Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Out & About: Southern Minne Magic/Minnesota Lakers

#2 posting 5.21.2008
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

This game took place May 18, 2008
St. Francis High School
MYAS STATE TOURNAMENT
17u SEMIFINALS
SOUTHERN MINNE MAGIC 51, MINNESOTA LAKERS 42

The name of this semifinal was rebounding. Southern Minne Magic crashed the offensive boards hard and had a 19-3 point advantage on putbacks in beating the Minnesota Lakers 51-42. The other word was balance. The Magic had five players with 8 to 10 points. The Lakers are made up primarily of players in the Red Rock Conference in southwestern Minnesota. Southern Minne Magic is made up of players from the southeastern part of the state.

SMM started the scoring off on a drive by Alyssa Rushton. The Magic quickly built up a 16-5 lead as they had a 6/8 scoring surge. And already the put back trend was in full force with four coming on second chancers. The Lakers started the game with a five possession drought and 1/8 offensive sequence. The Lakers burned a time out at 12-3. At half time it was 29-19 Magic with Rachel Stenhaug leading the way with 7 points.

The Lakers cut that margin to 29-24 after a five point unanswered string with Karli Meyer providing all the points. Stenhaug answered two possessions later with a three. The closest the Lakers got after that was six points at 32-26. A six possession drought right after closing the gap torpedoed any hopes of a comeback. The Magic had 8 unanswered points during the Lakers offensive slumber. It was 51-36 late in the game when the Lakers made two three point plays. One of which was three free throws by Samantha Lynn after being fouled in the act of shooting behind the arc, and another three from Thea Engen to make it 51-42.

Coaching for the Lakers is Ellsworth's boys assistant coach Steve Kellen. Also on the bench was Lance Becker. Once upon a time I was the boys head coach in Ellsworth and Lance would come in and scrimmage the team.

Missing for the Lakers was Emily Bose a 6-1 center from Murray County Central. Missing for SMM was Kristina Vorphal, Kate Hartman and Brittney Gengler.
photos: #1 Liberty Robinson dribbles by a fallen Brittni Mayer. #2 Karli Meyer is posting up while Whitney Ryan plays behind. photos by kja

key: player, school, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
SOUTHERN MINNE MAGIC
STARTERS
Brittni Mayer, Dover-Eyota 6, 9, 66.7, .333 guard, active defensively
Alyssa Rushton, Rochester JM 9, 8, 112.5, .500 point guard. lefty. needs to understand passing angles. tried to get the ball inside, but could not see the posts numbers.
Katie Lauer, Mankato West 8, 11, 72.7, .364 post. more 4. scored on second chancers.
Yvonne Freese, Lanesboro 8, 9, 88.9, .444 bruising post. dominates boards. best close in on shot. at times rushes shot and it looks like a throw.
Whitney Ryan, Kenyon-Wanamingo 2, 3, 66.7, .333 post
BENCH
Rachel Stenhaug, Rochester JM 10, 6, 166.7, .667 shooting guard. made two 3s.
Abby Rothenbuehler, Mankato West 8, 11, 72.7, .364 long lean post. More 3 I think. tendency to pick up fouls.

MINNESOTA LAKERS
STARTERS
Katie Hadler, Edgerton 0, 4, 0.0, .000 guard
Liberty Robinson, Luverne 2, 7, 28.6, .143 guard. likes to shoot 3s.
Samantha Lynn, Adrian 4, 8, 50.0, .250 point guard. led both teams in assists. alert on defense. however left her feet on defense after buying a fake.
Karli Meyer, Adrian 12, 12, 100.0, .500 did her damage inside. not very big at 5-8. was adept at drawing fouls. went to the line four times.
Thea Engen, Red Rock Central 10, 13, 76.9, .385 has some length and can face the basket. hit a 3 at the top of the key.
BENCH
Erica Thier, Adrian 2, 3, 66.7, .333 guard
Alyson Drooger, Edgerton 12, 9, 133.3, .444 taller perimeter. another player with the lean look. made a couple of 3s.
Brooke Kix, Ellsworth 0, 2, 0.0, .000 guard

TRENCH PLAYER
Rachel Stenhaug

BY THE NUMBERS
Southern Minne Magic 51, 57, 89.5, .421
Minnesota Lakers 42, 58, 72.4, .310
made 3s/&1s: SMM 5/0; ML 5/1
ftm/fta-ft%: ML 12/19-.632; SMM 8/13-.615
bench: SMM 18, ML 14

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
SOUTHERN MINNE MAGIC
Yvonne Freese 9
Brittni Mayer 6
Abby Rothenbuehler 6
Whitney Ryan 4.5
Katie Lauer 4
Alyssa Rushton 3.5
Rachel Stenhaug 3
totals: 36

MINNESOTA LAKERS
Thea Engen 10
Samantha Lynn 7
Liberty Robinson 3
Alyson Drooger 3
Katie Hadler 2
Karli Meyer 2
Erica Thier 1
Brooke Kix 1
totals: 29

ASSISTS
SOUTHERN MINNE MAGIC
Alyssa Rushton 3
Katie Lauer 3
Brittni Mayer 2
Abby Rothenbuehler 2
Whitney Ryan 2
Yvonne Freese 1
Rachel Stenhaug 1
totals: 14

MINNESOTA LAKERS
Samantha Lynn 5
Liberty Robinson 4
Karli Meyer 2
Erica Thier 2
Thea Engen 2
Brooke Kix 2
Katie Hadler 1
totals: 18

Next up: Tomorrow morning