The Week That Was #15: Post season

#7 posting 3.4.2007
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

THE WEEK THAT WAS
11 games, 6 days, 1 blizzard

The tournaments are well underway throughout the state. The big upset was Caledonia beating #1AA Winona Cotter. It was the second straight year that the top team in AA did not get into the tournament. Cannon Falls beat #1 Breck last year and went on to win the AA tournament. Will such a fate fall on Caledonia? They have to get by Kingsland.

The early theme of the week was Rochester. We went down to Rochester twice (Monday and Tuesday) to see subsection semis. Those sections are the earliest in getting to that point while other sections had not started or were in their first rounders still. The games are a little more higher stake. The possessions are a little more valuable, the crowds a little bigger. The numbers (pp100/floor%) were not sky high. We did see a comeback from Caledonia against Plainview-Elgin-Millville in the 1AA East subsection semis. Caledonia was down 9 in the second half before rising to the occassion. Also Rochester JM beat the storm, but didn't beat Lakeville North on Wednesday. In fact the only Big 9 team left is Albert Lea.

Later in the week it was more semifinal action on Saturday. Hill-Murray had their comeback attempt foiled by DeLaSalle. Detroit Lakes saw Fergus Falls comeback from 13 down and had to pull their own comeback (2 points). Willmar dug themselves a big hole by half time and got as close as 5 down against upstart Perham.

But comeback miracles do happen. The Ellsworth boys found that out last year as they trailed by 60-43 with 4:16 left. They scored 40 points in the last 8 minutes (including overtime) to win 83-80. I am bringing up this story for the simple reason teams may find themselves in a dire situation. There are stories out there of comebacks. Of course if you are ahead no lead is really safe until it is in the bank.

Here is coach Teas slogan for the rest of the tournament: don't put all your engery into worrying, put your energy into preparing. Respect, don't waste energy on worrying.

TEAM OF THE WEEK
Holy Angels shined in their 3AAA semifinal game against Minneapolis Roosevelt on Saturday. 93 points scored for the game, 50 for the half. They hit on 104.5 pp100 for the game, but in the first half they were even hotter with 113.6 pp100 and .523 floor %. The guard combination of Laura Rieger and Maggie Slawson was scintillating with 24 points combined at half, 39 for the game. Slawson has a deadly pull up jumper and has a killers touch. The margin became so great in the second half that Roosevelt played their bench early. Holy Angels bench also played well and they were maximizing possessions with Sara Jelgerhuis getting her shots in the paint. HA had four old fashioned three point play opportunities in the sedond half. They now play DeLaSalle in a battle between the irresitable force and the immovable object. This will be round two coming. HA beat DLS on the island back in January 62-58. Expect another bruiser in Hastings on Thursday. Also don't expect HA to go to 93.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
This week for dominating both ends of the court it goes to Tara Steinbauer of Bloomington Kennedy. She came out and hit her first seven shots in all different sort of ways showing off her versatility. Not only that but she can find the open person with 6 assists. Defensively she was more active than at any time I've seen her this year. If there was a rebound it was hers.

To make this list I had to see the player during the week, and the players needed to make the gold standard of 10 possessions, 100 pp100; and better than .500 floor %. That left some good performances on the side line. But these are the minimums. Some have good pp100s but their floor % is slightly under because of the 3 ball. Some don't have enough possessions.

FIRST TEAM
Aaryn Booker, DeLaSalle
Laura Rieger, Holy Angels
Maggie Slawson, Holy Angels
Tara Steinbauer, Bloomington Kennedy
Bailey Vitse, Rushford-Peterson
SECOND TEAM
Shakila Boler, Bloomington Kennedy
Emily Greiner, Kingsland
Hallie Hoganson, Detroit Lakes
Alise Holst, Plainview-Elgin-Millville
Cara Lutes, New Life

PAST TEAMS & PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
1 Centennial---- Megan Nipe, Centennial
2 Mpls South---- Alyssa Karel, Cretin-Derham Hall
3 Osseo----Janessa Wolff, Park Rapids
4 St. Paul Central----Kachine Alexander, Benilde-St. Margaret's
5 Wayzata----Cassie Rochel, Lakeville North
6 Champlin Park----Kachine Alexander, Benilde-St. Margaret's
7 Bloomington Kennedy---Shakila Boler, Bloomington Kennedy
8 Albany----Sam Larsen, Albany
9 Braham----Bri Zabel, Northfield
10 Champlin Park----Jenny Theisen, Champlin Park
11 Mpls North-----Maurika Hickman, Mpls North
12 Mpls South----Tayler Hill, Mpls South
13 Winona Cotter----Brianna Mastey, Becker
14 St. Paul Central---Angel Robinson, St. Paul Central

DEFENSIVE WRAP TEAM OF THE WEEK
These players are more active and aware and that is why they get the ball for their teams.
Emily Greiner, Kingsland
Nytor Longar, Rochester JM
Laura Rieger, Holy Angels
Tara Steinbauer, Bloomington Kennedy captain
Jill Storlie, Byron

They say Defense wins championships. Let us look at how each class plays D and offense
Class, pp100, floor %
AAAA
Offense 82.34, .401
Defense 78.51, .383

AAA
offense 72.12, .349
defense 76.39, .370

AA
offense 77.20, .379
defense 78.29 .384

A
offense 69.74, .341
defense 74.97, .364

What is clear is only AAAA has a higher offensive rating with a difference of +3.83; AAA is -4.23; AA -1.09; and A -5.23. Since the classes no longer cross over these numbers will be pretty much where they are. I will look at the individual teams next week.

After the season I will be listing the player and team of the year. (from what I have seen of course).

SEEDING STATE
Here is the look at the seeds as I see them headed into the final week of playoffs.
seed, team, section
AAAA
1 St. Paul Central #3
2 Centennial #7
3 Mpls South #6
4 Hopkins #2
5 Moorhead #8
6 Lakeville North #1
7 Osseo #5
8 White Bear Lake #4

AAA
1 Becker #4
2 New Prague #1
3 Holy Angels #3
4 Detroit Lakes #8
5 Marshall #2
6 Rogers #6
7 Mpls North #5
8 Hibbing #7

THE WEEK TO COME
Monday, Mar. 5, 2007
A: Cedar Mt.-Comfrey vs New Ulm Cathedral in the 2A North subsection finals
AA: Barnesville vs DGF in 8AA south sub section semis
AAA: Grand Rapids vs Hibbing in 7AAA semis
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007
Semis galore
AAAA: 2 in St. Louis Park; 3 at St. Paul Arlington; 4 at Concordia St. Paul; 5 at Park Center; 6 at Prior Lake; 7 at Osseo
AAA: 5 at Mpls Edison; 6 at Maple Grove?
There are a lot of AA and A games that are in the quarter and semi rounds
Wednesday, Mar 7, 2007
AAA: 1 semis in Rochester.
Thursday, Mar 8, 2007
FINALS
A 1: New Life vs Rushford-Peterson at Rochester
AA 1: Caledonia vs Kingsland at Rochester
AAA 2: Marshall vs Worthington at MSU Mankato; 3: DeLaSalle vs Holy Angels at Hastings; 7 at Hibbing
AAAA 3: at St. Paul Arlington
Friday, Mar 9, 2007
FINALS
A: 2 at MSU Mankato; 3 Dawson-Boyd vs Fulda at SW MN State; 4 at Hamline; 5 at Minnewaska; 6 at Park Rapids; 7 at Hibbing; 8 at Thief River Falls
AA 2 at MSU Mankato; 4 at Hamline; 5 at St. Cloud State; 6 at St. Cloud State; 7 at UM Duluth; 8 at Concordia Moorhead
AAA 4: Becker vs Sartell at St. John's; 5 at Park Center; 6 at Osseo; Detroit Lakes vs Perham at St. John's
AAAA: 1: Rosemount vs Lakeville North; 2 at the Pavillion on the U of MN campus. 4: at Concordia St. Paul; 5 at Park Center; 6 at the Pavillion on the U of MN Campus. 7 at Osseo; 8: Moorhead vs St. Cloud Tech site unknown.

OTHER STATES
IOWA
The Iowa tournament begins tomorrow morning with the 1A quarters. the first two games in 2A are later in the day. The tournament goes Monday through Saturday.
My crystal ball says it will be IKM repeating in 1A; North Butler repeating in 2A; Norwalk repeating in 3A; but no repeats in 4A for Des Moines Roosevelt. Instead Sioux City North looks to reverse the curse.
NORTH DAKOTA
Bottineau has already won the B tournament. The field isn't set for the A tournament yet. The East is finishing their tournament Monday. But Mandan is already in and they are the prohibitive favorite. Here is the ND Tournament schedule at the Fargo Dome.
SOUTH DAKOTA
The SD tournament is held this week in three different sites. AA is in Watertown; A is in Spearfish; and the B is in Huron. here is the crystal ball: AA--Sioux Falls Roosevelt (repeat); A McCook Central with Kristin Rotert; and B Sully Buttes. The full AA teams are still to be determined on Monday.
WISCONSIN
The Wisconsin Tournament has not filled yet, their are a few more sectionals tomorrow. Action starts on Thursday with 6 games. The Crystal ball says D1 goes to Sheboygan North; D2 to Greendale; D3 to defending champs Cuba City; and D4 to Flambeau.

Next up: tomorrow morning.