Eastview has been to eight straight state tournaments, and they've been to state more than half of the seasons (12) since their founding 22 years ago. But, there will be no state tournament for Eastview in 2020. Apple Valley took out their crosstown rivals 57-43 in the first round of play in Section 3AAAA.
Apple Valley pulled away in the last 9:00 after opening both halves with a lengthy O-fer. In the 1st half, they missed their first 7 shots and fell behind 7-0 and 15-8 before righting the ship and taking a 30-25 halftime lead. They made 10-of-19 the rest of the way while Eastview was just 4-of-9 with 7 turnovers. Apple Valley outscored the Lightning 11-5 off turnovers in the 1st half.
In the 2nd half, the Eagles started 0-for-17. Eastview put a 12-4 run on the Eagles to take a 37-34 lead at 11:00. Madison Reed finally scored off the offensive glass and Apple Valley was on their way. After the terrible start, they made 6-of-12 FG including 3 off of 14 offensive rebounds. They shot so poorly to begin that the offensive boards didn't hardly matter, but eventually they were a big part of the difference. In the 2nd half, Apple Valley got off 30 shots to just 20 for Eastview, and now it was because of the O-boards.
In total, Apple Valley got off 14 more FG attempts and made ten more FT than Eastview, and won the battle of the turnovers and the offensive boards.
Eastview simply lacked the offensive firepower to win in the South Suburban this year. They scored in the 40s or less 17 times in 27 games. Today, Apple Valley played a lot of 2-3 zone, and the pass to the FT line was open all night long. But, nobody for Eastview really wanted to shoot it from 12 to 15 feet in the lane. Nobody wanted the shot the defense was giving. Finally, in the second half, Alexis Plitzkow hit three shots from there, but then she never took another shot from the spot where she had made three straight. Eastview shot 1-for-11 after taking that 37-34 lead on Plitzkow's shots.
Meanwhile, Apple Valley shot under 30 percent from the field, but made 16-of-18 FT.
Kalena Meyers saved the Eagles bacon with 16 1st half points. She shot just 5-of-13 but made 9-of-10 FT. Still, I thought Anna Mutch was the Eagles best player. She scored 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting, but had 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals.
#4 seed Apple Valley moves on to play at #1 Rosemount, to whom they've lost 60-43 and 81-50 already this year, in the section semis.
No comments:
Post a Comment