MGBCA ALL STAR GAMES 2019

The books are now closed for the high school careers of the class of 2019. The annual All Star Series took place Saturday afternoon at West Gym on the campus of Carleton College in Northfield. Ten players from each class were divvied up and the “Stars” played the “Stripes” while the “Blues” played the “Whites.” One game was compelling. The other less than. So, what was learned? I have a couple of tables at the end of the article that will examine the traditional reading of team v team and then I look at the finalists for Miss Basketball and their performance and the differences in class.

As with any all-star game you need to take it with a grain of salt. The game is rather basic. There isn’t the intricate timing that some high school teams possess. There simply is not enough time to master the nuances of team play. Players are from different systems, different game models. Coaches are still learning some of the players names and what they are capable of after a brief practice on Friday.

It was a good day to be in the visitor uniform—-both victors wore white. The first game was riveting with the Stripes pulling off a 101-99 overtime win over the Stars. Lay Lay Chakolis of Hopkins scored the game winner with a left handed layup with 5.6 seconds left. The Stripes had to hang on for dear life as they saw a commanding 17 point first half lead (27-10) slim down to eight by half (50-42). Things tightened up significantly in the second half with the Stars closing the gap to 65-64 with 12:16 left (twenty minute halves). With 7:15 left it looked like the Stripes had weathered the storm and their lead was back to a healthy 85-74. With 1:20 left Wayzata’s Kallie Theisen gave the Stars their only lead in the second half with one free throw (90-89). St. Cloud Cathedral’s Megan Voit nailed a 3 for the Stripes and then Red Wing’s Lindsey Reps scored after a steal for a four point margin. Hometown favorite Rachel Kelly scored the last four points of regulation, the last on a put back with under 4 seconds left. In overtime Minnehaha’s Taytum Rhoades opened the scoring for the Stars. Mountain Iron-Buhl’s Allie Negen responded right away with a triple. New Ulm’s Joey Batt added a bucket on the next Stripe possession, and they were back in front by three. Prior Lake’s McKenna Hofschild knotted the game up again with a 3. Both teams traded missed shots setting up Chakolis’ game winner. The Hopkins Royal led all scorers with 19 points.

The Stripes main advantage was from behind the arc. They converted a dozen to the Stars four. The Stars hammered the boards hard with 72 to the 48 for the Stripes.

Game two was not as dramatic with the Whites holding a convincing 45-28 lead at the break. The Blues led early 9-6. Seven unanswered points shifted the momentum the rest of the way. Not much changed in the second half with the Whites prevailing 103-81.

Clearly the difference in this contest was in ball handling/decision making with the Blues feeling blue with 21 turnovers. The Whites almost had a clean sheet with 9. The touches per turnover ratio was 37.2 for white, 18 for Blue. The Blues were led by Sara Scalia with a day’s high 26 points.

There was a 3 point contest between games. Sara Scalia was the victor in the two phases of the contest.

	STRIPES	STARS	WHITE	BLUE
POINTS	101	99	103	81
R/OFF	48/17	72/33	56/25	49/19
TO	16	21	9	21
FTA/%	11/63.63	10/70.0	9/44.44	8/87.5
2FG%/3FG%	47.54/33.33	45.97/21.05	50.6/31.25	39.02/34.14
PP100	99.0	98.0	113.2	89.0
LEADING SCORER	LayLay Chakolis 19	Rachel Kelly 18	Kacie Borowicz 16	Sara Scalia 26

 

This is how the five finalists fared. Borowicz is the 2019 Miss Basketball. Value added is 31 Club score (Points + D stops + distributions) – points.

Name	Team	Points	Pp100	31 Club Score	Value Added	W-L
LayLay Chakolis	Stripes	19	95.0	36	17	W
Frannie Hottinger	Stars	16	100.0	29	13	L
McKenna Hofschild	Stars	9	112.5	23	14	L
Kacie Borowicz	Whites	16	145.5	26	10	W
Sara Scalia	Blues	26	144.4	34	8	L

 

This is how the classes fared. I took all the scoring for each division.

	AAAA	AAA	AA	A
Totals	135	89	84	76
Average	13.5	8.09	9.33	7.6
TOP 5	94	65	66	56
Top Scorer	Sara Scalia 26	Rachel Kelly 18	Kacie Borowicz 16	Allie Negen 13

One interesting fact is Northfield will be moving up to AAAA next year.  There were some other shifts as well with Waseca moving down to AA and Menahga moving to AA. That changes some of the equations but not until 2020 when everyone will have perfect vision and be able to tell the difference between the sun and the moon.