Mid-Town YWCA Women's College Basketball Summer League Results For Wednesday 6-29-11

Here are the scores I was able to get from the action last night at the Mid-Town YWCA Summer League:

5:00 P.M. Games

Winona St. - 35
Team Bundle - 24

UW-Superior - 47
St. Olaf - 32


5:55 P.M. Games

Winona St. - 66
Old Tymers - 34

UW-River Falls #2 - 58
Augsburg - 46

UW-Superior - 59
Northwestern - 32


6:50 P.M. Games

UM-Crookston - 62
Team Gray - 48

Hamline - 56
GAC Black - 42

SMU - 65
Hamline/St. Kate's/Bethany - 45


7:45 P.M. Games

Anoka-Ramsey Gold - 42
Knight Train - 29

MN Jaguars - 43
Sweet Sensation - 29

Concordia St. Paul - 53
CSB - 37

Had to leave at the half of the 8:40 P.M. games that saw St. Cloud St. leading UST at the break and Minnesota St. leading GAC Gold at the half as well.  But the game I was intrigued with (and WISH I could have stayed the whole game for) was the contest between Anoka-Ramsey and the GAC Alumni team.  This one went back and forth for much of the first half before the Gustie Alumni began to gain an edge down the stretch.  True, they had some help from current Gusties Steph Comer and Colleen Ruane but the Alumni were holding their own with the younger Anoka-Ramsey squad and veterans such as Katie Layman, Kenzie Consoer, Molly Kelly, Erin Luemann, Lindsay Koldan, and Bailey Vendelanotte all made significant contributions in the first half. 

Also was good to see UW-Superior Coach Don Mulhern in attendance watching his team in action and former St. Kate's standout Ashley (Busch) Linsmeier who was there watching her younger sister Abby who plays for Winona St.

Mid-Town YWCA Women's College Basketball Summer League Results For Wednesday 6-22

Here are the results from the games I was able to catch last night at the Midtown YWCA Womens College Summer League:

5:00 P.M. Games

SCSU - 55
CSB - 41

UST - 44
GAC Alumni - 31


5:55 P.M. Games

Northern St. - 49
GAC Gold - 45

Hamline - 49
Hamline/St. Kate's/Bethany - 30

Team Gray - 57
SMU - 43


6:50 P.M. Games

St. Olaf - 50
GAC Black - 34

UM-Crookston - 65
Knight Train - 12

Team Bundle - 51
Augsburg - 23


7:45 P.M. Games

Anoka-Ramsey - 52
UW-River Falls 1 - 48

Sweet Sensation - 69
Rams - 49

UST Freshmen - 64
GAC Black - 51

Caught part of the 8:40 P.M. games before I had to head out.  At the half of those games, Anoka-Ramsey Gold led UW-River Falls #2 35-21 and in the other game going on the Old Tymers led Northwestern College 36-10.

North Tartan Nike Elite Coury vs Metro Stars Reiter

AAU Summer Jam

Red Lake North 15/16/17U Championship

North Tartan Nike Elite Coury vs Metro Stars Reiter

Bloomington Jefferson High School

6-19-11

1^st Half

Got over on the other side of town to Bloomington Jefferson a little before 2:00 P.M. that allowed me to catch a good portion of the North Tartan Nike Elite’s team come-from-behind win over Minnesota Stars Taylor that set up this championship game against the Metro Stars team coached by Steve Reiter and assisted by Minnesota State-Mankato standout Sarah Wiens.  This had the look of an entertaining battle shaping up and you had to wonder how much gas in the tank Gerard Coury’s North Tartan team would have left after battling the Minnesota Stars in the previous semifinal game.

The answer was A LOT.  North Tartan got off to a fast start in this one as Marissa Janning snared the opening tip and raced to the hole with a lay-up and a quick 2-0 lead.  A bit later on the ensuing possession, Mariah Monke bullied her way inside and scored and then Braham’s superstar Rebekah Dahlman poured in a “3” from the left corner shortly thereafter and before Steve Reiter’s team knew what happened they were already down by a touchdown.  Still, the Metro Stars took a deep breath and made an answer of their own.  Ann Marie Healy from Providence Academy got the Metro Stars on the board at the 14:31 mark and then Britney Scherber; feeling right at home on her own Bloomington Jefferson floor,  cut North Tartan’s lead to 7-4 at the 13:49 mark.  Then White Bear Lake’s Alexis Foley helped the Metro Stars creep to within a point of the North Tartan team when she hit a jumper to make it a 7-6 game and get the contest on more even terms.

North Tartan would maintain a bit of an edge thanks to Dahlman’s two freebies at the 12:39 mark and Kali Peschel’s one freebie shortly afterward but the Metro Stars would soon pull even in this one.  Taylor Meyer of Farmington cut North Tartan’s lead to 10-8 with her finish inside and then Foley; despite being a southpaw, finished with a sweet right-handed layup that knotted things at 10-all at the 11:04 mark.  Then, things got a bit rough – physically anyway – for the Metro Stars; particularly for Edina’s Katybeth Biewen who took two hard shots in the span of less than a minute – one from Dahlman and one from Tessa Cichy; the latter that got Cichy to the line to sink a pair and forge a 12-10 lead for North Tartan.  Meyer would knot things up again at 12-all with her score at the 9:39 mark. 

Then it was time for North Tartan to really kick things in gear as they proceeded to go on a 13-4 tear over the next three minutes.  Joanna Hedstrom knocked down a “3” at the 9:25 to start the North Tartan artillery barrage that featured Peschel, Dahlman, and Cichy that gave North Tartan a 25-16 lead.  But Metro Stars would again stop the bleeding and get on a run of their own.  Meyer completed a three-point play at the 4:50 mark and then Scherber connected with both a long two-pointer and a layup that cut North Tartan’s advantage to 25-23 by the 4:09 mark.  And, once again, North Tartan would maintain a slim advantage coming down the home stretch of the first half with the lead bobbing back and forth from anywhere to two points to as many as six.  Foley would cut the North Tartan lead to a scant point at 31-30 when she buried a “3” with 1:27 left and North Tartan would only have a 34-32 advantage at the break but more ominous signs pointed ahead for the Metro Stars when Biewen picked up her fourth foul with just :46.3 remaining.

And it didn’t take long after the second half began to see how this game was going to go.  North Tartan would get on yet another run but this time the Metro Stars would not be able to answer.  Dahlman started things off by scoring inside at the 15:46 mark and scoring in transition as well just 30 seconds later.  Janning then drove inside and finished at the 13:49 mark and then Peschel drained a “3” (her specialty) at the 12:45 mark.  Khadijah Shumpert then got inside and scored at the 12:21 mark to bulge the lead to 45-34 that really set the pace for the rest of this championship game.  Dahlman was practically unstoppable in the second half as she buried “3’s” at the 10:47 and 9:25 mark that sandwiched a Hedstrom “3” at the 10:15 mark.  Monke found her way inside on the suddenly porous Metro Stars defense at the 8:43 mark and finished and now Gerard Coury’s team was comfortably out in front 60-41. 

The Metro Stars, to their credit, didn’t quit.  They were just out-athleted on this day – and minus a key player in Eden Prairies Jackie Johnson.  Still, Foley was working hard; driving inside at every possible opportunity to either score or draw a foul.  The Metro Stars did cut the North Tartan lead to almost in half by the 5:38 mark but could never get any closer than that.  The last few minutes were pretty much academic as North Tartan closed this one out winning 68-54 and showing why they’re the premier AAU team in Minnesota.       

AAU Summer Jam - Metro Stars Reiter vs MN Stars DeWitt

2011 AAU Summerjam

Bloomington Kennedy H.S.

Metro Stars Reiter vs MN Stars DeWitt

Got myself settled in at the 12:15 mark of the first half at the somewhat hot and stuffy Bloomington Kennedy main gym for the early evening clash between Metro Stars Reiter  (coached by former Blaine coach Steve Reiter) and the Minnesota Stars DeWitt team (coached by Anoka-Ramsey Community College Head Coach David DeWitt.  It was still early in this one but already the Metro Stars team had seized control of the one from the outset and was holding an 11-5 lead when I got myself ready to go.

Trailing 13-5 a bit later, the MN Stars team got a bit of a lift with a much-needed “3” to cut the deficit to five points but any wisp of hope for a comeback was as likely as air-conditioning coming to this venue on this humid evening.  The Metro Stars Alexis Foley who plays her high school basketball at White Bear Lake and is Illinois State-bound drained a “3” at the 9:48 mark that quickly pushed the lead back up to eight.  A little more than a minute later Anne Marie Healy of Providence Academy helped push the Metro Stars lead to 19-8 when she scored inside and was fouled in the process; getting the obligatory free-throw as well.  The bleeding would continue for the MN Stars team; much to the chagrin of defense-minded head coach David DeWitt who wasn’t at all bashful about showing his displeasure during the subsequent timeouts.

Leading 24-12, the Metro Stars continued their assault.  Healy was fouled on a drive inside and canned one of the free throws and then Farmington’s Taylor Meyer followed suite for the Metro Stars team.  Stuck at the 12-point mark for what seemed like an eternity, Hutchinson’s Nichole Wittman finally got to the free-throw line to sink a couple of freebies but it was only a tiny dent by the Minnesota Stars.  The Metro Stars Brittany Scherber of nearby Bloomington Jefferson got two charity-stripe shots herself.  Just before the 3:00 mark, the Minnesota Stars Amber Mehr of Eastview (younger sister of Sam Mehr) got one of the few good looks at the basket her team would get in the entire game and knocked down a pretty jumper but the Metro Stars would get on another run before intermission; punctuated by back-to-back “3’s” by Prior Lake’s Alyssa Eschrich that ballooned the lead to 41-20.  The bottom line in the first half was that the Metro Stars team was pounding the Minnesota Stars on the board; getting several second and third chances and limiting the Minnesota Stars to one shot – and not giving them many good looks, either.  Also, the Metro Stars were getting an abundance of transition opportunities that got them a hunk of easy points.

The Minnesota Stars team obviously got a good talking-to by the ever-vocal DeWitt and at least one player took the scolding to heart – Stillwater’s Savanna Handevidt who powered her way inside and grabbed two of her misses to finally score on the third try to make it a 41-22 game but it would unfortunately be one of the few highlights for the Minnesota Stars in this game.  The Metro Stars picked up right where they left off and put it into high gear and it was Foley who really shined for Steve Reiter’s team in the second half with not only scoring but doing the little things ensuring her team’s success in this game.  She finished a hard drive inside at the 12:37 mark.  After a Scherber “3” at the 10:10 mark, Foley showed how incredibly versatile she really is when she drained a “3” of her own at the 7:44 mark that fattened the Metro Stars lead to 53-27.  But even with her team’s big lead in her pocket Foley was in no mood to let up.  At the 4:10 mark she made a strong drive along the baseline beating every Minnesota Stars defender in the process and finishing off the glass.  Healy helped add injury to insult by finishing in transition at the 1:33 mark.  The Minnesota Stars Alexandra Freeman of Duluth East did nail a “3” in garbage time but this simply was not to be their day as the Metro Stars rolled to an easy 63-36 win.  

Mid-Town YWCA Women's College Basketball Summer League Results For Wednesday 6-15

Caught a good chunk of games at the Mid-Town YWCA facility last night and here are the scores I recorded:

5:00 P.M. Games

Minnesota St. (Mankato) - 46 
GAC Alumni - 26

St. Cloud St. - 48
Northern St. - 39


5:55 P.M. Games

CSB - 29
UW-River Falls I - 12

Sweet Sensation - 55
Concordia St. Paul - 45

GAC Gold - 58
UW-Eau Claire - 58


6:50 P.M. Games

St. Olaf - 53
Team Gray - 30

UW-River Falls II - 43
Hamline/St. Kate's/Bethany - 21

St. Mary's - 51
Knight Train - 43  OT


7:45 P.M. Games

Anoka Ramsey - 51
Rams - 44

MN Jaguars - 61
UST - 24


8:40 P.M. Games

Team Bundle - 62
GAC Black - 41

UM-Crookston - 58
Augsburg - 26


The one 5:55 game between UW-Eau Claire and GAC Gold wound up in an unusual 58-58 tie.  Technically, they gave the "win" to GAC Gold as UW-Eau Claire was one player short at the beginning.  Otherwise, they would have played a 2:00 minute overtime.  A phyrric victory for the young GAC team on an otherwise dismal night for the Gusties.

The 9:35 P.M. games featured Northwestern College vs Anoka Ramsey Gold and Hamline vs Old Tymers but had to get going after the 8:40 games.  UW-Superior and Winona St. had byes this week.  

Mid-Town YWCA Women's College Basketball Summer League

The Mid-Town YWCA Summer League starts tonight and I'll be there each and every Wednesday night (hopefully) to give you what scores I can and other tidbits and info I come across.  Should be interesting to say the least.  A record 30 teams are entered this year and GAC has THREE teams in there - Gold, Black, and an Alumni team as well.

AAU Minnesota Championships - North Tartan Nike Elite vs MN Stars - 5-22-11

AAU Minnesota Championships

North Tartan Nike Elite vs Minnesota Stars

Bloomington Jefferson H.S.

5-22-11

Arrived at Bloomington Jefferson High School in the early afternoon to make sure I had an early seat for the marquee match-up of the day that would take place between North Tartan Nike Elite and the Minnesota Stars.  Both teams had met nearly a month ago at this same venue with the North Tartan team winning handily so it would be interesting to see if the Minnesota Stars would be able to close the gap between themselves and the North Tartan squad. 

But early on in this contest, it appeared that the gap between the two squads had only widened.  Consecutive baskets by Mariah Monke and Marissa Janning gave the North Tartan team a quick 4-0 lead before I could get anything written about this game.  Then, North Tartan lit things up from behind the arc as both Mikayla Bailey and Janning connected with “3’s”.  Tessa Cichy connected on a short jumper and then Whitney Tinjum finished in transition.  Gracia Hutson hit one free throw on a trip to the charity stripe and Tinjum added another bucket and by the 10:20 mark, North Tartan had bested and bullied their way to a 17-1 lead; the only point by the Stars came when Taylor Stewart hit a lone free throw.  Today’s fast start by North Tartan, though, was different in that the intensity level was ratched up several notches today and everyone seemed to get their game going early – and get involved on offense as well.  Despite two freebies by Chandler Nielsen and a score inside by Heather Bowe, the North Tartan onslaught continued for the next few minutes as they were able to open up a 21-5 lead by the 8:13 mark.

The Stars, though, would make something of a push over the last six to seven minutes of the first half.  After Rebekah Dahlman’s slashing drive inside and finish at the 7:17 mark, the Stars finally began to get something going.  Stars standout post player Kayla Timmerman from Wayzata made a pretty move inside at the 6:25 mark that cut the bloated deficit to eleven and then Nielsen, who was very involved in the offense for the Stars in this game, knocked down two shots from the charity stripe that cut the North Tartan lead to 22-13.  But, unlike yesterday, North Tartan did not let up after grabbing a big lead and instead responded quickly to the Stars’ challenge.  Bailey hit two “3’s” in the span of less than 30 seconds  that upped the North Tartan lead to 28-13.  The Stars again made a brief push.  Both Nielsen and Jade Martin connected with pairs of charity stripe shots and then Jessica Hart connected with a “3” from the top of the key at the 3:08 mark to cut North Tartan’s lead to 30-20.  Again, however, North Tartan responded when the Stars threatened.  Dahlman drained consecutive “3’s” and then Shayne Mullaney buried a “3” of her own with just under a minute left that enabled North Tartan to go into the break with another cozy double-digit lead of 41-25.  Actually, given the lack of cohesiveness on offense for the Minnesota Stars, they were very fortunate to not be buried by an avalanche at this point.

Not much had changed by the time the second half had got underway.  Although Allina Starr got her Stars team on the board first in the second half, it was quickly followed up by another North Tartan flurry.  Janning scored at the 15:32 mark and then Monke did likewise on the ensuing possession.  Then it was Dahlman’s turn to shine again after something of an “off” day yesterday.  She finished a transition opportunity at the 14:28 mark and a bit later picked the pocket of an unsuspecting Stars player that eventually got her to the charity stripe.  Then, at the 13:16 mark, Dahlman buried a long “3” and gave the North Tartan team a 51-29 bulge and put the Stars behind the 8-ball.  Bowe, Martin, Nielsen and Hart would make some dents in the North Tartan lead over the course of the next few minutes but by the 10:00 mark North Tartan was still up comfortably 53-37. 

But, like molasses in January, the Stars would find the resolve to make a push coming down the stretch.  Hart scored at the 9:05 mark to cut the North Tartan lead to 57-42 and Nielsen was able to do the same at the 8:28 mark.  Despite yet another “3” by Dahlman from what seemed like it originated from Eagan, Martin again was able to power her way inside to cut North Tartan’s lead to 60-46 at the 8:03 mark.  Timmerman also was able to get a score as well at the 7:20 mark.  But a key moment in somewhat unlikely fashion took place at the 6:23 mark that may have given the Stars the spark they needed as both Dahlman from North Tartan and Martin from the Stars were involved in a brief altercation underneath the Stars basket.  Although no one was “T’d up”, it lit a fire for the underdogs to try and claw their way back into this thing – which is exactly what they did.  Nielsen canned a “3” from long-range and then her backcourt partner, Lakeville North’s  Stewart did the same from the right wing at the 5:32 mark.  Starr made a free throw a bit later and then Bowe  was able to get inside to score and suddenly a shell-shocked North Tartan team found their big advantage whittled down to a scant six points at 66-61 at the 4:18 mark.  

But just when the Stars had perhaps found a lifeline to ultimate victory, their flickering hopes were quickly extinguished.  Hutson scored inside at the 3:29 mark and then Cichy nailed a putback off the glass with one hand for a 70-61 lead.  Despite two more Bowe free throws at the 2:36 mark, the Stars simply could not connect from the perimeter when the really needed it and committed some costly turnovers to boot.  Cichy was able to get one more insurance bucket for her North Tartan team and they were able to get out of Dodge with a 72-63 victory.   

AAU Minnesota Championships - North Tartan Nike Elite vs MN Fury Elite 5-21-11

AAU Minnesota Championships

North Tartan Nike Elite vs Minnesota Fury Elite

5-21-11

Bloomington Jefferson H.S.

Made it over to Bloomington Jefferson High School in the mid-afternoon to get myself situated for one of the two big games coming up on this day – this one being the Minnesota Fury Elite which advanced earlier in the day by beating Minnesota Comets Gold and perennial powerhouse North Tartan Nike Elite with its star-laden roster.  While the match-ups clearly favored North Tartan, I was anxious to see how the Fury Elite team would respond in this match-up.

North Tartan’s Whitney Tinjum’s lay-up at the 15:45 mark got things going in this contest and, despite Orono’s Amie Tunheim answering with a short jumper for the Fury a bit later, things started so much in favor of North Tartan that this one threatened to be a blowout early on.  And it was North Tartan’s Mikayla Bailey who really lit things up in the first half.  Bailey knocked down her first “3” from the right corner at the 14:50 mark that gave the crowd on Court #7 a preview of what they would be in store for in the first half.  Even more disconcerting for Fury head coach Andy Cerisier was that the Fury was having a ton of trouble trying to penetrate inside and having every pass contested on their first few possessions as the North Tartan team brought the heat on defense early on.  Shauna Horsch did score for the Fury at the 11:01 mark to cut Tartan’s lead to 7-4 but that was quickly countered by Bailey’s back-to-back “3’s” that bulged the North Tartan lead to 15-4 by the 8:15 mark. 

Natalie Larson from Cambridge-Isanti connected with a “3” of her own to help her Fury team inch a bit closer at the 7:51 mark but, once again, North Tartan stepped on the gas.  After North Tartan’s Weisz knocked down one shot from the charity stripe at the 6:28 mark, Eden Prairie’s Shayne Mullaney added to the North Tartan lead as she sank a short jumper one possession later that gave North Tartan a two “touchdown” cushion at 21-7.  Strangely enough, where this should have been the point for North Tartan to pull away and build a 20+ point lead, this instead is where things started to unravel a bit for North Tartan as they suddenly decided it was best to put it in auto-pilot mode.  Slowly, the Fury began to inch their way back into things despite a multitude of turnovers that plagued them early on.  Now, it was North Tartan’s turn to turn the rock over on a number of occasions.  And it wasn’t because the Fury was necessarily causing the turnovers; rather, it was the complacency that was slowing the North Tartan surge.  In any event, after Tunheim’s free throw at the 4:58 mark that finally brushed off the cobwebs on the Fury side of the scoreboard, Emily Behrman made her presence felt as she drained a “3” from the top of the key at the 4:14 mark to cut the North Tartan lead to 21-11.  North Tartan would maintain this margin coming down the stretch and made one final push to up the lead to fifteen when Bailey swished yet another “3” with just under a minute left that gave North Tartan a seemingly “safe” 28-13 lead.

North Tartan’s Tinjum started the second half as she did the first; scoring inside that upped the lead to 30-13.  Then, Tessa Cichy, in what otherwise was a quiet day for her, drew some “ooh’s and ah’s” from the crowd as she scored off-balance and was fouled in the process.  The subsequent charity stripe shot gave North Tartan a 33-13 lead at only the 15:31 mark and it seemed like this one would turn into yet another yawner for North Tartan.  Except somebody forgot to tell the Minnesota Fury team though as they suddenly hunkered down and began to execute their half-court offense much more crisply.  Even more curious was that the North Tartan group suddenly seemed to lose focus and intensity – again.  After Weisz scored inside for the Fury at the 13:39 mark, Megan Van Hulzen found an opening in the Tartan defense and connected on a lay-up at the 13:10 mark.  Then Weisz connected with a lay-up with her own and was fouled in the process.  Her free-throw whittled a 20-point deficit down to 13 and this flurry of offense by the Fury had got the North Tartan’s team attention.

The North Tartan team responded by turning up the oven on defense as they forced two five-second calls on the Fury.  Then, Marissa Janning who was quiet in the first half for North Tartan decided it was her time to take control of the team on offense.  She connected on a lay-up at the 11:00 mark and then knocked down another shot and was fouled in the process.  Her free throw again put North Tartan in the driver’s seat with a 38-20 lead by the 10:19 mark.  And, just as before, the Fury was ready to respond.  Waconia’s lanky Lauren Deadrick was fouled while trying to score inside and was able to knock down the two obligatory charity stripe shots.  After Tunheim scored inside at the 8:03 mark to whittle the North Tartan lead to 38-24, Weisz connected with a short jumper less than a minute later that enabled the Fury to get things down to a much more manageable twelve-point deficit.  This, perhaps, was the critical point for the Fury team if they were ever going to get the deficit into the single-digit range.  But both Tunheim and Weisz missed pairs of free throws within a minute and North Tartan’s Janning made the Fury pay for it.  She connected with a huge lay-up at the 4:43 mark and Joanna Hedstrom followed suit with a score of her own that upped the North Tartan lead to 44-29 by the 3:56 mark that was, for all intents and purposes, the game.  Both Horsch and Deadrick missed pairs of free throws for the Fury team that was already on the respirator coming down the stretch.  Dahlman and #23 made some late scores for North Tartan and, in the end, had that 20-point cushion; winning 50-30 although it was done in somewhat unorthodox fashion.  This could easily have been a situation where the Fury could have had North Tartan in a nail-biter coming down the stretch had they not fallen into a hole early on and made their free throws when they had to have them.

Clash Of The Classes Recap - 4-15 & 4-16-11 - At UST

Was at UST's Anderson Athletic Complex on both Friday evening (4-15) and Saturday afternoon (4-16) to take in the Clash Of The Classes All Star Games that featured high school all-stars from classes A, AA, AAA, and AAAA.  While I REALLY preferred the old format of Saturday evening/Sunday afternoon, apparently some folks who live outside of the metro area felt that the Sunday drive back home was just too much.  Whatever.....

The first game Friday evening was the most entertaining of all the games as Class A took on heavily favored Class AAA.  It was the Class A team that got out to a good start in this one thanks to Mountain Iron-Buhl's Charlotte Overbye who had a big part in propelling the Class A team out to an early 15-6 lead before the Class AAA stars had a chance to catch their breath.  The Class AAA team slowly began chipping away at the lead but the Class A team still took a 33-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.  But the AAA team would slowly take charge in the second half thanks to hot-shooting Kaeli Kraska of Totino-Grace and Hill Murray's Bethany Doolittle as they helped the AAA team forge at 47-all tie by the 13:02 mark and then took the lead a bit later on a Kraska "3" at the 12:37 mark.  The home stretch would turn into a "3" point shooting duel as Kraska, Orono's Jena Chuba, Holy Angel's Laura Margarit, Minneota's Ashlynn Muhl, and Fillmore Central's Connor Nagle all put on a dazzling display.  Still, it looked as if the AAA team was in control and to make matters worse for Class A, Northern Freeze's Liza Hoglo went down with an ankle injury (the same one she injured in the opening round of the State Tournament).  Still, the Class A team showed a lot of heart in the waning moments.  Overbye's "3" at the 1:31 mark put Class A back up 79-78 at the 1:31 mark and despite Class AAA regaining the lead momentarily, Muhl had two huge baskets inside of a minute and Class A escaped with an improbable 83-82 win over Class AAA.

The second game of the evening featured Class AA vs Class AAAA and, unlike the first game that was a thrill to watch, this one turned into a romp early on as Class AAAA got it going early behind Woodbury's talented and athletic Michelle Young and Minneapolis South's free-wheeling Sattoria Rule.  Eden Prairie's Morgan Van Riper-Rose helped bulge the lead to twenty on consecutive scores and Class AAAA maintained that margin going into the locker room at the break.  It only got worse for Class AA in the second half as Class AAAA kept rolling enroute to a 91-53 thrashing.

The first Saturday game was the consolation game pitting Class AAA against Class AA.  This one was pretty competitive and again it was Totino-Grace's Kaeli Kraska having a hot hand for the Class AAA team that enabled them to gradually build a lead in this one but the one player who really impressed me in this one was Class AAA's Mariah Clarin of Princeton who was almost unstoppable in the paint and Class AAA had the lead at the half 48-39.  Minneapolis Roosevelt's Kaylani Edwards recovered from her injury the night before and scored early in the second half in an effort to try and get her Class AA team going again.  Hawley's Alli Sanne's nailed a "3" at the 12:32 mark that brought Class AA to within three points of the larger opponent but Class AAA would eventually pull away again getting its margin back up to double digits and coming out on top 96-79.

The Championship game on this day featured Class A vs Class AAAA; an unlikely match-up but intriguing nonetheless.  Class A looked good very early on; grabbing a 5-0 lead on Liza Hoglo's inside shot and Charlotte Overbye's "3" but the Class AAAA team was bigger and faster and simply would not be denied in this one.  Minnetonka's Katy Winge and Lakeville South's Rachel Banham; both fairly quiet the night before made the presence known early on and Michelle Young from Woodbury was as flashy as ever as Class AAAA built a 21-10 lead by the 12:08 mark.  Despite some surges by Class A, Class AAAA maintained the margin at halftime up 43-31.  The second half is where the Class AAAA stars really started putting on a show.  Winge, Van Riper-Rose, Young, Banham and Dockter all had their moments in the limelight as Class AAAA started pulling away.  Still, the Class A team refused to give up as hot-shooting Connor Nagle impressed not only in the "3" point contests at halftime but also in the game as well.  There wasn't much "D" in this contest as Class AAAA won an entertaining 101-81 game.