The Week That Was #5: The New Centurions

#10 posting 12.16.2007
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

THE WEEK THAT WAS #5:

This week I saw six games in six days--no duplicates. Richfield hit the century mark against Edison, Eastview and Park-Cottage Grove went overtime to highlight the past week.

SIZZLE AND STEAK
One reason I crank out the numbers is to get to the heart of the matter, to throw a spot light on true performance. Style does not equal wins. Sizzle doesn’t fill the belly. Too many people get suckered into thinking players or teams are better than they are by their own eyes. As Groucho Marx once stated “Who are you going to believe? Me or your own eyes?” But the eyes look at flash and dash, the spectacular. The ordinary, simple execution gets overlooked and neglected. But in the end the numbers that matter are the wins. Sports center highlights are nice. Wins and championships are better.
Many times the sizzle turns to fizzle. Besides it is hard to eat sizzle.
I don't believe the hype. I believe in numbers.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
AAAA continues to be where the best basketball is played, bar none. There might be a team or two in the other classes that have good numbers, but night in and night out it is AAAA for competitive intense action. The AAAA teams are executing well right now. For the year the numbers look like this
08 AAAA 90.2 pp100, .444 floor %
08 Overall 81.1, .398
07 AAAA 83.7, .408
07 Overall 78.6, .383
06 AAAA 84.7, .412
06 Overall 82.9, .404

Clearly basketball is better this year at the big schools. The sample is too small for the rest. Overall, 2006 still is first.

TEAM OF THE WEEK
This was a tough decision. I went back and forth on this. With performance the determining factor, the choice goes to Richfield. They absolutely dominated Minneapolis Edison. I understand it wasn’t the most important or critical game of the week, but the execution was near flawless. First off they topped the century mark in the 105-44 win. Second, their pp100 was 128.0, the top mark in two years. Third, four of their starters were over 140 pp100. Fourth, their bench was also played with intensity and executed--three bench Spartans that played decent minutes were north of 100 ppg.
I realize Edison is not a top 10 team. But they have been averaging 78.6 points per game. It was the defense that was the topper for Richfield. Their defensive pp100 was 52.4. They made life absolutely miserable for Edison. Their high flyers were grounded when the main Spartan force was in the contest.
Richfield makes section 2 a dangerous section. Kennedy, Chaska, Eden Prairie, Edina and now Richfield makes the 4/5 match up brutal.

Photo: Mandy Poke, Amy Peterson, Lisa Klass, Pamela January, and Jaime Noonan, photo by Teas

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Brittnye McSparron of Eastview was at the helm to guide the Lightning to the PCG overtime win, a critical 3AAAA contest between two top rated teams. McSparron is a game changer. She has the instincts, quickness and skill to bend the game to her desire. At the start she was the only Lightning player to strike. McSparron is involved on every play as she takes the ball up court. She also was critical on defense. In the 1/3/1 she patrolled the bottom and laid a body on bigger bodies in paint. When it comes time to make a big play McSparron delivered.
This is the third straight week where a Lake Conference guard took the top honor (Rachel Banham, Lakeville North, and Courtney Boylan, Chaska)

WEEKLY TEAM
Rule #1--I need to see player during the week
Rule #2---Player needs to have a minimum of 10 possessions
Rule #3---Player needs to be north of 100 pp100 and .500 floor %, If no one can make that level, I start dipping down.
Rule #4---winning helps.
Warning #1--This is performance ratings and not necessarily that Player A is better than Player B. However during the course of the year the cream will rise to the top and the better players will deliver day in and night out.

This week I could put out three teams. Last year I remember there was one week where I struggled to fill the first team with players north of 100 pp100, and .500 floor %.

FIRST TEAM
Aaryn Booker, DeLaSalle
Katya Leick, Park-Cottage Grove
Danielle Mangen, Osseo
Brittnye McSparron, Eastview
Sam Mehr, Eastview
SECOND TEAM
Anna Full, Marshall
Pamela January, Richfield
Jaime Noonan, Richfield
Mandy Poke, Richfield
Jennie Sunnarborg, Osseo
THIRD TEAM
Hannah Nelson, Richfield
Amy Peterson, Richfield
Yaasmiyn Salahu-Din, St. Paul Como Park
Stacey Tykwinski, Marshall
Samantha Zopfi, Providence

DEFENSIVE TEAM
Cherelle Jackson, Richfield
Katya Leick, Park-Cottage Grove
DaNae Moore, Eastview, Captain
Yaasmiyn Salahu-Din, St. Paul Como Park
Jackie Voigt, Park-Cottage Grove

NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Again the rules: This goes to the player who I have NEVER seen until this week. If I saw the player in the summer or last year, the player is not eligible.
Yaasmiyn Salahu-Din is a post at St. Paul Como Park. She is strong, has broad shoulders and relentless on both ends on the boards. She is still somewhat raw in talent, but she has the size to play beyond high school. Salahu-Din is a senior.

PAST WINNERS
Week, Team
4 St. Paul Central
3 Mpls South
2 Hopkins
1 NDSCS

Player of the week
4 Rachel Banham, Lakeville North
3 Courtney Boylan, Chaska
2 Megan Nipe, Centennial
1 Tanika Massey, NDSCS

Defender
4 Brianna Mastey, Becker
3 Sarah Hintz, Woodbury
2 Madelyn Houser, North Iowa Area CC
1 Whitney Glazier, Central Lakes

Newcomer
4 Hannah Frost, Mahtomedi

GAMES OF NOTE THIS WEEK
MONDAY, DEC 17
Pine River-Backus at Menahga
TUESDAY, DEC 18
Rogers at Becker, Mississippi 8, 5AAA Rivals
Crookston at East Grand Forks, 8AA West battle
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted at Eden Valley-Watkins, 5AA North, Central Minnesota importance
Moorhead at Fergus Falls, cross class clash
Plainview-Elgin-Millville at Kingsland, one loss between the two Three River teams
Jordan at LeSueur-Henderson, Minnesota River battle with two teams that were ranked in the top 10 to start the year
New Life at Minnehaha two teams in the top 3 in their class
RTR at Minneota both teams are undefeated in the Camden. Both in 3A north
Forest Lake at Park-Cottage Grove, Suburban East lead on the line
Rochester Lourdes at Winona Cotter. Two Catholic powers in the Hiawatha Valley
THURSDAY, DEC 20
Aitkin at Braham, one loss between the two teams, Great River, and 7AA South implications
Hibbing at Grand Rapids. Important for 7AAA
Minneapolis Roosevelt at Hopkins. Revenge game. Hopkins lost at Roosevelt last year.
Richfield at Minnehaha. Both undefeated. One won’t be after the game.
Crookston at Moorhead. Cross class clash Red River Valley Style
St. Cloud Apollo at St. Cloud Tech. Battle of St. Cloud
Marshall at Worthington. Southwest Conference battle
FRIDAY, DEC 21
Austin at Albert Lea. Big 9 battle on I90
Becker at Crookston. Becker starts their northern tour
Eden Prairie at Eastview. Important Lake battle.
St. Cloud Tech at Elk River. 8AAAA seeding implications
Blue Earth at Fairmont. South Central conference clash
SATURDAY, DEC 22
Becker at East Grand Forks, the second game of the northern trip for Becker

SEEDING THE STATE
AAAA
1. Centennial (5)
2. Mpls South (6)
3. St. Paul Central (4)
4. Eastview (3)
5. Bloomington Kennedy (2)
6. St. Francis (7)
7. St. Cloud Tech (8)
8. Rochester JM (1)

AAA
1 Becker (5)
2 DeLaSalle (6)
3 Minnehaha (4)
4 Worthington (2)
5 Totino-Grace (3)
6 Fergus Falls (8)
7 Austin (1)
8 Grand Rapids (7)

Next up: tomorrow morning