SUNDAY PAIR FROM SUNS XPLOSION

Usually June means teams crossing state lines to face new teams. Last week those teams were unseen in the championship round. Not so this week as a Wisconsin team, Playground Elite from Milwaukee, took the Suns Xplosion Tournament at Wayzata. PE had the 2018 AP Wisconsin Player of the Year in Shemera Williams and that firepower helped give PE a needed boost at the end of the semis. Yet there was a Minnesota tinge to the victory after all. When I was charting the first game I thought to myself “#45 sure reminds me of Kierra Wheeler of Cooper.” It was indeed Wheeler who was just filling in and has not moved to Milwaukee.

GAME 1: SEMI: WI PLAYGROUND ELITE SMITH 54, NORTH TARTAN 9 SINN 53

In a whipsaw game WPES pulled out a victory after it looked like it had slipped away to the youngsters from North Tartan 9 Sinn. Playground led at halftime 33-23 thanks to quick hits in transition while NT9S prevailed in the half court game. One metric that is getting a lot of love these days in the national press is the amount of passes a team makes—-the 300 desired by Golden State. Using that metric NT9S ruled 256-124. NT9S also “won” touches 331 to 189. Surprisingly NT9S also won bounces 775 to 660. With the PE emphasis on getting to the rim and their proclivity to bounce I expected that number to be reversed. PE did bounce more per bounce attempt 6.8 to 4.97. And as an indication of how tight this game ended up to be, NT9S edged PE in the critical pp100 battle by fractions.

Getting back to the game flow, NT9S pulled in front 43-41 with 4:21 left in the game and that forced a PE time out. It was an 18-10 start to the half. With 1:05 left it looked like NT9S had the game wrapped up 53-48. But three straight turnovers derailed their assumed victory. Williams, who had a day high 24 points in this game, converted on two free throws with 56 seconds left making it a three point game. Williams then scored on a put back to cut the margin to one. Khayma McNeal was fouled after another steal and delivered both free throws for the final scoring. Yet twenty seconds remained. NT turned it over for the third straight time, but PE also coughed up the ball with 8.1 seconds left. NT did get a last second shot off from the right baseline, but it rimmed out only to be a put back after the buzzer. NT was hampered by not being able to use Mara Braun, their leading scorer today, in the last twenty seconds since she fouled out.

GAME 2: CHAMP: WI PLAYGROUND ELITE SMITH 56, MN SUNS 2020 BLUE STAR 50

For the second straight weekend I charted the MS20BS team and for the second straight week they came up in second place. In the semis they knocked off their older sister team MN Suns Jefferson in an emotional civil war type game. That experience may have left them with a low fuel tank at the start of the game. PE was cruising in the first half with a 30-19 advantage. PE claimed the title but had to sweat out a hard charging Suns effort at the end. The lead grew to 44-20 with eight minutes left, so the host Suns outscored their eastern visitors 30-12 down the stretch. PE’s offense took a hit when Williams sat down with five minutes left, and PE up ten. With two minutes left the Suns had narrowed that lead to 52-48. Williams re-entered the game just before the Suns scored to cut it to four. PE took time off the clock and eliminated any opportunity for the Suns to rise again. DeLaSalle’s Nurjei Weems led the Suns with 17 points. Williams and McNeal provided 31 of the 56 PE points.

 

TEAM	POINTS	PP100	2FG%	TOP SCORER
WI Playground Elite Smith	54	82.5	43.75	Shemera Williams 24
North Tartan 9 Sinn	53	82.8	51.00	Mara Braun 19
WI Playground Elite Smith	56	80.0	39.02	Shemera Williams 16
MN Suns 2020 Blue Star	50	70.4	41.66	Nurjei Weems 17

TRENCH PLAYER

GAME 1: Shemera Williams, WI Playground Elite Smith

GAME 2: Khayma McNeal, WI Playground Elite Smith

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Shemera Williams. If National rankings are to be believed, Williams is #42 according to ESPN and the #10 PG. PE needs her on the floor. When she sat against the Suns, PE saw their lead dissipate. Williams is able to get to the rim and can finish with prolonged hang time and body control.