But as to the girls, it was a historic day. #3AAAA Hopkins demolished the defending state champions and #1AAAA-rated Lakeville North 83-64, and it really wasn't anywhere near that close. Then #2AAAA Eden Prairie was manhandled by #2AAA Hill-Murray 59-45, even after EP had opened the game on a 9-3 run. And #1AAA Benilde lost to Bloomington Kennedy 51-49 on a last-second put-back by Kenisha Bell. In other games:
• #1AA Braham edged #2AA Providence 46-45 on a last-second bucket by Austin Eng.
• Eastview beat Orono 55-41.
• Bloomington Jefferson beat Sauk Centre 52-45.
• White Bear Lake outlasted Red Wing 56-50.
• St. Paul Central pulled away from Maranatha 61-45.
• Maple Grove defeated Prior Lake 52-48.
• Osseo hammered Caledonia in running time 73-33.
• DeLaSalle edged Minnetonka 75-67 in 2OT as Tysseanna Johnson scored 31 points including an NBA 3 to tie the game with :05 left in regulation.
Court 2
I was on Court 2. I'll be writing reports on those 5 games and they'll be published on Kevin Anderson's Web site at kjasr.com, along with his reports of the 6 games on Court 1. The games are all eligible to be included in my post The Big Game.
Here are my all-stars from Court 2, where I saw all 5 girls' games.
C- Rochelle Regnier, White Bear Lake 17 pts, 5 reb
F- Tysseanna Johnson, DeLaSalle 36 pts, 6 reb, 2 blk, a steal
F- Katy Winge, Minnetonka 25 pts, 6 reb, 2 blk, a steal
G- Ellen Edison, Maple Grove 11 pts (all in 2nd half), 3 reb, 3 asts, a steal and a block
G- Lenah (formerly Allina) Starr, DeLaSalle 18 pts, 8 asts, 4 reb, 2 blk
My player of the game was different than those selected by the host, Breakdown Sports, in 3 of the 5 games. We agreed on Regnier and Johnson, but they had Stephanie Davison of Maple Grove over Ellen Edison, Jen'Von'Ta Hill of St. Paul Central rather than my choice of Alexis Long of Maranatha, and they had Mikayla Bailey of Osseo while I had her teammate Janay Morton.
The big news includes: Lenah Starr is much bigger and stronger than before (you may remember her with Mpls. North). Jen'Von'Ta Hill is showing some maturity and restraint vs. driving the ball into the paint every touch in the past. Katy Winge is returning from a serious knee injury and is said to be at 80 percent. After today, better make that 90. And according to my buddy Kevin, "Osseo is Janay Morton's team," period. I agree.
And we saw some super mental toughness yesterday from DeLaSalle, Maple Grove and Minnetonka, while one could hope that Red Wing gets mentally a little tougher as the year goes on.
Meanwhile on Court 1
The really big games were on Court 1. I saw snippets of every game and I've seen the box scores. The Court 1 all-stars:
C- Bethany Doolittle, Hill Murray, took maximum advantage of Jackie Johnson's foul trouble
F- Kali Peschel, Sauk Centre, rumored to be a U of M recruit
G- Kenisha Bell, Bloomington Kennedy
G- Sydney Coffey, Hopkins
G- Rebecca Dahlman, Braham
Dahlman is much bigger and stronger and a little less likely to go 1-on-4. That girl from Sauk Centre is really something Peschel. Eden Prairie and Lakeville North were really, really exposed. EP without Jackie Johnson is very ordinary, but then again, what's with Aubrey Davis scoring 1 point? And the Eagles were without super-sub Taylor Uhl, and that didn't help matters. And other than Rachel Banham, the Panthers are all role players.
Among those not listed among my top 5: Kennedy over Benilde was fun because of the young kids on the floor. Kennedy's Jade Martin and Tonoia Wade are bigger, stronger, more confident. Don't be feeling too sorry for coach Percy Wade and his Kennedy team. But Benilde's freshman point guard Grace Coughlin was the real revelation. Observers wondered why in the world she wasn't on the court at the end. Tessa Cichy's game continues to stagnate, while Corrine McCallum is coming on like gangbusters. Hats of to Erin Herman for developing the supporting cast over there. And Eastview plays with an intensity that is darn near frightening, even higher than Maple Grove's level. If they can't finesse you, they're just as happy to do it with a bludgeon though none of those bludgeons is bigger than 5-11.
Diaper Dandies (Soph. or Younger)
| F- Tyseanna Johnson, DeLaSalle, soph. F- Jade Martin, Kennedy, soph. G- Kenisha Bell, Kennedy, fr. G- Lenah Starr, DeLaSalle, soph. G- Rebekah Dahlman, Braham, soph. |
| 2nd Team |
| C- Sade Chatman, St. Paul Central, soph. F- Tesha Buck, Red Wing, soph. F- Alexis Garcia, Hopkins, soph. G- Taylor Stewart, Lakeville North, soph. G- Janay Morton, Osseo, fr. |
| 3rd Team |
| C- Erin O’Toole, Hopkins, soph. C- Onye Osemenam, Maranatha, soph. F- Mikaela Shackleford, Hopkins, soph. F- Phylllis Webb, Osseo, soph. F- Claire Thomas, DeLaSalle, soph. G- Grace Coughlin, Benilde-SM, fr. G- Taylor Anderson, Hopkins, fr. G- T.T. Starks, Hopkins, 8th |
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