Out & About: Maranatha/Heritage Christian

#8 posting 3.7.2007
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4A NORTH SUBSECTION FINAL
MARANATHA mustangs 60,
HERITAGE CHRISTIAN eagles 54

Maranatha rallied from four down in the second half to beat #1 seed Heritage Christian. It was the third time the two MCAA teams have met this season with Heritage taking the first game 54-53; Maranatha the second in the MCAA touranment 55-50. Heritage finishes the year with a 22-6 record. Maranatha is 20-8.

Maranatha scored on the opening tip with Jessica Knopik going in for the lay up. Maranatha continued to hold the lead until Alison Weld made a 3 point play for Heritage to go up 11-8. Maranatha answered the call with an 11-0 run on an 6/8 offensive possession sequence and led 21-11. Nicole Malzahn had four to close out the run. Heritage had four straight scores on a 8-4 run to cut the margin to 28-21. Malzahn scored to make it 30-21 on a high low from Jenna Higgins. Heritage finished the half with an 8-0 run. Autumn Beasley had four points in the run and 12 in the half as Maranatha clung to a 30-29 lead.

Beasley scored on a pull up jumper to reclaim the lead 31-30 on the first Heritage possession of the second half. That started a see saw battle with both teams trading leads. Heritage did have their largest lead at 38-34 on a three from Beasley from on the top of the key. Alexis Long and then Higgins scored the next six points for Maranatha. Alexis Long put Maranatha back in front with two free throws 40-38. Maranatha never trailed after the 9:07 mark. Beasley picked up her 4th foul for Heritage. Beasley sat for over three minutes as Maranatha built the lead back to 45-39. Then it was a race with Beasley scoring the last 13 points for Heritage. She hit a three 3s in that stretch. After her first one Maranatha led 47-46. After her second Maranatha had a 51-49 lead. On the next Maranatha possession Knopik answered with a three from the right wing give the Mustangs a five point cushion. Heritage was able to cut the margin to 57-54 with 16.2 but Heritage was forced to foul to get the ball back. Maranatha delivered at the line with their last six points of the night.

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

MARANATHA
STARTERS
Jessica Knopik 8, 16, 50.0, .250 made crucial 3 late at money time. RF: needs to work on body control/awareness on drives.
Danielle Masera 3, 4, 75.0, .250 hit a 3
Nicole Malzahn 14, 13, 107.7, .615 post player. Recipient of Higgins passes. picked up d boards in the second half.
Rachael Long 6, 12, 50.0, .250 . RF: put ball over/behind head when looking to pass and was stripped. needs to keep the ball under the chin. needs to be ready for the ball.
Jenna Higgins 17, 12, 141.7, .750 6-3 post player. has decent hands. good passer. plays maybe half the time at the high post. chins ball and creates space with her elbows after rebounding. RF: needs to work on footwork. needs to use the glass on angle. should turn and face when playing high post. tried to dribble in the paint and was smothered. needs to develop left hand.
BENCH
Kaylee Groves 6, 8, 75.0, .250 nailed a pair of 3s
Alexis Long 6, 7, 85.7, .429 7th grader. will go hard to the basket. took baseline drive. RF: needs to look at the basket.
Emily Fitch 0, 0, 0.0, .000

HERITAGE CHRISTIAN
STARTERS
Kirsten Weld 6, 10, 60.0, .300 guard, tries to score off the dribble
Abby McLellan, 6, 10, 60.0, .300 hit pull up jumper.
Autumn Beasley 30, 30, 100.0, .433 guard. long arms, is the definite go to player. scored with defensive hands in face in money time. better on balance. olikes to run the floor. RF: needs to work on ball handling. too many carry calls. needs to work on body control ---picked up charge.
Bridget Berry 0, 1, 0.0, .000 big body. RF: invisible
Allison Weld 6, 10, 60.0, .300 RF: picked up too many fouls. questioned official's call. need to work on footwork.
BENCH
Alexis Beasley 4, 4, 100.0, .500
Rachel Sharp 2, 4, 50.0, .250
Allie Pannek 0, 2, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
Jenna Higgins

BY THE NUMBERS
Maranatha 60, 72, 83.3, .403
Heritage 54, 71, 76.1, .352
made 3s: Maranatha 4. Heritage 4
made fts: Marantha 14, Heritage 8
bench: Maranatha 12, Heritage 6
Heritage likes to fly down the court and get into a racehorse game. But their threats were muted other than Autumn Beasley. Maranatha had more half court structure and their defense had more wraps (+8 more). The inside combination was the difference with a Maranatha advantage of 31 to 6 from the posts.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
d rebounds, steals, forced turnovers and blocks leading to offensive possessions
MARANATHA
Jenna Higgins 9.5
Nicole Malzahn 7.5
Rachael Long 7
Alexis Long 6
Jessica Knopik 2
Danielle Masera 2
Emily Fitch 1
totals: 35

HERITAGE CHRISTIAN
Kirsten Weld 5
Autumn Beasley 5
Abby McLellan 5
Allison Weld 4
Rachel Sharp 3
Alexis Beasley 2
Allie Pannek 2
Bridget Berry 1
totals: 27

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