I saw parts or all of 5 girls games at the Community Clash at St. Micheal-Albertville today. I did not see Andover defeat Cambridge-Isanti 52-42 nor St. Louis Park hammer Waconia 86-58 as Kendall Coley and Reagan Alexander scored 18 and 17 for the Orioles.
Chaska 75 St. Michael-Albertville 67
I admit to having picked the home team to win this game, but that was before I learned that Kendal Cox is out with an ankle injury. Coach Kent Hamre expects her back and hopes she'll be back in about a week. In the meantime, it was 3-on-3. OK, that's not fair. There were others on both sides who contributed. But on the scoreboard it was mostly:
• Mallory Heyer, Kennedy Sanders and Kaylee Van Eps for Chaska, combining for 67 points on 23-of-45 shooting including 4-of-7 3s, 19-of-38 2s and 17-of-23 FT. Everybody else made 3-of-15 FG and didn't shoot at FT. Heyer had 11 of Chaska's 33 rebounds.
• Tessa Johnson, Kenzie Kramer and Emma Miller of St. Michael scored 57 points on 23-of-40 FG, including 9-of-16 3s and 14-of-24 FG but just 2-of-2 FT. Everybody else made 4-of-17 shots including 0-for-8 from long range. The Knights ran down 26 rebounds.
In a nutshell, St. Michael outscored Chaska on FG 63-58. But, Chaska got the ball inside a lot more and a lot better, resulting in 23 trips to the FT line (they made 17) while St. Michael made 4-of-5. Chaska won the battle for 2nd chance points 15-3. Chaska did a nice job defending Kramer who got off 12 shots and did not get to the FT line.
Meanwhile, Mallory Heyer had her way inside in the 1st half (11 points, 5-of-9, scored 4 times off the offensive glass) as St. Michael played a lot of zone. Note only that, but Chaska torched the zone with 5-of-9 3s. St. Michael defended both a little better in the 2nd half, going mostly man. Heyer scored 15 but that was due to a faster pace--she needed 15 shots to do it.
It was a game of runs. 1st 13-13. Then 15-0 Chaska for a 28-13 lead. Then status quo to the end of the half. Then 20-8 St. Michael to tie it up at 49-all. Then 14-2 Chaska, then 11-2 St. Michael to get back within 65-62 at around 3:30. They had the ball with the 3 point deficit twice but clanked a pair of 3s, and it was never a one-possession game after that. Then 10-5 Chaska to the buzzer.
Becker 71 St. Croix Lutheran 61
St. Croix Lutheran really stayed with Becker today. Julia Bengtson scored 19, Adeline Kent 16, and Courtney Nuest and Megan Gamble 15, and the Bulldogs made 8 3s and 16-of-20 FT, all of which sounds like a recipe for a Becker blowout. But, nobody else scored more than 2 for the Bulldogs.
Meanwhile, St. Croix got 21 and 17 from the Hauge sisters, Luci and Laura, and just enough help to stay close. It was 32-29 late in the 1st half when we're sorry to report that Clara Avery went down with what looked like an ACL. By half-time it was 38-29 but it was 58-53 at 5 minutes and 67-59 at 3 minutes.
A free throw late in the 2nd half was Courtney Nuest's 1,000th point.
Later yet, Becker ran some clock. Becker coach Dan Baird told me last fall that Becker doesn't have a stall, that we always keep attacking. Well....
Monticello 60 Minnehaha 50
The Minnehaha girls went to Caledonia Friday night and won easily. They then stayed to watch the 'Haha boys thrash the Warriors in front of the totally packed and frenzied house. They got home after midnight. Coach Matt Pryor hoped they would have find some energy today, maybe some adrenalin, after the big night out. Well, it didn't happen.
Mia Curtis was Mia Curtis with 23 points but she got called for a variety of carries and charges and different stuff and fouled out with about 5 minutes to go. At one point, Curtis slammed the ball to the floor after a foul call. It was on the far side of the court and I was in the top row of the far stands, and I could hear the referee yelling at Curtis to "pick it up. Bring me the ball." Coach Pryor came out to try to intervene and then I could hear the referee yelling at coach Pryor. I don't know if I've ever heard anything quite like that ever.
But, bottom line, Minnehaha just doesn't have the firepower to score enough points when Mia Curtis is not even more Mia Curtis than she was today. Kate Pryor was the second option with 14 points but spent considerable time going in and out of the game with a recurring bloody nose.
And, not to take anything away from Monticello, for whom Anna Olson was really Anna Olson at her very best today, scoring 28 points, almost all right down low, powering through double and triple teams, using two and three feints before going up, and all without traveling. She's strong and determined and has the footwork for the job. Meanwhile, guard Lauran Zwack, giving up 3-4-5 inches, harassed Curtis most of the way. And, Morgynn Spears, who didn't even score, nevertheless came off the bench in the first half when the Magic were struggling and gave them some energy with her defense, ball-handling, rebounding and you name it.
Still, passing and ball-handling were in fairly short supply in this one, but Monticello just had a little bit more.
Big Lake 67 Osseo 63
I saw the 1st half here as Big Lake took a 39-25 lead. I was surprised it ended up as close as it did. Big Lake's 1-3-1 zone with 6-foot Caela Tighe at the top badgered Osseo during the first half, though the Orioles must have made some adjustments. In addition to her defensive role, Tighe scored 20 and guard Mia Huberty 21 for the Hornets. Jaiden Kline scored 23 for Osseo, mostly in the first half on a series of dipsy-doo drives into the lane from the top of the key.
Rockford 79 Holy Family 72
Finally, I saw the 2nd half of this one. Rockford was ahead all the way but never comfortably. They don't play to protect their lead, nor do they have the ball-handling or passing skill to run the clock. So they attack and, even near the end, kept putting up quick shots. So, Holy Family was never out of it. Sydney Manthana scored 23 for Rockford, while 5-11 9th grader Sophia Hall scored the same for Holy Family, several of them on breakaways. She is really, really quick and is one of those kids with a knack for disappearing and leaking out for that easy basket. She can really motor.
Community Clash Girls All-Stars 5 games
Center Anna Olson, Monticello, 6-3, senior, 28 points
Forward Mallory Heyer, Chaska, 6-2, sophomore, 26 points
Point Guard Kennedy Sanders, Chaska, 5-7, freshman, 22 points
Combo Guard Tessa Johnson, St. Michael-A., 5-10, freshman, 28 points
Shooting Guard Mia Curtis, Minnehaha, 5-10, senior, 23 points
2nd Team
Forward Kaylee Van Eps, Chaska, 6-0, junior, 19 points
Forward Caela Tighe, Big Lake, 6-0, junior, 20 points
Point Guard Julia Bengtson, Becker, 5-9, junior, 19 points
Combo Guard Kenzie Kramer, St. Michael-A., 5-10, senior, 15 points
Shooting Guard Sophia Hall, Holy Family, 5-11, freshman, 23 points
3rd Team
Forward Luci Hauge, St. Croix Lutheran, 6-0, senior, 21 points
Forward Jaiden Kline, Osseo, 5-11, senior, 23 points
Forward Megan Gamble, Becker, 5-11, junior, 15 points
Point Guard Mia Huberty, Big Lake, 5-8, junior, guard, 21 points
Combo Guard Adeline Kent, Becker, 5-8, sophomore, 16 points
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