Out & About: Winona Cotter/Hayfield

#9 posting 2.16.2007
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

WINONA COTTER ramblers 57, HAYFIELD vikings 47

In a battle between AA powers, #1 Winona Cotter won the Hiawatha Valley Gold championship in a crowded #4 Hayfield gym Friday. It was 41-40 Cotter when Jenny Gilbertson took over. Cotter finished with a 16-7 run and Gilbertson had 9 points, 2 assists, 2 defensive rebounds, a block and a steal in the last 3:30.
With the win Cotter moves to 23-3 overall 16-0 in the HVG. Hayfield is 21-2 and 14-2. Cotter also won the first match up with Hayfield by the same margin 61-51.

Cotter drew first blood with a runner by Devin Bowlin. Alyssa Nelson answered for Hayfield on the very next possession. The game moved back and forth and was tied four times. Hayfield broke the 8 all tie with two consecutive scores to push it to 12-8 with Leslie Wilson's two baskets. Cotter took the lead back on Bowlin's steal, lay up. She was fouled but didn't get the free throw to drop. At this point it was evident that the Hayfield guards were gassed. They had just finished an eight possession drought with five ending in turnovers. They got their second wind with a 5/6 scoring streak. During the run they reclaimed the lead momentarily at 18-15 after a penetration drive by Wilson and dish to Kiley Severson. Severson was money the first half with 12 points. She scored 6 in the 10-9 sequence. Margeaux Demmer gave Hayfield their last lead at 24-23. Then Hayfield slipped into the dry spell again with five possessions ending up for nothing to close the half. Chelsi Larson drove and was fouled. She knocked down both free throws for Cotter to make it 25-24 Cotter at the half.

Cotter did not trail in the second half, but the game narrowed at various stages. Cotter started off the half by padding their lead to 29-24. Hayfield was struggling with a 1/10 offensive sequence. Cotter pushed the lead to 33-26 when they went into their own six possession drought. Hayfield closed to 33-31 on a Wilson lay up with 10:30 to go. Cotter re-established their lead to 39-33 on two free throws by Laura Erickson. Hayfield scored on three consecutive possessions capped by a back cut by Nelson to make it 39-38. It stayed a one point game at 41-40 with 3:41 left. That is when Gilbertson took over. She started by converting an old fashioned 3 point play to give Cotter some breathing room at 44-40. Cotter then started milking their half court possessions looking to get to the line. In their last 10 possessions Cotter was 8/10 for 16 points or a 160.0 pp100 and .800 floor %. Cotter pushed the lead to 50-42 with 1:45 to go. Hayfield had one last gasp with a Wilson 3, but that possession cut too much time off the clock. In due course Cotter took their free throws. and the final margin was ten points 57-47, just like the first game.

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

WINONA COTTER
STARTERS
Devin Bowlin 9, 11, 81.8, .455 point guard. has speed, ready to pick the spinners. has good court awareness. took advantage of situations. leader. RF: fouls=bench. needs to catch turn & face before bouncing. can force dribbling too much.
Renee Pecarina 2, 3, 66.7, .333 another point guard on the floor. quick and active defensivley. RF: won't really look to shot other than lay ups.
Laura Erickson 20, 24, 83.3, .417 lefty. effective inside. Scores on out of bounds play by screening away and sealing. likes to drive baseline left. RF: passes behind target. picked up charge.
Allison Kirkvold 2, 6, 33.3, .167 crashes offensive boards.RF: passing needs improving, along with free throw shooting.
Jenny Gilbertson 22, 21, 104.5, .524 took overwhen game was teetering. made big time plays in big time situations. is active with the press. blocked shots even with four fouls. has 3 range. can handle the ball. RF: four fouls. one was a charging call. can expose ball on rebounding. was clocking in at 76.5 pp100 before outburst.
BENCH
Chelsi Larson 2, 6, 33.3, .167 guard RF: traveled at the end of her move.
Kelly Brandon 0, 2, 0.0, .000 guard. RF: forced passes

HAYFIELD
STARTERS
Samantha Mccamy 2, 13, 15.4, .077 guard. RF: needs to keep vision up and avoid the spin. travelled at the end of her move after being jostled. leaves feet on defense.
Margeaux Demmer 3, 14, 21.4, .071 See above. plus needs to be ready for the ball. needs to work on follow through. needs to square on shot. forced offense.
Alyssa Nelson 11, 11, 100.0, .545 5-11 post player. Can jump. has a feel for game. can play on the outside RF: had to sit due to two fouls in the first half. limited time, limited impact. dropped hand on free throws.
Justine Sanvick 5, 10, 50.0, .300 picked up charge. more aggressive on D than most teammates. RF: needs to work on free throws.
Leslie Wilson 13, 11, 118.2, .545 guard. RF: picked up dribble before options available to her. picked up charge foul due to keeping head down and hanging around lines.
BENCH
Kiley Severson 13, 10, 130.0, .700 strong post player. good use of left hand. can jump, got a good chunk of rebounds with limited time. RF: didn't play much the second half after scoring 12 points and doing an effective job inside. May have been recovering from sickness. picked up moving screen.
Jordyn Krekling 0, 3, 0.0, .000 RF: vision needs to be up. Spins need to be eliminated.
Rochelle Swanson 0, 2, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
Jenny Gilbertson

BY THE NUMBERS
Winona Cotter 57, 73, 78.1, .397
Hayfield 47, 74, 63.5, .324
made 3s: Winona Cotter 1, Hayfield 1
made fts: Winona Cotter 14, Hayfield 8
bench: Hayfield 13, Winona Cotter 2
Cotter's defense caused massive headaches for Hayfield. Cotter was in control of the tempo and pace of the contest. The full court pressure forced the Hayfield ball handlers into spins and a Cotter defender was there to strip the ball and zip down court for a lay up.
With the aggressive play Cotter was dancing with foul issues. They dodged that bullet, but four players had four fouls at one point on the floor for Cotter.
Hayfield, as a group, needs to work on their ball handling, keeping their collective heads up, moving to the ball, avoiding the spins, creating space off the dribble, and avoiding lines. Hayfield also needs to exploit the foul situation with relish or at least by cashing in at the line. They left 10 points at the line in the second half alone.
The fact is we got to the game a good hour before the tip off and we barely got a seat. The gym was jam crammed with aficionados of both stripes. Wearing the colors was a big fashion statement. They had to open the doors to cool off the gym with 15 degrees temps. The crowd was so large they had closed circuit tv in the second gym for those that couldn't get in the main gym. This is what playoff basketball is like. Crowds, players stepping up, and intense every possession matters action. The next three weeks should be a doozy.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
d rebounds, steals, forced turnovers, & blocks leading to offensive possessions
WINONA COTTER
Jenny Gilbertson 15
Devin Bowlin 8
Laura Erickson 6.5
Renee Pecarina 5.5
Allison Kirkvold 2
Chelsi Larson 0.5
Kelly Brandon 0.5
totals: 38

HAYFIELD
Kiley Severson 10
Justine Sanvick 7
Leslie Wilson 5
Alyssa Nelson 4
Margeaux Demmer 4
Samantha Mccamy 3
Jordyn Krekling 2
Rochelle Swanson 2

next up: tomorrow morning