Out & About: North Tartan Larson/Metro Stars Black

#5 posting 5.14.2008
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

This game took place on Sunday, May 11, 2008
Cooper High School
Minnesota State AAU Tournament
Junior Eligible Quarterfinals
NORTH TARTAN LARSON 61, METRO STARS BLACK 60

North Tartan Larson survived a furious Metro Stars Black rally to advance to the semifinals. NTL led 55-42 with 8:05 left. MSB had a 18-6 run to close the game. MSB had the ball with nine seconds left and Shakila Boler jumped up to block a shot from the right corner to preserve the win.

NTL opened scoring with a drive by Amanda Zimmerman. MSB answered right away with a pair of free throws by Brianna Tisch. NTL did hold four point leads early. MSB battled back to tie the contest at 14. However most of the half for MSB was spent in the wilderness. MSB led 17-16 after a Kirstee Rotty basket. After that MSB was 1/12 with their opportunities. In the meantime NTL went on a 14-1 run to take a 30-18 lead. At half time NTL had a 38-27 lead. Jennifer Dowd had 9 points at half time for NTL. That total was matched by Brianna Tisch of MSB.

NTL continued to hold their lead out to 55-42 with 8:05 left. Up to that point their pp100 was 89.5. Then things turned frosty while MSB stoked their engines. NTL's pp100 plummeted to 40 pp100. Things were a bit different for MSB. The first half of the last frame they were checking in with 76.5 pp100. The last portion was 117.6. A five possession scoring sequence cut the margin to 55-50. Instigating the comeback was Rotty with six points. NTL moved further ahead at 59-50 with over 3 minutes remaining. Then it was Rachael Moen's turn to shine. She nailed a three from the top of the key and then on the next possession she scored on a drive to cut the margin to 59-55. Katie Loberg scored what proved to be the game winner on a transition lay up. Sam Mehr hit a three with less than a minute to go. Moen made a steal and Kara Elofson scored for the final points. That wasn't the end of the drama however. Both teams combined for three straight turnovers as the defense was in overdrive. That set up the last second heroics with the block by Boler.

Photos: #1 Suriya McGuire blocks Sam Mehr. #2. Rachael Moen gets ready to take a last second shot with Boler five feet away. #3 Boler makes the block. photos by kja

key: player, school, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
NORTH TARTAN LARSON
STARTERS
Katie Loberg, Princeton 15, 16, 93.8, .500 fluid, athletic post. went to the line four times.
Amanda Zimmerman, Ballard, IA 6, 5, 120.0, .600 swing player. lefty. fouls hampered her numbers. needs to get lower on defense.
Kelsey Florian, Roseville 5, 4, 125.0, .500 lefty. made a 3 early in the game. passing deceptive
Shakila Boler, Bloomington Kennedy 5, 10, 50.0, .200 steady hand on the wheel. tough defender, distributes the ball. looks to score off the drive. didn't have a stellar scoring game, but was indespensible to the win.
Megan Lauck, Mounds View 0, 4, 0.0, .000
BENCH
Jennifer Dowd, Rogers 11, 9, 122.2, .556 guard, alert, makes good decisions, has 3 range, scores off her defense.
Suriya McGuire, Mpls Roosevelt 6, 6, 100.0, .333 lean long guard. a firecracker performer, gets up in the air. needs to keep her hand up on the free throw.
Chlesea Poppens, Aplington-Parkersburg, IA 13, 15, 86.7, .467 rugged, sharp aggressive post. went to the line four times. workhorse on the boards.
Rey Robinson, Becker 0, 3, 0.0, .000 left handed perimeter
Carly Rothfusz, Eden Prairie 0, 0, 0.0, .000 left handed perimeter

METRO STARS BLACK
STARTERS
Kara Elofson, Hopkins 9, 9, 100.0, .444 went to the glass hard with expolsion. likes baseline drives.
Lizzi Naumann, Totino-Grace 5, 8, 62.5, .250 rangy post, more 4 than 5.
Brianna Tisch, Chaska 11, 8, 137.5, .750 post. has a nice short corner shot. went to the line three times. needs to assert herself on defense more
Kirstee Rotty, Farmington 10, 9, 111.1, .556 helped spark the MSB resurgence. point guard. boards well.
Sam Mehr, Eastview 12, 10, 120.0, .500 perimeter shooter. 3 range. also can find open players.
BENCH
Brittany Zins, Bloomington Kennedy 3, 4, 75.0, .250 perimeter shooter. likes the corner.
Molly Duehn, Burnsville 2, 10, 20.0, .100 long lean "3". needs to eliminate turnovers. needs to keep the ball lower on the dribble, keep the elbow in.
Rachael Moen, Burnsville 8, 9, 88.9, .333 point guard. cool, calm. injected life in MSB late in the game with clutch 3. also had a 3 the old fashioned way. needs to keep working on vision and speed. needs to stay low on defense.
Tina Fisher, Park-Cottage Grove 0, 4, 0.0, .000 rugged post. the second coming of Kara Pearson. did step out for a 3 attempt.

TRENCH PLAYER
Despite low pp100, Shakila Boler for her head game, and key block

BY THE NUMBERS
North Tartan Larson 61, 72, 84.7, .403
Metro Stars Black 60, 71, 84.5, .380
made 3s/&1s: MSB 4/2, NTL 1/2
ftm/fta-ft%: MSB 14/17-.824; NTL 17/23-.739;
bench: NTL 30, MSB 13

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
NORTH TARTAN LARSON
Shakila Boler 8
Jennifer Dowd 6
Suriya McGuire 5.5
Katie Loberg 5
Amanda Zimmerman 3.5
Chelsea Poppens 3
Megan Lauck 1
Carly Rothfusz 1
totals: 33

METRO STARS BLACK
Kirstee Rotty 6
Lizzi Naumann 5
Molly Duehn 5
Rachael Moen 5
Kara Elofson 4
Sam Mehr 4
Brittany Zins 3
Tina Fisher 2
totals: 34

ASSISTS
NORTH TARTAN LARSON
Shakila Boler 7
Suriya McGuire 5
Amanda Zimmerman 1
Kelsey Florian 1
Chelsea Poppens 1
Jennifer Dowd 1
Megan Lauck 1
Carly Rothfusz 1
totals: 18

METRO STARS BLACK
Sam Mehr 5
Rachael Moen 5
Kirstee Rotty 3
Tina Fisher 3
Lizzi Naumann 2
Brianna Tisch 2
Brittany Zins 2
Molly Duehn 2
Kara Elofson 1
totals: 25

more to come