There was a touch of nostalgia and old connections sprinkled in with current realities this week. Wednesday, I got to chart Coach Taylor and his new squad at St. Paul Academy; Friday, I returned to my student coaching site (back then with the boys) and my residence for ten years (six blocks away) at St. Louis Park; Saturday I had company on the ride down to Rochester with Coach Teas. Back in the early days of kjasr.com we were together probably four of the six days of the week when I was out and about. Now, with me coaching on the far reaches of the metro, our paths don’t cross as often. Memories and reflections give a sense of where we have been and what the road ahead will be.

Another theme of the week was helmet head logos—with SPA, Mahtomedi (twice) and Orono picking up wins. Another theme is Etiquette, as it relates to basketball, which is touched upon after the weekly review.

MONDAY: Foley 55, Eden Valley-Watkins 38

Key moment in this game happened 2 seconds before the half and then 51 seconds into the second half. That is when Whitney Jansen of EVW picked up two offensive fouls and had to enjoy the action from the bench due to four fouls. When she left the score was 24-21 in favor of the visiting Falcons.  When she returned to action three and a half minute later the game had shifted rapidly to Foley 35-26. With Jansen hampered with fouls she could not have the freedom to play aggressively. With seven minutes remaining Foley led by 18.
What was missed in this game was my opportunity to see Coach Hentges from EVW. He was the girls coach at Minneapolis Roosevelt when I was coaching at South.

WEDNESDAY: St. Paul Academy 55, Cristo Rey Jesuit 41

This was at SPA and it was my first viewing of the Spartans since Coach Taylor took over. Ironically, we are now coaching helmeted logos that are navy & gold. SPA built up a solid lead headed into head up twelve. They maintained that with the various defensive adjustments made in the second half by the Pumas. SPA shot 41% to CRJ’s 25%. I think the Spartans are on the right path. Defensively they are starting to learn and grow with the pressure system Coach Taylor desires.

When we first landed at Stillwater, I told Coach Taylor that this would be the first time he didn’t have a D1 player on the roster. I was wrong. Sara Scalia was an 8^th grader at the time. This is the first time Coach Taylor is D1-less. How many more years that happens is up for debate. It will change for the betterment of SPA.

FRIDAY: Orono 74, St. Louis Park 41

This Metro West Conference game was supposed to be closer than this—both teams were in the top 60 in the QRF. And at home, StLP was expected to provide a closer contest. It was a five point margin at half (31-26) for the visitors. Six minutes later Orono had scored eleven unanswered points to lead 42-26. The Spartans then ripped it up the rest of the way outscoring the hosts 32-15. When you shoot 62% from 2s and 33% from 3s your team will look very good. Seniors Lauren Knudson and Kaila Youngs led the Spartans with 17 and 16 respectively. Another young player (aren’t they all) is an 8^th grader with a basketball-like name—–Mya Moore. The log jam of talent in the younger single digit grades is like an on ramp to the freeway at rush hour. Moore delivered a team best 136 pp100 for Orono on 3/4 shooting from both 2s and 3s for a total of 15 points off the bench.

SATURDAY 1: Rochester Lourdes 57, Winona Cotter 45

Saturday was spent in Rochester looking at rivalry games. The first was a double header feature of Catholic powers Lourdes and Cotter. It was also a battle of the Hiawatha Valley League vs. the Three River Conference. Section 1AA is loaded with worthy potential state entrants. These two teams will be battling it out with the likes of Goodhue, Lake City, and Dover-Eyota to name a few. It was the host Eagles that broke free in the second half. The Ramblers led throughout the first half thanks to a jump at the start with a 10-0 lead. The game tightened up considerably at half with WC up 26-23. Lourdes first lead came at 31-30. Two consecutive 3s by Allison Restovich turned a 38-34 advantage to 44-34 with 10:30 left in the contest. That separation proved hard to overcome for the visitors. Post Ella Hopkins delivered a team high 19 points for Lourdes. Sofia Sandcork led all scorers with 21 for Cotter.

This was the best played game of the week measuring out pp100s of both the winning and losing teams at 107.5 and 83.3. Cotter had a higher pp100 than three of the seven winning teams this week and just missed the fourth by 1.3 points.

SATURDAY 2: Rochester JM 44, Rochester Century 39

Don’t let the final score fool you. This was NOT as close as this. Half time the game WAS close with the visiting Rockets clinging to a 21-20 lead in a slow paced affair. Century was in love with the dribble drive and was able to generate some points on defensive lapses. The lapses didn’t happen very frequently in the second half. Just as in the first Saturday game two back to back 3s broke the game open. This time it was future Indiana player Lilly Meister with long distance shots from the left side putting the score at 38-24 with nine minutes left. With 1:58 left JM subbed out their big guns up 44-28. Century did not. They used the press to generate five straight turnovers and eleven unanswered points to make the score a bit more respectable. The Rockets did not return their starters to the mix in the slide. Another 30 seconds and they would have.

BASKETBALL ETIQUITTE

When should a team quit pressing? When should a team sub? When is a lead safe? These are legitimate questions fans and coaches ponder. Many consider the traveling league rules of “No pressing when you are ahead by 20” to be the iron-clad rule. Breaking it makes the offending team seem like jerks. I can tell you some winning teams, when the press is taken off, psychologically shift to coast mode thinking the game is done. It usually isn’t. There is a definite down turn in defensive intensity.

As for subbing I have come to the conclusion that the team trailing needs to show the game is over by subbing first. I have seen teams ahead (like Saturday) pull the plug on their starters only to see the trailing team feast on the deep bench. When I was an assistant at Osseo this occurred. Once with a 20 point lead that vanished. The losing team needs to throw in the towel first. Having a starter on the floor I would match with my own starter just so that player would be held in check.  Woe to those teams that keep their starters on the floor when the losing team has subbed out their starters. I have seen this side of the coin too. Not a good look at all.

As for leads….I can count on one hand (or one finger) the times a team trailing by 10 with a minute to go as turned around and won the game. And I have been doing this for many, many years. Again, the winning team subbed to quickly, but the trailing team needed overtime to prevail. There is nothing worse than having that win snatched away when it could have been prevented. I have seen epic comebacks in the second half but sometimes it is a result of the team ahead shifting gears and going into prevent mode—four corners. This signals your players the game is over when it really isn’t. They quit being aggressive on offense and try to play keep away instead of playing basketball.

This relates to someone’s idea of what “sportsmanship” should look like. I like to sleep at night and not lie in bed reliving a nightmare finish because of a poor coaching decision turning a sure win into a loss that the organization will need therapy over. When that happens, a coach may not have the same leverage with the players. Doubt will rule. I don’t need that. I need the players to play with confidence.

31 CLUB

It was slim pickings this week for the 31 Club with only six entries on seven games. Ella Runyon of Hill-Murray topped the list with 37 in the loss to Mahtomedi on Thursday. This was her third time on the list this season. The best player with pp100 and 31 Club score was Lilly Meister of Rochester JM with 35 and 141.7. Orono had two players make the list. The unknown entry this week was Catherine Hooley of SPA. She had 31 on the nose in the win over Cristo Rey Jesuit. At #304 on the QRF SPA has plenty of unknown players.

STREAKING

Who is hot? Who will stay hot through March? Will any of these four be state champ?

AAAA: 16 Rogers
AAA: 12 Becker
AA: 15 Pequot Lakes
A: 24 Hayfield

UNDEFEATED

The one and only—–Hayfield.

AAAA: none
AAA: none
AA: none
A: Hayfield

RANKED

Not one bit of change here this week. It will be altered next week.

AAAA 100%
AAA 100%
AA 90%
A 20%

QRF

I have completed the top 60 teams (so far) according to the QRF. The biggest fish out there is #61 Pequot Lakes. Of the 14 teams still left two remain in AAAA; one in AAA. Why is this important? Generally, the bigger classes have the same tournament dates. Since I am tied to a AAA team, that means my calendar will be booked already on those dates and I need to see the bigger schools as soon as possible before the window closes on them forever. The concern is that there are six bubbling under 100 which could slip in and ruin my plans. That means the postseason viewing will be feasting on AA & A teams. 14 left with a potential of 18 dates prior to the state tournament means the top 100 is a possibility, but with the endless churn, as soon as #98 is completed they drop to #102 and a new #98 arises. Top 75 will happen.

1-10 100%
1-25 100%
1-50 100%
1-75 93.33%
1-100 86%
1-125 75.2%

SEEDING THE STATE

Minor changes. #2 and #3 in AA both lost to AAA teams this week. Didn’t change their position. TMB replaces defending A champ Minneota from section 3 in class A.

AAAA

1. Hopkins (6)
2. Chaska (2)
3. Michael-Albertville (5)
4. Maple Grove (5)
5. Stillwater (4)
6. Rosemount (3)
7. Lakeville North (1)
8. Centennial (7)

AAA

1. Becker (5)
2. Holy Angels (6)
3. Paul Como Park (3)
4. Austin (1)
5. Mankato East (2)
6. Grand Rapids (7)
7. Totino-Grace (4)
8. Willmar (8)

AA

1. Minnehaha (4)
2. Holy Family (5)
3. Goodhue (1)
4. Fergus Falls (8)
5. Pequot Lakes (7)
6. New London-Spicer (3)
7. Albany (6)
8. Norwood-Young America (2)

A

1. Mountain Iron-Buhl (7)
2. Hayfield (1)
3. Mayer Lutheran (2)
4. Hancock (6)
5. Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (3)
6. Cass Lake-Bena (8)
7. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (5)
8. New Life Academy (4)