We move to week two of the holiday tournaments and just like the close last week we were welcomed on Monday with more wintery precipitation. Luckily it was not ice, but snow (if luck has anything to do with it). It was still slow going but the unpredictability factor on the roads was not as high compared to the swerve on Saturday.
There was one carry over tournament from the week before. Roseville wrapped up their eight team event with the final day on Monday. With a metro based clientele it made sense to avoid the December 26 travel day. The trip to Raider country (and back) took longer than normal with snow compacted roads; 35 mph seemed to be the best option on the interstate—the weather added ten minutes to the drive time.
As for the action on the court, the Suburban East didn’t have a good day with both Woodbury and host Roseville falling. The Northwest Suburban, by contrast enjoyed the day taking the top three slots.
Four first year coaches were on display today finishing 3-1 (South, Cooper and Centennial all winning).
I was able to knock off five more schools today taking my AAAA totals to 62% for the year.
GAME 1
It was a battle of two 30 point scorers in the first game. South doubled up Hastings in the turnover department (another 30+ performance) to create easy scoring opportunities. The Tigers doubled up the Raiders in the lay up department too ten to five. Hastings did have a 35-32 lead in the second half. Five straight Tiger scores punctuated with back to back 3s from Jade Hill and Camryn Benjamin was more than enough to tip the scales to South (46-38). Jade Hill scored eleven unanswered points for South to start the string.
| MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH | HASTINGS | |
| POINTS | 67 | 55 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 38/20 | 48/18 |
| TURNOVERS | 17 | 34 |
| 2FGA/% | 50/34.00 | 30/56.67 |
| 3FGA/% | 26/26.92 | 21/14.28 |
| FTA/% | 14/85.71 | 15/80.00 |
| PP100 | 85.9 | 68.8 |
| TOP SCORER | Jade Hill 37 | Mallory Brake 33 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Jade Hill, 37 points, 10 steals, 112.1 pp100, 60 score in the 31 Club.
GAME 2
Cooper won the turnover battle and had advantages at the boards and free throw line in their win over Woodbury. Balance and depth also played a part for the Hawks as they had four starters in double digits. The Royals only entrant in that category was Carley West. Cooper got the early jump (7-0, 15-4) and withstood a first half rally that saw their lead become zero (21-21). The last 2:42 of the first half Cooper regained momentum with a 10-1 finish to the half. Cooper scored four straight times to get the lead back for good.
| COOPER | WOODBURY | |
| POINTS | 71 | 56 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 45/15 | 42/13 |
| TURNOVERS | 24 | 31 |
| 2FGA/% | 55/43.63 | 45/42.22 |
| 3FGA/% | 14/21.42 | 16/18.75 |
| FTA/% | 19/73.68 | 17/52.94 |
| PP100 | 81.6 | 64.4 |
| TOP SCORER | Two with 17 | Carley West 24 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Meme Wheeler 17 points, 130.8 pp100, 44 score in the 31 Club.
GAME 3
Hot shooting by Andover and cold shooting by Roseville was the story in the third place game. The Huskies converted nine 3s. Roseville had 11 more field goal attempts than Andover but scored three fewer times. The same story could be told at the free throw line. Roseville had two more attempts, but scored two fewer times than their guests. Looking at starters alone Andover won 45-40. The bench helped create more separation with a 12-3 advantage. It was even-steven at half at 22. A 15-2 start to the second half gave Andover a commanding 37-24 lead. I say commanding because the pace of the game was controlled by Roseville. Their deliberate patient offense did not generate the points needed and chewed up clock. Roseville had 24 plays which lasted seven or more touches, double that of Andover. Ironically both teams scored four times in that metric.
| ANDOVER | ROSEVILLE | |
| POINTS | 57 | 43 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 30/8 | 42/21 |
| TURNOVERS | 14 | 16 |
| 2FGA/% | 23/47.82 | 43/32.55 |
| 3FGA/% | 22/40.90 | 13/23.07 |
| FTA/% | 12/66.67 | 14/42.85 |
| PP100 | 100.0 | 75.4 |
| TOP SCORER | Two with 15 | Tamia Ugass 17 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Sydney White of Andover, 15 points, 100 pp100, 26 score in the 31 Club.
GAME 4
Rogers is a newcomer to the NW Suburban conference, but these two teams already have played this year with the Cougars topping the Royals 70-65 on December 17. The lessons learned helped Centennial get their second win. The Cougars were stronger inside with 24 interior baskets to 13 for Rogers. Jenna Guyer had a double double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Centennial first created separation scoring five straight times to lead 17-10. After missing one possession they tacked on three more scores (23-13). Guyer scored the last eight Centennial points in the last four minutes of the half (39-26). Rogers had a surge early in the second half (41-35) with 12 minutes left. Four and a half minutes later Centennial outscored Rogers 14-3 to go back up 55-38.
| CENTENNIAL | ROGERS | |
| POINTS | 65 | 49 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 48/16 | 30/10 |
| TURNOVERS | 19 | 13 |
| 2FGA/% | 51/49.01 | 43/34.88 |
| 3FGA/% | 9/22.22 | 16/25.00 |
| FTA/% | 10/90.00 | 12/58.33 |
| PP100 | 92.9 | 70.00 |
| TOP SCORER | Jodi Anderson 18 | Ellie Buzzelle 19 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Jenna Guyer of Centennial with 17 points, 130.8 pp100, and a 34 score in the 31 Club.
The All-Tournament team
Mallory Brake, Hastings
Jade Hill, Minneapolis South
Carley West, Woodbury
Meme Wheeler, Cooper
Tamia Ugass, Roseville
Sydney White, Andover
Ellie Buzzelle, Rogers
Alaina Brenning, Rogers
Grace Johnson, Centennial
Jodi Anderson, Centennial
Jenna Guyer, Centennial