Happy Thanksgiving with a High Five and a recap of Blaine/Champlin Park.
D1 HIGH FIVE
Paige Bueckers, UConn, Hopkins 29
Ayoka Lee, Kansas State, Byron 23
Adalia McKenzie, Illinois, Park Center 18
Somah Kamara, Tennessee State, Cooper 15
Jayda Johnston, Eastern Illinois, Roseville 6
Paige Kindseth, Presbyterian, Farmington 6
TOTAL: 91
A tie for the fifth slot opens up two new names for this list. Add in Somah Kamara and half are newcomers. But the familiar faces line up the top including two former Miss Basketballs in Bueckers and McKenzie. The only non-AAAA player on the list is Lee from Byron.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: BLAINE 71, CHAMPLIN PARK 49
You could count the number of games last night on one hand. Even Three-Fingered Brown, a pitcher back in the day for the Cubs, could count them on one hand. I chose to head to Blaine to see a NW Suburban contest with Champlin Park. The Rebels had been out twice this season with a narrow 66-62 loss at White Bear Lake on Monday. This was Blaine’s first outing. I selected this game as the best of the bunch, but the Bengals blasted the Rebs by 22, 71-49. Oddly enough, that was the closest margin of the three games. The 22 point differential masked a wider margin closer to 30 for most of the second half.
Early on Blaine established the rhythm of the game with leads reaching nine points in the first half (24-15). The Rebels then scored seven unanswered points to close the gap to two. The half time score was even closer at 27-26. That blew up at the start of the second half. Blaine roared to a 15-2 start in the first five minutes of the second half. That included three &1 chances. The fouls piled up for CP with seven in the first ten possessions of the half. The widest spread was 56-28 with seven minutes left.
Of the four factors fouls and turnovers were key in the Blaine victory. Blaine attempted 24 free throws or one for every 14.83 touch. CP lagged behind at 22.35. The touches per turnover were clearly in Blaine’s favor. CP coughed it up every 9.5 touches; Blaine at 15.48 (but their starters at 23.67). My goal was to be north of 30. That shows good decision making and being strong with the ball.
Senior guard Katelyn Wozniak of Blaine led all scorers with 24 points. In addition to that, the future St. Thomas track athlete (400) was a member of the 41 Club with a score of 42 and a pp100 of 126.3. She was helped by nine transition opportunities off the press, half court defense or d boards by others.
Blaine figures to be in the hunt for section 7AAAA along with Anoka and Centennial. The Bengals are still without the services of Mara Holle. She should be cleared early next week. That will provide them with a deeper bench.
There were no High School Point paraders last night. Wozniak was closest with 24 (25 is the cutoff).
TODAY
There is no Thanksgiving high school games. The same cannot be said for D1 action. I hope you can enjoy the day, eat heartily and be thankful for the chance to follow girls’ basketball.
HS action resumes on Friday.