Out & About: New Prague/Albert Lea

#7 posting 1.16.2007
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NEW PRAGUE trojans 49, ALBERT LEA tigers 43

New Prague won a key 1AAA battle on a cold Tuesday night. The game featured NP's Whitney Trecker who was named Athlete of the week by KARE 11 after a 40 point outburst last week against xxx. Albert Lea has been rated in the top 10.

NP led early 6-2 with a drive by Becky Theisen. AL had foul trouble early as center Ali Demmer picked up her 2nd foul with 16:42 left in the half. They adjusted well. AL went on an 8-2 run to take a 12-8 lead. Hali Hendrickson, and Whitney Wilson had four each. AL then a five possession drought, the first four resulting in turnovers. NP took advantage of these turnovers with an 8-0 run to go up again 16-12. The last two scores on steals and transition baskets. NP built that lead up to 24-14 after three consecutive scores and 8 points by Amanda Wagner--two 3s sandwiching two free throws. That lead grew to 29-18 with under 2 minutes to go in the half when AL scored on three consecutive possessions to close the gap to 29-24 NP.

The scoring pace slowed in the second half with NP scoring only once on their first 8 possessions. AL also was 1/8 in their possessions, but they were able to close the margin to 33-32 on a lay up by Niki Hendrickson off the NP press. Trecker made a steal and scored the lay up and was fouled. She made the free throw and NP was up 36-32. AL had another drought at the wrong time with six possessions. This time AL had 4 turnovers out of that six. NP converted three of those turnovers inot lay ups. Albert Lea was forced to take time out twice in this stretch at 9:09 and 7:44. Right after that time out NP scored again after a 14 touch possession with a back cut by Trecker to make it 45-34. AL had a little run left in them with three scoring possessions, but the problem was two of them were only one point possessions. AL had a 9-4 run, but the clock was against them, and they never really had a clean look and had to take too much time off the clock to get their points. NP won 49-43.

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

NEW PRAGUE
STARTERS
Annie Connelly 5, 6, 83.3, .333 can hit the 3. RF: needs to deliver at the line.
Amanda Wagner 15, 19, 78.9, .368 scrappy, intense, ferocious competitor, quick hands, feet. hungry for the ball. has 3 range. good instincts, RF: Things were forced on offense. needs to stay quiet when given a questionable call. most refs don't like being questioned.
Becky Theisen 8, 10, 80.0, .500 another in the intense, ferocious guards. a couple of piranahs with Wagner. RF: picked up too many fouls.
Brit Ryunda 4, 3, 133.3, .667 does what she needs to do. Decent with the ball, gettin it to the right person/
Whitney Trecker 15, 21, 71.4, .333 runs extremely well. was in the state 400. likes to drive. likes transition. likes the line. RF: needs to develop a perimeter game, catch and shoot, or pull up jumper.
BENCH
Molly Tikalsky 2, 4, 50.0, .250
Hannah Strop 0, 0, 0.0, .000 great leaper, youngster. in due to fouls.

ALBERT LEA
STARTERS
Cara Thorn 2, 10, 20.0, .100 point guard. defensively a bother for NP. RF: size; took the ball too close to the baseline when breaking the press.
Niki Hendrickson 9, 16, 56.3, .313 led AL with d rebounds. moves well without the ball. RF: needs to be ready for ball. left three points at the line
Hali Hendrickson 8, 16, 50.0, .250 athletic, has speed, shoots off the dribble. RF: not her night. came in too hard on transition, needs softer touch on the break. ball handling needs to be sharper/stronger
Elizabeth Thompson 7, 5, 140.0, .600 can hit the 3. defended Trecker off her average. RF: it took to long to set up the 3.
Ali Demmer 6, 3, 200.0, 1.000 post. can find open person. RF: too many fouls too early
BENCH
Whitney Wilson 8, 6, 133.3, .667 had some early success from the short corners with her shot. in due to Demmer's foul trouble. RF: didn't score in 2nd half.
Abbey Arends 2, 3, 66.7, .333 RF: likes the spin dribble, which the defense snatched
Leah Walters 1, 2, 50.0, .500 RF: needs vision when dribbling
Jaclyn Rehmke 0, 2, 0.0, .000 RF: had a call go against her and she showed displeasure by not helping get the ball for the ref.

TRENCH PLAYER
Amanda Wagner

BY THE NUMBERS
New Prague 49, 63, 77.8, .381
Albert Lea 43, 63, 68.3, .349
made 3s: NP 3, AL 1
made free throws: NP 12, AL 12
bench: AL 11, NP 2
NP was patient on offense for most of the night. They would take quality shots after milking the clock looking for the one moment when the defense would falter. They would look for transition first, but if it wasn't available it was probing the perimeter.
Albert Lea didn't handle the NP pressure smoothly. They need to handle the press, use their dribble better. They did look for each other in the half court and moved the ball well, but it was inconsistent. AL did a good job keeping Trecker from doing things she liked doing. They gave her some space, but didn't allow the penetration.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
d rebounds, steals, forced turnovers, blocks leading to offensive possessions
NEW PRAGUE
Amanda Wagner 11
Whitney Trecker 5
Becky Theisen 4
Brit Rynda 4
Hannah Strop 3
Annie Connelly 2
Molly Tikalsky 1
totals: 30

ALBERT LEA
Niki Hendrickson 7
Cara Thorn 7
Hali Hendrickson 5
Elizabeth Thompson 4
Ali Demmer 2
Whitney Wilson 1
Abbey Arends 1
totals: 27

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