Out & About: Minnehaha/Hudson

#5 posting 11.25.2006
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

HUDSON TURKEY CLASSIC
MINNEHAHA redhawks 64, HUDSON raiders 56

This was the most interesting game of the bunch. Minnehaha led early, trailed in the middle and used the 3 ball to take down the hosts 64-56. Minnehaha's Ani Johnson had five 3s; and Amanda Sicoli had four to lead the rainbow parade.

Minnehaha started out clicking with 6/8 scoring possessions helped by their press and also by floor spacing and ball movement against the Hudson zone. They led 15-5 when Hudson had to burn a time out at 4:13. Things turned 180 after that with Hudson outscoring Minnehaha the rest of the quarter 17-4. Hudson actually went on a 15-0 run. Hudson led 22-19 at the break.

Hudson continued their hot hand with a 9-0 run to open the second quarter. MA didn't score for the first 7 possessions of the 2nd quarter. MA went on an 11-2 run with two consecutive 3s by Sicoli in the mix. MA did close to 33-30, but Hudson scored the last four points of the half to make it 37-30.

Hudson's largest lead in the second half came on their first possession. Sicoli knocked a trey from the left wing to cut it to six. Then Frye put in a rebound basket for her 19th point. Soon she picked up her 3rd foul and sat the rest of the quarter. That took out a dominating factor in the offense for Hudson. Then Johnson started raining 3s. The next three MA scored all came from her fingers--one from the right corner, one from the left corner and then back to the right. Hudson led 45-42 at that point. Then the press, which harrasssed and bothered the Hudson guards earlier kicked in again. turnovers were popping out of Hudson like my grandmother's oven. MA took their first lead in the second half at 46-45 on a Rachel Hansen steal and lay up. Hudson re-established themselves late in the quarter with their own three thanks to Chelsey Bouzard 50-47.

Hudson pushed it up to 52-47 with their first possession in the 4th. but then MA went on a 10-0 run. Hudson had a 9 possession drought that didn't help their cause any. Six turnover came during this stretch. Hudson's shooting futility was also painfully evident at the end of the game. They had four cracks at the basket on possession 14; five on possession 16. By that point MA was in total control and the time was running out.

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

MINNEHAHA
STARTERS
Rachel Hansen, 6, 10, 60.0, .300 cool, calm and has vision under pressure. steady hand on MA ship. RF: could pass with more zip. Needs to get stronger.
Mari Henderson 4, 9, 44.4, .222 lanky perimeter. RF: traveling and passing decisions.
Ari Johnson, 17, 11, 154.5, .545 3 shooter in corner. In the zone in the 3rd quarter. Does basic things. RF: size, speed.
Sarah Peterson, 9, 9, 100.0, .556 more physical than last year. RF: more fouls than wanted.
Amanda Sicoli, 18, 16, 112.5, .389 lefty; another 3 shooter which allows MA to spread the floor opening up the middle for flash cuts on the zone. RF: needs to be more consistent in shot. needs to clear lane (3 seconds)
BENCH
Calla Nassif, 5, 4, 125.0, .750 wears black mouthguard. runs floor. Scored in transition.
Karin Driggers, 2, 5, 40.0, .200 set a nice screen and the refs called a moving screen. They messed up. RF: ball handling.
Rebba Moore, 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000
Brittany Norby, 1, 4, 25.0, .250 would get in and battle for boards with the leapers & big bodies for Hudson.

HUDSON
STARTERS
Rachel Benzinger, 4, 8, 50.0, .250 thin perimeter. RF: needs to get stronger, handle ball make better decisions.
Tara Schuknecht, 7, 11, 63.6, .273 a three shooter that had the clamps put on. RF: needs to work on ball handling --passing
Chelsey Bouzard, 6, 12, 50.0, .167 made a 3 and was fouled taking a 3 which resulted in 3 made free throws. RF: too small and had problems seeing over MA press.
Kaitlyn Haag, 4, 6, 66.7, .333 an interesting player. good interior passer. long lean and lanky. Arms long. RF: ddn't play very long. sat due to fouls.
Amy Frye, 23, 19, 121.1, .579 This is a player with big upside. She can jump, is aggressive, energetic and has a nose for the ball. quick off her feet. good hang time. nice frame. she demands attention. a jolt. RF: fouls took her out.
BENCH
Emily Rose, 7, 7, 100.0, .571 an inside sub
Katie Ecker, 5, 6, 83.3, .333

TRENCH PLAYER
Ani Johnson

BY THE NUMBERS
Minnehaha 64, 69, 92.8, .420
Hudson 56, 69, 81.2, .377
These numbers are getting closer to the gold standard, but the floor % is still low. The 3 ball helped MA get back into the contest.
This was the best game for flow and story lines with the early lead, and subsequent trailing by MA. MA had a chance to crack, but kept their nose to the grindstone and did patient things, easy things. They spread the floor on offense, moved the ball. They played smart tonight.
Hudson has a nice post game, but their guards need to work on ball handling with players in their face. Too many turnovers against MA's press took the lead away from them.

Next up: tomorrow morning