Out & About: St. Paul Central/Minneapolis South

#4 posting 9.24.2006
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

MN Fall League
Blue Division, Armstrong HS
St. Paul Central 52, Minneapolis South 38

In the marquee match up of the day SPC with Angel Robinson downed their rival from across the river.
Tayler Hill opened the scoring for South with a three. Angel Robinson came right back for Central on the next possession. Central led the entire game except for one possession when Hannah Cheese broke a 10-10 tie with a feed from Ephesia Holmes. But Angel Robinson on the next possession gave it back to Central with a trey. That was the beginning of a 7 straight scoring possession drought by South. During that stretch Central took advantage with six more points to make it 19-12. When Holmes scored on a lay up to make it 19-14 Central got down to efficent business with 7 straight scoring possessions to close out the half. They led 34-22 at the break. Central's streak started with Abby Gust's 3. But the unlikely hero with six points in this stretch was Damara Kirkland. Kirkland made all her points on rebound put backs, her specialty. South wasn't able to get anything going offensively. Holmes wasn't able to shake free outside, other kids were taking shots and SPC and Kirkland were pickeing up boards.

Central led 36-22 early in the second half after a Robinson put back. That is when South started a rally. They outscored Central 12-4 during the stretch to cut the margin to 40-34. It started with a Hill 3, Maresha Anderson scored four points in two possessions and then finished up with an Ephesia Holmes basket and one on a drive. There was 7:01 left at the time. Then Robinson drilled two 3s in the next three possessions for Central to push the lead right back to 12 46-34. The rest of the game slowed down Central worked the clock to their advantage. When it was over SPC remained undefeated after beating the last undefeated team in the Blue 52-38.

ST. PAUL CENTRAL
Angel Robinson 22, 16, 137.5, .563 a tour de force today. came up with plays when plays were needed. Skys and hangs, Lockdown defender & disrupter. delivered touchdown passes to a streaking Theairra Taylor. Look at what Central did without her and with her. That is her value.
Theairra Taylor 7, 8, 87.5, .500 scored in transition. Did not hide but played strong. Guarded Hill.
Abby Gust 9, 11, 81.8, .364 after a poor first game made up for it with her shooting eye. Played with more comfort. Got her shot off in rhythm quickly. RF: needs to sharpen defensive skills.
Jessica Bartz 0, 2, 0.0, .000
Aubrey Johnson 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Georgie Jones 6, 5, 120.0, .600 can run, can jump, will block shots.
Damara Kirkland 6, 4, 150.0, .750 again does what she can. No one moves her off her spot. she is in board position. not a great leaper, not a great runner. Just gets boards. RF: don't look for her to crack the SPC line up or rotation however. She won't get past Jones or Howard. both are bigger and quicker and have better offensive skills, but DK is a great role player. She will get the board. also contacts may be a good idea.

MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH
Tayler Hill 13, 15, 86.7, .333 still has a sweet stroke. explosive to the glass. RF: Lack of team movement hurt her shot opportunities. Central knew where she was.
Ephesia Holmes 8, 9, 88.9, .333 strong as she had two 2 & 1 plays on the day. RF: never got her distance game on track. her game kept in check by SPC D.
Hannah Cheese 4, 6, 66.7, .333 a force inside. A good solid player there. RF: took too many outside shots when I haven't seen that before
Jenny Houle 0, 3, 0.0, .000 an outside shooter. RF needs to get her spot down
Amy Maas 0, 1, 0.0, .000 a back up point guard
Maresha Anderson 4, 4, 100.0, .500 had two baskets in the rally. RF: improve strength and also movement without the ball.
Val Brown 3, 1, 300.0, 1.000 Dropped a 3, RF: limited time, needs to get quicker.
Mallory Kramer 2, 2, 100.0, .500 RF: limited time.

TRENCH PLAYER
Angel Robinson, she was on a misson

BY THE NUMBERS
St. Paul Central 52, 48, 108.3, .500
Minneapolis South 38, 48, 79.2, .333
Free Throw made SPC 6, MS 5
3s made: SPC 5, MS 4

Central had a strong performance, moved well, clogged up the defensive lanes, set the tempo and pressure. And this was only half the squad.

Later in the day South beat Centennial White by double digits with Megan Nipe the main force for CW.
At Kennedy SPC #2 lost in overtime to Kennedy. Kennedy did not have Patrice Thomas and SPC did not have Megan Howard.

Next up: Tomorrow morning