Out & About: Mpls South/Mpls North

#8 posting 2.6.2007
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MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH tigers 80,
MINNEAPOLIS NORTH polars 42

In a rematch from last week, South took vengence on North to split the season series. North's 12 game win streak was snapped in a convincing manner. South made some key defensive adjustments from the last game and put North in foul trouble. South had a 5 to 1 advantage in made free throws (30/6).
The win now puts both teams in a tie for first in the Mpls City conference, but South will need help if they want to get to the Twin City game. The Tigers have made the last two trips and the tie breaker goes to the team that has been in the contest the longest. South is now 20-1, North 13-4.

South scored on their first two possessions with a pull up jumper by Ephesia Holmes and then a dish off to Gabby Roberts from Tyisha Smith. But there was a change on defense for South in this game. Tayler Hill was assigned Maurika Hickman and stuck with her most of the evening. With Hill in denial other Northerners had to bring the ball up and make decisions and that made the North engine sputter a bit. Holmes hit another pull up jumper and South was converting again at over .500. At one stretch they scored on 6 of 7 possessions to go up 20-7 and the route was on. Jenny Houle had 8 points in that 12-3 run, with two 3s and a put back. North had a 7-0 run with Hickman providing five points, but South again caught fire with another 6/7 possession scoring sequence. South was already in the bonus at 12:25 in the first half. The start of this run was at the line as Holmes would get the rebound of a missed North shot, she would be fouled and then she would go 88 feet down court to make two free throws. Holmes had 7 points in this 12-2 run. South led 32-16 at this point. South closed out the half up 40-22. Last week it was 43 all at half.

North had possession to start the half, but Holmes snatched the inbounds pass and converted the lay up as South rattled off four straight scoring possessions, and three of them had fouls tied with them. North's offense was still not in synch as they had a drought of six and a 2/16 offensive sequence in a 12-4 South run. By this time there was little doubt to the outcome and the only mystery was going to be by how much. The answer was 38--80-42

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

MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH
STARTERS
Tayler Hill 26, 23, 113.0, .565 picked up her defense and hampered the free flow of Hickman and the North offense. good anticipation. played Hickman to stop drive. took the ball right away on drives. offensively drew fouls and went to the line 8 times. likes the drive and has good body control. has very quick first step. RF: next step is to score when getting jostled, bumped in traffic and fouled for the and one. needs to keep hands up on defense.
Jenny Houle 15, 10, 150.0, .600 3 pt bomber, had a hat trick on 3s in the first half. also was slightly more active on the boards. even scored on a runner late. RF: defensively was locked up on North's posts. needs to work on quickness.
Tyisha Smith 11, 12, 91.7, .417 Lightning in a bottle. quick, fast, can cut on a dime. can get into the heart of the defense. disrupter. RF: size. at times a slow/ lazy lollipop pass leaves her hands.
Ephesia Holmes 18, 17, 105.9, .588 pull up jumper, good positioning on boards resulted in six trips to the line. good footwork/jump stops,
Gabrielle Roberts 6, 6, 100.0, .667 inside player. drew fouls, gets good position. drew a charge. RF: size. needs to be ready to catch.
BENCH
Taquoia Hammick 0, 1, 0.0, .000 Big post. RF; needs to work on balance, strength, and quickness.
Hannah Cheese 2, 2, 100.0, .500 post player. like the tasmanian devil getting rebounds. had more d rebounds per minute in this game. RF: size
Jessica Ulrich 2, 2, 100.0, .500 played inside. worked for boards. RF: needs to work on strength, quickness.

MINNEAPOLIS NORTH
STARTERS
Maurika Hickman 20, 23, 87.0, .391 point guard. has 3 range, has speed and quickness RF; had to earn her points against a bigger defender. Teammates didn't step up and she had to shoulder most of the scoring. likes to spin.
Apiphany Asberry 0, 7, 0.0, .000 athletic. RF: at times appears indifferent, vision on ball handling, passing execution.
Briana Edwards 4, 9, 44.4, .222 long lean, athletic. has nice pull up jumper. RF: too many fouls=bench time. vision when handling ball. needs to be lower on defense, and move feet
Chaundera Riley 2, 5, 40.0, .200 power and force inside. crashes boards. RF: too many fouls=bench time. footwork on defense. positioning.
Europe Guy 0, 1, 0.0, .000 3 point shooter. lefty. RF: not really a factor.
BENCH
Kendria Buckner 3, 4, 75.0, .500 moves without the ball.
Nadvia Davis 4, 10, 40.0, .200 had a nice strong fake and drive. rebounds. RF: footwork on offense
Chelsey Jacox 2, 5, 40.0, .200
Olivia Omoyayi 6, 9, 66.7, .333 RF: needs to move feet on defense.
LaQuinta Hall 1, 1, 100.0, 1.000
Asha Johnson 0, 1, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
Tayler Hill, combination defense and offense puts stamp on the game

BY THE NUMBERS
South 80, 73, 109.6, .548
North 42, 75, 56.0, .280
made 3s: South 6, North 2
made fts: South 30, North 6
bench: North 16, South 4
South made the big adjustments on defense and attacked more on offense to put North's players on the bench and to put themselves at the line. The improvement on the defensive wraps was 40-23. Forcing other players other than Hickman to run the show, or at least disrupt the flow, gave the advantage to South. South was 30/39 at the line with North making a paltry 6.
Holmes improved her pp100 from 84,1 to 105.9, but the floor % jumped big from .421 to .588. Hill also upped her offensive numbers, but the biggest improvement was in how she controlled the defense with 10.5 wraps compared to 5.5 last week.
In the 3 games I have seen South their pp100s are found in a narrow range from 104-109. North's range is 56-111.
On the flip side the North's defensive #s are all above 100 pp100; South's had wide range with 48-111.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
d rebounds, steals, forced turnovers, and blocks leading to offensive possessions
SOUTH
Tayler Hill 10.5
Ephesia Holmes 7
Hannah Cheese 7
Tyisha Smith 6
Gabrielle Roberts 5
Jenny Houle 3
Taquoia Hammick 1.5
totals: 40

NORTH
Maurika Hickman 6
Nadvia Davis 5
Olivia Omoyayi 5
Briana Edwards 5
Chaundera Riley 4
Europe Guy 2
Asha Johnson 2
Chelsey Jacox 1
LaQuinta Hall 1
totals: 31