Best Ever??

#1 posting 12.15.2006
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

MINNESOTA REPORTS
AAAA
We reported on the heavyweight battle between St. Paul Central and Hopkins last night. Here is what the Pioneer Press had to say on the prime time battle.

#7 Burnsville beat Eagan 67-41 last night to move to 6-0 in the Lake Conference where they sit alone in 1st place. Burnsville had an 11 point lead at halftime and continued thier strong 2nd half play outscoring Eagan 36-21 in the 2nd half. 11 players scored for Burnsville in the win.

#10 Farmington trailed Hastings at halftime 24-10. They flipped Hastings in the second half 35-10 and won 45-34.

AAA
#3 Becker defeated Stillwater 80-64. Brianna Mastey had 37 points, 22 rebounds, and 10 steals for a triple double. Sophomore Jessie Althoff had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Marshall shut down Luverne 59-31 allowing Luverne only 10 points in the second in the second half. From the Marshall Independent.

AA
#1 Crookston beat Fargo Shanley 57-52 with Sydney Epema's 20 points off the bench. From the Fargo Forum.

#3 Albany cruised to a 82-47 win over St. Cloud Cathedral. Plus other recaps in the St. Cloud Times.

Zimmerman squeaked out a 48-46 win over Mound-Westonka. From the Elk River Star News.

St. Peter trailed by 10 points and rallied to beat United South Central 59-54 for their first win of the year. From the Mankato Free Press.

ACGC dropped YME in the battle of the alphabets 59-39 in the West Central South. other recaps as well in the West Central Tribune.

The one-two punch of Brittany Chambers and Leah Dietel of #8 Jordan KOed Belle Plaine 76-41

A
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg dug themselves a 16 point hole, but they found an exit strategy in a 56-50 win over Renville County West. This plus other games from the West Central Tribune.

Park Christian beat Wyndmere, ND 59-51. also the Moorhead win is in here. From the Fargo Forum.

Hancock handed Ashby their first loss of the year in the Underwood shootout 67-49. Also other recaps in the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.

Rushford-Peterson beat Fillmore Central 56-49. From the Winona Daily News.

TRANSFER DELAY
John Millea of the StarTribune writes about the hold up in approval for the new transfer rules are coming from the private schools. They want no boundaries. More discussion and breathing will be done before this is settled, if ever.
My take, once lawyers get involved the turtles will draw their head back in the shell. I know ADs are not in the mood to police it. Their time is too strung out as it is. expect more of the same.

BEST EVER???
Is St. Paul Central the best ever team? This is a good question. John Millea explores the issue in his blog on the StarTribune site.
Central has the best players and they are working toward becoming the best team, but there hasn't been this kind of talent on one squad in Minnesota ever. The teamwork has improved already since Nov. 24. It still needs to improve. They are nowhere near where they can and will be in March. The real question will be and is---what kind of team will it be after a series of cupcakes and twinkies in its diet. I know the coaches over there will make sure that they will be ready come March.
As far as best team ever: Drive and focus---many championship teams have this characteristic, but Osseo 1989 comes to mind quickly. They suffered in 1988 and played with solid intensity including a nailbiter in the State quarters against Burnsville.
Personal/Talent: we really don't know where all these Central kids are going to end up. We know Robinson will be at Marquette next year and Buford will be at Minnesota the year after, both big time schools. The best talent recently to come down the pike was 2003 Breck, a team that did NOT win the AA tournament and only managed 22 points in a 35-22 win by Rochester Lourdes. On that Breck team you had Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa that is still playing in Maine; Alyssa Nelson who was All conference in the Big Sky at Montana State last year and is still playing; Melissa Miller a current starter at Northwestern; Kelly Rae Finley who first stopped at Northwestern, but now is at Colorado State; and a young Emily Neal who is also at Colorado State. Mary Lennick also went on to play in college at Trinity, a D3 school in New England. Kelly Mullaney was not on that team. That is four players going D1 from a recent team. again they didn't win the state tournament, so any and every team can be beat....not by any and every team mind you, but by a team with discipline, focus and understanding of the game. Rochester Lourdes had maybe three kids from that team move on and play college ball.
Central is not Breck. They have bigger time talent. Their top six players are all in the top 25 in the state this year and could join Robinson & Buford on major D1 programs, and they have players on the jv that could be also D1 down the road.

AAU NEWS
Kamille Wahlin of Crookston will be playing with North Tartan in the upcoming summer season.

On a related note Gopher assistant Ted Riverso was seen watching Crookston smash Fosston on Tuesday. You will have to scroll and scroll to get to the meat, but it is there in the Crookston Times.

AMIC
Alyssa Amic, Chisholm is featured in the Hibbing Daily Tribune for her paint play.

POINT PARADE for games of Dec 14, 2006
AAA
Brianna Mastey, Becker 37 vs Stillwater 80-64
Anna Full, Marshall 25 vs Luverne 59-31
AA
Brittany Chambers, Jordan 28 vs Belle Plaine 76-41
Rebecca Friestleben, Holy Family 28 vs Montgomery-Lonsdale 60-40
Diane Blommel, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 26 vs Minnewaska 54-75
Leah Dietel, Jordan 25 vs Belle Plaine 76-41
Jackie Doerr, LeSueur-Henderson 25 vs Mayer Lutheran 59-56
Jennie Noreen, Albany 25 vs St. Cloud Cathedral 82-47
A
Steph Roggenbuck, Osakis 29 vs Royalton 73-46
Tori Lind, Mabel-Canton 28 vs Lyle-Pacelli 77-21
Kayla Tschida, Upsala 28 vs Holdingford 54-64
Emma Kiemele, Park Christian 25 vs Wyndmere, ND 59-51
Ashley Lau, Glenville-Emmons 25 vs Spring Grove 49-67

I have been updating parades recently. If I am missing someone please let me know.
thanks for all the help the readers provide in making this the go to spot on the internet superhighway.

Next up: ND, SD, IA, WI, MI, College, and another out & About later tonight. Sunday night "the week that was #4" and a special look at the first quarter of the season.