Best of AAA
2 games Tuesday, 2 on Wednesday. #1 Orono (25-4) vs. #5 Alexandria (26-4) and #2 Holy Angels (26-3) vs. #3 Winona (25-4) in Thursday’s semis. No big surprises unless it’s Heaven Hamling’s foul troubles that sabotaged Grand Rapid’s chances. What…
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Continue Reading2 games Tuesday, 2 on Wednesday. #1 Orono (25-4) vs. #5 Alexandria (26-4) and #2 Holy Angels (26-3) vs. #3 Winona (25-4) in Thursday’s semis. No big surprises unless it’s Heaven Hamling’s foul troubles that sabotaged Grand Rapid’s chances. What else stood out in AAA?
MVP—Eden Nibbelink had to do it all for Winona and she did against the aggressive play of the DeLaSalle Islanders. De led most of the 1st half, and outscored Winona off turnovers 27-12. (Nibbelink contributed only 2 of Winona’s 20 turnovers.) So that was a lot to overcome. Winona only caught up at 47-44 on a 3 by Serena Lor (on an assist by Nibbelink) at 11:44. After that it was cat and mouse. Nibbelink hit a 3 to make it 52-44 at 7:13 and added 3 rebounds and another assist the rest of the way.
For the day she had 16 points, 10 boards, 4 assists, 4 blocked shots and 2 steals. Every one of them necessary to the cause.
Best Play—Well, I’ve written a whole post (almost) about it so I’ll just say “K.P.” Oh, OK, just in case that doesn’t ring a bell, I mean Kaye Paschke’s dribble drive from the left wing to score the winning bucket at the final buzzer in Alexandria’s 46-44 win over Grand Rapids.
Best 3-Point Offensive Performance—Madison Gehloff, Waseca, 4-of-5 3s, 17 total points.
Best 2-Point Offensive Performance—Natalie Smaron, Orono, 8-of-11 2-pointers for 16 points.
Best 1-Point Offensive Performance—Tori Andrew, Orono, 7-of-8 FT en route to 26 total points.
Best Defensive Performance—Smaron 4 blocks and 2 steals.
Best Player Off the Bench—You mean, aside from Paschke? Well, Winona’s Emma Dalenberg played a few more minutes and came up big in almost as close of a game. The back-up big had 4 points, 5 boards and a steal in 13 minutes—again, many of them coming in the latter part of the 2nd time, sometimes known as “crunch time.”
Best Intangibles—So, let me think, when you say “Cool as a cucumber”—c’mon, now, say it, “Cool as a cucumber,” again, “Cool as a cucumber,” thank you—who do I think of? Well, I think of Holy Angels point guard Megan Thompson. Now, don’t get me wrong, she can get a little bit feisty, it’s just that feisty in her case means a furrowed eyebrow. And, not that Holy Angels-Waseca was nearly as physical as some of the other AAA games, like DeLaSalle-Winona, for example. I think there will be more than a furrowed eyebrow tomorrow. But the point is she kept her sometimes emotional teammates, well, she and coach Danny Woods, under control, more or less. Oh, and scored 16 with 10 assists and 4 steals. If “sneaky” is an intangible, then she is all the more so, more the intangible girl, that is.
Best Under-the-Radar Performance—You mean, besides Paschkes? And beside Dalenberg maybe? Another one was Alex Walker of Holy Angels, who hit 2 3s in the 1st half when Holy Angels was having trouble scoring and Waseca was starting to heat up from long range. Walker helped offset Waseca’s hot shooting when the Bluejays might have created a little separation otherwise.
Best Underclassmen—Destinee Oberg, 6-2, sophomore, post, Holy Angels, rated #1 among the 2019s in the state. And, yet, she takes a lot of heat. She’s 6-2, she’s supposed to be good. She should be better. She should wash and wipe the dishes, too. OK, sure, her motor sometimes runs a little low. She needs a little rest, a little more than she usually gets, maybe. And then there’s this—she only scored 7 points today! OMG! Of course, she added 14 rebounds, 6 assists, a block and 4 steals. So, rather than whining about how she should play more like Candace Parker, let’s just say she had a pretty good game, she was the 2nd best player on the floor for her team (after Megan Thompson) and she contributed pretty well to a state tournament win. Most players would get a lot of credit for a performance like that. Oberg? Should have done more? I’d say, did a lot! Did enough! And, let’s all come back and see what happens next!
Best Rebounder—Numerically Olivia Travis, DeLaSalle junior post, was best with 15. On the offensive end, Travis was best with 7. On the defensive end, Oberg with 11.
Best Quote—Macy Hatlestad described Kay Paschke as “just a ball of energy, she can go from zero to 100 in a second.”
Best Coaching Decision—Down 44-42 at 12:15 Winona coach Tim Gleason gave starting guards Maria Apicelli and Justine Schultz a rest and brought in fresh and more active defenders in Casey Moger and Serena Lor. Moger hit a pair of throws and Lor a 3 but more importantly De did not score while the 2 were out there. It was 49-44 Winona when they left and Winona never trailed.
Best Passer—Destinee Oberg knows how to get the ball to a teammate by bouncing it off the floor! Who knew that you could do that? Did I mention she had 6 assists?
Best Catch and Shoot Shooter—Madison Gehloff.
Best Environmental Enhancement—Holy Angels band. It was a tiny little band, maybe 25 pieces, and it was/is excellent. It played an understated national anthem that was as precise and as clean as a whistle. Every note when and where it was supposed to be.
Best Fan Support—Waseca, by far. 8 busloads, I was told. It sounded like it. Though I must say that their attire left something to be desired. Many of their (younger) fans were wearing reflective vests, and most of them looked like they’ve been out on a highway crew for about, oh, 50 years.