Out & About: Hopkins/Blaine

#7 posting 12.29.2006
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

DICK'S SPORTING GOODS HOPKINS TOURNAMENT
5TH PLACE GAME
HOPKINS royals 62, BLAINE bengals 61

The tightest game of the bunch today. This game also featured the subplot of former Blaine, and now Hopkins player Ana Garcia facing her ex teammates. It was Garcia that drew a charge when Hopkins led 56-55 that put Alyssa Hames on the bench with five fouls. Steph Sension then converted an old style 3 point play, Jackie Kelly came back with her own version to cut the game down to 59-58 Hopkins. Jackie Hiebert knocked down to free throw to put Hopkins up 61-58. Kelly converted one free throw for Blaine to make it 61-59 with 38.3 seconds to go. After a Blaine timeout Sension double dribbled against the pressure to give the ball back to Blaine with 35. 5 ticks left. Kelly's 3 was off, and Hiebert grabbed the vital board. Sension was fouled and she made the second to push the lead back up to 62-59 with 12.6 seconds left. Kelly drove in for a lay up and time expired.

Caitlin Rowland, Hopkins did not play and will be out for a month or more with a stress fracture in the foot. She had the same ailment last year. Adjusting to life after Rowland was a bit off for Hopkins' offense as they started the game 1/9 with their possessions only scoring on an out of bounds play by Jenna Lillemoe. Blaine led early 7-3. Hopkins would not lead until 2:47 to go in the half when Stephanie Sensions converted two free throws for a 21-19 lead. Neither team scored to finish the half.

In the early portion of the second half Blaine scored on 5/6 possessions early and reclaimed the lead at 34-31. Jackie Kelly had five in the outburst with a trey and also a steal and lay up. Two more lead changes put Blaine back in front and they used a four possession scoring streak to claim a 43-35 lead with 10:24 to go. Alyssa Hames had five in this 12-2 run. Hopkins had a 13-5 run with 8 points from Jackie Hiebert's hand. Hames again was off on transition after a rebound and she scored and was fouled by Hannah Muegge, her 5th foul and Blaine led 51-48 with 5:44 to go. It looked like it might be over with the perimeter situation unsettled for Hopkins, but recent roster addition Claire Burmeister and Ana Garcia handled the situation toward the end with only one turnover between them. Hopkins finished the game with 9/11 scoring possessions, the last four by free throws.

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

HOPKINS
STARTERS
Hanna Muegge 10, 11, 90.1, .455
Ana Garcia 6, 10, 60.0, .400
Jenna Lillemoe 3, 5, 60.0, .200
Stephanie Sension 18, 12, 150.0, .750
Jackie Hiebert 22, 21, 104.8, .524
BENCH
Claire Burmeister 3, 3, 100.0, .667
Colleen Batty 0, 4, 0.0, .000
Whitney Nelson 0, 0, 0.0, .000

BLAINE
STARTERS
Alex Suda 2, 5, 40.0, .200
Jackie Kelly 23, 20, 115.0, .550
Heather Gillund 6, 13, 46.2, .308
Lindsey Baumgartner 4, 3, 133.3, .667
Alyssa Hames 18, 13, 138.5, .538
BENCH
Alissa Dombek 4, 7, 57.1, .286
MacKenzie Suda 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Tracy Gillund 2, 3, 66.7, .333
Alex Pafko 0, 1, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
It could have been either post, but Steph Sension gets the nod by a hair

BY THE NUMBERS
Hopkins 62, 66, 93.9, .485
Blaine 61, 67, 91.0, .433
Made 3s: Blaine 4, Hopkins 1
Made FTs: Hopkins 21, Blaine 19
Bench: Blaine 8, Hopkins 3

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
d rebounds, steals, forced turnovers, blocks leading to offensive possessions
HOPKINS
Jackie Hiebert 9
Stephanie Sension 7
Claire Burmeister 5
Ana Garcia 4
Hanna Muegge 4
Colleen Batty 2
Whitney Nelson 1
totals: 32

BLAINE
Heather Gillund 7
Jackie Kelly 4
Alex Suda 4
Tracy Gillund 3
Alyssa Hames 3
Alissa Dombek 2
Alex Pafko 2
Lindsey Baumgartner 1
Totals: 26

Next up: 3rd place