Out & About: Holy Angels/DeLaSalle

#7 posting 2.3.2007
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

HOLY ANGELS stars 62, DE LA SALLE islanders 58

It was -10.8 outside, but inside the action was hot. In a physical intense confrontation between two Catholic powers in 3AAA it was #7 Holy Angels beating #3 DeLaSalle on the road 62-58. DLS is now 18-2 and Holy Angels is 16-4. Holy Angels now has the advantage for the top seed in the section.

DLS opened the scoring with Aaryn Booker's rebound basket on the second possession. HA didn't connect until their 5th possession, but then rattled off four straight scores and grabbed the lead 8-3. Maggie Slawson put her signature on the game with six points. She had two steals off the HA half court press that she converted into lay ups. Both teams didn't allow anything easy and their offensive possessions had problems and droughts. HA had a 7 stretch wtih DLS going on a 7-0 run to tie it at 10. DLS's comeback came via the 3ball. The Hersia sisters Akilah and then Jameila nailed 3s to tie it at 10:48. HA then went on an 8-0 run to lead 18-10. DLS started their 2nd rally with another three, this time by Carissa Wolyniec. She added another to cut the lead to 20-19 and finishing up a 9-2 DLS run. DLS took its first lead at 23-22 on a drive by Alex Bledsoe. Two free throws by Booker gave DLS them a 25-23 lead. The two teams matched each other as Emily Backes hit a three from the top of the key for a 28-25 lead for HA. On the next DLS possession Anna Kovalchuk answered with her own 3 from the right side. The game was tied 28 all at half time.

Both teams matched each other to start the half. HA scored on the five of their first seven possessions, to take a 39-32 advantage led by Slawson with 7 points. DLS rallied again to 39-37 with a 5-0 run with Booker providing four inside. HA then stretched their lead to 50-37 with 9:35 to go, their largest of the day on a 9-0 run. DLS had a six possession drought. But DLS was not done yet. Again it was the 3ball that stopped the drought. Jameila Hersia started it from the top of the key. That started a 5/6 scoring sequence that cut the margin to 55-47. With six minutes to go HA led 57-49. Then an 8 possession drought struck HA. Six of those possessions ended up with turnovers. DLS took advantage of that for six points topped off by another 3 from Wolyniec with 2:35 to go. Stopping the drought for HA: Slawson with a transition lay up off a missed DLS shot. Every possession at this point was contested and magnified. Neither team was able to find the bottom of the net. DLS went inside to Booker, but she was giving away three inches plus the long stretch to Mary Dolan O'Brian. She blocked the shot. As HA milked the clock down DLS was forced to foul. Laura Rieger went to the line, but she missed the front end of a one and one. HA missed two front ends in the last minute. Wolyniec stole the ball from Slawson and was fouled with 27.6 seconds left. She made the second of two free throws to make it a three point game. Dolan-O'Brian matched the free throw at the other end for HA. With 15.2 seconds left Kovalchuk was fouled and she delivered both points to the DLS column to make it 60-58. But that was as close as DLS was to get. Rieger made the second free throw on HA's next possession and later Dolan-O'Brian did the same on the next HA possession to end the scoring 62-58 with 5.4 ticks left. HA stood on the sidelines as DLS was allowed to take an uncontested 3. Kovalchuk's 3 misfired to end the intense contest.

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

HOLY ANGELS
STARTERS
Laura Rieger 7, 19, 36.8, .211 point guard. scored on a couple of runners. RF: needs to execute on passing/
Mary Dolan-O'Brian 10, 14, 71.4, 42.9 long, lean. likes the drive. hits the boards on both ends. RF: needs to get stronger.
Kaitlin Robinson 10, 11, 90.9, .455 runs the floor, has 3 range, hits offensive boards. RF: picked up a couple of charges and one screening call. picked up a couple of traveling calls.
Maggie Slawson 22, 16, 137.5, .625 played with focused energy. great court awareness. read the passers eyes, feet and had 7 steals. Those steals led to lay ups. in the half court game she had a sweet stroke on pull up jumpers and made money 3s. DLS knew who she was and she still delivered the goods. Even in warm ups in both halves she was zeroed in. This is the best I have seen her. poised, confident, and the shot was all working. on top of her game. has the skills to play at top level. RF: left feet on shot fake. favors spin dribble
Jaime Birr 8, 12, 66.7, .333 post player. also brought the ball up against the press. runs the floor. RF: defense needs the same attention as offense.
BENCH
Katie Hanson 0, 2, 0.0, .000 long lean perimeter/post player. changed shots. RF: needs to develop offensive game, show aggressiveness on offense.
Sarah Jelgerhuis 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Emily Backes 3, 2, 150.0, .500 reserve guard with 3 range.
Erinn Sansted 2, 2, 100.0, .500

DE LA SALLE
STARTERS
Carissa Wolyniec 10, 10, 100.0, .400 3 point threat. active on defense.
Akilah Hersia 5, 5, 100.0, .200 tough physical guard. Got knocked to the ground on an intentional foul, and delivered both free throws.
Frances Wehrwein 0, 3, 0.0, .000
Aaryn Booker 17, 19, 89.5, .474 tough physical inside player. more power. crashes the boards on offense. RF: size for position.
Rachel Booth 8, 14, 57.1, .357 post player. more finesse. likes shots at the free throw elbow. RF: needs to be ready for the ball. goes away from contact. needs to get stronger. Shot is deep off the back rim.
BENCH
Jamelia Hersia 6, 5, 120.0, .400 hit two 3s.
Anna Kovalchuk 8, 11, 72.7, .273 3 point shooter. RF: foot speed, defensive intensity and position. ball handling/passing quickness.
Aneshia Starks 0, 8, 0.0, .000 energetic, quick on defense. provided a spark when she entered game. RF: has injury to the hand and that may have impaced offensive abilities. passing execution.
Alex Bledsoe 4, 4, 100.0, .500 scored on a drive.

TRENCH PLAYER
Maggie Slawson

BY THE NUMBERS
Holy Angels 62, 79, 78.5, .392
DeLaSalle 58, 79, 73.4, .329
made 3s: DLS 8, HA 4
made fts: DLS 14, HA 10
bench: HA 5, DLS 18
Four games in a row with intense, play off atmosphere. This game tended to be more physical than the others. Players were on the floor for loose balls right from the get go. At times there were five on the floor getting their share of floor burns and rasberries.
One factor both teams need to improve on is at the line. HA left 16 points at the line, while DLS left 15. That includes 2 points when they missed front ends of one & ones. DLS was 14/28 and HA 10/22.
Both teams were intense on defense with DLS utilizing a full court press and tight man in the half court. HA used a half court trap for their pressure.
DLS only had one 2 point field goal that was on the initial half court offense in the first half. They did have 5 3s, and two rebound baskets.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
d rebounds, steals, forced turnovers, blocks leading to offensive possessions
HOLY ANGELS
Maggie Slawson 9
Mary Dolan-O'Brian 8.5
Laura Rieger 7
Katie Hanson 5
Jaime Birr 2
Sarah Jelgerhuis 1.5
Kaitlin Robinson 1
Emily Backes 1
Erinn Sansted 1
Totals: 36

DE LA SALLE
Rachel Booth 8
Aneshia Starks 6
Carissa Wolyniec 5
Akilah Hersia 5
Alex Bledsoe 4
Aaryn Booker 3
Jameila Hersia 3
Anna Kovalchuk 3
Frances Wehrwein 1
totals: 38

2 notes:
My second cousin is the athletic director at DLS: Darcy Cascaes. We didn't know each other until tonight. I read an article in the Devils Lake Journal about her and sent the information to my dad and he confirmed the family ties.
Also DLS was having a reunion of some sorts. In the crowd was Mike Skelly who had a daughter Erin (6-5 center) that played for Osseo '97. She went to Michigan State and is married, has a masters, and is working in Jackson MI. She has one boy (projected to be 6-8 to 6-11), and another baby on the way.

Next up: tomorrow morning