Was in St. Peter Saturday afternoon to take in the scrimmage between Wartburg from the IIAC and the host Gustavus Adolphus Gusties of the MIAC. First, you'll have to excuse me for not being able to identify the Wartburg players. I did have a roster from their website - unfortunately, it had no numbers associated with the names. I have to admit that I think this is the first time I've been able to get a roster from a school website that didn't contain the numbers. Thanks a lot, Wartburg.
1st Scrimmage
In the first scrimmage, the Gusties line-up was as follows:
Colleen Ruane
Ava Perry
Molly Geske
Eli Benz
Abby Rothenbuehler
In this one, the Gusties got off to a very good start and showed a lot of intensity on both ends of the floor. Rothenbuehler got the Gusties on the board first with a jumper at the 18:18 mark and Ruane got a steal and lay-up the other way for a quick 4-0 lead by the 17:21 mark. A bit later, Geske connected from behind the arc for a 7-0 Gustie lead. The Gusties were able to bulge the lead to 12-2 when Rothenbuehler scored inside again at the 13:56 mark. Finally, the Knights were able to get untracked and make a run of their own. Wartburg's #1 connected with a "3" at the 11:35 mark and again at the 10:57 mark to cut the Gustie lead to 14-8. Then Wartburg's #34 muscled her way inside and finished at the 9:27 mark to trim the GAC lead to 14-10. Wartburg's #1 then got a lay-up at the 8:37 mark to make it a 14-12 game. Then it was time for a Gustie response. Perry scored off the glass at the 8:02 mark and then Geske connected with a medium-range jumper at the 7:09 mark. With 6:02 left, Rothenbuehler made a quick drive inside and finished to build it up to a 20-12 lead by the 6:02 mark.
Then the Knights came right back. After two Knight free throws, Wartburg's #33 made her presence known with "3's" at the 4:17 and 3:33 mark that suddenly tied this one at 20-all. Just when you thought that maybe the Gusties could have been had in this one, Rothenbuehler came to the rescue of her team quickly. She scored inside at the 3:15 mark and then free throws (one by Kelsey Florian and two more by Geske) would give the Gusties the cushion they needed to take the first scrimmage by a score of 25-22.
2nd Scrimmage
The second scrimmage would be a much tighter affair from start to finish. The Knights got on the board first when their big #34 muscled her way inside at the 19:15 mark for a 2-0 lead but GAC quickly countered with a "3" from Geske from the left corner. After a "3" by Wartburg's #1 at the 17:34 mark, Florian tied it at 6-all with her score at the 17:17 mark. The Gusties would build a slight lead at 12-8 after Geske scored inside at the 15:20 mark but the Knights came right back and regained the lead at 14-12 when their sharp-shooting #33 buried a "3" at exactly the 13:00 mark.
But then the Gusties came right back and decided that they could show off their three-point shooting skills as well. Perry knocked one down at the 12:30 mark and then Steph Comer followed suit at the 11:39 mark. Up-and-coming sophomore Britta Rinke then scored inside at the 10:19 mark and then Benz scored in transition with 8:44 left and the Gusties had their largest lead in this one at 22-14. But again, the Knights came right back. Wartburg's #33 AGAIN torched the Gustie defense with a "3" at the 8:33 mark and then Wartburg's #31 scored a lay-up which was then followed by a jumper by Wartburg's #30 to trim the GAC lead to 22-21. But the Gusties would never let the Knights get over the top down the stretch. Another move inside by Rothenbuehler at the 2:24 mark and with :36 left plus some key free throws enabled the Gusties to hang on once again; this time by a score of 29-26.
3rd Scrimmage
Like the first two scrimmages, this one was 20 minutes as well but it featured running time to help speed things along. And, unlike the first two, both teams had their young ones in for pretty much the whole time to see what they could do. Also, the Gusties dominated from start to finish. With the score tied at 2-all, Shelly Blashko nailed a "3" at the 16:37 mark to propel the Gusties on a 18-4 run and a 20-5 lead by the 4:25 mark. The small but spunky Blashko flourished in this one as did GAC's #32 (still don't know her name). GAC's Liz Shay and Whitney Novak were able to notch scores as the Gusties rolled in the final stanza of the day by a final count of 25-7.
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