Out & About: Burnsville/St. Paul Central 2

#4 posting 10.8.2006
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

MN FALL LEAGUE
RED DIVISION
Burnsville 45, St. Paul Central 2 44

After trailing by five at half, Burnsville came back in the second half on two free throws by Abby Rittenhouse with 8.7 seconds left to beat Central 45-44.

Even though they call this team Central 2, they are not the second best five they have. They are split down the middle with future Gopher Kiara Buford on this squad along with Ebony Black and Megan Howard.

This game was tight right from the start with Central scoring first and Burnsville answering right back. Central was down 10-8. They scored the next 9 points and in that sequence they scored on four straight possessions. Megan Howard had a steal and a lay up and two free throws during the run for five points. Their biggest lead came at 19-12 after a transition lay up from Samantha Robinson-Ricks. Burnsville closed to 25-23 on a drive by Lauren Safranski closing a 12-6 Burnsville run. Buford finished the scoring with a drive and one free throw in another possession to make it 28-23 Central 2 at the half.

Burnsville opened with three straight scoring possessions and they led 30-28. Keyann Johnson hit a 3 for Central 2 right back for a 31-30 Central 2 lead. Sarah Wiens scored three possessions later to make it 32-31 for Burnsville. Then Central 2 reasserted itself. They went up 39-34 a Buford basket to close an 8-2 run. Burnsville then scored on three straight possessions to reclaim the lead 40-39 on a Wiens basket. With 6:17 to go Shayna Johnson was injured in a midcourt collision. Central tied it on Ebony Black's second free throw a possession later. Central jumped back in the lead on a Buford basket. Burnsville three possessions later went up 43-42 on a Wiens trey from the right corner with under a minute to go. Buford dropped two free tosses with 21.1 seconds to give Central 2 the last lead. On Burnsville's next and last possession Abby Rittenhouse was fouled on a drive. She converted both for the final 45-44 margin with 8.7 seconds left. Central had one last crack, but Buford's driving shot missed and Burnsville took the game.

BURNSVILLE
STARTERS
Molly Duehn 8, 8, 100.0, .500 solid performance. Tough enough to score when getting hit. good focus. leaping ability. rebounds
Sarah Wiens 14, 10, 140.0, .600 made money shots in money situations. 3 range. boards, anticipates well. Had three shots that put Burnsville in the lead, including the 3 shot that erased a 42-40 deficit.
Abby Rittenhouse 13, 11, 118.2, .545 stronger performance this game. good anticipation. attacked with more authority. RF: needs to work on ball handling if she is to do any perimeter post hs.
Lauren Safranski 4, 5, 80.0, .400 handled point guard responsibilities fine with Central pressure
Danielle Dove 2, 6, 33.3, .167 not a lot of points, but a lot of poise. very crucial to their team success with ball decisions,
BENCH
Kelsey Marcks 2, 6, 33.3, .167 transition lay up for only points. has 3 range, but not in this game.
Savorn Sang 0, 7, 0.0, .000 smaller point guard. RF: needs to make better decisions, stay out of the traps.
Jackie Sorenson 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000 steady inside role player

ST. PAUL CENTRAL 2
STARTERS
Shayna Johnson 2, 4, 50.0, .250 guard. went down in collision at midcourt
Cionna West 0, 3, 0.0, .000 speed to burn. RF: moves faster than she should and picks up violations
Megan Howard 9, 6, 150.0, .667 strong rebounder and outlets. tough. solid lunchbucket performer. RF: should get more touches other than rebounding.
Samantha Robinson-Ricks 6, 10, 60.0, .300 scored in transition. strong frame. RF: Needs to focus on defense.
Kiara Buford 20, 20, 100.0, .550 smooth perimeter. scored out and in transition. Quick off the floor. RF: needs to finish at the line. Left five on the table.
BENCH
Keyann Johnson 3, 4, 75.0, .250 point guard, smallish, knocked down a 3.
Ebony Black 4, 6, 66.7, .500 an enigma. at times looks unstoppable. moves with purpose and flair. had a behind the back pass to S Johnson on the break. however RF didn't dominate like I expected. When things go poorly has a tendancy to pout and withdraw from action.

TRENCH PLAYER
Sarah Wiens

NUMBER CRUNCHING
Burnsville 45, 54, 83.3, .389
St. Paul Central 2 44, 53, 83.0, .434

If you notice Burnsville had a lower floor % than SPC. The problem for SPC 2 was they only scored one point on five possessions, where Burnsville always scored two or three.
This game was tough and physical as any section game you could want. This game in October meant something and players were going after it. That is the way it should be.

Next up: tomorrow morning