Metro Stars Reiter vs All Iowa Attack Jensen 7-24-11

2011 NORTH TARTAN MELTDOWN

HOPKINS H.S.

7-24-11  11:30 A.M.

METRO STARS REITER vs ALL IOWA ATTACK JENSEN

1^st Half

Was situated and ready to go for this late-morning tilt between one of the local favorites in town; the Metro Stars Reiter team and the All Iowa Attack Jensen team which is comprised of players from Iowa between their sophomore and junior years.  This one promised to be a contrast in styles as Metro Stars Reiter generally likes to get it down low to one of their two big post players while the AIAJ team likes to get out and run and gun and put up the “3”.

MSR would hold the advantage in the early going of this contest although AIAJ was able to keep things fairly tight.  After AnnMarie Healy got MSR on the scoreboard first at the 15:01 mark AIAJ’s Shaya Kellogg out of Ames buried a “3” at the 14:48 mark for a 3-2 AIAJ lead.  MSR would come back to take the advantage and was able to forge a 9-5 lead at the 11:26 mark on Hannah Schonhardt’s basket down low.  But AIAJ would come right back and tie it up at 9-all by the 9:20 mark when Madison Weekly from Benton Community drained a “3”. 

This one would remain pretty close over the course of the next few minutes.  MSR’s Taylor Finley from Providence Academy showed off her three-point shooting skills at the 8:38 mark to make it a 12-9 game in favor of MSR but AIAJ kept hanging in there despite the size disadvantage.  With MSR clinging to a 16-13 lead, AIAJ’s Jadda Buckley out of Mason City swished a “3” to knot things up again at 16-all at the 5:10 mark.  But on the ensuing possession, MSR finally began to open up some distance between themselves and their opponent.  Jackie Johnson let loose with a “3” from the top at the 4:58 mark and Britney Scherbert followed suit at the 3:19 mark.  Then MSR’s Alexis Foley out of White Bear Lake did her share of damage coming down the home stretch of the first half; scoring off the glass with 1:09 left and finishing up a transition opportunity with just :40 left in the first half which enabled MSR to take a 26-18 lead going into the break.

2^nd Half

The run that MSR made late in the first half seemed to break the spirit somewhat  of the AIAJ team as MSR kept on rolling to begin the second half.  Johnson scored inside and was fouled in the process and the obligatory freebie gave MSR a 29-18 lead which essentially set the tone for the rest of the game.  Healy buried a “3” of her own at the 13:09 mark as MSR pushed the lead to 32-18.  AIAJ would try to answer this MSR jolt with a mini-run of their own as Kellogg sank one freebie after being fouled and Mallory Boyle out of North Mahaska got a lay-up at the 11:54 mark.  Weekly would knock down a “3” at the 7:50 mark and an AIAJ transition play followed by a free throw enabled AIAJ to creep back into things as they whittled the MSR advantage to a 34-28 lead.  But from that point on MSR stepped on the gas and was able to get the cushion they needed to propel them into the championship game later on that afternoon.  Foley; who thrives on doing the dirty work down low, snared a rebound and got a putback at the 5:21 mark and then Healy made a beautiful move along the baseline and finished at the 4:44 mark .  Two Scherbert freebies and a lay-up by Schonhardt made it a 42-30 game.  Johnson’s bucket down low at the 2:39 mark helped put the finishing touches on a 52-33 MSR victory.  The east end scoreboard, unfortunately, went on the blink right around the 2:00 minute mark so I was forced to keep track of things on paper the rest of the way.

The victory gave the MSR team a berth in the Championship Game later that day against the tournament favorites – the North Tartan Nike Elite team.  But this MSR team, when it’s clicking on all cylinders, is tough to beat.