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

Out & About: St. Francis/St. Louis Park

#10 posting 1.4.2008
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

ST. FRANCIS saints 77
ST. LOUIS PARK orioles 64

St. Francis remains one of the two unbeaten teams in a North Suburban conference game. It was also a battle of the Saints and the battle of the Alis. It was Johnson (of St. Louis Park) winning the point battle 23-20 over Schwartzwald (of St. Francis). But it was Schwartzwald winning the war.

In the first half neither team was able to shake free from the other. SF did take a 4-0 lead and that was the largest lead they had. StLP with Ali Johnson, took their biggest lead of the game at 20-16. StLP last lead came at 26-25 after an Ali Johnson 3 from the right corner. SF finished the half with a 7-1 run. They led 34-27 at halftime. At the buzzer Kika Greenlee drove the lane and scored but it was waved off due to a charging call.

SF maintained the lead throughout the second half. They stretched it to 41-31 after a Schwartzwald 3 from the left wing. Greenlee immediately answered with her own. Ali Johnson made an old fashioned three point play to close to 43-37. SF again punched that lead back out to 52-40. Then SF hit a 9 possession drought, five of which ended in turnovers. In that time StLP came back with a 9-0 run to make it 52-49 with 9 minutes left. Both teams traded scores with six straight scoring possessions. Then it was StLP's turn for a drought. It was 56-53 SF when the drought hit. SF responded with a 12-1 run that really put the game out of reach. Melissa Borstner had 6 in the run. There was no doubt after that. SF closed the game out with six straight scores with all coming at the line except for the last basket which was a lay up after a steal.

Photos: #1 Ali Johnson of St. Louis Park releases a 3. #2 Kika Greenlee of St. Louis Park drives the lane. Photos by Teas.

key: player, possessions, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
ST. FRANCIS
STARTERS
Ali Schwartzwald 20, 15, 133.3, .533 point guard. pushes the ball quickly up the court. always looking to go go go. deceptive with passing. doesn't stare target down. has good peripheral vision. has a quick release. delivered four 3s. guarded Ali Johnson most of the time on defense. Never went to the line. did a strong job on the d boards. reads eyes of passers.
Melissa Borstner 19, 15, 126.7, .667 perimeter. scored all of her points in the second half. likes to score off the drive. will take baseline if given the chance. Did hit a three.
Jessica Englund 8, 8, 100.0, .500 post, scored all of her points in the first half. preferred jumper at the free throw line neighborhood.
Brittni Gordon 5, 9, 55.6, .333 post player. needs to square on her shot.
Emma Sheforgen 9, 10. 90.0, .400 perimeter shooter. hit a three
BENCH
Amanda Morem 0, 4, 0.0, .000
Taylor Morrell 6, 5, 120.0, .600 runs the floor
Jenna Ashley 10, 8, 125.0, .625 perimeter player.

ST. LOUIS PARK
STARTERS
Taylor Latvala 0, 2, 0.0, .000 perimeter player. needs to get stronger physically and with the ball.
Sarah Thompson 7, 12, 58.3, .250 perimeter type. turnovers result of dribbling and/or going into the heart of the defense with the ball exposed, or head down.
Alison Johnson 23, 13, 176.9, .692 just coming back from ankle injury. tall perimeter. good fluid shot from 3 range. canned four on the night. As the night went on the ankle started to bother her more. Before that was running the floor. was on top in the zone defenses
Kika Greenlee 22, 34, 64.7, .353 point guard. has explosion. has body control. looked to penetrate if the door was open. went to the line nine times. Needs to be better at the line (9/17). needs to transition faster and with a sense of urgency from offense to defense, especially after missing a shot, or turning it over. Needs to involve teammates. would come down without any other players touching the ball. got up for rebounds. also got beat back door on d.
Laishema Hampson 4, 6, 66.7, .333 strong physical post. picked up 2nd foul and sat the rest of the first half. offensively needs more polish. hard touch on drive. no one was going to take the ball from her after a board.
BENCH
Ashle Johnson 8, 7, 114.3, .571 perimeter. scored all her points in the second half. has 15 foot range. drives and runs the floor. quick.

TRENCH PLAYER
Ali Schwartzwald

BY THE NUMBERS
St. Francis 77, 74, 104.1, .500
St. Louis Park 64, 74, 86.5, .405
made 3s: SF 6, SLP 5
ftm/fta-ft%: SF 10/16-.625; SLP 13/24-.542
bench: SF 16, SLP 8
Neither team are air tight on defense. Both teams were beat on back cuts all night. Players were able to penetrate fairly easily when they wanted. SF had more shooting weapons and Schwartzwald got plenty of players involved.
Also look at Ali Johnson and Kika Greenlee's numbers. Both had about the same amount of points 23/22. but if you look behind the numbers you will see Johnson was much more effective and efficient with her possessions. Johnson was able to score one more point in 21 less possessions.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
ST. FRANCIS
Ali Schwartzwald 12
Emma Shefogren 8
Jessica Englund 5
Melissa Borstner 4
Brittni Gordon 3
Amanda Morem 2
Taylor Morrell 2
Jenna Ashley 2
totals: 38

ST. LOUIS PARK
Laishema Hampton 10
Kika Greenlee 9
Sarah Thompson 4
Taylor Latvala 3
Ashle Johnson 2
Alison Johnson 1
totals: 29

DEPARTMENT OF THE DEFENSE
St. Francis started off in a 1/3/1 half court trap, they then shifted to 2/3, and then 1/2/2. They played man most of the night (over 80%).
St. Louis Park started man and went to 1/2/2 and 2/3 they also attempted a 1/3/1.
neither team used much action on the full court

OTHER GAMES
Jamie Noonan of Richfield hit two free throws with 7.8 seconds left to put the Spartans up 55-53 over Hill-Murray. Noonan was high scorer with 21, Mandy Poke had 13, and Pamela January had 8. Krista Kaput and Taylor Cross each had 17 for HM.

Richfield led at half 31-22. The Richfield traps caused HM some problems.

Kassie Robinson of Simley scored her 1000th point tonight in a 60-42 victory over North St. Paul. She finished the game with 29 points