Out & About: Hancock/Ada-Borup

#10 posting 3.16.2007
Your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

MN STATE TOURNAMENT
A SEMIFINALS
HANCOCK owls 66, ADA-BORUP cougars 50

Hancock pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament so far taking down #1 Ada-Borup with ease 66-50. The smaller Owls took away the transition game that AB thrives on. Also Hancock handled the AB pressure, while AB turned the ball over frequently. The poise of Hancock was evident down the stretch as they withstood the desperate comeback attack.

AB led early in this game 15-4 and it looked like a rout was about to unfold. AB scored on five straight possessions to take the lead with Kelli Smart and Katy Ness connecting on the 3 ball. Hancock turned the tables right away with their own 3 by Jenny Noordmans. That started a 11-2 run that cut the lead to 17-15. At one point Tara Thielke had 10 straight Hancock points as they cut the margin to 24-23. Hancock closed the half with a 16-2 run. Hancock took the lead with 5:28 to go on a 3 by Bree Holleman. Holleman had 7 in that stretch. AB had a 7 possession drought with four turnovers. Even when they missed with their shots, Hancock took off flying down the court. Hancock had a 37-26 cushion at half.

Hancock maintained their spread throught the half. They milked the clock on their possessions going 21 touches on a Thielke jumper on possession #17, and 17 touches on possession #18 that ended again on a pull up jumper from Thielke. In that possession Holleman was fouled, made the first but the littlest Owl on the floor Stacie Cunningham grabbed the miss on the second keeping the possession alive. The tightest AB could get it didn't occur until 1:39 to go as they cut the margin to 59-50 after a drive by Laura Kolness. But that was the end of the line for their offensive production as Hancock maintained their composure and had a keen eye at the line. The Owls converted on the last four possessions, all at the line.

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

HANCOCK
STARTERS
Tara Thielke 26, 21, 123.8, .571 lefty. good vision. anticipates on defense. good pull up jumper.
Jenny Noordmans 10, 12, 83.3, .417 tough nosed. has 3 range.
Stacie Cunningham 6, 8, 75.0, .500 made all her points at the line.
Bree Holleman 16, 13, 123.1, .538 poised and confident point guard. doesn't play like a freshman. made good choices. 3 range.
Chelsea Voorhees 8, 7, 114.3, .571 active on the boards. can step out and handle ball.
BENCH
Lindsie Cunningham 0, 0, 0.0, .000

ADA-BORUP
STARTERS
Katy Ness 10, 14, 71.4, .286
Corin Gunderson 5, 7, 71.4, .429
Nicole Smart 16, 17, 94.1, .412
Kelli Smart 9, 10, 90.0, .300
Laura Kolness 4, 4, 100.0, .500
BENCH
Kelsey Baker 4, 4, 100.0, .500
Sarah Wagner 2, 3, 66.7, .333

TRENCH PLAYER
Tara Thielke

BY THE NUMBERS
Hancock 66, 61, 108.2, .525
Ada-Borup 50, 59, 84.7, .373
Made 3s: AB 6, Hancock 4
Made fts: Hancock 20, AB 5
Bench: AB 6, Hancock 0
Looking at the numbers you can see AB only went to the line 4 times for a total of 8 shots, that compares with 26 attempts by Hancock. Now some of Hancock's were late in the game, but Hancock was more aggressive in attacking the bucket. AB relied on transition and 3 ball and ran into a team that matched up fairly well with their strengths. Once they were down they looked flustered since they have not had to play from behind often this year.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
HANCOCK
Jenny Noordmans 9
Tara Thielke 9
Chelsea Voorhees 5
Bree Holleman 4
Stacie Cunningham 1
Lindsie Cunningham 1
Totals: 29

ADA-BORUP
Katy Ness 6.5
Nicole Smart 6
Corin Gunderson 3
Kelli Smart 2.5
Kelsey Baker 1
Totals: 19

next up: later tonight with two more Out & Abouts