Out & About: Fergus Falls/Sartell

#9 posting 1.31.2008
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

FERGUS FALLS otters 49, SARTELL sabres 39

In a Central Lakes/8AAA match up 2nd place Fergus Falls beating host Sartell 49-39. This win will solidify FF's #1 standing in 8AAA. It was FF's second win over Sartell on the year. FF is now 14-4 on the year, Sartell moves to 13-6.

The first half was a study in contrasts--Fergus Falls used the perimeter sharpshooting of Hannah Draxten, Sartell looked to go inside with drives or post ups. Draxten knocked down four threes, two on two consecutive possessions. But it was the defense of FF that put distance between the two teams. A 9 possession drought by Sartell gave FF the window of opportunity to jump from a 14-13 lead to a 25-13 lead. Draxten nailed her fourth 3 in that stretch. Sartell snapped out of their offensive funk with three straight scoring possessions, but they could only squeeze one point on two of those possessions. FF went inside to Susan Wellendorf for two straight scores. At half time the Otters led 31-21.

The second half had less scoring than the first half. Each team only managed to squeeze out 18 points. Droughts reigned supreme. Sartell had 4, 6 while FF 4 and an 11. Fergus Falls' biggest margin came at 45-29 with about 8 minutes to go. That is when the 11 drought reared it's head. Seven of those possessions were turnovers, including the first four in that streak. FF only made five field goals in the second half. Sartell had two more than that. Sartell did cut the margin to 45-37 with 4:20 to go as the game became a bit more intriguing, but The Sabers picked the wrong time to go cold with three straight empty trips. On top of that FF was in a modified delay game and Sartell allowed them to run valuable time off the clock. On top of that Sartell only had three fouls, so they had to scramble to get more fouls to put FF at the line. It appeared Sartell didn't want to foul. More time evaporated. When Sartell finally put FF in the bonus the Otters missed the front end. However on their possesion with 1;45 left ended up as a missed shot. Draxten dominated the defensive boards in the second half with 10 added one to her account. She converted two free throws with 1:06 left to push the lead back to 10. Sartell scored on a put back by Maddie Hysjulien, but they allowed more time to slip away before putting another Otter at the line. This time Draxten made one with 34 seconds left. One more possession later she added another for the final margin.

Photos: #1 jump ball between Maggie Bryant (Sartell, Blue #25) and Amanda Lewis (FF, White #24). #2. It looks like all FF players know the answer--Susan Wellendorf, Amanda Lewis, and Becca Rengel surround an unknown Sartell player. photos by kja.

key: player (grad year) points, possessions, pp100, floor %
FERGUS FALLS
STARTERS
Susan Wellendorf (08) 6, 8, 75.0, .375 post player. steady
Erin Morstad (08) 2, 12, 16.7, .083 point guard. needs to clean up ball handling/passing decisions.
Hannah Draxten (08) 19, 18, 105.6, .500 bigger perimeter, likes 3 shot. workhorse on the d boards. when posting up tends to go too low for any glass action. did not score the second half from the floor. went to the line five times. Rushes free throw shot. Her form is fine, but she needs to take some time. When handling the ball bringing it up court needs to recognize open players faster.
Amanda Lewis (08) 12, 8, 150.0, .750 scored off drives to the basket. maximized possessions.
Sarah Erickson (08) 0, 3, 0.0, .000
BENCH
Becca Rengel (08) 10, 11, 90.9, .455 back up post.

SARTELL
STARTERS
Maggie Bryant (08) 11, 16, 68.8, .375 gave Draxten too much space. slow start, 9 points in the second half. will drive, crashes offensive boards.
Courtney Tideman (08) 10, 15, 66.7, .467 did a strong job defensively on Draxten. also had the most steals for Sartell. went to the line five times. needs to be better than 4/10 at the line (see below).
Jenna Flynn (10) 2, 3, 66.7, .333 needs to shorten passes.
Sarah Schellinger (08) 2, 11, 18.2, .091 point guard. tough nosed. forced lob passes. needs to get balance before shot.
Rachel Wieme (08) 8, 6, 133.3, .667 post player. most effective player in the paint for Sartell.
BENCH
Abby Frericks (09) 0, 4, 0.0, .000
Maddie Hysjulien (08) 4, 4, 100.0, .500
Nicole Grogan (09) 2, 3, 66.7, .333
It appears that the entire Sartell team needs to hold their follow through a good second longer than they do. It is if they are burning their hand when they yank it back after the shot. To put it another way, there is no good photo with follow through. The picture is just a player and you can not tell if they have shot or not. It also holds true at the line.

TRENCH PLAYER
Hannah Draxten

BY THE NUMBERS
Fergus Falls 49, 60, 81.7, .400
Sartell 39, 62, 62.9, .355
made 3s: FF 4, Sartell 0
ftm/fta-ft%: FF 11/21-.524; Sartell 9/18-.500
bench: FF 10, Sartell 6
Fergus Falls checked in with a 96.9 pp100 for the first half and a .438 floor %. In the second half the Otters struggled with a 64.3 pp100 and .357 floor%. Sartell was was only 65.6 pp100 in the first half with a .375 floor%. The key difference was Draxten's 4 from behind the arc. Sartell in the second half was slightly off with 60.0 pp100 and .333 floor %.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
FERGUS FALLS
Hannah Draxten 14.5
Becca Rengel 5.5
Erin Morstad 4.5
Amanda Lewis 3.5
Susan Wellendorf 3
Sarah Erickson 1
Brittany Gagner 1
totals: 33

SARTELL
Courtney Tideman 6
Sarah Schellinger 4
Maggie Bryant 3
Jenna Flynn 3
Rachel Wieme 3
Nicole Grogan 3
Maddie Hysjulen 2
Lindsay Poplinski 1
totals: 25

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Fergus Falls used man a majority of the time. They also used 1/3/1 and 2/3 zones.
Sartell used man almost the whole night.
match ups Sartell off/FF def; Schellinger/Erickson; Flynn/Morstad; Bryant/Draxten; Wieme/Wellendorf; Tideman/Lewis
FF off/Sartell def; Draxten/Bryant (early)--Tideman (later); Lewis/Tideman (early)-Bryant (later); Erickson/Hysjulien; Rengel/Flynn; Morstad/Schellinger

With Coach Teas in Washington, I went to the game Coach Krieg.The trip was a snap. not one missed turn.

next up: tomorrow morning