MELTDOWN DIVISION 1 11 QUARTERFINALS
I was there for the 11th National Division 1 quarterfinals at the Meltdown on Tuesday in Hopkins. There was a heavy dose of EYBL teams with all four winners competing in the top level of the NIKE circuit. And it showed. All four cracked the century mark in the pp100 category. The possession count tended to be lower in all the contests. About the only time any team ran was when there was a steal. DFW ran the most (off steals) with seven. Otherwise this was a clinic in both half court contested offense and defense. The average transition attempts for the day was four. The EYBL national champs from All IA Attack had the best pp100 on the day with 104.7. Next in the rear view mirror was host North Tartan 1.7 points off. The Attack nailed a lucky 13 3s in their win over Fury. NT hit for nine in their win over Team WI. Attack was the quickest scoring team of the day with a point every 4.3 touches. Their Iowa neighbors Kingdom Hoops struggled finding the basket with 8.07 touches per point. Their big gun Zoe Young fell in the first half at 13:36 as she fouled Breanna Beal in an &1 situation. Young left to ice her back and in effect Kingdom Hoops was iced. Young did return to action later in the second half, but the game was near running time territory. That was the only game that was not compelling. Everyone else had to sweat out some closer times. NT trailed at half time 24-21. Anna Harvey hit for 3 to give NT a 40-37 advantage they would not surrender. NT won despite only shooting 29% from 2s (7/24). NT forced a turnover every 14.12 touches and that pulled them through to victory. DFW got as close as 44-42 in the second half before Tree of Life’s JaQuaya Miller connected on a 3 to create some breathing room. The Fury cut an eleven point half time deficit down to three (39-36) but the Attack continually grabbed offensive misses and converted. And the Kayba Laube created the separation on a three after a miss. Attack again had a lucky 13 offensive boards with a lucky 13 second chance points as a result. Take away those totals and the game becomes 54-52. As I have charted previously this summer the leading rebounder on the defensive side for the Fury was McKenna Hofschild with five. She was joined this time by Carly Krsul.
There was one 31 Clubber on the day and her team lost, but she hailed from an EYBL program: Endyia Rogers of DFW Elite. Breanna Beal was one off.
| TEAM | POINTS | PP100 | SCORER |
| North Tartan NIKE 11 EYBL | 60 | 103.4 | Two with 14 |
| Team WI Select 2019 Black | 50 | 86.2 | Lexi Wagner 18 |
| Midwest Elite 17 EYBL | 53 | 101.9 | Breanna Beal 17 |
| Kingdom Hoops 17 Elite | 28 | 54.9 | Maggie McGraw 9 |
| Tree of Hope 17 EYBL | 56 | 100.0 | Jordyn Jenkins 21 |
| DFW Elite 17 NIKE | 47 | 83.9 | Endyia Rogers 20 |
| All IA Attack 17 NIKE EYBL | 67 | 104.7 | Two with 18 |
| MN Fury 2019 Gauntlet | 52 | 82.5 | Three with 12 |
TRENCH PLAYERS
GAME 1: Anna Harvey 14 points, 175 pp100, 4/5 on 3s. 23 in the 31 Club; the only trench player off the bench today.
GAME 2: Breanna Beal 17 points, 170 pp100, 30 in the 31 Club
GAME 3: Jordyn Jenkins, 21 points, 150 pp100, 7/9 on 2s; 26 in the 31 Club
GAME 4: Kylie Feuerbach with 18 points, 180 pp100, 4/6 on 3s; 24 in the 31 Club
PLAYER OF THE DAY: BREANNA BEAL