Out & About: West Division: Comets/Monarchs

#5 posting 7.24.2007
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MINNESOTA ELITE CAMP
West Division
COMETS 58, MONARCHS 54

This was day 2 of the Minnesota Elite Camp and tonight I saw four more teams that I didn't see on Monday. The first game featured the West match up between the Comets and Monarchs.

As is typical the early part of these games didn't have great offensive sequences and more frequently featured droughts. The Monarchs had a nine possession drought early in the contest. The Comets did take advantage of that with a 7-0 run to go up 9-4. The Monarchs did get into a groove and pulled out in front with a 12-3 run 16-12. the Comets had a 6 possession dry spell at the time. Half of those 16 points belonged to Alyssa Van Klei. She previously was on the Fever but was traded to balance the numbers on the two teams. The Monarchs run put them in the drivers seat for the rest of the half as they enjoyed a 25-21 lead at the break.


The Monarchs continued to rule in the second half pushing their lead out to a 34-23 margin. Maggie Bryant had a four points in the Monarchs 9-2 run to start the half. Then the Comets started to blaze their comeback. Ayana Hicks made an &1, and that was followed by a trey from Jessica Rene to cut the margin to 36-33. The Comets had one more six possession dry patch to negotiate. But the Monarchs did not take advantage of their down time as they only added five points to their totals to make it 41-33. The Comets finished with a 25-13 flourish in the last 9:30. Lea'ola Fields kicked off the surge with a rebound basket. That started a five possession scoring string and an 11-1 run. Five different Comets scored. The Comets took their first lead at 44-42 on Jordyn Sears driving lay up. Brittney Lodermeier tied it at 44 with six minutes left but the momentum had already shifted. The Comets put together another five possession scoring string. Again, showing their balance, five different Comets scored in the 10-4 burst. The Monarchs weren't about to abdicate and closed to 56-54 after a basket by Bryant. She was fouled, missed the free throw and Jodi Batzel of the Monarchs grabbed the miss. her shot was off however and the Comets got possession. Fields scored inside for the final points.

Photos: #1. Jordyn Sears, 122 gold, takes a driving shot with Brittney Lodermeier, 98 maroon on the block attempt. #2 the same two players involved with Sears driving and passing to an unseen player. photos by kja

COMETS
STARTERS
Jordyn Sears, St. Cloud Tech 8, 10, 80.0, .400 likes to score on the hard drive in transition.
Renee Pecarina, Winona Cotter 6, 8, 75.0, .375 made a reverse circus shot. later in the game with a six point lead took a questionable outside shot when milking the clock would have been a better option.
Lindsey Olson, Plainview-Elgin-Millville 5, 4, 125.0, .500 runs the floor.
Ayana Hicks, St. Paul Humboldt 6, 8, 75.0, .250 small point guard. very fast. needs to play with the speed and add control.
Amanda Barton, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 6, 6, 100.0, .500 post that has 3 touch. needs to make decisions more quickly on offense.
BENCH
Lea'ola Fields, Duluth Central 10, 6, 166.7, .833 post player, strong, gets after boards. physical.
Jessica Meyer, Totino-Grace 3, 8, 37.5, .250
Gina Lange, Forest Lake 5, 4, 125.0, .750 works to block out. active on boards.
Carissa Wolyniec, DeLaSalle 2, 5, 40.0, .200
Jessica Rene, Eau Claire Memorial 7, 5, 140.0, .600

MONARCHS
STARTERS
Alyssa Van Klei, Stillwater 8, 11, 72.7, .364 kept the Monarchs afloat early. was making hustle plays on the floor or saving balls.
Kelli Olmscheid, Sauk Centre 2, 4, 50.0, .250
Jenny Ramey, New Life 4, 5, 80.0, .400 small point guard
Brittney Lodermeier, Goodhue 7, 10, 70.0, .400 moves without the ball. crashes offensive boards
Libby Kruse, Orono 0, 5, 0.0, .000
BENCH
Abby Busch, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 13, 13, 100.0, .462 can work in and out. initiates action. aggressive. active. bread & butter inside is the show and go
Maggie Bryant, Sartell 11, 8, 137.5, .500 perimeter player. can score off the dribble. needs to finish at the line consistently and keep her follow through
Kirsten Goodroad, Blaine 6, 3, 200.0, .667 dropped a couple of 3s.
Rohini Jaglan, Brookfield Academy, WI, 0, 2, 0.0, .000
Jodi Batzel, Dover-Eyota 3, 4, 75.0, .500 lanky, moves well. needs to get stronger physically. exposed the ball.

TRENCH PLAYER
Lea'ola Fields

BY THE NUMBERS
Comets 58, 64, 90.6, .438
Monarchs 54, 65, 83.1, .385
made 3s: Comets 3, Monarchs 3
made fts: Comets 9, Monarchs 5
bench: Monarchs 33, Comets 26
The Comets were more aggressive to the basket and had a four free throw margin to show for it.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
COMETS
Amanda Barton 6
Lindsey Olson 5
Gina Lange 5
Carissa Wolyniec 5
Jordyn Sears 3
Lea'ola Fields 2
Ayana Hicks 1
Jessica Rene 1
totals: 28

MONARCHS
Jodi Batzel 5
Jenny Ramey 4
Brittney Lodermeier 4
Alyssa Van Klei 3
Abby Busch 3
Kelli Olmsheid 2
Maggie Bryant 2
Rohini Jaglan 2
Kirsten Goodroad 1
Libby Kruse 1
totals: 27

Next up: an East Division match up in the MN Elite camp--Fire vs Mystics