Out & About: Centennial/St. Paul Central

#10 posting 11.24.2007
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

PAT PATERSON MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
HAMLINE
WEST BRACKET CHAMPIONSHIP
CENTENNIAL cougars 60,
ST. PAUL CENTRAL minutemen 56

In the battle between current #1 and defending AAAA state champion St. Paul Central and #2 Centennial it was the #2 team bouncing back from a 12 point first half deficit in the win. The loss snaps a 34 game winning streak for Central stretching back to March 2006. It was also a rematch of the Sweet 16 game won by Centennial in August at St. Benedict.

Central took a 5-0 lead with three straight scores in their first four possessions. Centennial was held scoreless their first five possessions. The early first half saw Centennial stymied with one shot each possession. Usually the shots were perimeter in nature. Centennial had 11 straight empty possessions in the first half. Central, on the other hand, was able to penetrate and score in the paint. They led at their widest margin at 16-4. Centennial then awoke from it's offensive slumber. They took off on a 8/12 sequence and 17-6 run to cut the margin to 22-21. Central went away from the success they had going inside and were content taking shots from beyond the arc, usually after one or two passes. At the end of the half Central shifted back to the successful score in the paint strategy and spread the floor. When Central ran that system they scored two times in a row. It was 28-23 Central at half. Leading the charge back for Centennial was Megan Nipe with 11 first half points. Kiara Buford had 10 at half for Central.

The start of the second half proved to be rough for Central. They opened with a 1/8 sequence. Meanwhile Kiara Allums started a resurgence for Centennial. She scored six of the first eight points for the Cougars. Centennial took their first lead at 38-36 after an old fashioned three point play by Nipe with 10:23 left. This was in the middle of an eight possession scoring spree by Centennial. It was a 17-6 run for the Cougars as they stretched the lead out to 48-42. Central had another run in them and scored on five straight possessions as they tied the game at 48 on a rebound basket by Georgie Jones. In fact all 8 points on that run came via second shots, six by Jones. On the next Centennial possesion it was the deadly Nipe connecting from beyond the arc to put the Cougars up for good 51-48. Central got as close as 53-52 after a steal and lay up by Theairra Taylor. But, once again, it was the omnipresent Nipe answering off a pass from Emily Becken. Central got the margin back down to 59-56 on a pull up by Taylor. Allums responded with a free throw for the final margin. Central had one possession left and couldn't generate a decent shot.

photos: #1 Georgie Jones (Central) goes up for a shot in the lane over Megan Nipe. #2. Theairra Taylor releases a shot past the outstretched hand of Kiara Allums. photos by Teas.

Key: name, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
CENTENNIAL
STARTERS
Kiara Allums 15, 19, 78.9, .421 came to life in the second half. provided match up problems. hard cuts and drives to the basket. defensively is not reaching as much and therefore a factor in the game later and not sitting.
Kayla Blom 0, 7, 0.0, .000 handled the ball against the press a majority of the time. Rushed her shot--wasn't in shooting flow.
Megan Nipe 32, 23, 139.1, .652 quick release, knows the game, knows where to be. is in the right spot at the right time. hard ot keep off the glass. runs the floor well. quick off her feet. made key money shots. has good balance. is physical. kept Centennial afloat in the first half.
Emily Becken 7, 8, 87.5, .375 guard. has calm presence. made a 3. has a shooter's touch. has good vision
Bridget Schuneman 6, 7, 85.7, .429 inside presence. strong, battles.
BENCH
Megan Waytashek 0, 1, 0.0, .000 good athlete. will be more of a factor as the year rolls on.
Micha Sater 0, 2, 0.0, .000 learing the Centennial system. picked up the ball without good options for passing

ST. PAUL CENTRAL
STARTERS
Theairra Taylor 17, 20, 85.0, .400 has a sweet pull up jumper. flows and is fluid. didn't get any breaks on calls. At times overly complicates her moves when simple will get it done.
Georgie Jones 14, 12, 116.7, .667 great improvement over the summer. Is initiating contact. is active. feet are good. was after the ball. underutilized today.
Kiara Buford 12, 13, 92.3, .462 slashed in the lane first half. also has great quickness and a nice pull up in the lane. Missed players open in the post in the second half. forced and rushed too many perimeter shots in the second half.
Megan Howard 5, 6, 83.3, .500 post player. got involved in too many fouls early which hampered her natural aggressiveness.
Kyana Johnson 2, 8, 25.0, .250 point guard. when she penetrates and dishes she is at her best. at times will take shots without any one else touching it. defensively could be more disrupted.
BENCH
Brittany Dorsey 4, 5, 80.0, .400 still learning the Central system on defense. is aggressive and has atletic ability
Cyonna West 2, 3, 66.7, .333 was a spark from the bench. a mighty disrupter on defense. was seran wrap on Blom forcing others to take the ball up.

TRENCH PLAYER
Megan Nipe

BY THE NUMBERS
Centennial 23 60
St. Paul Central 28 56
Centennial 60, 67, 90.0, .433
St. Paul Central 56, 67, 83.6, .433
made 3s: Centennial 2, Central 0
made fts: Central 12, Centennial 11
bench: Central 6, Centennial 0
In the beginning.....Centennial had an extremely rough start with four points in their first 18 possessions a miserable 22.2 pp100 and a frosty .111 floor %. If you take the rest of the game it was a robust 114.3 and sizzling .551 floor %.
If you look Central and Centennial had an equal amount of scores (29). The difference---Central missed 10 possible points, Centennial only missed five.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
CENTENNIAL
Megan Nipe 6
Kayla Blom 5
Kiara Allums 4
Bridget Schunemann 4
Kayla Blom 2
Micha Sater 1
Emily DeWitt 1
totals: 23

ST. PAUL CENTRAL
Georgie Jones 8
Theairra Taylor 3
Kiara Buford 3
Megan Howard 3
Brittany Dorsey 3
Cyonna West 2
Kyanna Johnson 1
totals: 23

Next up: tomorrow morning, and later tomorrow the week that was. I will try to keep the photos on Sunday.