8 SUNDAY GAMES FROM THE SUNS TOURNAMENT

The weather outside was more reminiscent of the winter high school season, not the spring club season, unless you are in Nome, Alaska. And with the snowflakes falling the sun was blocked out. But the MN Suns held their early tournament this year, not at SLP, but at StLP. Previous years the event was at Spring Lake Park. In 2018 St. Louis Park was the host. I spent my time on court one, the feature court with mostly 2019s in action. Already there is some shifting of power. And the Suns have improved up and down their teams. I was in the house of the rising Sun as my friend Eric Burdon would say.

As for the day, in games I charted, the MN Stars won three times. MN Stars Amundson won the Big 10 division, the 2019s. The Suns won twice with MN Suns Jefferson, behind a last second drive by Jada Hood, knocked off MN Stars Nelson in pool play. The WI Lakers won twice and MN Fury 2020 Gauntlet won a game. The 2020 should give you an indication they were playing up.

GAME 1: MN Stars Buerman 55, High Impact Turner 51

Lindsey Reps broke a 51 tie with a free throw, and the next possession added another to help MSB edge out HIT.

GAME 2: MN Stars Amundson 61, MN Fury 2020 Gauntlet 53

MSA got a late kick in the first half to lead MF20G by 11 at half (30-19). With 11:35 left they were flirting with the 20 point mark (41-22). The Fury had a furious comeback narrowing the gap to 56-50 with 1:45 left. Courtney Crouch, formerly in the Fury program, then stuck a dagger in the game with three (59-50) with 1:14 left. Time slipped away for any more heroics for the Fury.

GAME 3: WI Lakers 2019 White 84, High Impact Turner 38

GAME 4: MN Fury 2020 Gauntlet 58, MN Suns Kietzer 38

GAME 5: MN Suns Jefferson 49, MN Stars Nelson 47

The only time MSJ led in this game was when the clock showed 0.00. Jada Hood, channeling Arike Ogunbowale, hit a driving lay up to give the Suns their only lead and the win. The Suns trailed by as many as eight in the second half (33-25). Two straight 3s, one by Hood and one by Bailey Reardon narrowed that gap quickly to 33-31. MSN still was able to keep separation, but their offense went bone dry the last 2:19. The Stars then led 47-44. Hood tied it with a three from the right side. Twice in the last minute MSN missed a lay up. The Suns rebounded, through it to the Stars, but the Stars also misfired on a pass setting up Hood’s heroics.

GAME 6: MN Suns Fassett 69, North Iowa Fire Ciochetto 47

MSF knocked down twelve 3s on the day.

GAME 7: WI Lakers 2020 White 49, MN Suns 2020 Bluestar 47

The Suns got off to a fast start holding a 13-4 lead thanks to the hot hand of Zhane Thompson who knocked down two 3s and had eight of the points in the first five minutes. The rest of the game Thompson had six points.  The widest the Suns’ lead got came at 21-9. The Suns offense “set” at that point as they only managed two more points the last six minutes of the first half. The Lakers led at the break 27-23. The Lakers would continue to lengthen their lead in the second half out to 47-40. Overall the Lakers enjoyed a 38-19 surge. The Suns caught their second wind and managed to slice into the lead to 47-46 with 1:42 left. The Lakers went into a delay suffocating any momentum and survived the comeback attempt.

GAME 8: MN Stars Amundson 56, MN Suns Jefferson 51.

MSA won the Big Ten (2019) title holding off another late surge by MSJ. Twice in the first half MSA led by double digits. MSJ cut it to five at half (29-24). MSJ took a 47-46 lead after a Hood lay up with 6:45 left in the game. Brienna Smestad put MSA back in front two possessions later on a dish from Kacie Borowicz. For the next six  minutes MSA milked the time off the clock and held MSJ at bay preventing a repeat of the MSN game.

Category	MN Stars Buerman	High Impact Turner	MN Stars Amundson	MN Fury 2020 Gauntlet	WI Lakers 2019 White	High Impact Turner	MN Fury 2020 Gauntlet	MN Suns Kietzer
Points	55	51	61	53	84	38	58	38
Rebounds	54	35	31	26	41	20	43	22
Turnovers	22	16	13	16	7	16	14	14
2FG%	32.5	32.4	55.6	42.4	67.6	21.9	57.1	31.0
3FG%	13.3	21.4	16.7	35.7	50.0	30.0	10.0	26.3
FT%	75.0	78.6	75.0	90.9	84.6	46.2	38.9	71.4
Bench	17	10	15	35	22	10	29	13

Category	MN Suns Jefferson	MN Stars Nelson	MN Suns Fassett	North IA Fire Ciochetto	WI Lakers 2020 White	MN Suns 2020 Bluestar	MN Stars Amundson	MN Suns Jefferson
Points	49	47	69	47	49	47	56	51
Rebounds	29	31	30	29	23	28	38	37
Turnovers	16	16	14	27	17	19	10	18
2FG%	48.4	39.4	50.0	50.0	54.5	40.0	44.4	21.9
3FG%	31.3	33.3	35.3	37.5	36.8	35.3	12.5	45.0
FT%	50.0	65.2	69.2	40.0	57.1	66.7	90.9	71.4
Bench	17	14	38	1	17	17	12	12

Team	PP100	scorer	Distributor	D stops
MN Stars Buerman	77.5	Veronica Quinn 10	Lindsey Reps 6	Anna Schultz 10
High Impact Turner(1)	70.8	Allie Negen 19	Macy Savela 5	Eve Turner 12
MN Stars Amundson (1)	96.8	Tori Nelson 14	Kacie Borowic 7	Tori Nelson 10
MN Fury 2020 Gauntlet (1)	85.5	Two with 11	Two with 4	Two with 5
WI Lakers 2019 White	150.0	Caroline Strande 18	Three with 6	Three with 8
High Impact Turner(2)	70.4	Kia Tower 15	Four with 3	Macy Savela 5
MN Fury 2020 Gauntlet (2)	98.3	Molly Mogenson 11	Lauren Frost 6	Alyssa Ustby 8
MN Suns Kietzer	64.4	Solana Cushing 10	Abby Mackenthun 5	Jennifer Schaible 6
MN Suns Jefferson (1)	89.1	Jada Hood 13	Shayla Miller 7	Bailey Reardon 10
MN Stars Nelson	87.0	Destiny Oberg 12	Blake Greer 5	Two with 6
MN Suns Fassett	103.0	Ella Berg 14	Megan Diggan 5	Two with 8
North IA Fire Ciochetto	70.1	#12 18	#3 6	#12 7
WI Lakers 2020 White	87.5	Kate Richmond 14	Phoebe Frentzel 5	Phoebe Frentzel 7
MN Suns 2020 Bluestar	77.2	Two with 14	Zhane Thompson 5	Two with 7
MN Stars Amundson (2)	83.6	Macy Nilsen 12	Kacie Borowicz 9	Two with 9
MN Suns Jefferson (2)	76.1	Shyanne Loiland 16	Cheyenne Carter 7	Shyanne Loiland 13

TRENCH PLAYERS:

Game 1: Lindsey Reps

Game 2: Tori Nelson

Game 3: Caroline Strande

Game 4: Lauren Frost

Game 5: Jada Hood

Game 6: Megan Diggan

Game 7: Kate Richmond

Game 8: Macy Nilsen

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Jada Hood