Out & About: North Tartan/New Mexico Heat Elite

#2 posting 8.1.2006
your daily dose of girls basketbal news & information

this game took place in the steamroom like conditions at Bloomington Kennedy
North Tartan Meltdown
Red Bracket Semifinals

North Tartan 58, New Mexico Heat Elite 42

NT doesn't have a nickname, but after this game it might as well be the Humidity as in "It is not the Heat, but the Humidity." NT trailed by 17 and came back to shut out NMHE in the third quarter. In fact they held NMHE scoreless 26 possessions stretching over three quarters.
This was a very interesting game.
I was upstairs in the main gym waiting for this game--when it dawned on me and a reliable source (the only one smart enough to bring a floor fan to the gym) that they may have moved the games. So I missed the first portion of the contest, but I saw all the downs and ups involved. When I arrived it was NMHE 15, NT 13. The Heat ran off four possessions in a row, and 8-2 run to go up 23-15. In fact NMHE went on a 19-4 run to go up 34-17. NT took three time outs to stop the bleeding. NT had a 7 possession drought during this segment of the game. The game changed without anyone noticing it at the time when Alyssa Karrel stole the ball and fed Jackie Voight for a transition lay up. Voight was fouled and made the free throw. That play ignited 25 unanswered points. That strip by Karel sentenced NMHE to 26 possessions without a score. It was the largest, longest, deepest drought, "the mother of all droughts" I have ever seen. And this from a team that was 9/12 on the first 12 possessions I watched. NMHE led 34-22 at halftime.

NMHE during the epic dry spell had 14 turnovers and 22 shots that didn't drop in the other 12 possessions. Yikes! NT scored right away on the first play of the third quarter as Steinbauer found Karel on a designed back cut. NT's best sequence was in the middle of the quarter when they scored in four out of five possessions. It was then that Brianna Bauer hit a 3 to give the lead to NT for good. The scoring NT did in that quarter broke down like this: four scores on transition lay ups; two on put backs; 2 on traditional post ups; 1 three; 1 out of bounds play. NT led 42-34 at the break.

Finally NMHE scored on two free throws by Telisha Joe. The score was in an 8/6 split. Steinbauer scored on the next NT possession. The closest the Heat ws to come was at 46-40 after a put back by Brittany Blackman. On that play Steinbauer went down with what looked like a knee problem. She did not return. On the very next NT possession Rowland nailed a three. The biggest margin NT enjoyed was at the very end of the game at 58-42.

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

NORTH TARTAN
ON THE FLOOR
Alyssa Karel, Cretin-Derham Hall 6, 6, 100.0, .500 point guard. runs the floor. nice passer. deceptive. RF: needs more muscle for Big 10.
Briana Bauer, Sioux Falls Lincoln 3, 6, 50.0, .167 3 shooter. caused a turnover as she bumped a bigger player down in the block. Bauer initiated contact and the player traveled. RF: small
Jenny Gilbertson, Winona Cotter 0, 3, 0.0, .000 good frame. RF: out of position on defense at times.
Jackie Voight, Park-Cottage Grove 5, 3, 166.7, .667 another big body in the mode of Steinbauer. got the ball rolling on the comeback. had some assists.
Tara Steinbauer, Bloomington Kennedy 6, 4, 150.0, .750 can score in and out. RF: may have injured knee during game. status unknown. Exposes ball on drives and rebounds.
ON THE BENCH
Macie Michelson, Marshall 9, 10, 90.0, .400 point guard. Speed. every move is driven with the white hot intensity of a 1000 suns.
Bri Zabel, Northfield 6, 6, 100.0, .500 muscle and hustle
Janessa Wolff, Park Rapids 2, 5, 40.0, .200 big, strong. does well in work areas. led in rebounds. RF: exposes ball
Caitlin Rowland, Hopkins 8, 8, 100.0, .500 smart, good decisions, finishes.

NEW MEXICO HEAT ELITE
ON THE FLOOR
Ebony Burton, Clovis 2, 10, 20.0, .100 RF:Glass was kryponite to her.
Kendra Coveal, Sandia 6, 5, 120.0, .600
Brittany Blackman, Clovis 8, 10, 80.0, .400 ran well and finished in transition
Telisha Joe, Gallup 4, 9, 44.4, .222 good ball handler, good passer. Too good. RF: wants to pass first, shoot second. Passed up shots she should take. Needs to be greedier.
Simone Buckhanan, Sandia 0, 4, 0.0, .000
ON THE BENCH
Vera Bustos, West Las Vegas 5, 6, 83.3, .333 looked to shoot 3s. had nice moves to score.
Lindsey Trainer, Albuquerque Academy 2, 3, 66.7, .333
Ellen Cruz, Penasco 0, 2, 0.0, .000
Lia Sanchez, Albuqurque Academy 0, 1, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
Everyone from NT had a strong hand in the victory, but I am going with Alyssa Karel

BY THE NUMBERS (from what I saw)
North Tartan 45, 51, 88.2, .412
New Mexico Heat Elite 27, 50, 54.0, .260

This was the biggest deficit overcome to victory I saw this summer. NT did it with a combination of factors. 1. they didn't quit, never gave up hope. 2. they played together, one player didn't try to do it all; 3. they played strong defense forcing NM into things they didn't want to do. 4. they took better care of the ball and eliminated the transition game that was causing problems.

Next up: another Meltdown semifinal: NT Blue vs Mpls Lady Lakers