Out & About: St. Francis/Blaine

#10 posting 3.8.2008
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

7AAAA CHAMPIONSHIP
ST. FRANCIS saints 61, BLAINE bengals 43

The clock struck midnight for #7 seed Blaine as St. Francis took the 7AAAA championship 61-43. St. Francis started the game with a 14-1 advantage. At half the Saints led 27-19. Again the start of the second half was all St. Francis as they scored on 10 of the first 11 possessions and had a 19-5 run to lead 46-24. St. Francis saw what happened to other teams that didn't believe in fairy tales and came out sharp.

The clock was already chiming at the start of the game. Blaine had seven straight empty possessions. They had only one turnover in the stretch, but it was to Alissa Dombek on an offensive foul, her second, and she had to sit. That didn't help Blaine's cause. Melissa Borstner had six points in the opening 14-1 run. Blaine had one stretch that looked like the magic may still kick in with an 11-4 run. Dombek capped it off with a three from the left wing to cut the margin to 22-16. Ali Schwartzwald immediately answered with an &1 and St. Franics went off at half time with a 27-19 lead.

Perhaps remembering Chaska's comeback win on Friday, St. Francis scored the first six times in the half to take all hope away from Blaine. The Saints added four more scores after one empty possession for a rock solid 46-24 lead. The margin was to wide even with 12 minutes left. For the half Borstner had 11 for St. Francis. St. Francis was headed back to state for the first time since 1998. It is their third overall trip.

key Player (grad year) points, possessions, pp100, floor %
ST. FRANCIS
STARTERS
Ali Schwartzwald (08) 15, 19, 78.9, .368
Melissa Borstner (10) 19, 21, 90.5, .476
Brittni Gordon (08) 6, 4, 150.0, .750
Jessica Englund (08) 13, 9, 144.4, .778
Jenna Ashley (08) 6, 9, 66.7, .333
BENCH
Emma Sheforgen (08) 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Amanda Morem (08) 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000

BLAINE
STARTERS
Alissa Dombek (08) 18, 16, 112.5, .438
Mackenzie Suda (09) 7, 11, 63.6, .273
Kirsten Goodroad (09) 3, 9, 33.3, .222
Stephanie Jergenson (10) 4, 4, 100.0, .500
Courtney Kelly (09) 2, 5, 40.0, .400
BENCH
#33 3, 8. 37.5. .250
Tracie Gillund (09) 4, 6, 66.7, .333
Carly Christopherson (10) 2, 3, 66.7, .333
Sara O'Dowd (10) 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Carly Saben (10) 0, 1, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
Jessica Englund

BY THE NUMBERS
St. Francis 61, 64, 95.3, .484
Blaine 43, 64, 67.2, .328
made 3s: Blaine 4, St. Francis 0
ftm/fta-ft%: St. Francis 13/18-.722; Blaine 11/18-.611
bench: Blaine 9, St. Francis 2

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
ST. FRANCIS
Melissa Borstner 9
Ali Schwartzwald 7
Jessica Englund 7
Jenna Ashley 6
Brittni Gordon 4
Amanda Morem 3
Emma Sheforgen 2
totals: 38

BLAINE
Alissa Dombek 6
Tracie Gillund 5
Courtney Kelly 5
Carly Christopherson 4
Mackenzie Suda 3
Stephanie Jergenson 1
Kirsten Goodroad 1
totals: 25

Next up: tomorrow morning