Out & About: Owatonna/Mankato West

#11 posting 1.11.2008
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

OWATONNA huskies 62, MANKATO WEST scarlets 57

Lauren Barber of Owatonna reached the 1000 point mark, and capped off her celebration in style. She scored 9 straight points with under 2:15 to go breaking free from a 51 all tie. Barber had 28 points on the night Both teams were coming off of Tuesday night losses. With the win Owatonna now is tied for 3rd with MW in the Big 9. Austin and Rochester JM are tied for first.

Owatonna came out of the gates hot with four straight scores with Beth Christensen scoring three times and delivering five points. MW wasn't as hot. They were 1/9 to start the contest, with only one turnover in the bunch. The MW ball movement just didn't have the pop, or crispness that is needed when playing against top shelf opponents. MW did hit some 3s to narrow the gap to 16-12. Barber hit her 1000 on a drive with 10 minutes to go in the first half. The game was stopped and the ball was presented. Owatonna pushed their margin out to 21-12 as MW was mired in another frosty sequence with six straight empty trips. Again there was only one turnover in the mix. MW did put together an 11-4 run to close the gap to 25-23, which forced Owatonna to take a time out. Barber provided breathing space with one free throw two possessions later and Christensen finished the half with two straight scores. Owatonna led at the break 30-26.

The Huskies opened up a 10 point lead early in the second half with Barber doing the damage with a sharp cut and then on the next possession, a three. Kylee O'Hearn added the other three. That hot start was not to last. Owatonna had a six possession drought, and 1/13 sequence in which the Scarlets seized advantage. It was a 15-2 run for MW. Leading the charge was Katie Lauer with 9. MW took their first lead with 8 minutes left after a basket by Veroeven. MW enjoyed a 49-44 with 5:53 left in the game. Then the tied turned on Veroeven's fifth foul. That started a 7-0 unanswered run by the Huskies, five of those points came at the line. MW, meanwhile, was stuck in a 7 possession drought. Owatonna reclaimed the lead at 50-49 after two Christensen free throws. Christensen picked up her 5th foul with 2:25 left and Lauer nailed both free throws to tie the game at 51. The situation didn't look good for Owatonna with Christensen on the pine. That is when Barber grabbed the game by the throat and bent the outcome to her while. She simply was on fire and no one from MW had a fire extinguisher. She initiated the run with a NBA bomb. On the next trip she hit a stop & pop pull up. Trip #3 was a drive &1 (which didn't drop). #4 was two free throws. 9 points in four possessions in clutch time. The lead ballooned out to 62-54 after an intentional foul on a drive by O'Hearn. Krissy Schemmel hit a three at the buzzer for the final margin.

Photos: #1. Abby Rothenbuehler for West battles for the opening tip with Beth Christensen of Owatonna. #2: Katie Lauer steps out and hits her 3 for MW. photos by kja

key: player, (year) points, possessions, pp100, floor %
OWATONNA
STARTERS
Lauren Barber (08) 28, 18, 155.6, .722 strong performance. stepped up when needed in clutch time. has great understanding of the game. can hit three, pull up, and drive to the glass. also passes well. For some reason most of the game wasn't taking the ball up.
Beth Christensen (08) 15, 16, 93.8, .563 post player or should I say Point Post. She would take the ball up against the MW full court D. Her ball handling skills have improved. She has decent quickness for a 6-2 player. She is more engaged on offense. She went to the line five times. She is strong on defense. Needs to avoid useless fouls. #5 was an over the back after a missed free throw for Owatonna.
Amy Kubat (08) 7, 8, 87.5, .375 smaller post player. did all her damage in the first half. went to the line three times.
Kaylen Swanson (08) 4, 8, 50.0, .250 guard
Kylee O'Hearn (08) 3, 4, 75.0, .250 guard
BENCH
Trisha Benjamin (11) 0, 2, 0.0, .000 young post in training
Cassie Dahline (09) 0, 5, 0.0, .000
Betsy Dietz (08) 5, 5, 100.0, .600 all her points came in the second half.
Megan Nash (11) 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Anna Rysavy (08) 0, 3, 0.0, .000
Lauren Skalla (10) 0, 0, 0.0, .000

MANKATO WEST
STARTERS
Krissy Schemmel (08) 6, 8, 75.0, .333 guard. made two 3s. picked up frustration intentional foul late.
Katie Lauer (09) 23, 25, 92.0, .440 smaller post. scored on some high/low. drew fouls. went to the line five times. can also step out and hit the 3. But against bigger posts couldn't easily get the shot off.
Abby Rothenbuehler (09) 9, 15, 60.0, .333 another 6-2 quick post that, like Christensen, could take the ball up. she will probably be on the perimeter post HS. needs to get stronger to stay in the paint post HS. has good feet. can get off the floor. plays high post more often. Likes to block shots. Can get frustrated at times. will try to force passes.
Ashley Veroeven (09) 7, 6, 116.7, .500 perimeter. picked up too many fouls and was limited.
Alli Downs (08) 10, 12, 83.3, .417 guard, active defensively
BENCH
Brooke Rosenstiel (09) 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000 had a basket from the outside, limited touches
Jessica Henke (09) 2, 3, 66.7, .333
Karlee Zielske (09) 0, 0, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
Lauren Barber 1000 + 28 + 9 in crunch time

BY THE NUMBERS
Owatonna 62, 70, 88.6, .443
Mankato West 59, 70, 84.3, .400
made 3s: Owatonna 5, MW 5
ftm/fta-ft%: Owatonna 15/28-.536; 14/18-.778
bench: Owatonna 5, MW 4
I guess I was puzzled over some of the players reactions, or lack of reaction, in the transition game. Both teams had players turn the ball over and then walk/pout/sulk. The first reaction has to be hustle to transition. Once for Owatonna there was a bad pass and it looked like it was going to be over and back, yet they didn't go hard after it. MW had similar incidents.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
OWATONNA
Beth Christensen 8.5
Lauren Barber 6
Amy Kubat 4.5
Kylee O'Hearn 3
Kaylen Swanson 2
Trisha Benjamin 1
Cassie Dahline 1
Betsy Dietz 1
Anna Rysavy 1
Lauren Skalla 1
totals: 29

MANKATO WEST
Abby Rothenbuehler 13.5
Alli Downs 6
Katie Lauer 4
Krissy Schemmel 3
Ashley Veroeven 3
Karlee Zielske 2
Jessica Henke 0.5
totals: 32

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Owatonna started off in 3/2, and would drift to 2/3, they did go to man when they trailed late. in the full court they briefly used a 1/2/1/1
Mankato West relied on man full court. MW's defense was too vertical and too tight to the weak side.

next up: tomorrow morning