The Week That Was #6: Thrillers

#5 posting 11.2.2007
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

THE WEEK THAT WAS #6: THRILLERS
This week the action at Becker feature two buzzer beaters, two big second half rallies and one that came up short. Kasandra Barthel, and Kelsey Jacobson beat the clock with their shots and Toni Hall drained a free throw with ticks just left on the clock. The competition kept fans glued to their seat and created a new batch of heroes. However the execution on offense is not up to standards yet. Only Princeton got above 90 in the pp100 index. Nevertheless it will be hard to top the white knuckle ride down the stretch that was week #6.

CLARIFICATION
The Defensive team listed here is based on defensive wraps....how many possessions a player starts for their team whether it is by a defensive rebound, steal, forced turnover or block leading to an offensive possession. It has been my experience that the more aggressive the player, the more defensive wraps they will have. Now they might lunge on defense, leave their feet, foul too much, let their kid score, but they come up with the ball in the end. It is imperfect, but it gives an understanding of who is more aggressive.

VERBAL RACE
With 19 more verbals this week the question becomes----does spring signing even matter any more. It seems as if the rush has started earlier this year. Not many players are left on the shelves. Minnesota, on average, has about 20 players go D1 in a given year. With Courtney Boylan the 19th that means there is only one more spot to 20. There will be more going than 20 this season. But it is starting to feel like a couple of days before Christmas when all the Tickle me Elmo dolls are gone. By my estimation there is about four to five players left to drop in Minnesota.
The race so far
TOTAL GOING
Ohio 44
Minnesota 39
Illinois 23
Indiana 21
Michigan 21
TOTAL GOING D1
Ohio 44
Illinois 22
Indiana 21
Minnesota 19
Michigan 12
TOTAL GOING TO “BCS+1” SCHOOLS
Big East, Big 10, Big 12, ACC, SEC, Pac10, and Atlantic 10
Ohio 23
Illinois 12
Minnesota 9
Michigan 8
Indian 6

Fall league is wrapping up. Only two more weeks left. Then the real thing starts in Mid November with a potential epic confrontation the Saturday after Thanksgiving (November 24) in the Hamline tournament with Centennial and St. Paul Central (if they both win on Friday) schedule to battle. It will be here sooner than you know.

TEAM OF THE WEEK
Princeton had the best execution during the week. They have a good blend of inside with Katie Loberg and outside with Alli Johnson and Nicole Dehn. Trailing with 9 minutes to go by 10 to Staples-Motley they didn’t panic, but kept working their system. They got key rebounds and prevented second chancers. Nothing on offense seemed forced or rushed.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
I am going with Alex Crapser this week. She is totally under the radar with the marquee names at Becker drawing attention, but make no mistake about Crapser can shoot. She is the 3 point zone buster delivering five in the contest against Northern Lynx. And this isn’t just a one time flash in the pan. I have back checked by numbers and in the games I have watched she is over the gold standard of 100 pp100. She gives another scoring option when people are collapsing inside. But her eye and aim are poison.

To make the list I need to see you during the week. You need to make the gold standard of 100 pp100 or floor % of .500 and it doesn’t hurt to win. Players with 4 possessions need not apply.

FIRST TEAM
Kasandra Barthel, St. Michael-Albertville
Laura Bruce, Champlin Park
Alex Crapser, Becker II
Kelsey Jacobson, Moorhead-West Central
Katie Loberg, Princeton
SECOND TEAM
Jazmine Darden, Champlin Park
Amber Dvorak, Northern Lynx (Hinckley-Finlayson)
Hannah Hylla, Albany
Brianna Mastey, Becker II
Cassie Pearson, Staples-Motley

DEFENSIVE TEAM
Kasandra Barthel, St. Michael-Albertville
Nicole Dehn, Princeton
Amber Dvorak, Northern Lynx (Hinckley-Finlayson)
Kassie Hooten, Moorhead-West Central
Taylor Voss, Albany, Captain

PAST WINNERS
5 Mpls South…..Gabby Roberts, Mpls South…..Cassie Rochel, Lakeville North
4 Barnum Gold……Kayla Hulsebus, Suns (St. Croix Lutheran)…..Tori Rule, Midtown Lady Monarchs (DeLaSalle)
3 Centennial White....Jenna Lillemoe, Hopkins....Micah Sater, Centennial White
2 Spartans (MN Stars Showcase)..... Cassie Rochel, Spartans (Lakeville South).....Cassie Rochel
1 St. Paul Central......Megan Howard, St. Paul Central..... Megan Howard

POLL
Since the Breakdown doesn’t have standings or results from previous games, it makes it difficult to track results, especially if I am not there. So I am only going to list the teams that #1. are above 80 pp100 in the games I have seen in the Breakdown divisions, and #2 are above .400 floor %. That will limit the number to only three teams
1 Mpls South
2 Chaska
3 Princeton

GAMES THIS WEEK
11 am Rogers vs Becker II at Becker ct 1
11 am Becker I vs Moorhead-West Central at Becker ct 3
Noon Rogers vs Moorhead-West Central at Becker ct 1
1 pm Lakeville North vs Mpls South at Lakeville South ct 2
1 pm Eastview vs Eden Prairie at Lakeville South ct 4
3 pm Totino-Grace vs Bloomington Kennedy at Lakeville South ct 1

Thanks to the readers for all the help. If you have news, go to my profile and email me.

next up: tomorrow morning.