5 GAMES, 3 TOURNAMENTS
I ping-ponged it across three different tournaments and five more
teams I had not charted became charted. The roads were wet all day thanks to the cold rain that fell. I started close to home at Park Center, then head west to Buffalo and then east to Hill-Murray. It was a Metro East kind of day with three different teams under the microscope. All three won. The Suburban East split on the day. The Metro West was 0-2. There were two running time games, one nail-biter and two additions to the 1000 point club. The roads didn’t get dicey until about six miles from home as the rain transitioned to snow in Anoka County.
SIMLEY 68, ST. LOUIS PARK 54
This was the early game of the day and the alarm clock must not have gone off for the Orioles since at half they trailed 41-16. So this was a tale of two halves. StLP “won” the second half 38-27. Simley was extremely balanced with six players scoring between 14 and 8 points. Two players were slapped with technical (from the same official) in one of the oddities of the day.
| SIMLEY | ST. LOUIS PARK | |
| POINTS | 68 | 54 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 47/12 | 27/10 |
| TURNOVERS | 21 | 12 |
| FTA/% | 38/47.4 | 21/57.1 |
| 2FG%/3FG% | 47.4/50.0 | 35.3/26.1 |
| PP100 | 101.5 | 80.6 |
| TOP SCORER | Tiwaah Danso 14 | Raegan Alexander 16 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Tiwaah Danso with 14 points, 100 pp100 and a 40 in the 31 Club
BUFFALO 75, BLAINE 58
Next it was off to Buffalo for the only game of the day where I had not charted either team. Host Buffalo grabbed the early lead, built it up (28-11), saw it dwindle by half (32-21), and then maintained. The Bison had the most points scored of any team. The most interesting feature of this game came when both teams scored on 10 consecutive possessions (or five each). This was almost a mirror from game 1. Numbers were close in turnover count, FG % and pp100.
| BUFFALO | BLAINE | |
| POINTS | 75 | 58 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 49/16 | 40/21 |
| TURNOVERS | 21 | 10 |
| FTA/% | 20/75.0 | 39/61.5 |
| 2FG%/3FG% | 47.7/42.9 | 28.6/14.3 |
| PP100 | 101.4 | 80.6 |
| TOP SCORER | Jordan Zrust 21 | Anna Garfield 20 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Jordan Zrust with 21 points 175 pp100 and a 36 in the 31 Club
HENRY SIBLEY 50, MOUNDS VIEW 47
This was the most compelling, down to the wire game of all as I moved to Hill-Murray for the final three quarterfinals in this tournament. This was the battle of the inside with HS’s Tori Nelson and MV’s Lindsey Becher. HS had the lead at half 25-15. There were eight lead changes in the last nine minutes of the game. MV & Lindsey Becher, who reached 1000 points on the day, took the lead at 31-30 (a 16-5 start to the half). Becher however fouled out with 6.7 seconds left. This was after the Warriors grabbed the lead on a driving lay up by Tori Nelson who had a day’s high 30 points (and a days high 45 score in the 31 club) with 30 seconds left. With HS up 48-47 and MV with the ball the Mustangs took time out. Their designed play failed to score on the right block. Nelson grabbed the miss. SeSe Burks added two free throws with 4.8 seconds left for the final marign.
| HENRY SIBLEY | MOUNDS VIEW | |
| POINTS | 50 | 47 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 44/19 | 31/16 |
| TURNOVERS | 21 | 15 |
| FTA/% | 11/72.7 | 18/55.6 |
| 2FG%/3FG% | 47.7/0.0 | 37.0/11.1 |
| PP100 | 82.0 | 75.8 |
| TOP SCORER | Tori Nelson 30 | Lindsey Becher 21 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Tori Nelson with 30 points, 120 pp100 and a 45 in the 31 Club
FOREST LAKE 70, ST. CROIX LUTHERAN 38
Forest Lake put running time on St. Croix Lutheran, but it came later than the 9 minute mark. FL’s press, and shooting created separation. Four Rangers reached double figures. FL had enough to win by half (39-17).
| FOREST LAKE | ST. CROIX LUTHERAN | |
| POINTS | 70 | 38 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 48/17 | 33/13 |
| TURNOVERS | 23 | 23 |
| FTA/% | 22/77.3 | 11/54.5 |
| 2FG%/3FG% | 47.1/30.4 | 25.0/21.4 |
| PP100 | 100.0 | 54.3 |
| TOP SCORER | Abigail Groeneweg 17 | Kenna Moon 10 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Abigail Groeneweg with 17 points, 141.7 pp100 and a 28 in the 31 Club
HILL-MURRAY 71, RICHFIELD 25
This running time game kicked in at 9 minutes. Balance was the watchword here with all five starting Pioneers reaching between 14 and 12 points. Delaney Runyon reached the 1000 point club. HM had enough to win by half (48-17). This is the second time I charted HM and the second time the Pioneers cruised to a huge half lead.
| HILL-MURRAY | RICHFIELD | |
| POINTS | 71 | 25 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 38/16 | 36/16 |
| TURNOVERS | 11 | 28 |
| FTA/% | 18/55.6 | 10/20.0 |
| 2FG%/3FG% | 52.3/33.3 | 24.4/20.0 |
| PP100 | 112.7 | 40.3 |
| TOP SCORER | Lilli Mackley 14 | Tianna Powell 10 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Lilli Mackley 14 points, 155.6 pp100 and 28 in the 31 Club