Out & About: Mpls South/St. P Johnson

#8 posting 11.27.2007
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MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH tigers 91
ST. PAUL JOHNSON governors 51

It was foul ball tonight at Johnson in a battle between two #3s. South is #3 in AAAA, and Johnson #3 in AAA. South was in the bonus at the 14:48 mark of the first half and made 22 free throws also in the first half on the way to a 91-51 win. The first foul for Johnson came 8 seconds into the game as everything was going to be contested. Nothing was to be given easily. Both teams had speed and quickness to spare, but South had two big advantages--a bigger line up (Johnson's starters average height 5-5, South's 5-9) and a deeper bench. The fouling wasn't limited to Johnson. Tayler Hill spent most of the first half on the pine as she picked up her third foul with 13:41 to go. She was matched on the Johnson side by Carolyn Mobley who also had three early fouls. With both players gathering cobwebs on the sideline South was able to continue their march. Johnson's replacements couldn't match the Southerners. South's defense only allowed five field goals in the first half, four of which were scored by Alex Moore. In fact for the entire game only three players for Johnson had more than two field goals all game. South broke a 4-4 tie with a 13-3 run. They had one 7/8 sequence with 10 free throws in the mix. Johnson, on the other hand had a drought of 6 and 1/10 sequence later in the half. South led at the break 41-21.

The foul stench abated somewhat in the second half and players that forced to park on the pine were able to show what they were able to do. Hill had all 19 of her points in the second half. Mobley also had all 16 of her points in the second half. But the trend and margin kept moving in South's direction. Johnson again had a drought of 8. South was clipping along at a 9/10 clip at one point. There was no drama, just stone cold efficiency for South as they checked in with a pp100 of 119.7. This is the highest in the season so far. It also tops all of 2006-07 season top mark of 119.3, however 2005-06 had four games in the 120s. The top mark by the way was 129.7 in 2006.

name, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH
STARTERS
Tayler Hill 19, 13, 146.2, .615 gathered cobwebs on the bench in the first half due to fouls. rolled in the second half. nice stroke. defensively lays in the weeds and pounces when you least expect it.
Taqouia Hammick 7, 9, 77.8, .444 making strides in her game. gives inside presence on defense. is much more physical and aggressive. led with d wraps. changes shots.
Gabrielle Roberts 16, 12, 133.3, .667 another gritty, hard hat performance. is physical. sets great screens for the guards, gets after boards. sacrifices her body---drew two charges. does the grunt work that doesn't get the glamour. knows what to do with the ball, doesn't over try.
Tyisha Smith 17, 11, 154.5, .727 acceleration in motion. a flat out blur. toughness also part of the equation. went to the line six times the most of any player on either team.
Ephesia Holmes 12, 13, 92.3, .462 handled the point guard duties most of the night. was the glue, the leader with Hill sitting. is deceptively quick. smart, uses her body to try to draw fouls as she dribbles up court. at times dribbles too high.
BENCH
Ameshia Kearney 6, 7, 85.7, .286. corner 3 shooter.
Europe Guy 5, 4, 125.0, .750 lefty. gave relief inside.
Sadiqah Jihad 0, 1, 0.0, .000 guard
Jenny Houle 5, 3, 166.7, .667 3 point specialist.
Mallory Cramer 4, 2, 200.0, 1.000
Jessica Ulrich 0, 1, 0.0, .000

ST. PAUL JOHNSON
STARTERS
Alex Moore 14, 18, 77.8, .444 has strong, quick moves off the dribble. guard
Alyshia Daniels 1, 3, 33.3, .333 time limited due to fouls. guard
Tacita Gonzalez 3, 13, 23.1, .077 point guard. Almost matches Smith in speed. Almost. passes at times too far away
Danielle Daniels 5, 5, 100.0, .400 point guard, another bit by too many fouls. much more active in second half. had more stops than any other Johnson player.
Carollyn Mobley 16, 13, 123.1, .538 the second half gave a glimpse of what she can do offensively. The first half was like a cloudy day, the second half had a ray of sunshine for her. She can shoot the three, and slash to the glass. Needs to stay away from useless fouls.
BENCH
Nichole Lewis 6, 10, 60.0, .400
Tierra Grayson 2, 5, 40.0, .200
Stephanie Moore 0, 2, 0.0, .000
Brittany Murphy 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Terry Young 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Jessica Kuehlwein 2, 3, 66.7, .333
Tishay Prescott 0, 2, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
So many good choices. Only one gets the call. #1. consistency has to be a factor. That eliminates players that ruled in one half. Gabby Roberts gets the nod with consistent performance throughout the contest.

BY THE NUMBERS
Mpls South 91, 76, 119.7, .566
St. Paul Johnson 49, 76, 64.5, .329
made 3s: South 4, Johnson 3
made fts: South 39, Johnson 18
bench: South 14, Johnson 10
Even if you discount the fouls it was South 52-Johnson 31, still a huge gap for South. Defensively Johnson will need to maintain better floor position and body position if they want to play with the better teams in the state. No doubt Johnson will absolutely smash some of the St. Paul City teams. They have too much speed and they are gritty. Now they have to stay in the game and not pick up fouls 84 feet from the basket like I saw tonight. A player with no chance of scoring was put at the line for two. There is no need for useless back court fouls.
South is already in high gear. Johnson will win quite a few games this year. Few teams can match their combination of speed, height and fight. And they can play without Hill for stretches at a time, although I am sure they would prefer not to.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
MPLS SOUTH
Taqouia Hammick 9
Gabrielle Roberts 7
Tyisha Smith 6
Ephesia Holmes 6
Tayler Hill 5
Europe Guy 2
Ameshia Kearney 1
Jenny Houle 1
Mallory Cramer 1
Jessica Ulrich 1
totals: 39

ST. PAUL JOHNSON
Danielle Daniels 6
Tacita Gonzalez 5
Alex Moore 4
Alyshia Daniels 2
Tierra Grayson 2
Carollyn Mobley 2
Terry Young 1
totals: 22

next up: tomorrow