Out & About: Centennial/Champlin Park

#8 posting 2.23.2007
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

CENTENNIAL cougars 85, CHAMPLIN PARK rebels 77

#3 Centennial won the NW Suburban outright as they beat #4 Champlin Park, the team that gave them their only conference loss 85-77. Centennial built a 22 point lead in the first half, but CP came within 73-70 with 3 minutes left. Centennial finished up with a 17-1 conference record, while CP came in at second with 15-3. Centennial is 24-2 overall, and CP is 23-3. The two could meet again in the 7AAAA finals.

It was senior night at Centennial and emotions were running high. Centennial came out firing on all cylinders. Megan Nipe scored on an 18 footer to open action, and Centennial connected on the first four possessions and 6/7. When the dust settled Centennial was up 15-4. They had connected on three 3s during the blitz. Their first five scores had a different player behind the shot. Centennial pushed that lead up to 23-6 with 12 minutes to go in the half. By 5:26 to go Centennial led 40-18 on a three point possession. Megan Nipe scored one free throw, but missed the second. However she was able to gather the rebound and it came back to her and she scored on a baseline drive. That was the high water mark. CP outscored them 13-8. CP was 5/6 on their last possessions of the half. It started with a Ali Schmidt three from the top of the key.

That hot streak continued over at the start of the second half. CP was 6/7 to start the half so it was a 11/13 possession streak over two halves. It was a 25-9 run with 7 players contributing to the revival. With 13:38 to go CP had cut the lead to 54-45. Centennial had a 1/5 offensive sequence with three turnovers, all unforced. CP moved to a 60-55 after a Theisen three from the left corner. That capped a 4/5 offensive sequence. CP managed to cut the margin to 3 at 64-61, but never could get the stop. CP had five straight offensive scores. Centennial was matching them with 3/4. CP cut the lead again to 73-70 on a give and go with Fuller and Gigler with 3 minutes left. But CP never got the stop on the four times they cut it to three. This time answer came from Allums with a deep three from the right wing. CP did not score for the next two possessions. They never got shots off. Both times Megan Nipe came up with big steals. Emily Becken scored on a drive to make it 78-70. Ali Schmidt scored on a post up for CP. After a turnover in the delay game on an errant Becken pass, again an unforced error. Theisen scored one free throw with 1:26 left to make it a 78-73 game. Kellie Schuneman made two free throws to bump the lead back to seven. Gigler scored one free throw after Nipe's fifth foul, but missed the second. Becken got the key rebound and Allums was fouled right away with 38.6 left. She missed her one and one chance. Gigler rebounded and then ran the flor and scored from a Fuller pass to make it 80-76 with 27 seconds left. Katie Huston was fouled, but did not hit her free throw. Allums was there for the rebound and that was the back breaker at 82-76. Fuller drove the lane and was fouled. She too only converted one free throw. Becken was fouled and she made one free throw. Burns had a desperation 3 misfire. Becken again came up with the rebound and Kellie Schuneman was fouled and delivered two more free throws for the final margin with 1.4 left.

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

CENTENNIAL
STARTERS
Kellie Schuneman 23, 20, 115.0, .550 guard, 3 range, can score in traffic on drive. 7/8 at the line. RF: some passes soft and floaty, size,
Joelle Waytashek 9, 6, 150.0, .667 perimeter shooter, 3 pt range. set a good screen for Becken.
Katie Huston 0, 1, 0.0, . 000 solid tough defender. drew a CP offensive foul. RF; needs to work on offensive possession.
Kiara Allums 20, 16, 125.0, .563 big time player, big time results, smooth, hops, alert, canned 2 3s. can drive, can post. dominated wraps with 9 in the first half. RF: needs to get to the line and convert. needs to stay away from fouls, and then she won't be riding the pine.
Megan Nipe 12, 14, 85.7, .429 strong, aggressive, moves without the ball. aggressive defensively. RF: picked up foul on moving screen. faded on a shot, too many fouls. drove baseline, stepped on line.
BENCH
Emily Becken 15, 13, 115.4, .538 usually starts, but with senior night was off the bench. point guard. 3 range, RF: spins
Kayla Blom 4, 5, 80.0, .400 guard. strong with the ball. assigned Fuller when in. RF: size. needs to work on stops and needs to work on keeping dribble lower.
Bridgeet Schuneman 2, 3, 66.7, .333 post. RF; elbow out on shot during free throw.

CHAMPLIN PARK
STARTERS
Michelle Burns 3, 9, 33,.3, .222 point guard RF: too tight to the weakside and let player cut through.
Ashlynn Fuller 13, 16, 81,3, .438 penetrator with quick step. good stops. works give and go with Gigler well. RF: didn't pinch on ball side when ball penetrated from on top. too high defensively on the ball and off the ball. passing needs to improve. tried to feed the post with no angle. picked up offensive foul
Jenny Theisen 15, 12, 125.0, .583 likes the 3ball, corner specialist. drives. RF: defensively too high, needs to keep eyes on stomach when guarding the ball.
Natalie Gigler 28, 22, 127.3, .682 good footwork. likes the block, but they didn't lead to offensive possessions all the time. worked offensive boards. has quick one dribble moves, spins in lane quickly. RF: needs to be more of a force (other than blocks) on defense.
Heather Sampson 5, 3, 166.7, 1.000 makes good use of possession. RF: foot speed.
BENCH
Ali Schmidt 5, 7, 71.4, .286 3 range. RF: picked up offensive foul
Laura Bruce 6, 5, 120.0, .600 hit a nice shot from the free throw line. RF: foot speed.
Jessica Hoffman 07 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Ashley Witte 2, 2, 100.0, .500 got knocked out of the game after running into a screen in the second half

TRENCH PLAYER
Kiara Allums

BY THE NUMBERS
Centennial 85, 78, 109.0, .513
Champlin Park 77, 77, 100.0, .519
made 3s: Centennial 8, CP 3
made fts: CP 20, Centennial 13
bench: Centennial 21, CP 13
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was a tale of two halves. Centennial owned the first, CP took control in the second. Take a look at the #s
Centennial 1st half: 48, 39, 123.1, .564
Centennial 2nd half: 37, 39, 94.9, .462
CP 1st half: 31, 38, 81.6, .421
CP 2nd half: 46, 39, 117.9, .615
CP has had a habit, and not a good one, of trailing early and making comebacks. Against stronger teams the road uphill becomes more difficult.
Centennial, for the second time this year, let CP back into the contest. This time they hung on. CP is aggressive offensively with Fuller penetrations drawing fouls, or Gigler getting fouled in post ups.
If you look at the numbers closely you will see CP had a better floor %. Centennial had their winning margin thanks to the 3ball. Also CP did not convert at the line like last game. They left 8 points at the line.
As you can see below Centennial was more aggressive on defense. Part of the reason was Centennial had unforced turnovers---passes too high or footwork issues that couldn't be traced back to CP. But with that aggressive action comes fouls. Nipe fouled out and Allums was dancing with four.
This game was like a roller coaster ride with dips, rises and curves and 80 miles an hour. The crowd was big and boisterous. CP had one whole section full of boys clad in white who never sat down during the game. Centennial then had to match their passion. Chants were going back and forth all night. It was big time atmosphere for the first time this year in AAAA, almost collegiate.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
d rebounds, steals, forced turnovers, and blocks leading to offensive possessions
CENTENNIAL
Kiara Allums 10
Megan Nipe 10
Emily Becken 7
Katie Huston 4
Joelle Waytashke 2
Kellie Schuneman 1
Kayla Blom 1
Bridget Schuneman 1
totals: 36

CHAMPLIN PARK
Jenny Theisen 6.5
Natalie Gigler 4.5
Ashlynn Fuller 3
Ali Schmidt 3
Michelle Burns 2
Heather Sampson 2
Laura Bruce 1
Jessica Hoffman 07 1
totals: 23
I had to go back and check that number.

next up: tomorrow morning