Out & About: Centennial/Coon Rapids

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

CENTENNIAL cougars 61, COON RAPIDS cardinals 48

This was a battle of #5 and #6 in AAAA and with Jazmin Townsend out with an ankle injury for Coon Rapids it was a bit anticlimatic. Centennial took control in the first half and maintained their lead for a convincing win in Northwest Suburban, and 7AAAA action.

Centennial jumped out to a 7-0 lead with Kellie Schuneman opening the scoring on a put back. Joelle Waytashek knocked down a trey to close the run. Then Centennial went cold for 10 possessions, 7 of which were missed shots. They were getting decent shots, they just didn't drop and they were limited in this stretch to one crack at the basket. CR took advantage of the Centennial dry spell with an 8-0 run to grab an 8-7 lead. But they also hit a dry patch of five possessions. Centennial broke a 10 all tie to jump ahead 20-10. CR had another dry stretch of 8 possessions to make it a 1/14 sequence. That proved to be the difference of the game. Centennial led 26-17 at half.

Both teams picked it up in the second half, but Centennial was a bit more aggressive and moved better on offense as a unit. CR got as close as 28-21 early in the second half. Centennial pushed the lead to 17 twice in the second half. It was just the steady drip, drip, drip of Centennial making better use of their possessions. Centennial had a 1-2-3 punch in the second half with Megan Nipe, Kellie Schuneman, and Joelle Waytashek providing 80% of the second half scoring. It was more balanced than CR with Chelsea Lyons the only real effective force on offense with 16 second half points. This game marked the first full game without Townsend and CR looked a bit disjointed.

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

CENTENNIAL
STARTERS
Emily Becken 3, 15, 20.0, .067 point guard, RF: forced some passes. too long of passes that were too soft, not zippy. 3 shot was off tonight.
Kellie Schuneman 14, 9, 155.6, .778 aggressive to the basket. maximized her production. goes inside without fear. In the second half scored 9 points on 5 possessions which comes out to 180.0 pp100. RF: two defensive wraps could, and maybe should go up. small.
Megan Nipe 17, 18, 94.4, .500 very good energy. plays like she owns the court. good step, good pull up. hard to the glass. she too had a strong second half with 11/8 or 137.5 pp100. plays both ends of the court hungry. RF: size post hs for inside. Will need to play outside. I think she will be able to handle that, but outside shooting tonight wasn't strong. needs to be better at the line.
Joelle Waytashek 15, 15, 100.0, .400 aggressive. 3 point shooter. likes transition. good at the line. moves well without ball. RF: needs to work on footwork like in stopping/starting with the ball.
Katie Huston 2, 4, 50.0, .250 nuts and bolts hard hat type. strong. gets the ball on defense. RF: offense not a priority
BENCH
Kayla Blom 5, 8, 62.5, .375 back up guard. went hard without fear inside. RF: size, too much adreneline at times.
Bridget Schuneman 5, 3, 166.7, .667 post back up: good seals, strong RF: needs to stay lower on defense.

COON RAPIDS
STARTERS
Randi Hill 11, 17, 64.7, .353 has moments where she zooms and is a basketball player. aggressive to the glass, will move, at times, without the ball with energy. RF: doesn't play with the same verve the whole time. passing is very soft. needs more intensity. body out of control on some drives.
Alyssa Kellas 2, 8, 25.0, .125 post player. Scored on an out of bounds play. RF: fouls, needs to develop a mean streak. also needs to move better on defense.
Chelsea Lyons 18, 13, 138.5, .692 a bright beacon for CR. good instincts. point guard, was much more aggressive in the second half looking for her shot. good free throw shooter. very good energy on defensive end too. picked up a charge.
Michelle Syverson 10, 12, 83.3, .417 The only post player that delivered. can hit from the short corners. RF: too high, lets players move where ever on defense.
Gigi Hudson 0, 3, 0.0, .000 RF: fouls hampered play. needs to move feet, stay lower on defense. needs to be aware when posting and work on her hands. picked up hold away from the ball on offense.
BENCH
Lindsie Janni 5, 13, 38.5, .154 came up with more rebounds than size warrented. RF: defensively too high
Kadie Mullerleile 2, 4, 50.0, .250 another guard sub.

TRENCH PLAYER
Kellie Schuneman

BY THE NUMBERS
Centennial 61, 72, 84.7, .403
Coon Rapids 48, 70, 68.6, .343
made 3s: Centennial 2, CR 0
made FTs: Centennial 19, CR 10
Bench: Centennial 10, CR 7
Juxtaposed with last night's game is probably unfair to both teams. But the intensity and sense of urgency simply wasn't there for Coon Rapids. The passing, for the most part, was soft. Defensively, for the most part, CR was too high, lost their players and let Centennial move where ever they wanted to. Lyons was the only bright spot for CR. But she was tired during the contest too. I don't know if the their team was battling colds, but CR wasn't snappy.
Centennial moved better, but executed better at the Hamline tournament. Defensively they played with more energy.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
Defensive rebounds, steals, forced turnovers and blocks leading to offensive possessions
CENTENNIAL
Megan Nipe 10
Katie Huston 9
Emily Becken 5
Joelle Waytashek 5
Kayla Blom 3
Bridget Schuneman 3
Kellie Schuneman 2
COON RAPIDS
Chelsea Lyons 10
Randi Hill 8
Molli Janni 5
Michelle Syverson 3
Alyssa Kellas 3
GiGi Hudson 1
Kadie Mullerleile 1

Townsend damaged her ankle in the first three minutes of the Anoka game and it is unclear how long she will be out. It could be as short as four weeks. It could be longer. CR will have to adjust, which may help their depth in the long run.

Next up: tomorrow morning. Sunday night "the week that was #4" and a special look at the first quarter of the season.