Out & About: Mpls Lady Cats/Lakeville North

#4 posting 4.9.2007
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

This game took place Saturday, April 7
at St. Paul Johnson MYAS SuperSaver

MINNEAPOLIS lady cats 74,
LAKEVILLE NORTH panthers 9

This was a mismatch with the Lady Cats, an all star team, going up against a B traveling team. With some varsity players like Mpls South's Tyisha Smith scurrying on fhe floor for loose balls it was not going to be close.

I got to Johnson a couple minutes late and it was 12-0 when I walked in. One of the things about summer ball that is quite different is the moving clock. Another rule is no pressing when up by 20. All games on Saturday were running time. I walked in at a time out. The Lady Cats were up 22-0 before Jessica Dooney of LN hit for two free throws. LN had droughts of 9 and 14 in the first half. Most of those possessions end in turnovers. There were no great offensive sequences in the first half for the Cats until the end of the half. The Lady Cats struck for 7/8 possessions and led 42-2 at the break. There were 14 points, that I saw, scored on transition, in the first half, and 7 on second chance points.

The Lady Cats really rolled in the second half early with a 9/10 scoring sequence. Arianna Rich had 10 of the first 14 points. Then it was Elissa Henderson's turn to score as she hit for 8 of the next 10 Lady Cat points. Again it was transition that dominated the scoring chances for MLC with 22 points. Second chance points accounted for 10.

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

MINNEAPOLIS LADY CATS
To sum up: better, more experienced athletes. Quicker, faster, more alert. They looked for each other. Defensively it was lockdown. I am not going into great detail because the game didn't hold much drama. In other words everyone here had a halo.
Cyerra Mills, Benilde St. Margret 5, 5, 100.0, .400 3 range.
Sadiqah Jihad, Hopkins 3, 2, 150.0, .500 3 range.
Arianna Rich, Champlin Park 10, 6, 166.7, 1.000
Kaylani Edwards, Bloomington Kennedy 2, 2, 100.0, .500 pjersistent on the offensive boards.
Elissa Henderson, Mpls. Roosevelt 12, 9, 133.3, .556
Sarina Baker, De La Salle 12, 8, 150.0, .625 what got my attention and admiration was that she played until the final whistle. She went horizontal to try to make a steal late in the contest.
Tyisha Smith, Mpls. South 10, 7, 142.9, .714 does everything hard, sharp, crisp, and with speed. good footwork.
Brianna Williams, Hopkins 10, 6, 166.7, .833
Maja Cyrus, St. Paul Central 4, 3, 133.3, .667
Aubrey Davis, Bloomington Kennedy 6, 3, 200.0, 1.000
Chelsy Jacox, DeLaSalle 0, 0, 0.0, .000

LAKEVILLE NORTH
Just like the blanket critique of the MLC, those at LN need to work on ball skills, ball skills and ball skills. Avoiding traps, keeping vision, keeping the ball lower on the dribble, avoiding the spin all apply.
Brittany Brown 0, 8, 0.0, .000
Nicole Naatjes 2, 20, 10.0, .050
Nicole Lonergan 2, 5, 40.0, .200
Jessica Dooney, 5, 5, 100.0, .400 3 range
Casey Will 0, 7, 0.0, .000
Paige LeClerc 0, 4, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
Sarina Baker. Any player that keeps on diving after loose balls like their life depends on it when up by 40 has the passion and only knows one speed to play the game. Other players would have gone to cruise control and not made the effort. Obviously there were a lot of players that could step in her, but Baker gets my attention.

BY THE NUMBERS
Mpls Lady Cats 74, 51, 145.1, .686
Lakeville North 9, 49, 18.4, .082
made 3s: MLC 2, LN 1
made fts: MLC 4, LN 2
It was what was expected. I hope I don't have to watch these types of games again. I like a little competition, something to write about, some drama. I was thinking it was going to be an older LN team, and not a B level team, but that is what happens in summer ball----mismatches galore, switches and not as advertised.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
MPLS LADY CATS
Aubrey Davis 8
Sarina Baker 6
Tyisha Smith 5
Sadiqah Jihad 3
Kaylani Edwards 3
Elissa Henderson 3
Brianna Williams 3
Cyerra Mills 2
Arianna Rich 2
Maja Cyrus 2
Chelsey Jacox 2
totals: 39

LAKEVILLE NORTH
Brittany Brown 3
Casey Will 2
Paige LeClerc 2
Nicole Naatjes 1
total: 8

Next up: tomorrow morning with the general news. later tomorrow MN Stars (Smith) vs North St. Paul