Meltdown Champs Crowned

#6 posting 7.28.2007
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IBCA SELECT I WINS MELTDOWN
IBCA Select I won the Diamond Gold bracket in the North Tartan Meltdown girls basketball tournament today with a convincing 72-57 win over Dakota Hardwood Threat.

Today my day started in the semis in the Diamond Gold bracket and North Tartan Crosby rallied to beat the Sultan Prospects of Ontario 48-46. Sultan Prospects led by six early in the second half. NTC started to pull way with a 7/9 possession string on a 16-4 run. NTC led 46-38 at that point. The Sultans came back to tie the game at 46 with 1:33 left. Beth Christianson scored the game winner on a drive with about 40 seconds left. The Prospects had three possessions to tie, but NTC held firm.

After that I was off to the Minnesota Gopher Team camp. in the B division White Bear Lake beat St. Louis Park for the championship 41-29. In the A division game I watched Hopkins beat DeLaSalle 24-20. Williams Arena has no air conditioning.

Then it was back to Hopkins for the Meltdown tournament again. The next game was the championship of the Pearl (14u) division. It was Cats vs Rats and in those situations go with Cats. The Minneapolis Lady Cats ran over the Gym Rats 68-23. There wasn't much drama to report on in this game.

Other championships included
Ruby division 43 Hoops 47, North Tartan 45
Emerald Division Southern Minne Elite 56, MN Fury 48 in overtime
Silver Bracket Diamond division Wisconsin Fast Break 65, MN Quest 59
Bronze Bracket Diamond Division MN Summit Blue taking the crown.

I watched the Diamond Gold Bracket semis. IBCA Select I won the first semi with a comeback win over the New Mexico Heat 50-45. IBCA led 34-29 in the second half, but NME rallied to go up 43-38 after a 14-4 run. Kelly Krei started IBCA's comeback with a drive &1 to cut the margin to 43-41. IBCA then scored on every possession the rest of the way, with the last nine points all at the line.

The next Gold Bracket semi was played right after. Dakota Hardwood Threat came out smoking and built a 19-8 lead on 9/11 possessions. North Tartan Crosby had to play catch up the rest of the way. DHT led 39-28 at the half. NTC came out with their own fire at the start of the second half and cut the margin to 46-42 at one point. A key break point came with five minutes left when DHT had a six point possession to make it 62-44. DHT advanced with a 66-46 win.

In the championship DHT didn't have a lot in the gas tank and IBCA was revved up. They put the pedal to the metal and led 48-22 at half. DHT was going at a 137.1 pp100 clip in the first half. Everybody was getting into the act. DHT did get their bearings in the second half and managed to pare down that margin to the final result 72-57.

Last year in the two tournaments IBCA Select I lost to SD Elite. DHT is also from South Dakota so, even though it is not the same program, there is somewhat of a rivalry, at least on the IBCA side.

I will have reports on all these games
SUNDAY
Hopkins vs DeLaSalle
Mpls Lady Cats vs Gym Rats
MONDAY
North Tartan Crosby vs Sultan Prospects
IBCA Select I vs New Mexico Heat
TUESDAY
Dakota Hardwood Threat vs North Tartan Crosby
IBCA Select II vs Dakota Hardwood Threat

Next up: tomorrow morning