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BUFFALO bison 65, MOORHEAD spuds 58
Buffalo rallied from a 30-21 halftime deficit to beat Moorhead in an 8AAAA match up 65-58. Miranda Speckel spearheaded the Bison scoring with 25. Moorhead's chances took a blow when sharpshooter Kelsey Jacobson went out with a broken hand with about 8 minutes to go in the first half.
It was Speckel and Jacobson that traded 3s to open the scoring on the 2nd and 4th possession for each team. Speckel had the hot hand early for the Bison with 13 of the first 15 points. Moorhead scored on six straight possessions and pushed their lead to 18-11 shortly thereafter. The combination of the outside bombs of Jacobson and the inside dynamics of Kaitlyn Rogalla and Kassie Hooten proved to be a successful combination for the Spuds. Early on Moorhead was hitting on 135.3 pp100 and Buffalo was at 106.3 so offensive execution was not an issue. However that is the time when Jacobson hurt her hand. With her out of the line up it took a huge component of the Spud offense, not only for scoring, but for defense and ball handling/decision makings. Moorhead pushed the lead out to 11 at least three times in the late stages. The Spuds closed with a 6/7 offensive sequence. All the points were coming with the post players. Rogalla had 10 points in the first half and Hooten contributed 11. That one/two punch helped give Moorhead a 40-31 lead and ease the pain of losing Jacobson. For Buffalo Speckel had 19 points at half.Strategy changed at half. Moorhead put Sabrina Sam on Speckel for their box & 1. That seemed to do the trick to hold her down. She only made one field goal in the second half. T
he difference was that other players raised their level of play to fill the void. Buffalo moved the ball crisply and was able to penetrate. They also found the open player and got them the ball. Moorhead started to feel the absence of Jacobson with a vengeance. the first 9 minutes of the second half their pp100 plummeted to 35.3. The Spuds opened with a five possession drought and endured a nine possession drought a bit later. Moorhead only turned it over once in the first dry spell, but focused their energy on the 3 ball. Those opportunities came up dry. In the 9 possession drought they had three turnovers. The only Spud to score in that first nine minutes was Rogalla. After that she would only make one more point. Buffalo didn't take the lead until the 9 minutes to go on a three by Kristen Jeske from the right wing 47-46. It appeared that Moorhead took the lead on a lay up by Sam, but the call was a charge. Moorhead did take the lead at 54-53 on two free throws by Hooten. On the next Buffalo possession Deanne Bechtold sealed on the left block and put the Bison up for good. That started a four possession run by Buffalo, and they milked each possession. All these possessions had one thing in common--Speckel didn't score and each of the other four on the floor did. With 1:10 left Buffalo led 63-56 after two free throws by Apryl Schmitz. Moorhead narrowed the gap to 63-58 with 44.6 ticks left, but left two points each time at the line. That was an Achilles heal for Moorhead. They left 13 points at the line. Neither team scored in their last few possessions and Buffalo pocketed an important section win.Buffalo is now 5-8 on the year. Moorhead falls to 7-5.
photos: #1 Kelsey Jacobson hitting the 3 before the foul by Apryl Schmitz. #2 Speckel coming off the screen by teammate Rachel Grave with Sabrina Sam defending. photos by Teas.
key: player (year) points, possessions, pp100, floor%
BUFFALO
STARTERS
Apryl Schmitz (09) 6, 8, 75.0, .375 guard, hustled and played within herself in the stretch. can penetrate and deliver to the right player. Guarded Jacobson when she was in.
Miranda Speckel (09) 25, 18, 138.9, .667 the scorer. can hit the 3, drive and pull up. given respect with the box, but Buffalo didn't free her in that defense. good release, good feel for the game. also had the most d boards for Buffalo. had turnovers later in the game with feet.
Hanna Rohl (09) 4, 6, 66.7, .500 another guard with the same size as the other. had a nice pull up late. strong with the ball.
Deanne Bechtold (09) 7, 9, 77.8, .444 post player. hard to move. could be more ferocious. I would recommend getting better/stronger/safer eye gear.
Rachel Grave (08) 6, 5, 120.0, .600 another of the 5-7 guard brigade. helps to get teammates open.
BENCH
Kristen Jeske (10) 9, 7, 128.6, .571 is this de ja vu? another 5-7 guard. can penetrate, hit the pull up and knock down the 3. good shot
Taylor Johnson (09) 2, 4, 50.0, .250 needs to improve at the line.
Danielle Dramen (09) 4, 5, 80.0, .400 one more 5-7 guard
Andi Sande (09) 2, 2, 100.0, .500 A 5-8 guard.
MOORHEAD
STARTERS
Miki Stephenson (10) 2, 3, 66.7, .000 young post player. has good size, good mobility. needs to get a mean streak
Kelsey Jacobson (08) 9, 5, 180.0, .600 laser eye. almost automatic from behind the arc. definitely missed as the game wore on. Impact not only with her sharpshooting, but also with her defense and ball handling.
Kassie Hooten (09) 17, 21, 81.0, .381 strong frame. taking shots on the perimeter. effective inside. delivered at the line. needs to take on more boards.
Sabrina Sam (08) 3, 8, 37.5, .250 guard. was the "one" on Speckel. didn't score from the floor, had a drive that was called a charge.
Kaitlyn Rogalla (09) 17, 13, 130.8, .769 the "4 type". was effective inside and efficient. at 5-11 slightly small inside for HS. When the game was on the line didn't get touches.
BENCH
Kelsey Johnson (10) 5, 2, 250.0, 1.000 was extremely effective in the first half, didn't have a possession (although she did have a shot) in the second half.
Katie Clark (10) 2, 6, 33.3, .167 guard. needs to gain strength.
Kasey Steckler (10) 1, 4, 25.0, .250
Ashley Kassenborg (10) 2, 3, 66.7, .333 small guard
TRENCH PLAYERMiranda Speckel
BY THE NUMBERS
Buffalo 65, 64, 101.6, .516
Moorhead 58, 65, 89.2, .431
made 3s: Moorhead 4, Buffalo 3
ftm/fta-ft%: Buffalo 16/27-.593, Moorhead 14/27-.519
bench: Buffalo 17, Moorhead 10
DEFENSIVE WRAPS
BUFFALO
Miranda Speckel 7
Kristen Jeske 5
Deanne Bechtold 4
Taylor Johnson 4
Rachel Grave 4
Danielle Dramen 2
Andi Sande 2
totals: 28
MOORHEAD
Kaitlyn Rogalla 7
Kassie Hooten 4
Miki Stephenson 3
Kelsey Jacobson 2
Sabrina Sam 1
Kelsey Johnson 1
Katie Clark 1
Ashley Kassenborg 1
totals: 20
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Buffalo used man throughout most of the game.
Moorhead started off with a man to a 2/3 zone and then relied on the box and 1 to slow down Speckel. Moorhead used a press late in the game.
Next up: tomorrow morning