Albany's Sweet 16 Experience

#1 posting 8.8.2007
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

ALBANY'S SWEET 16 EXPERIENCE
Yesterday I had the Albany Australian championship performance up. Today it is their Sweet 16 results. Unfortunately there are too many games and not enough time to see everybody at the Sweet 16. This helps fill in the gaps.
Again Coach Noreen from Albany is the narrator.

"We ended up going 2 and 2. The teams we lost to were quality 4A teams and I was very proud of my girls performance in the tournament especially after a 5 1/2 hour flight from Hawaii to LAX and then a 4 hour layover and a 3 1/2 flight to MSP airport and then battling the rush hour traffic home. Special thanks to Jeff McCarron for giving us a first round game at 11:00 a.m. The Sweet Sixteen Tournament is a first class event. Many great games and several players from outstate playing that a person never gets to see, only read about on your blog or MBBN.

"Albany's first game was against Bigfork. Half time score was Albany 34 and Bigfork 12. The final score was Albany 61 Bigfork 29.
Scorers;
Sam Larsen 15
Jennie Noreen 15
Taylor Voss 15
Hannah Hylla 8
Brittany Schieber 4
Katrina Hendrickson 2
Sarah Jepsen 2

"In our second game we got the wake up call. We played Centennial. The two teams were quite familiar with each other. This was the third time in a month we played each other. Last meeting was at a Breakdown Tournament were we lost by 5 points on July 21. In that game Taylor Voss lead all scorers with 32 points connecting on seven 3 pointers. In our game at the Sweet Sixteen unbeknown to me, Taylor Voss was sick and had lost her lunch. Score at halftime was 30-30. Centennial showed their depth and poured it on the second half. Albany showed the effects of a long plane ride and ended up loosing 80-57. Centennial had 10 players score with 4 players in double figures. Their depth and tenacious person to person defense proved too much!

"Scorers;
Sam Larsen 20
Jennie Noreen 21
Taylor Voss 9
Hannah Hylla 6
Holly Terres 2
Katrina Hendrickson 1

"Albany's next game was against Eastview, a game Albany let slip away. Score at halftime was Albany 33 and Eastview 40. At one point in the second half with 8:24 remaining Eastview led 58 to 44. Albany got back into the game and with 1:40 left Albany had closed the score to 69-62. With a steal by Sam Larsen and a quick pass to Jennie Noreen the Huskies brought it back to trailing by 2 points with :29 left in the game, but were unable to make up any more points. Final score ended with Eastview 74 and Albany 72. One of the referees complimented the Albany girls by saying, 'Any other team playing and we would have been done a half an hour ago.' Eastview's Brittnye McSparron, who has verballed Drake, had 30 points.

"Scorers:
Sam Larsen 19
Jennie Noreen 30
Taylor Voss 7, shooting 3 for 10 from the charity stripe and sicker than the game before.
Hannah Hylla 13, 7/7 from the line.
Brittany Roering 3

"Albany's last game of the day was against Eden Prairie. At halftime the score was Albany 33 and Eden Prairie 26. Second half Sam Larsen shined scoring 32 points in the game. At one point in the second half Albany led by 18 points until Jennie Noreen took a elbow to the nose and had to be taken out. (Needless to say Jennie has had to make another appointment for her senior pictures. Dad thinks her swollen nose and back eye make her look tough, but I struck out!) With the point guard out Taylor Voss took over duties and with Taylor not feeling 100% Eden Prairie pressed and forced enough turnovers to get within 5 points with 2 minutes remaining in the game. Jennie Noreen then returned and Albany was able to maintain their lead and went on to win the game 62 to 57 taking 7th place honors in the Sweet Sixteen Tournament. Eden Prairie's Michelle Tobin had 20 points.

"Scorers;
Sam Larsen 32
Jennie Noreen 8
Taylor Voss 16
Hannah Hylla 6

"For basketball junkies there was no better place to be than at the College of St. Benedict. Fans were able to see some of the best high school teams and players in the state of Minnesota compete. One game, New Life Academy playing Winona Cotter went 4 overtimes with New Life finally winning. Congratulations to Centennial for winning the tournament. They defeated St. Paul Central 79 to 55.

"Again thanks to Jeff McCarron for putting on a great tournament."

Thanks again to the readers who provide great information for this site. If you have news go to my profile and email me.

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