your daily dose of girls basketball news & information
PARK CENTER pirates 57, COON RAPIDS cardinals 49
It was a rare Wednesday night contest due to the caucus last night. The Northwest Suburban moved their entire schedule to Wednesday. It just so happened I had not seen these two teams, and it was in the neighborhood. In the contest Park Center built up a 16 point lead in the first half behind four 3s by Brianna Blackhawk. Coon Rapids cut the margin twice to four with 9 minutes and five with a little over a minute to go in the second half. Blackhawk had 27 for PC. The two teams split the season series as PC now is 3-10 in the Northwest Suburban. CR is 5-8.
PC was more aggressive, quicker to the ball, relentless on the boards, and more effective on offense in the early part of the first half. On their first 20 possessions PC was up 26-13. That
translates into a 130.0 pp100. From the 2nd PC possession to the the 10th PC led 16-6 (160.0 pp100. CR took their first time out after trailing 8-2. Second shots played a big part in the Pirates totals. 7 of the first 16 were second chancers. On two consecutive possessions those put backs were worth 3 as the &1 kicked in. Blackhawk then started canning 3s. She made her 3rd to put PC up 26-13. But the PC express was starting to slow down. Taking away three Blackhawk 3s out of the equation, PC had 14 non scoring possessions. The biggest PC lead came at 29-13 (after the 4th Blackhawk 3). At the six minute mark Lindsey Fix went down with an injury. She left under her own power, and later returned in the second half. CR, led by Jacki Lode's six straight points, cut the margin back to 29-19. CR, prior to Lode's burst, had a 10 possession drought. At half time it was 33-22. Blackhawk had 16 at half. Lode had 10.PC early in the second half pushed the lead to 39-24 with three straight scores. Then the PC express stalled. CR went on a 15-4 run over 7 minutes. All four of those PC points came off of Blackhawk's hand. Subtracting her possessions, PC was in a 11 possession drought. At the 9:51 mark, the Pirate's Ashley Buirge went down with a knee injury. Lode had 6 of the CR p
oints in their run up to 43-39. Blackhawk missed a three and CR had an opportunity to shave the lead again, but Lode ended up traveling. The danger had passed and PC went on a 9-2 run after that to put the score at 52-41 with 4:20 to go. There was another surge in the Cards with a 6-0 run. That cut the margin down to 52-47 with 1:07 left. A PC turnover gave CR another chance to cut into the lead. Lode was fouled by Amy Van Hulzen which was her 5th. Lode shot and missed while Van Hulzen was still on the floor. Coach JT Taylor successfully lobbied to have two free throws due to the error. After the trio of refs consulted they agreed. However Lode missed both chances. Blackhawk got the rebound and was fouled. She delivered both free throws to make the score 54-47 with 48 seconds left. CR did get the score to 55-49 with 17.4 seconds left, but the clock was running out. Tamba was fouled and she made both for the final margin.Photos: #1. Jacki Lode of Coon Rapids driving to the basket. #2. Jengeih Tamba of Park Center goes up on a second shot. photos by kja
key: player (grad year) points, possession, pp100, floor %
PARK CENTER
STARTERS
Megan Endresen (08) 5, 5, 100.0, .600 post player. scored on put back. needs to be ready on the drive & dish. picked up fouls quickly
Amy Van Hulzen (09) 4, 4, 100.0, .500 post player. likes to block shots. can jump. steps out and faces late in game. needs to keep feet on defense. had a lane to the basket with left hand and didn't take it.
Ashley Buirge (09) 4, 6, 66.7, .333 point guard. has use of both hands, runs the floor. the knee injury didn't look good.
Briana Blackhawk (08) 27, 19, 142.1, .684 consistent throughout the game. was in the 3 zone when CR was in the zone. can also run the floor, move without the ball, and post up. can use left hand on shots. went to the line five times (5/9) so improvement at the line is one area to work on. rebounded well on defense.
Jengeih Tamba (08) 11, 16, 68.8, .313 handled the ball after Buirge went down. Was a force on stops with a lucky 13. is athletic. Her shot form has improved from previous years with a 5/5 show at the line as proof. likes to spin dribble with elbow getting too far away. had a nice give & go.
BENCH
Keelie Sorensen (10) 4, 11, 36.4, .273 also helped out with point guard duties with Buirge out. needs to improve ball handling.
Kemi Olarinde (09) 2, 6, 33.3, .167 back up post player. needs to work on foot work. needs to finish.
Brehana Hooker (10) 0, 3, 0.0, .000 guard. has some speed.
Kelsey Petersen (10) 0, 0, 0.0, .000 another back up post.
COON RAPIDS
STARTERS
Jacki Lode (09) 19, 21, 90.5, .429 is aggressive/attacking on offense. runs the floor. looks to drive. went to the line six times.
Jamie Grant (09) 4, 7, 57.1, .286 guard
Lindsey Fix (10) 10, 15, 66.7, .333 post player. runs the floor. had more steals than defensive rebounds. passing needs to be sharper. needs to stay lower on defense, and not buy fakes. needs to use legs on free throws.
Shelby Zimmel (11) 1, 5, 20.0, .200 small point guard. stared down passes. needs to be more aware.
Ashley Zimmel (08) 3, 5, 60.0, .400 post player. needs to improve speed/quickness. needs to use legs on free throws.
BENCH
DeVon Hunter-Schlichting (09) 4, 3, 133.3, .667 back up post.
Anna Belpedio (08) 2, 6, 33.3, .167 active defensively
Jessica Leer (09) 3, 6, 50.0, .167 hit a three
Rachel Hunter-Schlichting (10) 3, 2, 150.0, 1.000 another back up post
TRENCH PLAYERBriana Blackhawk
BY THE NUMBERS
Park Center 57, 70, 81.4, .414
Coon Rapids 49, 70, 70.0, .357
made 3s: PC 4, CR 1
ftm/fta-ft%: CR 18/31-.581; PC 13/24-.542
bench: CR 12, PC 6
Hot Start: PC in the first half--97.1 pp100, in first 16 possessions 143.8 pp100. In the second half--66.7 pp100; in the last 54 possessions 63.0
Coon Rapids in the first half: 62.9 pp100; second half: 77.1 pp100.
DEFENSIVE WRAPS
PARK CENTER
Jengeih Tamba 13
Briana Blackhawk 6.5
Keelie Sorensen 5
Megan Endresen 4
Kemi Olarinde 4
Amy Van Hulzen 3.5
Kelsey Petersen 1
totals: 37
COON RAPIDS
Lindsey Fix 7
Jacki Lode 5
Anna Belpedio 5
Shelby Zimmel 4
Ashley Zimmel 3
Rachel Hunter-Schlichting 3
Jessica Leer 2
Jamie Grant 1
totals: 30
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Park Center most of the night was in the 1/2/2 zone.
Coon Rapids started man, used 2/3 when the ball was under the basket, then used 2/3 in regular half court. They were in man in the second half.
Match ups: (PC off/CR def): Blackhawk/Grant; Buirge/Shelby Zimmel; Hooker/Belpedio; Olarinde/Ashley Zimmel; Tamba/Lode ---that was first half
second half: Blackhawk/Leer; Sorensen/Belpedio; Tamba/Lode; Van Hulzen/Fix; Buirge/Shelby Zimmel
next up: tomorrow morning