Recap of MN GBB action from Friday, January 10.
D1 HIGH FIVE
Anna Miller, Drake, Rochester Mayo 10
Shannon Fornshell, Drake, Wayzata 4
Another day of a high duo due to limited D1 action. Both are Drake Bulldogs. Both are AAAA players. Neither made it to state. Miller is a 2021 HS grad; Fornshell 2023. Both have length at 6-3 for Miller and 6-1 for Fornshell.
POINT PARADE-21
Parade starts at 25. If there is a player missing email kja8067@gmail.com
AAAA-6
Katie Boulanger, New Prague 31
Kendal Damon, Forest Lake 30
Rae Ehrman, Eden Prairie 26
Addi Schneider, Chaska 26
M Hernandez, Tartan 25
Katie Kelzenberg, Wayzata 25
AAA-7
Audrey Shindelar, Stewartville 36
Mya Wilson, Hill-Murray 32
Madeline Backer, New Ulm 29
Zahara Bishop, Benilde-St. Margaret’s 29
Samantha Voll, Monticello 27
Regan Juenemann, Crosby-Ironton 26
Cassie Wegman, Delano 25
AA-4
Tori Oehrlein, Crosby-Ironton 32
Kendyl Lodermeier, Goodhue 29
Camryn Vanmaldeghem, NRHEG 27
Leah Wagner, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 25
A-4
Emily Kellen, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 33
Gabby Fineday, Cass Lake-Bena 30
Aubry Steffl, Cedar Mountain 29
Kenzie Dahl, Badger-Greenbush-Middle River 25
MILESTONES-2
Jackson County Central senior Rylie Cother reached the 2000 point mark in a 91-83 win over Windom.
Junior Olivia Downs of Mankato West got to the 1000 point mark in a 67-58 win over crosstown rival Mankato East.
LATE—Ella Kuhlman of North Branch got to 2000 on Thursday when facing Zimmerman.
Also on Thursday Ogilvie’s Kadence Pierce made it to 2000 against Mora.
RANKED RESULTS & Superlatives
Winner High 94 Walker-Hackensack-Akeley
Winner Low 32 Fairmont
Loser High 83 Windom
Loser Low 13 St. Cloud
Biggest Margin +74 Walker-Hackensack-Akeley v Verndale
Smallest Margin +1 Proctor v Cass Lake-Bena
Most Combined: 174 Jackson County Central v Windom 91-83
Least combined: 46 Fairmont v Waseca 32-14
Margins 30 or more 32
Margins 5 or less 12
Average 51.6
Winner Average 65.58
Loser Average 42.74
Average margin 22.84
Ranked Upsets: 3 including #1s Eden Prairie & Goodhue
AAAA
#2 Hopkins 83, #1 Eden Prairie 66
#4 Eastview 61, Eagan 50
#5 St. Michael-Albertville 54, #8 Minnetonka 52
#6 Prior Lake 76, Burnsville 30
#7 Wayzata 73, Buffalo 36
#9 Brainerd 65, Detroit Lakes 16
AAA
#1 Marshall 64, Redwood Valley 24
#2 Alexandria 62, Sartell 32
#3 Monticello 68, Big Lake 27
#4 Orono 90, St. Louis Park 24
#6 Benilde-St. Margaret’s 88, Bloomington Jefferson 33
#7 Mahtomedi 86, Simley 35
#10 Hill-Murray 80, Tartan 47
AA
#2 Crosby-Ironton 92, Cloquet 47
#3 New London-Spicer 87, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 24
#5 Sauk Centre 64, Morris / Chokio-Alberta 38
#7 Proctor 57, Cass Lake-Bena 56
#8 Minnewaska 55, Litchfield 25
Delano 87, #10 Jordan 64
A
Stewartville 77, #1 Goodhue 70
#2 Mayer Lutheran 61, Minneota 46
#7 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 57, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 48
#9 Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 94, Verndale 20
#8 Hancock 73, #10 Underwood 61
ABOUT LAST NIGHT…Hopkins vs Eden Prairie
It was a Lake Conference heavyweight battle with the #1 & #2 team in AAAA duking it out. But it was the Royals that landed an early knock out punch when they scored the first 21 points in a 83-66 victory on the road. The smoking hot start for the Royals included going 7/11 on 3s in the first half including the very first possession of the game when Liv Bell hit a left corner 3. The Eagles were mired in a drought of biblical proportions and didn’t score until 10:38 remained in the half on their 13th possession. Ziwilani Simbeye, off the bench, broke the ice. That brings up the frigid EP start. The Foreigner song “Cold as Ice” could be a theme song for this stretch of time as they misfired on ten of the twelve possessions. For the half EP as a team scored at 63.9 pp100. But their bench delivered an impressive 111.1. Their starters only delivered 48.1. But if we subtract Rae Ehrman, who at that stage had nine points and a 100 pp100, the numbers plummet to 22.2. Brrrrr. Part of the problem for EP was their lack of paint touches with the ball. They only had 19 in the first half to Hopkins 29. The Royals scored on every three touches while EP limped in with eight touches. Hopkins not only shot extremely well with 52% from 2s and 63.6% from 3s, they valued the ball with a 30.6 touches per turnover. Their pressure “grain of rice separation defense” caused the intended havoc and chaos. The speed suited the visitors with three touches or less plays going for 17/27 or 63%.
That game trajectory was flipped in the second half. Perhaps it was that side of the court, perhaps the rims are just a bit tighter–or higher; perhaps the court slopes up (or down). At any rate it was Hopkins’ turn for a drought to start the half—albeit for only four minutes. The results weren’t as severe as EP’s start, but with their struggles on offense and the foul fest that was developing, the Eagles had a glimmer of hope. EP scored the first seven points of the half to make it 51-30. Still a pretty stiff climb out a deep hole. But Hopkins had more fouls (seven) and more turnovers (five) than points (zero). Their pristine ball handling crashed from 30.6 touches per turnover to a substandard, junior high level 9.94 in the second half. Perhaps we can chalk this up to Eden Prairie being more aggressive on both ends of the court. They attacked the basket better getting to the free throw line 25 times in the second half of every 6.76 touches, a significant drop from the 18.4 in the first half. Correspondingly their paint touches skyrocketed to 39. EP also crashed the offensive boards hard. They had 12 o boards better than the 10 second half d boards for Hopkins. The pp100s flipped as well with the Eagles up 110.3 to 82.1. But the foulfest also consumed EP players. Both teams had two players exit with five. Significantly Tori Schlagel was shackled with three first half fouls and eventually fouled out with 6:12 to go. They missed her down the stretch. EP was still staring at a 17 point deficit. It got tighter with the closest margin at a dozen (73-61) with close to three minutes left. But EP didn’t move the ball with a sense of urgency and time slipped away. They also had another drought of six during this period.
The opening and closing belonged to Hopkins by an overwhelming margin 28-2 (21-0 and 6-2 down the stretch). The rest of the game was “won” by EP 64-55. For the game the first half buoyed Hopkins pp100 to 110.7 for the game to 88 for EP. Each team had a 31 Clubber. Consistency and reliability are hallmarks of Lauren Hillesheim who led the Royals with 19 points, a pp100 of 111.8 and a 31 Club score of 33. Rae Ehrmann topped EP and all scorers with 26 points, a 123.8 pp100, and a 31 Club score of 37. Liv Bell for Hopkins had a healthy 160 pp100. Schlagel was hampered all night and struggled to score, being held to five points. She only made one trip to the lane.
THE DAY AHEAD
38 games on tap for Saturday. Multigame events include the Perham Crossover Classic
Ranked on Ranked Action
AA: #4 Minnehaha at #9 Duluth Marshall
Other Ranked teams in action
AAAA: Brainerd, Eastview
AAA: Red Wing
AA: Caledonia; Proctor; Sauk Centre
A: Mountain Iron-Buhl