The Week That Was #3: Across the River

#8 posting 11.30.2008
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

The Week That Was #3: Across The River
The action moved west this week. Minnesota started their high school season. The big event was at Hamline with four top five teams playing in the various championships. Hopkins put cellophane wrap on the #1 South Tigers in the first half of the West championship. 18-0 to start, 38-11 at half was a big statement. South was without the services of two projected starters, each combined worth about 18.7 points last year. Without Smith and Kearney Tayler Hill didn't have a lot of help lifting the scoring load.
In the other Hamline championship it was Centennial beating two time defending champ St. Paul Central. Bridget Schuneman was a force on the inside which was no surprise. The Cougars did have to play with out the Megans for a while, mostly out for foul troubles. but also their perimeter game was solid. Holly Hoffland came off the bench to knock down three 3s.

TEAS IS BACK & CAR RACES
Coach Teas has made is long awaited return from his golfing junket in Missouri. On our return from Hudson on Friday night we were almost part of the news. We were on 694 headed west when I saw a police car off on the left so I started to pull over. As I did a White Suburban went by on the shoulder at 100+ miles an hour. The race was on with 12 police cars, sirens blaring hot in pursuit. Luckily we weren't smashed into by the any vehicle.

WISCONSIN CUT
There is one huge difference between Minnesota and Wisconsin---Uniform cut. On the eastside Wisconsin uses a uniform cut that exposes the shoulder blades. In Minnesota you will rarely if ever see that kind of cut.

DIAPER DANDIES
Minneapolis North had three 8th graders on the floor quite a bit in their win over Andover. Andover also was young with a sophomore contingent, but North is younger by two years. Tyseanna Johnson, Talayiah Rich and Allina Star all grew up in the win. All three are quick and alert, and don't play shy and quiet.

TIME
Due to the avalanche of games, and time constraints my reports are briefer than usual. Sleep is one item on my to do list.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
So after 11 games is their a pattern? Yes. Is basketball better this year. No if you look at pp100 and floor %.
Here is the the last three years
year, pp100, floor %
2006 70.16, .346
2007 81.72, .401
2008 71.7, .354
So either last year was an anomaly, and we are back to regular levels, or is their something else at play. Last year Wisconsin didn't start until Minnesota started. I have charted 11 Wisconsin teams and 11 Minnesota teams this year. So is there a difference between the two states? yes
State, pp100, floor %
Wisconsin 67.7, .332
Minnesota 75.1, .374
So looking back at 2007, which was mainly Minnesota, the numbers are still down for 2008 by about 6 pp100. This will bear watching the rest of the year.

THE WEEK AHEAD
If you think that Hamline was a big event, head to Becker. That event has 7 games including what will probably be #1 AAAA vs #1 AA--- Centennial vs Jordan. On top of that Tartan and Stillwater will host four team events starting Thursday (Tartan) and Friday (Stillwater).

TEAM OF THE WEEK
Hopkins is on a mission. They went after South likes starving dogs on a bone. The Royals made Tayler Hill work to bring the ball up court and clogged the lane to prevent her from driving and getting free throws. They made Hill wait until the second half to celebrate her 3000th point. Hopkins was extremely ready to play. They are grittier, quicker, and deeper than recent years. And as a sign of their "teamness" not one player made the team of the week (due to possession requirements). Everyone does their share.
Looking at the numbers Hopkins pp100 was 143.8 and floor % .667 to start the night, and defensively they were 25.0 and .125. In the second half the edge was a little off on the defensive end as they modified a few things. The Royals don't like being away from the state tournament and they want back in after a two year absence.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Laura Margarit of Holy Angels scored 10 points in the four quarter to help lead the Stars back from a seven point deficit against Menomonie. The wiry guard scored six straight points to put HA in the lead. HA rotated many kids in and out, but Margarit was on the floor the entire 4th quarter. She has the stability, and glue to keep things together. Margarit likes to drive and does have a pull up. She had one drive that ended in a serpentine lay up. With a pp100 of 164.3 she was the highest of the qualifiers this week.

rules, rules, rules,
I need to see the player during the week.
Player needs 10 (TEN) possessions---unfortunately that knocks off Kara Elofson of Hopkins who had an outstanding game against South with a pp100 of 166.7, and floor % of .889
Player needs to be north of 100 pp100
Player needs to be north of .500 floor %. This knocks off 3 point shooters more than any other.
reputations don't matter, performance does.

FIRST TEAM
Briana Edwards, Minneapolis North, 2009
Kaitlyn Haag, Hudson, 2010
Laura Margarit, Holy Angels, 2011
Bridget Schuneman, Centennial, 2009
Tessa Wells, River Falls, 2010
honorable mention
Stephanie Jergenson, Blaine, 2010
Katherine Kazemba, Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran, 2010
Bettye Jo Nelson, Superior, 2011
Sarah Peterson, Minneahaha, 2009

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Emma Purfeest of River Falls was a force on the defensive end in the win against Osceola. She had 12.5 stops, twice as many as the next player on her team. She had 39% of all stops for River Falls that night. Purfeest is a 5-9 forward that played bigger than her height.

team of the week
Kara Elofson, Hopkins, 2009
Emma Purfeest, River Falls, 2010
Talayiah Rich, Minneapolis North, 2013
Bridget Schuneman, Centennial, 2009
Brea Tinney, Osceola, 2009

PLAYMAKER OF THE WEEK
Kahlia Becken of Centennial has a variety of good targets for her passes. She delivered a game high 9 in the win over Central. She has good vision and gets the ball to the right people at the right time.

team of the week
Kahlia Becken, Centennial, 2011
Kyana Johnson, St. Paul Central, 2009
Micaela Petrich, Rosemount, 2010
Allina Star, Minneapolis North, 2013
Hannah Steele, Centennial, 2009

NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Bettye Jo Nelson of Superior didn't start, but probably will soon. She came off the Superior bench to lead them with 14 points, and lead them with 5 defensive stops. Nelson is a 5-8 perimeter player. She attacked the basket, scored at the line and off her defense.

next up: tomorrow

The Week That Was #2: Eastern Exposure

#8 posting 11.23.2008
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

THE WEEK THAT WAS #2
WINTER 2008-09
EASTERN EXPOSURE

This past week the first area high school games were played in Wisconsin. So it was off on 94 to the east for some high school action on Tuesday and Thursday. In between it was south to Rochester for some Community College action. Also Anne Breland signed with UW Milwaukee after that contest. Besides that I saw briefly 28 teams in three scrimmages yesterday in Minnesota.

Coach Teas was in Missouri golfing this week, so it was a rather uneventful trip to the east. One thing that I noticed was that the two high schools I attended this week (Elk Mound & Eau Claire North) had giant mascots above their door similar to used car gorillas.

Another theme of the week was the 6-3 centers: Emily Harrison of Elk Mound, and Danielle Carlson and Emmalee Boyle of Marshfield were new to me.

Things will really kick in with Minnesota games starting up on Thanksgiving Friday. The big event is the Hamline tournament starting Friday. If the brackets hold to form, fans will see St. Paul Central vs Centennial in a rematch of last year's Hamline championship, and in the other championship Hopkins vs Minneapolis South in a 6AAAA preview. All four teams are top 5 caliber teams.

TEAM OF THE WEEK
Marshfield, the #5 team in the D1 Wisconsin poll, went on the road to #10 EC North and had a convincing 52-34 win. Marshfield has height with two 6-3 players, and quickness on the perimeter with Wolff, Varsho and Schndier. The Tigers were strong on defense. They limited ECN to a pp100 of 56.7 for the night. On offense the Tigers didn't waste many opportunities and used the free throw line to get their margin.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Courtney Schneider of Marshfield not only excelled on the offensive end, but had a key role in stopping Sam Price of EC North. Schneider didn't have a lot of Defensive stops, but was a thorn in Price's side all night. Schneider had a pp100 of 130 and a floor % of .700 in the win. Schneider was honorable mention last year in the Wisconsin Valley.

REST OF THE TEAM
Anne Breland, Rochester CTC (Rochester Lourdes)*
Amanda Degnan, Rochester CTC (St. Charles)
Maria Gangelhoff, Rochester CTC (Sleepy Eye St. Mary's)
Courtney Schneider, Marshfield
Jenna Anderson, Elk Mound*

* made the list but missed on one of the requirements
1. 10 possessions
2. 100+ pp100
3. .500+ floor %

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Chelsea Wand of Rochester CTC (St. Charles) had 8 defensive rebounds and 5 steals in an active night. The more important stat was Wand did it without drawing too many fouls.

Jenna Anderson, Elk Mound
Danielle Carlson, Marshfield
Ronnie Moltzau, Eleva-Strum
Toni Semmingson, Elevea-Strum
Chelsea Wand, Rochester CTC

ASSISTS
Katie Wolff of Marshfield had things running smoothly for the Tigers on Thursday. Wolff is confident, poised, has good vision and can change direction and pace without looking at her shoe laces. She has a knack of knowing where players are.

NEWCOMER
Courtney Schneider of Marshfield takes this honor too. See Above
In order to get this honor the player has to be seen for the first time during the week.

Next up: tomorrow morning.

The Week That Was 08-09 #1: In the Beginning

#5 posting 11.16.2008
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

THE WEEK THAT WAS #1
And so it begins....

Last week Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan opened their high school practices. Minnesota starts their high school practices tomorrow. For me it can't come a moment too soon.
Fall Leagues may serve their purpose, they do have the benefit of having multiple games in one location, but the fall leagues are more miss than hit.
Today no Tayler Hill, no Eden Prairie. Other days no Roseville guns or Forest Lake guns---too many conflicts with other sports. Games start earlier than listed to move the conveyor belt. In many respects fall league is a glorified scrimmage with not a lot at stake. Player substitution patterns at times don't make sense. Thank goodness meaning returns tomorrow.

The other big event this week was signing day starting on Wednesday. Here is the breakdown from the area states--
State----Total---D1---D2
OH -----57-----45----11
MN -----41----20-----21
WI------33----15-----17
MI ------32-----24----8
IN------30----27-----3
IL------28-----26-----2
IA------10----10----0
SD-----9------6-----3
NE-----9-----5-----4
ND-----4----2-----1
These numbers are from what I have been able to find, or that have been reported to me. If you have other names, go to my profile and email me. I have loyal fans that keep me fed from various states. I thank you for your support.
You can see Ohio is the big front runner with 45 D1s. Minnesota rules the roost in D2 with 21.

With the high school seasons just getting underway the question may come up: How can you have a team of the week? Community College games are well underway and I caught two this week at Minneapolis and Anoka-Ramsey. I got to see two new teams---Fond du Lac is starting their first season, while St. Cloud TC is not technically in the MCAC conference. One big difference for the new players is the 30 second clock. The pace of the game is much quicker (or should be). The problems come with not being aware or not moving the ball with a sense of urgency.

No Fall Ball players were eligible for the following awards--

TEAM OF THE WEEK
With four teams to pick from (or really two--since they won) the first team of the week is Anoka-Ramsey. The difference maker for me was their defensive posture, intensity and pressure. The simple fact that they had bent knees on defense was the clincher. All five starters were over 100 in pp100 and .500 in floor %. The Rams had 56 defensive stops against the first time FDL squad. As a team AR also had 32 assists. I realize it wasn't against the most ferocious competition, but they approached the game they way it should be done.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kate Bement of Anoka-Ramsey (and Princeton) has a nice stroke. She set the tone early with two straight 3s in the 92-24 win over Fond du Lac. Bement had 28 points, and 10 defensive stops. Bement moved without the ball, crashed the offensive boards, and had confidence in her shot. Bement didn't take a play off.

TEAM OF THE WEEK
To make this team remember the rules
1. I need to see the player in the last seven days.
2. Player needs to have 10 possession minimum
3. Player should be above 100 pp100 and 500 floor %.
Rule three was not in effect this week.

Kate Bement, Anoka-Ramsey (Princeton)
Kristin Johnson, St. Cloud Technical College (St. Cloud Tech HS)
Nicole Lewis, Minneapolis CTC (St. Paul Johnson)*
Kyann Patterson, Anoka-Ramsey (Minneapolis Washburn)*
Tiffany Yarke, St. Cloud Technical College (Melrose)*
* didn't make rule #3

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kate Bement, Anoka-Ramsey (Princeton) (see above)

ASSIST
Tiffany Yarke, St. Cloud Technical College (Melrose). Most of her assists went inside to Kristin Johnson. Yarke knew where the bread was buttered.

Next up: tomorrow