Out & About: Mondovi/Glenwood City

#3 posting 11.20.2006
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

MONDOVI buffaloes 49, GLENWOOD CITY hilltoppers 22

This opens my HS O&A this year and it was off to Wisconsin. The attraction? a 6-6 sophomore for Mondovi Anna Cole. Here is a story on Cole from the Eau Claire Leader Telegram

I wanted to go to the UP today, Escanaba to watch the Michigan C Regional semifinals with Houghton, the defending state champ, but my wife thought that it would be a bad idea with Thanksgiving coming up. So I picked up a small town western Wisconsin game, both teams are Division 3 which is like AA in Minnesota.

It was good to be back in a real gym not in a mulitplex gym with five games going on. Fans, the aroma of buttered popcorn, the band on the stage with real, not canned music was a step back in time. There is more spirit in the small schools. Too often the larger schools play in a less crowded gym. However the game itself was not a nailbiter, or for that matter the teams will not be playing in Madison in March. Mondovi has an outside chance, but may be too young. The whole raison d'etre was Cole.

Mondovi had no problems for the night. Their 1-3-1 zone slammed home town Glenwood City down. They were only able to convert one field goal in the entire the first half. Too often the Hilltoppers would attempt passes across court with no zip, and a Buffalo, laying in the weeds, pounced and ran down the court like gazelles. GC had 9 turnovers in the first half, but it was all half court turnovers. Mondovi sprung traps when the ball went to the corner, usually the right. GC had a drought of 12 between the first and second quarters. (Wisconsin has four 8 minute quarters). Mondovi's biggest scoring string was a three possession string in the second quarter all by Cole. Mondovi led 27-5 at half.

The second half GC came out with pressure full court which seemed to get Mondovi a little bit flustered. It also helped GC generate some offense. GC did come out with the first four points and did had a 3/4 scoring stretch toward the end of the third quarter. The Buffaloes subbed freely in the fourth quarter. Cole went to the pine with the game well in hand at 5:46. The new players didn't have the same flow and had one drought of five. GC finished the game with a 7 drought.

NUMBERS EXPLAINED
player, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
MONDOVI
STARTERS
Kelsey Wolf, 5-7, G, 2009, 2, 5, 40.0, .200 main point guard.
Paige Williamson, 5-5, G, 2008, 0, 4, 0.0, .000 nice cross over kept vision. RF size; made face when she made a violation and then the ref blew the whistle in other words drew attention to the mistake.
Tonya McDonough, 5-5, G, 2009, 7, 6, 116.7, .500 good vision. quick decisive passer. can feed the post. made only 3 for Mondovi. RF size; wound up on a pass
Anna Cole, 6-6, C, 2009 16, 13, 123.1, .615 big strong frame, decent coordination. Keeps the ball up nice & high when boarding. Half her points came off put backs, half came off block, catch turn and score. GC fronted and doubled. when this happened she fanned weak side. She only played the first three minutes of the first quater and returned with five minutes to go in the second quarter. All in all she played six and a half minutes in the first half and had 10 points, with about the same amount of time in the second half. RF: the first thing is the fouling situation. She picked up too many reach type fouls which to me indicate foot movement, and body position. She did pick up an offensive foul on what I thought was a weak call. That call doesn't happen in the world beyond HS. I understand why they don't want to use man defense. Mondovi experimented in the early part of the second half and Seehaver would come out and Cole would be guarding her on the 3 point line. I think foot speed would also be something that needs to be improved. I didn't see any sprinting down the floor, it wasn't that big of a gym and not that kind of game. I will say she is ahead of Hintz of Hastings and Duluth East's Rickert in both understanding of the game and athleticism. She will go D1, but needs to get her footwork improved, and perhaps expand her range.
Kitty Nicastro, 5-10, F, 2007 4, 6, 66.7, .333 played up top in the 1/3/1. snatched many a stray pass. active hands, eyes were zeroed in on the action. favorite shooting spot left corner 8 feet out. RF: needs to keep her head up on the dribble.
BENCH
Malorie Cheline, 5-8, 2008, 4, 4, 100.0, .500 strong, not afraid to go to the floor. nice pull up jumper.
Jamie McKillip, 5-11, 2009, 10, 9, 111.1, .556 backup to Cole. is aggressive and active. RF: needs to improve ball handling, open court; not square at times on her shot.
Amber Tomlinson, 5-5, 2009, 2, 2, 100.0, .500 can dribble pen and dish
Lexi Bloom, 5-5, 2009, 0, 3, 0.0, .000 RF: got caught too far under basket on cut/transition. Needs to be more aware of floor spacing.
Tara McDonough, 5-8, 2008, 4, 3, 133.3, .667 picked up some points in transition.

GLENWOOD CITY
STARTERS
Katelyn Mueller, 2009, 0, 4, 0.0, .000
Miranda Voletz, 2007 5, 9, 55.6, .222 RF needs to chin the ball, off balance on shot
April Risler, 2007, 2, 5, 40.0, .200 RF: got caught in the corner too often.
Rochelle Wink, 2008, 4, 10, 40.0, .200
Amanda Seehaver, 2007, 4, 5, 80.0, .400 their post player
BENCH
Brittany Myers, 2009, 7, 13, 53.8, .308
DeAnne Duval, 2008, 0, 5, 0.0, .000
Ashley Branham, 2007, 0, 1, 0.0, .000
In general all GC players need to get stronger and make quicker, snappier decisions.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Anna Cole

BY THE NUMBERS
Mondovi 49, 55, 89.1, .436
Glenwood City 22, 52, 42.3, .212
As you can see the numbers are pretty low, escpecially GC's. Mondovi is much more aggressive and active. They move the ball better. They have more than Cole, and have some good sophs to go with her. It would be interesting to see what Mondovi could do with stiffer competition, but Glenwood City is about as close as they get to the Twin Cities. My range is about one hour away.
Next up: tomorrow morning