higher the class, the better the efficiency.

NUMBERS EXPLAINED
State/division, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
HIGH SCHOOL
Totals
IA 48.66, 58.4, 83.36, .407 ---all these games were in the state tournament
MN 55.77, 66.1, 82.91, .404
BY DIVISION
IA 1A 44.92, 57.1, 78.7, .381 (12 teams)
IA 2A 54.92, 62.3, 88.2, .435 (12 teams)
IA 3A 44.7, 54.6, 81.9, .392 (10 teams)
IA 4A 51, 60, 85.0, .429 (4 teams)
MN 1A 54.19, 67, 80.8, .393 (42 teams)
MN 2A 56.94, 68.1, 83.59, .403 (33 teams)
MN 3A 52.98, 65.8, 80.55, .396 (48 teams)
MN 4A 55.15, 65.1, 89.72, .412 (100 teams)
STATE CHAMPS
MN 1A Fulda 62.5, 67, 93.28, .448 (4 games)
MN 2A Cannon Falls 61.25, 91.42, .429 (4 games)
MN 3A Benilde-St. Margaret's 56, 62.5, 89.6, .448 (4 games)
MN 4A Hopkins 61.22, 62.7, 97.70, .493 (9 games)
ALL STAR SERIES
MN 67.63, 79, 85.6, .403
AAU
TOTAL: 46.9, 60.9, 77.07, .379
14u: 46.1, 65, 70.99, .356 (7 games)
15u: 45.82, 61.2, 74.9, .379 (17 games)
16u: 48.38, 61.3, 78.95, .382 (40 games)
17u: 49.4, 89.8, 89.82, .429 (5 games)
19u: 37.6, 56.8, 66.2, .341 (5 games)

What about the WNBA?
The Lynx are 5-8 & their numbers look like this:
77.46, 77.46, 100.0, .475
Their opponents numbers
80.80, 77.69, 104.1, .486
the higher numbers are due to higher skilled offensive players, which is what you would expect at the professional level.
All these numbers show who can play offense. The cream rises to the top.

DAKOTA SHOWCASE THIS WEEK
The Dakota Showcase begins on Thursday this week June 29 to July 1, at the Elmen Center at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD. Iowa Select I is the defending champions. They recently took top honors at the Bloomington Jefferson tournament.
Next year the event will expand to 32 teams with the addition of the new practice facility at Augustana.

ALL STAR GAMES
MI
In the Mid Michigan All Star game Chelsea Ciba, Olivet HS to Western Michigan, stole the ball and made the winning lay up in a 72-70 win for the East over the West. She led both squads with 25 points. Here is more on Ciba, and the all star match up from the Lansing State Journal.

BADGER STATE GAME RESULTS
WI
Here is what happened in the Badger State Games this weekend: in the scholastic B level Osseo-Fairchild won the title over Seymour. In the A Scholastic Chippewa Falls beat Wisconsin (Milwaukee) Ladystars. Here are more results from the WFRV web site.

COACHING NEWS
COLLEGE
Here is more on the Ted Riverso hiring, this time the story angle is from his old institution St. Thomas. It lists many of the players he developed, and the success he had at St. Thomas.

COACHING OPENINGS

DOUBLE NCAA TOURNAMENT?
Here is the push to double the amount of teams in the NCAA D1 tournament. Most of the push is coming from the men's side. Some coaches have advocated adding six more teams. Logistics have to be worked out from sites to TV. Article is from the Pioneer Press on a AP story.

AAU ROSTERS

THE LIST
VERBALS
CALENDAR

Next up: later today? maybe. I plan on taking a look at the Summer Leagues: first stop Concordia St. Paul

TRANSFERS

TRANSFER STATION
This is a list of known player movement.
Alphabetical by player name
If you know of more email me at my profile

Name, old school, new school

MICHIGAN
Lauren Allen, Farmington, Rochester
Tasha Balls, Bridgeport, Saginaw Buena Vista
Brittany Dorsey, St. Paul Highland Park, MN; Saginaw Arthur Hill

MINNESOTA
Elise Adams, Bethany Academy, Bloomington Jefferson
Kiara Allums, St. Paul Highland Park, Centennial
Jessi Bartz, Rochester John Marshall, St. Paul Central
Autumn Beasley, West Lutheran, Heritage Christian
Ebony Black, St. Paul Johnson, St. Paul Central
Katrina Brekke, Cavalier, ND, East Grand Forks
Casey Christian, Shakopee, Prior Lake
Sarah Dzik, Heritage Christian, --will be in district 281 and enrolled in post secondary options
Rachelle Eckmann, Martin County West, St. James.
MacKenzie Esson, Austin, New Ulm
Ana Garcia, Blaine, Hopkins
Hanna Hylla, Holdingford, Albany
Kelsey Jacobson, Barnesville, Moorhead
Mercedes Johnson, Fairmont, Granada-Huntley-East Chain
Georgie Jones, St. Paul Highland Park, St. Paul Central
Brittany Mayclin, Bemidji, Benilde-St. Margaret's
Olivia Omoyayi, Armstrong, Minneapolis North
Mallori Paplow, Westbrook-Walnut Grove, Windom
Hanna Potter, Hopkins, Edina
Sam Robinson-Ricks, St. Paul Highland Park, St. Paul Central
Abby Smith, DeLaSalle, Minnehaha
Theairra Taylor, St. Paul Como Park, St. Paul Central
Patrice Thomas, Mpls Washburn, Bloomington Kennedy now at MN Transitions; may not play this year
Ashleigh Trosen, Cass Lake-Bena, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley
Amanda Viehauser, Mpls Washburn, Robbinsdale Armstrong

NORTH DAKOTA
Marlee Finley, Four Winds-Warwick, Mandan
Dominique Schuler, Breckenridge, MN, Fargo Shanley
Shanlee Taken Alive, McLaughlin, SD; Mandan

Out & About: IBCA Iowa Select I/MN Metro Stars 19

#2 posting 6.25.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

This game took place Sunday, June 18
Championship Game 17/19 Division, Bloomington Jefferson Tournament
IBCA Iowa Select I 55, MN Metro Stars 19s 25

First a couple of bits of information:
1. I was expecting to cover the finals of the 16 division, but NC Heat forfeited to North Tartan as Coach Paul Hill left to watch his son in the Inner City All Star Game. It was father's day if you remember.
2. Therefore I arrived late to this contest and the numbers will reflect that.
3. My reliable source had to break down the camera and it was not set up again, so no pix for this game.
4. MIA: The Metro Stars were missing Cassie Johnson (Inner City All Star game), Breanna Salley, and Jillian Schurle. Definitely not full strength, but I don't know if I ever saw this group at full strength all spring/summer.

Be that as it may, I walked in and Iowa was up in a major way 12-0. MMS was reeling trying to cope with the size, power, and quickness put forth by the Iowa squad. Iowa had a run of 4 out of 5 possessions, and 8-2 run to make it 22-4. What Iowa wanted to do, Iowa did. MMS had an 8 possession drought, and they just weren't hitting as they ended seven of those possessions with missed shots. Everybody was getting into the act for Iowa, the top point getter (from when I was watching) was Krissy O'Toole with 6 in the first half. Iowa led 31-12 at the half.

The lead remained in the 20 point margin for most of the second half. There was never any serious run or doubt in the outcome. Some things remained the same however. MMS had a 0/5 drought early in the 2nd half, while Iowa put a five possession string with an 11-2 run to make the score 52-23. Allison Volkens had four points during the run. The game ended without fanfare at 55-25.

AAU ROSTERS

NUMBERS EXPLAINED
player, high school, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
IBCA IOWA SELECT I
ON THE FLOOR WHEN I ARRIVED
Rachel Madrigal, Decorah 5, 7, 71.4, .429 aggressive to the glass, attempted reverse lay up.
Kelly Krei, Iowa City 2, 6, 33.3, .167
Jacqui Kalin, Sioux City North 5, 3, 166.7, .667
Cala Westergard, Charles City 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Kelsey Cermak, Norwalk 6, 6, 100.0, .500
BENCH
Lana Otting, Cascade 7, 4, 175.0, .750 much better performance than the first game on Saturday I saw. Good range, hustler.
Jodie Krall, Solon 4, 6, 66.7, .333 RF: needs better passing angle for feeding the post
Allison Volkens, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 5, 4, 125.0, .750 big & strong inside.
Kelsey Bolte, Battle Creek-Ida Grove 4, 4, 100.0, .500
Erin Brocka, North Butler 3, 1, 300.0, 1.000 3 range.
For the most part I can summarize it like this: big, strong, athletic bodies that can shoot and like to win. When I asked a reliable source which player would they would take the answer was multi-player. "anybody who is in 30s in their uniform number" was the response. But he also had a couple of non 30s# as well. It was the proverbial kid in the candy store.

MN METRO STARS 19S
ON THE FLOOR WHEN I ARRIVED
Jessie Miller, Holy Angels 1, 8, 12.5, .125 RF: Shooting eye was not what it was during the season.
Andi Olson, Jordan 0, 2, 0.0, .000
Mindy Schmidt, Champlin Park 2, 8, 25.0, .125
Callie Mansour, Burnsville 1, 2, 50.0, .500
Kelly Mullaney, Breck 5, 5, 100.0, .400 likes to shoot on the move.
BENCH
Krissy O'Toole, Wayzata 9, 7, 128.6, .714 physical, will have a happier time in college where physical play is tolerated.
Emily Neal, Breck 7, 10, 70.0, .400 scored off the drive in the second half, RF: all points scored in the second half.
Megan Givens, Breck 0, 1, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
Kelsey Cermak

BY THE NUMBERS (of what I witnessed)
IBCA Iowa Select I 44, 43, 102.3, .488
MN Metro Stars 19s 25, 43, 58.1, .326
Iowa went scored 9 free throws, while MMS made 5. Iowa connected on two 3 balls, and MMS zero.
In the four games I have seen with MMS they have never cracked the .400 floor % number. I believe much of that has to be with the continuous flux of teammates. I don't know how often they practice, but I am assuming attendance is hit and miss just as their game attendance is. Part of the issue is their is much activity at the end of a senior year. All the MMS players are set for next year, while the teams I have seen them play are going after scholarships, and also they would like to take out the older team.

The dream match up would have been Iowa vs North Tartan, but they were in opposite classifications. However MMS played each, with similar results. MMS had their lowest pp100 in this game, and lowest floor %. Against NT in the Hopkins tournament MMS had a 78.8 pp100, and .348 floor %.

Next up: tomorrow with the general news of the day.

Lynx Offense vs NY, GR wins DSL, Becker wins at GR

#1 posting 6.25.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

ALL STAR GAMES
MI
Kellly Kohn, Adrian HS and headed for Kansas, had 26 points in a 65-52 White win over the Blues in the Lewanee County All Star Game. Here is more from the Adrian Daily Telegram.

SUMMER LEAGUES
MN
Grand Rapids won the Duluth Summer League with a sudden death overtime win over Hibbing on Friday night. GR never lost in the league and finished 10-0. Hibbing came in at 8-2.

TOURNAMENTS
MN
In the Grand Rapids Breakdown Showcase Becker won the title over Grand Rapids by 25 points. Becker reached the finals by beating North Tartan 14s. GR beat Hibbing in a rematch of Friday's DSL championship. This time there was no OT as GR won by 12.
North Tartan 14s finished with a 3rd place win over Hibbing.

A LOOK AT THE LYNX
offense vs NY

NUMBERS EXPLAINED
player, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
MINNESOTA
STARTERS
Amber Jacobs 11, 11, 100.0, .364
Seimone Augustus 29, 26, 111.5, .500
Kristen Mann 9, 4, 225.0, 1.000
Timika Williams 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Nicole Ohlde 7, 9, 77.8, .444
BENCH
Vanessa Hayden 9, 11, 81.8, .455
Megan Duffy 9, 7, 128.6, .571
Adrian Williams 6, 3, 200.0, 1.000
Svetlana Abrosimova 3, 2, 150.0, .500
Tynesha Lewis 0, 1, 0.0, .000

NEW YORK
STARTERS
Loree Moore 9, 8, 112.5, .375
Becky Hammon 16, 13, 123.1, .538
Shameka Christon 19, 12, 158.3, .667
Kelly Schumacher 13, 14, 92.9, .429
Barbara Farris 20, 13, 153.8, .692
BENCH
Cathrine Kraayeveld 3, 4, 75.0, .250
Sherill Baker 13, 9, 144.4, .667
Ashley Battle 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Iciss Tillis 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Erin Thorn 0, 1, 0.0, .000

BY THE NUMBERS
MN 83, 75, 110.7, .507
NY 93, 76, 122.4, .553
The difference in this game was four scoring possessions. NY made better use of their scores with 11 3 point plays (arc, and +one variety), MN also had 11 with 3 desperation tosses from Jacobs in the last minute, but they never had +one style 3 pt play. MN also squeezed one point out of 3 possessions, while NY limited themselves to two.
Before the 4th quarter Jacobs #s read like this 0, 7, 0.0, .000. It was the sense of urgency that had her zeroed in on the long distance dialing late in the game.
Droughts & Runs
MN Suffered a five possession drought in the first quarter, which was nothing compared to the 8 straight possessions NY failed to connect on in the 2nd quarter. Their offensive futility was 1/12 during a stretch when MN was stringing together 7 straight scoring possessions. The end result was a 13-2 run with MN holding a 33-31 lead. Hayden and Ohlde each scored four points during the surge.
In the 4th NY rolled off 10 straight scoring possessions to finish the game. MN was fairly good at closing out the game with 7 straight possessions. The key portion of the game was when MN had a five possession drought and in fact a 1/8 stretch when the game went from 66-63 NY to 79-65 NY a 13-2 burst. The breakdown on that 1/8 sequence was
1. Hayden missing on a hook shot
2. Augustus loosing the ball (it looked like a foul)
3. Augustus scoring jumper
4. Duffy missing jumper
5. Augustus missing jumper
6. Augustus missing jumper
7. Augustus missing jumper
8. Ohlde missing a lay up
Augustus will be more effective if another player steps up and plays aggressive offensive ball.

Now if we compare last nights Defensive ratings with the offensive ratings who +/- with the pp100?
MINNESOTA
Adrian Williams +150.0 great job on the boards all night.
Kristen Mann +62.5 needs to stay in the offensive flow. Got popped in the chops late in the game.
Svetlana Abrosimova +30.0
Seimone Augustus +1.5
Nicole Ohlde -22.2
Amber Jacobs -50.0
Megan Duffy -58.9
Tynesha Lewis -80.0
Vanessa Hayden -98.2
Timika Williams -140.0

NEW YORK
Barbara Farris +90.2
Sherill Baker +69.4
Shameka Christon +8.3
Becky Hammon +6.4
Loree Moore -10.6
Cathrine Kraayeveld -12.5
Kelly Schumacher -15.4
Ashley Battle -200.0

With 110.7 pp100 the offense is not the main issue. Defense, with the proper positioning, footwork, and getting the boards will get the Ws for the Lynx. Force the other team out of their comfort zone and initiate contact.
One more item--the pace of the game When the pace of the game is 75 or under the Lynx are 1-4; 76-80 3-2; 81+ 1-2. Apparently a relatively slow pace hurts the Lynx.

Next up: later today with the Iowa Select I vs MN Metro Stars 19s

A Look at the Lynx:Defense vs NY

#3 posting 6.24.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

This is a look at who is reponsible for the scoring for the opponents--kind of like another box score, a box that is hidden. As you can see Megan Duffy allowed 15 points for the Lynx with Kristen Mann allowing 13. Loree Moore gave up 16 (to Augustus primarily) but the points allowed is only part of the story. It is the points per 100 possessions I am interested in and neither team held the opponents that well. I am only interested in the final result of the possession which can be either A: a made basket. B: a made free throw; C: a steal or forced turnover or D: a defensive rebound. Using this system Adrian Williams ruled by allowing only 50 per 100 possessions. Barbara Farris, NY came in at 63.5. Both have the advantage of getting defensive boards. AW had six defensive boards in the second quarter and had four in a row as the Lynx held NY to only 8 points that quarter.

New York Liberty 93, MN Lynx 83
MINNESOTA
STARTERS
Amber Jacobs 12, 8, 150.0, .750
Seimone Augustus 11, 10, 110.0, .400
Kristen Mann 13, 8, 162.5, .750
Tamika Williams 7, 5, 140.0, .600
Nicole Ohlde 7, 7, 100.0, .571
BENCH
Vanessa Hayden 9, 5, 180.0, .800
Megan Duffy 15, 8, 187.5, .750
Svetlana Abrosimova 6, 5, 120.0, .600
Adrian Williams 7, 14, 50.0, .214
Tynesha Lewis 4, 5, 80.0, .400

NEW YORK
STARTERS
Loree Moore 16,13, 123.1, .538
Becky Hammon 14, 12, 116.7, .500
Shameka Christon 12, 8, 150.0, .625
Kelly Schumacher 13, 12, 108.3, .583
Barbara Farris 7, 11, 63.6, .273
BENCH
Cathrine Kraayeveld 7, 8, 87.5, .500
Sherrill Baker 6, 8, 75.0, .375
Ashley Battle 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000

BY THE NUMBERS
Minnesota 93, 75, 124.0, .560
New York 83, 75, 110.7, .507

So MN gave away 85 points in three quarters of action. Take away the second quarter and the numbers on MN's defense looks like this 85, 58, 146.6, .655. This was the worst defensive performance if you go by the pp100 method. Actually the win against Indiana was the highest Dpp100 before with 114.5. This too was the worst for Dfloor% with .560. Detroit had the honor before with .541.
The fact that NY had 6 three point plays in the first quarter, 3 behind the arc, 3 the old fashioned way, gave them 18 points of their 27.
The point guards for the Lynx on defense (Jacobs/Duffy) play matador allowing too much penetration. Part of the problem, and this is true for the Lynx and many other teams, is that players are not in the proper defensive position--their weight is too far forward throwing them off balance and allowing the ball to zip by them. Their vision, once the player gets the ball, gravitates up to the eyes for some reason. It is extremely rare for a defensive player to look at the midsection before the dribble is made. Once the dribble has started, the defense is not as low as the offense, making it difficult to stop the ball. Arms are not up all the time, but down by the sides.
Another problem is the big folks on the perimeter. TW and Mann have trouble on perimeter defense as when opponents step out for a trey. Their close outs are late and opponents are catching it where and when they want too.
It appeared to me that NY established the physical play on both ends. Ohlde was pushed around by Schumacher. Ohlde needs to initiate contact.
Let's look at a couple more items
Defensive Shooting % (missed shots/total shots)
Jacobs 3/9 .333
Augustus 2/6 .333
Mann 0/6 .000
TWilliams 4/7 .571
Ohlde 5/9 .556
Hayden 6/10 .600
AWilliams 2/5 .400
Abrosimova 2/5 .400
Duffy 4/10 .400
Lewis 1/3 .333
So at this rate Hayden has the best DShooting %, but if you think about hit players had 10 shots against her, so they are able to initially get the ball.
In the rebounds allowed category TWilliams allowed 3, Hayden 2.

Next up: tomorrow morning with a look at the Offense in the NY/Lynx game, plus the regular news of the day.

Out & About: NC Heat/MN Metro Stars Black 16s

#2 posting 6.24.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

This game took place on Sunday, June 18
HS Blue Semifinals, Bloomington Jefferson Tournament
NC Heat 66, MN Metro Stars Black 16s 53

NC Heat put on a shooting show early in the second half. Once they had the advantage, they milked the clock for the shot they wanted. The end result was a win for the 15u State champion.
NC Heat led at the beginning as MMSB had 5 non scoring possessions to open, two of which ended on turnovers. MMSB did snap out of it and put together a four possession string topped off with Elle Queen's basket for their biggest lead of the day at 11-8. That lead was short lived as Megan Nipe scored and was fouled after she knocked in a missed free throw. She didn't miss hers and the game was tied. After a turnover by MMSB, Nipe scored again on a put back. NCH was never to trail after that. NCH never had any great offensive stretch in the first half, but had 3 mini runs of three possessions each. The half ended with a pair of treys, one by Tayler Hill followed by Lauren Young's version. NCH led 31-26 at half. Elle Queen piled on 10 points for MMSB in the first half to lead all scorers.

The game broke open as NCH was Treyriffic with four consecutive 3s going back to Hill's long distance bomb in the first half. Hill added two right away giving her three consecutive possessions dropping the bomb. Her sidekick Ephesia Holmes kept the string alive with her own bomb from the top and what was a 31-26 game was now 40-26 without too much time elapsed. NCH scored on their next two possessions, but they were in front of the arc this time. They led 43-29 after the outburst, a 12-3 run. All in all it was a six possession run over two halves. MMSB tried to get back in the contest but the mountain was a bit too high. NCH worst drought was only two a couple times in the second half. MMSB did string four possessions late in the game, but they were never to get closer than 12.

NC HEAT
STARTERS
Ashlynn Fuller, Champlin Park 12, 15, 80.0, .467 speedy and a distraction when she plays defense.
Briane Edwards, Mpls North 7, 5, 140.0, .600 athletic role player.
Tayler Hill, Mpls South 15, 11, 136.4, .545 took her dagger out to end MMSB hopes.
Ephesia Holmes, Mpls South 11, 10, 110.0, .600 confident with the ball.
Megan Nipe, Centennial 7, 5, 150.0, .600 key offensive rebounds early gave momentum to NCH.
BENCH
Gina Lange, Forest Lake 4, 2, 200.0, 1.000 took shots in range on balance.
Kiswana McCloud, Mpls South 10, 8, 125.0, .625 enforcer type. physical and likes contact. picked up charge. RF: not as polished offensively

MN METRO STARS
STARTERS
Jenny Theisen, Champlin Park 5, 4, 125.0, .500 likes the 3 spot. RF: defense positioning needs fine tuning.
Courtney Boylan, Chaska 7, 10, 70.0, .300 good use of head fakes, no looks. RF: still likes to pass with her feet in the air, this could lead to charges.
Rachel Booth, DeLaSalle 0, 4, 0.0, .000 RF: MMSB needed production out of her to do well.
Lauren Young, Edina 16, 14, 114.3, .500 played in and went to the line, prefers the 3 line. can do both, will be on the outside post HS. RF: needs to balance and square up on the power baseline move.
Alyssa Benson, Minnetonka 2, 6, 33.3, .167 RF: needs better court awareness.
BENCH
Elle Queen, Minnetonka 12, 10, 120.0, .600 great first half. can score with either hand. nice leaper. RF: invisible in the second half, not even one possession.
Abby Rittenhouse, Burnsville 10, 6, 166.7, .833 strong second half. not afraid of contact.
Chelsea Lyons, Coon Rapids 1, 4, 25.0, .250 RF: decisions/execution

TRENCH PLAYER
Tayler Hill

BY THE NUMBERS
NC Heat 66, 56, 117.9, .571
MN Metro Stars Black 53, 58, 91.4, .431

Two factors were at play in the NCH win: 1. They had 27 points (17 in the first half) on second chance points. Basically points not scored on the initial shot. MMSB had 19 points in this manner, so NCH had an 8 point advantage. 2. NCH also never had a severe drought outbreak. Their longest time without scoring was only two possessions.
Free throws and 3s were about the same with NCH cashing in 18 free throws to 15 for MMSB. Both had exactly four 3s, but NCH strung theirs together for dramatic effect.


Photo #1 MMSB's Courtney Boylan prepares to launch her 3.

Sequence :Photo #2 Boylan comes down on the break & sizes up her options. #3 She draws Holmes to her and dishes off to Queen coming down the left side. #4 Queen finishes the transition.


#5 Jenny Theisen shoots a 3 right by the camera. #6 Queen gathers an offensive rebound. #7 McCloud takes the charge against Queen.


#8 Queen shows her range. #9 Queen elevates on a put back. #10 Lauren Young launches her trey at the end of the half.



The 3s that broke the back of MMSB. #11 Hill from the left corner; #12 Hill from the right wing; #13 Holmes over Queen in the battle of 11s.

Next up: Tonight with a look at the Lynx--the defensive edition--vs NY Liberty. I will get the last story from the BJ tournament up tomorrow later. For those of you keeping track it will be Iowa Select I vs MN Metro Stars 19s

Hopkins Tops AAU Rosters, Peterson to Coe

#1 posting 6.24.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

WHO IS PLAYING THIS SUMMER?
Here is a list of teams that have players involved in the AAU scene. I took the top 8 16u teams and listed what HS most of the players are from. Not that surprising.
#, School, # of players
1. Hopkins 5
2. St. Paul Central 4
3. Champlin Park 3
3. Coon Rapids 3
3. Burnsville 3
3. Benilde-St. Margaret's 3
At the 15u level here are the numbers.
1. Becker 4
1. Minneapolis South 4
2. Centennial 3
If we combine both
1. Hopkins 6
2. Centennial 5
3. Becker 4
3. Burnsville 4
3. Chaska 4
3. Eastview 4
3. Mpls South 4
3. St. Paul Central 4

AAU ROSTERS

ALL STAR GAMES
MI
The Lenawee County All Star game took place last night in Sand Creek. Kelly Kohn, headed for Kansas, was one of the players in the game. Here is who played and the pregame set up from the Adrian Daily Telegram.

COACHING NEWS
COLLEGE
St. Mary's CA has released coach Michelle Jacoby. She had a 95-79 record for six years. St. Mary's CA was 12-16 last year and lost in the first round of the West Coast Conference. The search will begin for a new coach. Here is more from the Contra Coasta Times.
Randi Peterson, UMAC coach of the year at UM Morris will be the new coach at Coe College. Peterson is from Iowa, played for the Hawkeyes and will be closer to her family. Here is more from the Morris Sun Tribune. Here is the Coe press release.
MN
Geri Murra has been hired as the new coach at United South Central.

COACHING OPENINGS

RIVALRY WILL WAIT
ND
The UND/NDSU rivalry may not happen as quickly as thought now that North Dakota is taking the D1 plunge. Here is what the Grand Forks Herald has to say.

SEEDING
WI
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association has decided the entire section will now be seeded. Before this the sections were divided into two regions with powerhouses meeting early in the process. Also decided was the Alliant Energy Center holding the Girls Basketball tournament through 2009. Here is the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with more on the WIAA action.

SUMMER LEAGUES
DULUTH
Grand Rapids is undefeated and played Duluth Denfeld in the semis last night. Hibbing faced Duluth East in the other semifinal match up. Who ever won then played.

TOURNAMENTS
GRAND RAPIDS, MN
There is a Summer Showcase tournament going on at the Grand Rapids Middle School this weekend. Most of the teams are school team, but there is an AAU team involved. Teams involved include Aitkin; Barnum; Becker; Cook County, Grand Rapids; Greenway; Hibbing (2 teams) Maranatha, WI; Nashwauk-Keewating; North-Tartan 14; Proctor, Rocori; Walker-H-A. Here is the schedule from the Breakdown

Here are the results from the first Summer Showcase in Rochester held on June 10-11. Hayfield beat Becker Blue in the championship. Rochester Century finished third, and Becker white took the consolation prize.

BECKEL'S FEAT
Tressa Beckel, Waseca, and now headed to UW Green Bay, won the Nike Outdoor National High Jump last week in North Carolina. Here is the UWGB press release trumpeting the results.

THE LIST
VERBALS
CALENDAR


Here are two photos of Gym Rat 14 action held this summer. In Photo #1 Megan Powell is about to go up for the layup. Photo #2 has Shleby Goble in a tight situation. Both players are from Bigfork, MN

Thanks for the help/information/photos readers. You folks make this the girls basketball destination on the information highway. It takes a team to get it done.

Next up: later today with out & about: NC Heat/MN Metro Stars Black

Out & About: MN Stars Schmitz/MN Stars Antl

#2 posting 6.23.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

This game took place on Sunday, June 18
15u Championship game, Bloomington Jefferson Tournament
MN Stars Schmitz 56, MN Stars Antl 44

This was a civil war between two teams from the same parent organization. It would have been a double dose of civil war, but both Rey Robinson, and Jesse Althoff of Becker were missing from Antl (the Stars teams are named after the coaches) that meant twins Brianna and Nicole Mastey would not face their HS teammates. Both teams combined by starting off the game with four turnovers. Antl started off down 7-0 due to a six possession drought to start the contest. The Antl offense was not clicking at all and they had another drought, this time 7 and they found themselves trailing their sister school 21-10. But then the proverbial light went on and they started rolling. They connected on five straight possessions on an 11-2 run to cut Schmitz lead to 23-21. Kate Thompson had four of those points during the run. Schmitz never trailed, but couldn't shake the resurgent Antls off their tails. Schmitz led at half 31-26.

Droughts were the name of the game in the second half as each team suffered to varying degrees the parched wastelands. Early in the half Schmitz had their turn at futility and Antl took advantage of that lull as Breanna Erickson canned a 3 to slice into that lead to 37-36. After that things turned sour for quite a while for Antl as they had the mother of all droughts with 13 straight non scoring possessions. 7 ended on missed shots, and 6 were the results of turnovers. The press was bothering Antl. Sarah Hintz and Brianna Mastey each led Schmitz during this down time with four each. Schmitz put on an 18-0 run to put Antl far in the rear view mirror. There was one more drought, but Schmitz was able to handle the eight possession drought as Antl only scored once during the stretch.

AAU ROSTERS

NUMBERS EXPLAINED
player, high school, points, possessions, pp100, floor %

MN STARS SCHMITZ
STARTERS
Marissa Yernatich, Duluth East 6, 9, 66.7, .333 RF: needs consistency in both halves.
Sam Mehr, Eastview 3, 7, 42.9, .143
Ashley Allevan, Fairmont 5, 5, 100.0, .400 decent jumper, works inside. also can drive. has good court understanding.
Brianna Mastey, Becker 10, 9, 111.1, .556 strong frame, good leaper. maintains good position. good passer as well.
Nicole Mastey, Becker 6, 9, 66.7, .333 strong as her sister, but more of an inside player. RF: not as polished offensively.
BENCH
Stacy Dally, White Bear Lake 6, 7, 85.7, .429
Ali Schwartzwald, St. Francis 4, 7, 57.1, .286 had a burst of energy that grabbed my attention. RF: needs to maintain that energy level throughout game.
Abby Weiss, Martin County West 2, 5, 40.0, .200 RF: needs to stay lower on defense
Brittany Wiese, St. Michael-Albertville 4, 4, 100.0, .500
Jessica Thone, Woodbury 0, 3, 0.0, .000
Sarah Hintz, Woodbury 10, 6, 166.7, .833 good speed in transition. knack for being in the right spot at the right time.

MN STARS ANTL
STARTERS
Alyssa Van Kirk, Stillwater 8, 12, 66.7, .333 mid range jumper. RF: ball handling can be polished.
Breanna Erikson, Simley 3, 5, 60.0, .200 has 3 range. RF: needs to develop pass fake
Micha Sater, Fridley 4, 12, 33.3, .167 RF: over relys on spin dribble. passing decisions
Brea Tinney, Osceola 11, 11, 100.0, .455 offensively aggressive. can score from behind the arc, has a drive game. RF: elbow too far away from body on dribble. needs to develop pass fake.
Keely Schuenke, Burnsville 6, 14, 42.9, .214 RF: balance. needs to work on short shots with somebody knocking into her.
BENCH
Kate Thompson, Wayzata 8, 10, 80.0, .400 good size on the perimeter. long, lean, lanky, has 3 range. can drive as well. RF: strength
Rachelle Erickson, Martin County West 2, 6, 33.3, .167 physical player. RF: defense on perimeter needs improvement.

TRENCH PLAYER
Sarah Hintz

BY THE NUMBERS
MN Stars Schmitz 56, 71, 78.9, .380
MN Stars Antl 44, 70, 62.9, .314

It was not an artistic, or efficient, but Schmitz had more horse power inside. Antl definitely missed their two Becker players. Schmitz had 11 players, that may be too many for any player to get into the flow. I always wanted 12 at practice, but when it came game time I preferred seven. Antl had 10 made free throws, so they had an attacking attitude. Their downfall was on ball handling, and passing decisions vs the press.



Photo #1 has Allevan rebounding a missed free throw. #2 has Tinney in transition scoring the lay up and getting fouled by Mehr.


Photo #3 has Rachelle Eckmann almost doing a back flip over Sarah Hintz. #4 has Alyssa Van Kleiscoring off a turnover. #5 has Tinney going up for 3.


#6 has Thompson scoring from a distance. #7 has Thompson going to the glass. #8 has Hintz scoring off a pass from Brianna Mastey.

#9 Thompson blocks Allevan. #10 has Nicole Mastey getting the lob and scoring. Sequence--#11 Allevan starts to penetrate the lane.

#12 In mid air after splitting the defense she kicks it off to Schwartzwald, you can see the ball just off Nicole Mastey's right shoulder. #13 Schwartzwald was in the clear for the basket. #14 Brianna Mastey scores off the press for a layup.

Next up: tomorrow morning with the general news, followed by two more games from the BJ tourney NC Heat/MN Metro Stars Black 16s; and Iowa Select I/MN Metro Stars 19s

Beggin Begins at NM, A Look at the Lynx

#1 posting 6.23.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball News & Information

ALL STAR GAMES
MI
The West Michigan All Star Classic was won by the Blue over the Gold 59-57. Lauren Maouthaan led the Blue with 13. High point honors went to Samantha DeNio, Oakridge of the Gold team. DeNio will be headed to Grand Valley State in the fall. Here is more on the contest from the Muskegon Chronicle.
FINNS VS YOUPERS
The UP team defeated the traveling squad from Finland 58-46, but the game was delayed with a power outage. Nicole Asiala, Houghton, led the UP team with 18. Here is more from the Houghton Daily Mining Gazette.

COACHING NEWS
COLLEGE
UM Crookston has rehired assistant Abby Hearn. she will provide some continuity for new coach Mike Roysland. Here is the Crookston Daily Times with more.

COACHING OPENINGS

OFF SEASON WORKOUTS
COLLEGE
Amy Beggin, Roseville is now in the heart of off season workouts at New Mexico. Find out what they are up to with the Albuquerque Tribune's story. Here is another New Mexico story about their schedule. In it, coach Flanagan expects Beggin to make an immediate impact. Read on.

SCHOOLS & ATHLETICS
WI
Should Schools be in the Athletic Business? This is the title of an article found in the Wisconsin State Journal. It all started because of requests to raise the number of games from the current 20 in basketball.

SUMMER LEAGUES
MN
Bigfork has a 6-0 record in the Deer River Summer League. The big contest will next week with Grand Rapids.

TOURNAMENTS
MN
A couple of weeks ago Barnum held a tournament which they won. Bigfork finished second with an iron five. They defeated Pierz by 25, then Crosby-Ironton by five before losing to the host team by 7.
SD
The Dakota Showcase is to be held next Thursday-Saturday in Sioux Falls. Here is a story that appeared in the Vermillion Plain Talk. I plan on attending this event next week.

POLICE BLOTTER
WI
Former Hortonville coach David Janssen entered a plea of not guilty to three felony sexual assault charges. Jury selection will take place on Jan. 22, 2007. Here is more on the case from the Appleton Post Crescent.

THE LIST
AAU ROSTERS
VERBALS
CALENDAR

A LOOK AT THE LYNX
vs Connecticut 6/22/2006

NUMBERS EXPLAINED
player, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
MINNESOTA
STARTERS
Amber Jacobs 6, 8, 75.0, .375
Seimone Augustus 15, 15, 100.0, .400
Kristen Mann 4, 8, 50.0, .250
Timika Williams 6, 10, 60.0, .300
Nicole Ohlde 16, 12, 133.3, .667
BENCH
Svetlana Abrosimova 7, 7, 100.0, .429
Adrian Williams 2, 3, 66.7, .333
Vanessa Hayden 4, 7, 57.1, .286
Megan Duffy 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Tynesha Lewis 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Team 0, 2, 0.0, .000 (two 24 second violations)

CONNECTICUT
STARTERS
Lindsey Whalen 16, 17, 94.1, .471
Katie Douglas 12, 8, 150.0, .625
Nykesha Sales 5, 5, 100.0, .400
Taj McWilliams-Franklin 8, 7, 114.3, .571
Margo Dydek, 16, 14, 114.3, 114.3, .500
BENCH
Laura Summerton 0, 2, 0.0, .000
Megan Mahoney 7, 8, 87.5, .375
Asjha Jones 13, 8, 162.5, .875
Erin Phillips 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Jamie Carey 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Team 0, 2, 0.0, .000 (another two 24 second violations)

BY THE NUMBERS
Minnesota 62, 74, 83.8, .391
Connecticut 79, 74, 106.8, .500

If we discount the first six possessions for MN they ended up with a 77.9 pp100, and .353 floor %. MN jumped out to a 9-2 lead, after 5/6 on their first six possessions. Then it was an 0/11 Sahara Style drought and Connecticut finished off the quarter with a 14-2 run.
Connecticut had two mini bursts of activity in the 2nd quarter with a 4/5 possession string to go from an 18-16 lead to 26-20 (8-2 run). Also later in the quarter they had a four possession string and another 8-2 run.
MN was able to tie the game at 36 and again at 40, but that was the last time the Lynx would be so close. They ended the 3rd quarter down 55-45. Another scoring drought--this time 7 possessions worth--put them in a hole they could not dig themselves out of. This was the key break point. All seven possessions ended up with shots that did not connect. Connecticut closed the quarter with a four possession string.
The Lynx will have one day to figure out how to smooth out the offense before taking on the New York Liberty.

What we have here is a graph of how the Lynx pp100 offense and defense have been performing throughout the year. I don't know why my x & y axis were blocked out. The Blue line indicates the Lynx pp100 on offense, the Red line is the pp100 on Defense. There is quite a bit of variation in the Offensive numbers, while the defense has been pretty consistent. Without the numbers, on the y side (again I apologize) but the 100 line is split between the first red and the first blue. So the Dpp100 has 8 over 100, and the Opp100 has 5. I will try to get the bugs out so we can all see both axis marks.

Thanks readers for the tips and information.

Next up: later today with MN Stars Schmitz vs MN Stars Antl

Out & About: North Tartan/IBCA Iowa Select II

#2 posting 6.22.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball

This game took place Sunday, June 18th
Bloomington Jefferson HS Blue Division Quarterfinals
North Tartan 71, IBCA Iowa Select II 55

NT was missing Alyssa Karel, one of their point guards, and their coach Larson, but they didn't miss a beat as they beat ISII. Their convincing win didn't start off on a convincing note. NT started off with five straight possessions with nothing to show for it. Iowa scored on their first two possessions and led 3-0. Once NT started cooking they were smoking. They went on a 9/11 possession sequence and 20-10 run. Tara Steinbauer showed off her versatility with 8 points, 3 on transition, lay up & foul, a trey from the top, and a post up. NT led at this point 23-15. NT had another string of six straight to close the half with Steinbauer once again notching five more in her scoring belt. NT led 38-30 at half. Steinbauer had 13 at half, Amber Kirschbaum topped Iowa with 8.

Just as the first half started, NT had a rough time getting their motor running as they sputtered with a 2/9 scoring ratio, but Iowa was only able to cut that deficit by only one 42-35. That was as close as Iowa was to come. NT rolled later in the half with an 8 straight scoring string with Hannah Draxten leading the way with 7. The run was 16-5 and led 66-47. Iowa never quit and they put together their best string late with four possessions in a row but only squeezed six points out of the run.

AAU ROSTERS

NUMBERS EXPLAINED
player, high school, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
NORTH TARTAN
STARTERS
Macie Michaelson, Marshall 11, 13, 84.6, .385 only knows how to play at an intense level. fiery, passionate, a pain for the other team, you are glad she is on your squad. elevates, explodes by defenses. throws frozen ropes. RF: Maybe her energy was on the wane in the second half as she only scored 3. She missed shots, her legs may have been heavy. recommendation--take another step in.
Caitlin Rowland, Hopkins 10, 10, 100.0, .500 steady, reliable, wins, doesn't beat herself. stole a ball on a throw in as she was looking right at the passer. good fundamentals.
Tara Steinbauer, Bloomington Kennedy 17, 10, 170.0, .800 offensive minded. has good range as she hit a 3. can post up or play on 3 line. has a baby hook. strong--won't get knocked around. RF: defense is sometimes up hill for her (offense is downhill all the time). I would like to see more intensity on that side of the floor.
Hannah Draxton, Fergus Falls 15, 9, 166.7, .667 nice 3 pt shooter. moves better without the ball than earlier this spring. RF: can stay lower on defense.
Janessa Wolff, Park Rapids 9, 8, 112.5, .625 has good vertical compared to other posts. good hands, touch.
BENCH
Bri Zabel, Northfield 4, 7, 57.1, .143 RF: turnover prone today.
Jackie Voight, Park-Cottage Grove 2, 3, 66.7, .333 stepped up activity away from the ball, more intense. Got to many more loose balls.
Brianna Bauer, Sioux Falls Lincoln, SD 1, 6, 16.7, .167
Jenny Gilbertson, Winona Cotter 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000 RF: I am waiting for her to click like she did her HS team where she is much more active.

IBCA IOWA SELECT II
STARTERS
Steph Bjurstrom, Algona 10, 8, 125.0, .625 has decent drive game, pull up jumper. has some flair. RF: needs strength
MacKenzie Westcott, Williamsburg 2, 5, 40.0, .200 RF: defensively lost sight of the ball as player moved to the weakside. (see photo below)
Trisha Nesbitt, Ames 0, 5, 0.0, .000
Chelsie Trask, RRMR 6, 8, 75.0, .375
Jess McDowell, AGWSR 6, 10, 60.0, .400 big body inside. not afraid to get hit. RF: no field goals on the day. needs to work on vertical. hesitated once she had the ball in the blocks--thinking too much.
BENCH
Samantha Harrington, Nashua-Plainfield 5, 4, 125.0, .750 RF: smallish. Weight is forward on defense when guarding the ball allowing the offense to get by better. (see photo below)
Kaisha Brown, Spirit Lake 4, 5, 80.0, .400
Amber Kirschbaum, Spirit Lake 12, 11, 109.1, .636 I liked her at the Iowa State tournament, and that hasn't changed. can get off on the 19th floor. solid base, strong, good touch. mature. RF: may have to work on the ball handling for post HS ball.
Hannah Noel, Norwalk 10, 11, 90.9, .364 scrappy, competitive kid. Has a good 3 stroke. RF: size issues. forced some passes

TRENCH PLAYER
Others have better #s but Macy Michaelson, her energy, passion, and drive put her in the Trench.

BY THE NUMBERS
North Tartan 71, 67, 106.8, .493
IBCA Iowa Select II 55, 67, 82.1, .433

Both teams were in an attack mode on offense with NT making 18 free throws, and Iowa canning 17. NT made 5 3s to Iowa's 2. NT has been steadily rising in their pp100 and topped 100 (when I have been watching) in this game. Their size and speed were a distinct advantage, but it was their execution on offense, and a more intense attitude on defense that delivered the win.


Photo #1 Michaelson elevates for two. #2 Iowa's McDowell blocks Steinbauer.


#3 Michaelson scores in transition. #4 Draxten makes one of her 3 3s. #5 Steinbauer scores and gets fouled in transition.



Sequence action. #6 Michaelson starts her drive past Harrington. #7 Michaelson sets her self, notice that Wescott has her back to the ball. #8 Michaelson meets a soaring Kirschbaum.



#9 Wolff grabs the miss. #10 Michaelson strides to the glass. #11 Steinbauer uses her left hand baby hook.


#12 Michaelson stops and pops in transition. #13 Wolff show her shooting form after catching the ball from Gilbertson after flashing to the sweet spot. #14 Steinbauer again delivers from the right block.


#15 Rowland scores in transition. #16 Michaelson cleanly blocks Nesbitt in transition. #17 Bjustrom goes up for two over Michaelson.


Another sequence --#18 Bjustrom starts her move. #19 Bjustrom splits Michaelson and Draxten. #20 she finishes against Wolff who was a bit late on the block.


#21 Wolff blocks McDowell; #22 Kirschbaum posts up against Steinbauer. #23 Kirschbaum skys for two (by the refs arm)


#24 Trask drives by but, doesn't score. #25 Voigt rebounds. #26 Noel launches one of her two 3s.

Next Up: tomorrow morning with a Look at the Lynx with their game against Connecticut and Lyndsey Whalen. Plus items sent in by the readers of this blog.