ARMSTRONG 52, MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH 34
It was a case of the Mondays in this match up between 6AAAA rivals.
Armstrong was able to overcome their case of the Mondays better
than visiting Minneapolis South in a 52-34 victory. Hopkins and Wayzata are the behemoths in the section. Tonight’s contest was jockeying for a possible third slot.
Armstrong built a 22-8 lead with 4:30 left in the first half. It was still a healthy 27-12 lead at the break. Still Armstrong was hovering around 70 pp100 at the break. With 7:27 remaining in the game the Tigers had cut the deficit to eight points (34-26) through aggressive takes to the rim.The Falcons responded to the threat with an 18-8 finish to seal the win.
How bad were the case of the Mondays? South had 11 traveling violations while Armstrong had 8. The Tigers didn’t help their cause one bit shooting 26% from 2s including 7/19 in lay up opportunities. Solana Cushing could not get her 3s to drop, a big part of their offensive system. The Tigers did not connect behind the arc all night with sixteen tries. Armstrong’s man defense would let anyone break free. Frustration didn’t reside only on the South side. The night started out celebrating Armstrong’s recent addition to their 1000 point club Carly Krsul. But points were hard to come by tonight. Krsul didn’t score point two until 5:27 was left in the game. But with the South 2/3 zone there were gaps and openings which the Falcons exploited.
The feature players (Jade Hill for South, Carly Krsul and Masengo Mutanda) all struggled from the floor with only (at best) 40% shooting. Hill had 2 points at half before heating up in the second half. Krsul was shut out and Mutanda did the best with 6. Not one got to the century mark in the pp100. Mutanda, despite her sub-par pp100 numbers, did make the 31 Club with two to spare. Her defense contributed 12 d stops.
One player that didn’t have the Mondays overhanging her performance was Jordan Bloom. She knocked down four 3s and was a member of the pp100 centurions at 127.3 pp100.
| ARMSTRONG | MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH | |
| POINTS | 52 | 34 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 40/5 | 32/13 |
| TURNOVERS | 28 | 20 |
| FTA/% | 14/85.7 | 22/63.6 |
| 2FG%/3FG% | 47.8/35.3 | 26.3/0.0 |
| PP100 | 72.2 | 48.6 |
| TOP SCORER | Two with 14 | Jade Hill 14 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Jordan Bloom of Armstrong with 14 points,127.3 pp100, and a 20 in the 31 Club