Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 6-26-13

Here are the results of last night's games over at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League.  It was a full night and there were several very close; very good games:

5:00 P.M. Games

Winona State - 49
Concordia St. Paul - 41

UST Grey (Green Shirts) - 52
UST Grey (Black Shirts) - 31


5:55 P.M. Games

St. Cloud State - 51
GAC Alumni - 41

ARCC Alumni - 38
Golden Eagle Alumni - 36


6:50 P.M. Games

Hamline #2 - 32
SMU - 29

Winona State - 56
Northwestern - 37

NSU/SDSMT - 49
Augsburg - 36


7:45 P.M. Games

The Graduates - 66
Jamestown Jimmies - 60

GAC #1 - 39
St. Scholastica & Others - 34

UST Purple - 59
Team Sorella - 53


8:40 P.M. Games

The Misfits - 63
GAC #2 - 44

Royals - 45
St. Kate's Gold - 26

Macalester Basketball - 35
St. Kate's Purple - 33


9:35 P.M. Games

CSB - 45
Anoka-Ramsey - 38

St. Olaf - 41
Mayville - 37

Hamline #1 - 43
UW-River Falls - 42  OT


The drama on this night really didn't get going until the 5:55 slot of games where the Anoka-Ramsey Alumni team held off a strong challenge from the Golden Eagle Alumni team in a game that was tight from start to finish.  The Gustavus Alumni team dug itself into a canyon; trailing 23-2 early on but rallied to make things interesting in the second half; getting to within single digits before falling to a very talented St. Cloud State team.  The 6:50 slot of games saw the Hamline #2 team fighting off SMU in a nip and tuck affair while all of the 7:45 P.M. games were all very good games.  The Graduates recorded a tough 66-60 victory over Jamestown while the multi-talented UST Purple team held off Team Sorella in a bruising affair.  The best one in the 8:40 slot was Macalester's 35-33 win over the St. Kate's Purple team as the 'Cats had two chances late to send the contest into overtime but could not convert on their last two shot attempts.  The two notable games in the 9:35 P.M. nightcaps were St. Olaf having to hold on for dear life to stave off a determined Mayville team by a final count of 41-37 and Hamline's exciting 43-42 overtime win over the UW-River Falls team that saw the sensational Jordan Sammons make some key plays and steals in critical moments to help her Piper squad get the victory.

With the 4th of July next week, the league will take the week off and resume on Wednesday (7-10-13).

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 6-19-13

Here are the results for the games I was able to catch last night at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League:

5:00 P.M. Games

SMU - 46
Augsburg - 32

Royals - 48
St. Olaf - 20


5:55 P.M. Games

The Misfits - 71
St. Kate's Purple - 31

Hamline #2 - 57
St. Scholastica & Others - 33


6:50 P.M. Games

NSU/SDSMT - 43
GAC #2 - 18

ARCC Alumni - 44
GAC #1 - 43  OT


7:45 P.M. Games

Mayville - 46
Macalester Basketball - 32

UST Grey - 59
Team Sorella - 36

Golden Eagle Alumni - 44
UW-River Falls - 32


Game of the night from my watch was the interesting clash between Anoka-Ramsey Alumni and the Gustavus #1 team as both squads battled to a standstill at the end of regulation tied at 41.  A "3" from the left wing by Allison Ballstadt was the difference that allowed the former Anoka-Ramsey players a hard-fought overtime win.  The UST Grey squad (along with the UST Purple squad) continues to look incredibly impressive and their romp over Team Sorella solidified that notion.  Another good makeshift team to watch their is the Golden Eagle Alumni team which scored another win this week with their victory over UW-River Falls.  All three of the 8:40 games looked to be very competitive by the time I had to leave last night right around 9:00 P.M.  Only downer on this night was learning of the untimely passing of the great James Gandolfini.  RIP.

Next week Wednesday (6-26-13) I'll be able to cover ALL of the games on tap that night as I'll have a nice four-day weekend in front of me (yee-hah!).

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Tuesday 6-18-13

Here are the results of the games from the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League that I was able to catch last night:

5:00 P.M. Games

St. Cloud State - 61
CSB - 33

UST Purple - 61
Northwestern - 30


5:55 P.M. Games

UST Grey - 37
GAC Alumni - 33

Winona State - 34
Anoka-Ramsey - 15


6:50 P.M. Games

Golden Eagle Alumni - 65
Hamline #2 - 40

Royals - 61
Macalester Basketball - 48

Mayville - 41
The Misfits - 40


7:45 P.M. Games

The Graduates - 61
Team Sorella - 58

Jamestown Jimmies - 68
Old Tymers - 51

Concordia St. Paul - 54
Winona State - 31


No overtimes last night but some very good games nonetheless.  The UST Grey team appeared to be in firm control of their contest with the GAC Alumni team before the former Gusties mounted a serious comeback bid that fell short.  Game of the night was easily the contest between Team Sorella and the Graduates.  Team Sorella was up by as many as seven points late but The Graduates made some key plays down the stretch to help steal a "W" on this night.  UST Purple team continues to impress; looking incredibly strong as did Concordia St. Paul in their win against Winona State.  Actually, the Winona State group did triple duty last night for the most part; playing not only their two scheduled games but also helping out with another team that was short on players.  

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Wednesday 6-12-13

Here are the results for the games I was able to catch last night (Wednesday 6-12) at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League:

5:00 P.M. Games

The Misfits - 50
Royals - 36

UST Grey - 75
Northwestern - 30


5:55 P.M. Games

St. Olaf - 34
ARCC Alumni - 32

St. Kate's Purple - 41
SMU - 40


6:50 P.M. Games

UW-River Falls - 54
St. Kate's Gold - 47

Hamline #1 - 33
GAC #2 - 22


7:45 P.M. Games

Hamline #2 - 44
GAC #1 - 43

Golden Eagle Alumni - 47
Augsburg - 40

Team Sorella - 66
Jamestown Jimmies - 45


The two 5:55 P.M. games were both fun to watch as the St. Kate's Purple team was in a tight one with the St. Mary's squad and came out with a 41-40 victory.  St. Olaf's Elise Raney snared an offensive rebound for a putback before the buzzer to give the Ole team a nail-biting win over the Anoka-Ramsey Alumni team.  The 7:45 game between the Hamline #2 team and the GAC #1 team was a nip and tuck affair throughout with several lead changes before the Piper squad eeked out a 44-43 win.  I had to leave at halftime of the 8:40 games but the game between the UST Purple squad and St. Cloud State was close after the Tommies had initially opened up a sizable lead.  Macalester had battled back from being down 10-0 early in their game with St. Scholastica & Others and the Mayville vs NSU/SDSMT game was a close affair as well.

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Tuesday 6-11-13

Here are the results for the games I was able to catch on opening night at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League:

5:00 P.M. Games

UST Purple - 62
GAC Alumni - 34

UST Grey - 53
Anoka-Ramsey - 32


5:55 P.M. Games

Old Tymers - 58
The Graduates - 57  OT

Northwestern - 43
CSB - 40


6:50 P.M. Games

The Misfits - 51
St. Scholastica & Others - 24

Macalester Basketball - 41
ARCC Alumni - 37  OT


7:45 P.M. Games

Winona State - 58
Team Sorella - 47

SMU - 43
Mayville - 36

UW-River Falls - 48
St. Olaf - 39

Game of the night, IMHO, was the match-up between Old Tymers and The Graduates.  Leading late in the overtime session, The Graduates appeared to have things locked up but the former Minnesota State players somehow pulled a rabbit out of their hat to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.  The Macalester Basketball squad also had to go to an extra session to hold off the Anoka-Ramsey alumni team.  Northwestern had to hold on for dear life after a furious comeback by the CSB team fell just short.  The two UST teams looked very strong on this opening night. 

Also, I only got to stay for the first half of the 8:40 games and watched the two St. Kate's squads in action; ironically against the two Hamline squads that were there as well.  Both teams have a lot of new faces and the St. Kate's squads are incedibly athletic and talented; albeit very young.

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League

After much anticipation, the Midtwon YWCA Women's College Summer League gets underway tonight!  The first two weeks feature games on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights before settling into the normal Wednesday night schedule (no games on 7-3-13 however). 

There are some interesting teams in this year's version.  St. Schololastica & Others is a new entrant along with another squad called Team Sorella (your guess is as good as mine on that one) along with the Misfits and Golden Eagle Alumni.  Then there are also the squads that have been in this one before (and have done a lot of damage as well) such as The Graduates and the Old Tymers.  UST, GAC, Hamline, and St. Kate's each have two squads in this year's league which is great to see.  CSB, Northwestern, SMU, Augsburg and St. Olaf have teams in there as well.  And the DII side is represented strongly as well with Winona State, NSU/SDSMT, and Concordia St. Paul.  And let's not forget the community college side with Anoka-Ramsey; one of the perennial powerhouse programs in the country, in this mix as well.  What's so neat about this league is that you often get match-ups that you just don't normally get to see which is always a treat.  All in all, this should be very, very interesting to say the least.

Naturally, I'll be there to bring you the results of as many games as I can cover along with some interesting tidbits of each evening as well.  This should be a blast!

North Tartan Kuppe Practice Park Center High School 5-14-13 7:00 P.M.

Made the run over to nearby Park Center High School last night to take in the practice session for the North Tartan 13U team led by Jake Kuppe who just recently was named the new Head Girls Basketball Coach at conference rival Champlin Park High School.  Kuppe is assisted by Charlie Schaub; a very knowledgeable basketball guy who just happens to have three daughters involved in the game; two of them that are at this practice tonight, in fact:  Danielle; an 8th grader who is on the team and current Park Center sophomore Hannah who is playing on the North Tartan Herbrechtsmeyer (sophomore) team and is helping out tonight with the practice.  The team consists of:

Allison Gerard W  Champlin Park
Danielle Schaub G  Park Center
Ann Simonet G  Park Center
Michayla Hayes P  Park Center
Cecile Keiger W  Woodbury
Dee Dee Winston G  Hopkins
Sara Teske W  Apple Valley
Terri Carda G  Lakeville North
Erin Navatril W/P  Albany
Carman Backus P  Chisago Lakes

This team placed 9th in Nationals in 2012 and was also state champs last summer as well and will be the number one seed in this weekend's State Tournament to be held at Bloomington Kennedy and Bloomington Jefferson High Schools.

Kuppe begins this practice having the team get loosened up with various light-running and stretching drills to get them ready for the main course.  The first drill the team does is a passing drill on the edges of the lane that is also modified to incorporate bounce and overhead passes; so essential when you're working in the paint.  Next, Kuppe has his team work on lay-ups off of inbounds passes and then modifies the drill to have the team start in the perimeter area.  Kuppe wastes no time in picking up the intensity of this practice as he is constantly barking out, "Look sharp!  Let's go, let's go!"  This drill is then modified again that incorprates mid-range jumpers. 

Next, Kuppe has his group do a "shell"-type drill which has the team running various offensive plays and sets.  The emphasis here appears to be positioning and setting proper screens off of passes and ensuring that players come off correctly from the screen that's been set for them.  A bit later, Kuppe uses four players to emphasize the importance of motion in the offense and how it's supposed to be run.  After a short water break for the team, it's then time for some good ol' 5-on-5 work and it's here that you can really see the intensity pick up.  Kuppe - "We kind of laid an egg at the Qualifier Tourney a couple weekends ago; we weren't intense enough.  We hope to rectify that this weekend."  After a well-deserved water break, this group is at it again but this time they are using nearly the full court as this gives the guards; particularly the all-important point guard, an opportunity to see the floor better and survey out the defense.  Kuppe stops the team in action from time to time to point out flaws and how to correct them but the intensity level does not drop one iota.

After another well-deserved water break, Kuppe has his team work on inbounds passing that is directed by Charlie Schaub.  Kuppe, however, is not pleased at the beginning of the drill by the screens (or the lack thereof) his young group is attempting to set and excoriates the lack of effort.  "Set screens on inbounds plays!!" he shouts.  "Do I have to make it any clearer?!!"  He goes on, "Don't let them (the defense) push you around.  Hold your ground!"  The team definitely gets the message and they proceed to get physical.  After about 10 minutes of this work, Kuppe then wraps things up with some more 5-on-5 work; but this time where defensive cohesiveness is emphasized and Charlie Schaub is right there encouraging the defense to guard the ball and be ready to make that steal or create a turnover.

Afterward, Kuppe seems pleased with his team's practice on this night.  Maybe never perfect but Kuppe feels confident his squad is ready to make good on the number one seed they were given.  "We're trying to teach them to be physical" he states and it appears that they're well on their way to getting to that point.  While it's always a bit risky to predict the future success of eighth-graders, you can definitely see that this team has potential to do well; not only at the state level but at the National level as well.