The Week That Was #7: The Heat is ON

#1 posting 5.17.2008
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The Week That Was #7: The Heat is ON
The NC Heat won the Minnesota State AAU Junior Eligible championship for the second straight year and took their 6th overall state title (12, 13, 14, 15, JE, JE) in the last six years by beating MN Stars Borowicz 82-72 in the championship.
Unfortunately I could not see more of the 15s or 14s. I did see some trends:
Eden Prairie has a ton of kids on a ton of teams. They probably could field two high school teams with the amount of good players out there.
MN Stars DeWitt only lost once during the weekend and that was by 3 points. Look for more improvement out of that squad.
Memorable Jaw Dropping moments--#1 On Sunday Shakila Boler preserved a win for North Tartan Larson with a last second block of a shot. Boler was a good five and a half feet off her player and she timed it perfectly for the block.
#2 Chelsea Poppens of North Tartan Larson went up for a dunk attempt in the semis, she didn't make it but was only an inch or so off.

Here is a comparison with the Wisconsin State AAU tournament a week before.
1. More teams competed in Minnesota (21 in the JE level compared to 8)
2. The top players in the state were all there. All 9 players making D1 or D2 college commitments were there. Plus the top flight unsigned players were there. In Wisconsin only 1 of 6 D1/D2 commitments played in the tournament. Also the top players that haven't verballed were missing.

TEAM OF THE WEEK
NC Heat is the last of a dying breed----the independent, stand alone team. If you look at the rest of the Junior Eligible teams only one other team is not under an umbrella of a program.
NC Heat has won the two tournaments in Minnesota they have participated in. Everytime I have charted them this year they are in the 118 pp100 neighborhood. Of the top 10 performances I have seen in the spring/summer season NCH has three of them. MN Stars Borowicz is a strong team as well (3 D1 Verbals so far), but NCH kept the clamps on them most of the game. They are familiar with each other having had success throughout the years. One different thing about this group is they don't do equal time.
One question I had going into this year was how would NCH deal without Ephesia Holmes. It appears they have handled that transition well.
NCH is now the #1 team in the Junior Eligible poll.


Photo: NC Heat coach Paul Hill. Photo by Teas

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For a sensational exclamation point performance in the finals Tayler Hill did it all except sell popcorn at halftime. She had 34 points, 12 assists and 9 defensive stops, all game highs. 58 points had Hill's finger prints on them. She understands the game and is one step ahead of the opposition. With an astronomical 170 pp100 and a outstanding .750 floor % Hill has set the bar pretty high for the marks to beat.

To make the teams remember the rules:
#1. I need to see the player
#2. Player needs to have 6+ possessions
#3. Player needs to be over 100 pp100
#4. Player needs to be over .500 floor %
#5. If I see a player in two games the numbers are added up and the average used.
So what about favorites. These rules are rock solid. No 90 pp100 players or sub .500 players can get in the door. That means one bad performance can knock out very good players. That is what happened here.

FIRST TEAM
Kelsey Evans, North Tartan Crosby (Willmar)
Tayler Hill, NC Heat (Mpls South)
Theairra Taylor, MN Stars Borowicz (St. Paul Central)
Brianna Tisch, Metro Stars Black (Chaska)
Amanda Wagner, MN Stars DeWitt (New Prague)
SECOND TEAM
Karin Gibson, Metro Stars White (Eden Prairie)
Sarah Hendricks, North Tartan Crosby (Cretin-Derham Hall)
Jackie Johnson, North Tartan 14 (Eden Prairie)
Elizabeth Lecy, North Tartan 14 (Eden Prairie)
Emily Palmer, Stangs (Beresford, SD)
THIRD TEAM
Europe Guy, MN Stars DeWitt (Mpls South)
Sadiqah Jihad, MN Stars Jihad (Mpls South)
Sam Mehr, Metro Stars Black (Eastview)
Megan Nipe, NC Heat (Centennial)
Tiffany Van Haaften, Fury (Chaska)
SPECIAL MENTION
Abby Berner, NC Heat (Forest Lake)
Keeley Brennan, Fury (Eden Prairie)
Aubrey Davis, MN Stars Jihad (Bloomington Kennedy)
Hannah Hylla, Suns (Albany)
Devyn Smith, North Tartan Crosby (Roseville)

DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
Shakila Boler has to get this for her famous block in the Metro Stars Black semifinals. Boler doesn't save her heroics for the end of the game. She is working the defensive end all game. She has quick hands and reacts well to the ball. She boards well from the point guard position.

FIRST TEAM
Shakila Boler, North Tartan Larson (Bloomington Kennedy)
Tayler Hill, NC Heat (Mpls South)
Jackie Johnson, North Tartan 14 (Eden Prairie)
Chelsea Poppens, North Tartan Larson (Aplington-Parkersburg, IA)
Amanda Wagner, MN Stars DeWitt (New Prague)
Special Mention
Janae Burich, North Tartan Crosby (Roseville)
Megan Pold, MN Stars Ellen (Prior Lake)

DISTRIBUTOR
This is the second time I have passed out this award and Tayler Hill Doubles up. Anytime a player gets 12 assists when scoring 34 points people take notice. Hill sees the floor and knows who to get the ball to.

FIRST TEAM
Tayler Hill, NC Heat (Mpls South)
Chlesea Jacox, MN Stars Jihad (DeLaSalle)
Shayne Mullaney, North Tartan 14 (Eden Prairie)
Kaiya Sygulla, North Tartan Crosby (Lakeville North)
Amanda Wagner, MN Stars DeWitt (New Prague)
Special Mention
Brittany Chambers, MN Stars Borowicz (Jordan)
Kika Greenlee, Fury (St. Louis Park)

NEWCOMER
First time seen and first time honored. This is the only time a player can win this honor. This week it goes to Jackie Johnson of North Tartan 14. She is a 6-1 post, lean and long. She is a lefty as well. She controlled the boards in the championship game against Metro Stars 14. She runs the floor well and has good hands.

PAST WINNERS
Here are the past weekly winners
TEAM
6. Team WI Select Samuels
5. NC Heat
4. MN All Star 2A
3. Team WI Select Samuels
2. Minnesota Dynamite
1. IBCA Select Red

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
6. Laura Petersen, Team WI Select Samuels (Osseo-Fairchild)
5. Megan Nipe, NC Heat (Centennial)
4. Brianna Mastey, MN All Star 3A, (Becker)
3. Sam Price, Team WI Select Samuels (Eau Claire North)
2. Haylie Darrington, Maroon South Central All Star (Blue Earth)
1. Trisha Nesbitt, IBCA Select Red (Ames)

DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
6. Nicole Griffin, Team WI Select Samuels (Milwaukee Vincent)
5. Tori Rule, Midtown Lady Monarchs (DeLaSalle)
4. Jackie Voigt, MN All Star 4A, (Park-Cottage Grove)
3. Nicole Griffin, Team WI Select Samuels (Milwaukee Vincent)
2. Kiara Strickland, Gold South Central All Star (Mpls Roosevelt)
1. Amber Kirschbaum, IBCA Select Red (Spirit Lake)

DISTRIBUTOR
6. Katie Wolff, Team WI Select Doucette (Marshfield)

NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
6. Cady Roedl, WI Hoops Select (Beaver Dam)
5. Alyssa Hagen, MN Stars Carlisle (NRHEG)
4. Hilary Friendshuh, Team WI Red 15s (Clear Lake, WI)
3. Jessica Waldvogel, Team Wisconsin Select 15s
2. Kara Hofschild, Minnesota Dynamite (Andover)
1. Kionna Kellogg, IBCA Select Red (Ames)

POLLS
19s
1. MN Stars
2. Metro Stars Black
3. Team WI Sr White
4. Team WI Sr Black

17u/16u/JR ELIGIBLE
2. NC Heat
2. MN Stars Hested/Borowicz
3. Nebraska Bison
4. North Tartan Larson
5. IBCA Select Red
6. Team WI Select Samuels
7. North Tartan Crosby
8. Metro Stars Black
9. Metro Stars White
10. MN Stars DeWitt
11. MN Stars Smith
12. Fury
13. Team WI Select Doucette
14. All Iowa Attack 17
15. Southern Stars
16. MN Suns
17. 43 Hoops Zuck
18. Comets
19. Southern Minne Magic
20. MN Stars Eckmann
21. 43 Hoops Olson
22. Southern Minny Elite
23. X Factor
24. Finishers

16u/MYAS DIVISION
1. MN Thunder
2. Triple Threat
3. MN Dynamite

15u
1. North Tartan
2. Team Iowa
3. Team WI Select
4. MN Suns Arbogast
5. Metro Stars
6. Nebraska Judds
7. MN Suns Ellen
8. MN Stars Jihad Lady Cats
10. MN Stars Carlisle
11. 43 Hoops
12. Fury
13. MN Dynamite
14. Southern Mini Magic
15. MN Gym Rats
16. MN Finishers


14u
1. North Tartan
2. IBCA Select Blue
3. Metro Stars
4. Fury Livers
5. Fury Haugen
6. Midtown Lady Monarchs
7. MN Stars Hested
8. MN Suns
9. Southern MN Heat

13u
1. North Tartan

12u
1. MN Suns
2. MN Stars Farview

Next up: later today