Large Schools Thrive in Sweet 16

#3 posting 8.4.2007
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

SWEET 16 DOWN TO 4
It was a rainy day outside, but the sun shined bright on larger schools as the Sweet 16 was whittled down to four. Three AAAA schools and Becker in AAA advanced to the final four. In fact of the 16 games played today 14 went to the larger class school. Defending champ Becker made it to the semis with a 54-50 overtime win over AAAA school Eastview. The other game where the smaller school triumphed was in the consolation round with Class A Ada-Borup beating Winona Cotter 51-44. In the first round all the larger school teams won
FIRST ROUND
Eden Prairie 68, Hancock 49
St. Paul Central 70, Eden Valley-Watkins 47
DeLaSalle 56, New Life 50
Hopkins 54, Crookston 53
Becker 55, Winona Cotter 34
Eastview 68, Ada-Borup 54
Albany 61, Bigfork 29
Centennial 70, Rogers 30

CONSOLATION
Eden Valley-Watkins 69, Hancock 55
Crookston 65, New Life 55
Ada-Borup 51, Winona Cotter 44
Rogers 52, Bigfork 34

SEMIFINALS
St. Paul Central 57, Eden Prairie 33
Hopkins 48, DeLaSalle 37
Becker 54, Eastview 50 overtime
Centennial 80, Albany 62

I attended the Hopkins vs Crookston first round game. Crookston led 23-18 at half and 29-22 early in the second half. an 8/9 offensive scoring sequence and 18-6 run, propelled Hopkins to the front 40-35. Crookston soon answered with a sequence of four possessions and 10-2 run of their own to reclaim the lead 45-42. Like a see saw Hopkins went back in front with an 8-0 run to lead 50-45. Crookston still had some fight left and Kamille Wahlin started a 8-2 run with two three point plays; one old fashioned, one beyond the arc. Crookston led 53-52. Hanna Muegge sank two free throws to put Hopkins in front for good. Wahlin led all scorers with 22. Hopkins' Caitlin Rowland had 19.

In the next first round game I witnessed Centennial smashed Rogers 70-30. Two weeks ago it was a four point win for Centennial in the Rogers Breakdown tournament. It was 40-14 at halftime. Things didn't move that much in the second half with Centennial slowing down with only 30 points. Centennial has many different scoring options and used them all in this surprisingly easy win.

The quarterfinal game I watched featured defending AAAA champ St. Paul Central vs emergency team Eden Prairie. For a team that didn't know they would be playing on Monday Eden Prairie did quite well. They were the team that was missing more players than any team. EP answered the call on Tuesday to fill the spot. They found players that were ready for a challenge. EP proved to be scrappy early in the contest trailing at half time 23-20. But in the second half turnovers off the Central press took its toll and Central moved on with a 24-3 run to start the second half.

After that contest we moved over to watch the finish of the Becker/Eastview game. This proved to have the most drama of the quarterfinals. Becker was missing a few players in the backcourt and so typical front court starters like Shelly Stemper and Brianna Mastey handled point responsibilities. Becker led 45-38 with time winding down. Eastview ran off five straight scores capped off by a Sam Mehr three as time expired to send the game into overtime tied at 48 all. In OT Nicole Mastey started the scoring off for Becker with a free throw. She then got a key defensive rebound and later added two more free throws. All in all Becker made all 6 of their points at the line in overtime and won 54-50.

TEAM MATES MATCH UPS
Today featured some summer teammates facing each other:
Caitlin Rowland, Hopkins vs Kamille Wahlin, Crookston both played for North Tartan Larson
Kiara Buford, St. Paul Central vs Hannah Linz, Eden Valley-Watkins again both played for North Tartan Larson
Rey Robinson, Becker vs Jenny Gilbertson, Winona Cotter, as you may have guessed NTL
Brianna & Nicole Mastey, plus Shelly Stemper, Becker vs Brittnye McSparron, Eastview played with MN Stars Hested.

INJURIES
Chelsey Lieser, Becker was injured in the Winona Cotter game
Kiara Allums, Centennial was seen leaving the gym with the help of teammates. It was unclear if it was an ankle injury or if she would be able to play tomorrow.

JET LAG
Albany just returned yesterday from Australia where they won a Gold Coast Tournament.

I will go into greater depth with the out & abouts later in the week. Tomorrow I will have the game report scheduled out.

The semis tomorrow feature St. Paul Central vs Hopkins (the last two AAAA state champs) with Becker seeing Centennial in the other game. Tip off is at 10:30 at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph.

Next up: tomorrow morning