All Iowa Attack Mauro vs Kingdom Hoops 7-24-11

2011 NORTH TARTAN MELTDOWN

HOPKINS H.S.

7-24-11  10:15 A.M.

ALL IOWA ATTACK MAURO vs KINGDOM HOOPS

1^st Half

After getting a bowl of Lucky Charms and a cold Pepsi into me for Sunday breakfast I got myself settled in at Hopkins H.S. for the mid-morning tilt between the All Iowa Attack Mauro team and Kingdom Hoops Elite based out of Ankeny.  This looked to be an interesting game and I was thinking that this might be a day where the All Iowa Attack could really shine. 

Initially, All Iowa Attack started well enough.  McKenzie Piper out of Iowa City West made a free throw after being fouled at the 15:42 mark and Jessie Pauley from OABCIG (her hometown is Ida Grove if that helps) drained a “3” a few seconds later to give Randy Mauro’s team a quick 4-0 lead.  But, like yesterday, AIAM promptly went flatter than my groundstrokes (which is saying something because I hit the ball flat a la Jimmy Connors) and simply couldn’t get much going offensively.  Kingdom Hoops Elite crawled right back into things as Maddie Manning scored at the 14:31 mark and then KHE took the lead at the 13:33 mark when Maddie Muhlenbruck drained a “3”.  AIAM then decided it was time to wake up on this beautiful Sunday morning after all as Pauley hit her second “3” at the 12:46 mark.  AIAM was able to build an 11-8 lead thanks to post Alyssa Johnson’s work inside.

But right back came Kingdom Hoops Elite.  Sierra Michelis scored at the 9:18 mark and Courtney Owens scored at the 8:15 mark to forge a 12-11 Kingdom Hoops Elite lead.  Now it was AIAM’s turn to respond.  Morgan Mauro swished a “3” at the 5:52 mark and a 14-12 AIAM lead.  Johnson then got inside at the 4:06 mark to score and was fouled in the process.  Her two freebies made it 16-12 AIAM.  KHE was able to tie the score at 16-all thanks to both Manning and Michelis but then it was Taylor Shull’s turn to get her scoring groove going.  A layup at the 2:19 mark got AIAM to 20-16 and Morgan Vandersloot scored with just :48 left on the clock to provide a bit of a cushion at 22-16 going into the halftime break.  Maybe this was the spark that AIAM needed to open up the second half. 

2^nd Half

Unfortunately, though, for AIAM, their hopes of trying to build a lead and coast the rest of the way to ultimate victory went straight to Kingdom Come.  KHE proceeded to go on an unbelievable 22-0 run to start the second half and it was largely in part due to Maddie Manning being on fire after the break – simply unstoppable at times.  It was a trip to – well – hell for AIAM as they proceeded to not only go stone cold from the outside but couldn’t get the ball into Johnson inside either.  Manning started the deluge at the 14:47 mark with a “3” and KHE tied it up at 22-all at the 14:30 mark.  KHE took the lead for good at the 13:44 mark when Manning drained a graceful-looking “3”.  Manning would stick another dagger into AIAM’s heart at the 11:15 mark with another trey and then finished off a transition opportunity at the 10:44 mark.  At 9:07, Manning scored a lay-up and was fouled in the process and the ensuing freebie made it 38-22.  KHE got one more score with a steal and lay-up before AIAM finally put a halt to the 22-doughnut whiplashing and scored at the 8:40 mark when Johnson finally got inside and finished.  AIAM would make a brief run and cut the KHE lead to 42-29 but they would never get any closer as KHE was able to eat enough clock and get enough scores to earn a comfortable 49-33 victory.  It was a puzzling downward spiral for the AIAM team in this game; particularly when things looked so promising for them at halftime.  But as Taylor Shull’s mother told me towards the end, this is a team that has its ups and downs and the downs are eerily familiar to a submarine dive.