Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Out & About: Team WI Select Samuels/CSS Bison

#4 posting 6.25.2008
Your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

This game took place on Sunday, June 22, 2008
All Iowa Attack Tournament
16u Championship
TEAM WI SELECT SAMUELS 50, NEBRASKA CSS BISON 47


Team WI Select Samuels upset the #2 CSS Bison 50-47 in the championship game of the Midwest Girls Classic hosted by the All Iowa Attack team in Ames, Iowa. This was the second straight year a Team WI Select squad won the event. TWSS did it by putting the clamps down on the potent Bison perimeter game.

The Bison led early 10-4 as they went right after Nicole Griffin inside pinning her deep under the basket with Alyssa Kamphaus. The Bison scored on five of their first seven chances, all with an inside flavor. Nebraska held the edged until late in the first half when TWSS went up 16-15 after a lay up by Sam Price. The Bison were mired in a seven possession drought at the time. That WI lead proved to be momentary as Kelsie Lliteras put the Bison back in front 17-16. Price was right again, this time with a three. Marissa Kastanek scored in transition to tie it at 19. Two free throw by Griffin put the Wisconsin squad up for the rest of the half. They led 25-23 at the break.

The three ball was big at the start of the second half. Brea Tinney, and Price again connected on two consecutive 3s and TWSS had a 31-23 lead. Not to be outdone, Taylor Moore connected twice from behind the arc to cut that margin right back to 33-31. TWSS rattled off four straight scores to push the lead right back out to 40-31. The Bison responded with three straight scores of their own, two in transition to cut the margin back to 40-37. Kayla Windt dropped a 3 from the left wing for a TWSS six point advantage. The Bison went inside to Kamphaus to make it 43-39. It was déjà vu all over again as the Bison had six empty trips. TWSS didn’t seize advantage of that down time as they also had five empty trips. The Bison had one last rush with a three by KK Houser to cut the margin to 48-47. The next three possessions for the Bison came up dry. The game was still in doubt until Whitney Rawdon grabbed a rebound off a Taylor Moore miss and was fouled. She sank both free throws for a 50-47 with 5.9 seconds left. Houser had a three attempt that missed on the last Bison possession as the game ended.

The key difference in this contest was the performance of the Bison perimeter game. In the semifinals the four players combined for 40 points, and a pp100 of 111.1 compared to the championship contest of 21 points and a pp100 of 55.2, half of what they accomplished in the semifinal. Another difference was the turnover tally the Bison had 11 in the championship compared to 8 in the semi. Three isn’t a big number, but in a tight contest every possession is vital.

TWSS didn’t do anything spectacular to win the game. They just rolled up their sleeves and fought for every loose ball, contested shots, and made plays. They also had their full contingent of players and got the job down the stretch.

When I was charting this game Steven Froemming was covering the 15u championship game between All Iowa Attack and Team Iowa won by the hosts 45-39.

Photos: #1 Sam Price attempts to block McKenzie Fujan's lay up. #2. Alyssa Kamphaus makes her post move on Heather Byl. photos by kja
You can now see the entire Team WI Select Samuels vs CSS Bison photo gallery by going to kevinanderson.photostockplus.com.

Key: player, school, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
TEAM WI SELECT SAMUELS
STARTERS
Sam Price
, Eau Claire North 11, 12, 91.7, .417 guard. Tough nosed, scrapper. Canned a couple of threes. Went down a couple of times with injuries and battled back.
Whitney Rawdon, Eau Claire North 7, 11, 63.6, .364 a swing type player, athletic, made key free throws down the stretch and also key rebounds.
Laura Petersen, Osseo-Fairchild 6, 9, 66.7, .333 perimeter player. Runs the floor. Needs to be aware of lines. Twice in the later stages of the game stepped on the sideline.
Sam Hoyt, Durand 4, 9, 44.4, .222 point guard. Scored on pull ups. Finds the open player.
Nicole Griffin, Milwaukee Vincent 2, 4, 50.0, .250 post player. Out physicalled by Kamphaus. Plays behind on defense because she is so tall, but needs to stake her claim on lane real estate.
BENCH
Heather Kessler
, Antigo 10, 8, 125.0, .625 a 6-1 post type, more 4. runs the floor. Good anticipation on defense. Athletic, had a nice hook.
Hannah Betz, Woodbury, MN 0, 2, 0.0, .000 guard. Defensive impact
Heather Byl, Osceola 2, 3, 66.7, .333 perimeter. Crashed offensive boards.
Brea Tinney, Osceola 5, 3, 166.7, .667 speedy guard. Has 3 range. Good pull up jumper.
Kayla Windt, Hurley 3, 1, 300.0, 1.000 another guard with 3 ability.

NEBRASKA CSS BISON
STARTERS
McKenzie Fujan
, Bishop Neumann 2, 4, 50.0, .250 scored on the first Bison possession and was never heard from again.
Alyssa Kamphaus, Seward 14, 12, 116.7, .583 post. Initiated contact in the post. Big, strong across the shoulders. Can also run the floor.
Michaela Houser, Lincoln Southeast 4, 10, 40.0, .200 point guard. Shots weren’t dropping. Did lead her team with 8 assists. Needs to be consistent and efficient in the half court game.
Emily Cady, Seward 10, 6, 166.7, .833 provided solid numbers again. The “4”. Runs the floor. Can jump. Nice touch.
Marissa Kastanek, Lincoln Southeast 9, 10, 90.0, .400 the “2”. Also good at finding open players. Scored four points on transition baskets. Needs to be consistent in the half court game. Some of her passes are soft.
BENCH
Taylor Moore
, Milford 6, 14, 42.9, .143 perimeter. Made two 3s back to back in the early part of the second half. Shot wasn’t dropping. Also passing needs to be sharper.
Kelsie Lliteras, Chadron 2, 3, 66.7, .333 post player. Needs seasoning
Meredith Wahl, Crete 0, 2, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
Heather Kessler
Another player that wasn't around in the Summer Jam steps up.

BY THE NUMBERS
Team WI Select Samuels
: 50, 62, 80.6, .387
Nebraska CSS Bison 47, 61, 77.0, .361
Made 3s/&1s: TWSS 4/0; CSS Bison 4/0
Ftm/fta-ft%: TWSS 8/12-.667; CSS Bison 9/12-.750
Bench: TWSS 20, CSS Bison 8

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
TEAM WI SELECT SAMUELS

Laura Petersen 6
Brea Tinney 6
Sam Hoyt 4.5
Whitney Rawdon 4
Nicole Griffin 4
Heather Kessler 3
Heather Byl 3
Sam Price 2.5
Hannah Betz 1
Totals: 34

NEBRASKA CSS BISON
Marissa Kastanek 9
Michaela Houser 5
Emily Cady 5
Alyssa Kamphaus 4
McKenzie Fujan 3
Taylor Moore 3
Kelsie Lliteras 1
Meredith Wahl 1
Totals: 31

ASSISTS
TEAM WI SELECT SAMUELS

Sam Hoyt 8
Sam Price 4
Laura Petersen 3
Heather Kessler 2
Hannah Betz 2
Totals: 19

NEBRASKA CSS BISON
Michaela Houser 8
Marissa Kastanek 7
Taylor Moore 2
McKenzie Fujan 1
Totals: 18

Next up: tomorrow morning