Suddenly, Suspense at 2019

<p>I talked to coach Ken Theisen and also to forward Kallie Theisen of the Crossfire Theisen Monday last week at the Tartan Meltdown. They had just absorbed a tough loss to an undersized but super hard-nosed, physical and athletic Tartan TRU. After a 3rd place finish at the AAU after winning the title in 2015 and 2016, and a couple other tough losses in June and July, the Crossfire were sitting at about 28-12 (coach Theisen’s guesstimate) compared to 44-4 a year ago.</p> <p>Kallie offered that “we’re not surprising anybody anymore. They know what we want to do, and they’re making it a lot harder for us to score inside.” I don’t want to say that Ken or Kallie was down, but they knew that they hadn’t met their own expectations. And, there were nothing but tough, tough games before the season would come to an end.</p> <p>Less than a week later, it was the Crossfire closing out the season on a big high. They followed the TRU loss at the Meltdown with a Monday night win over All-Nebraska Attack 10th Elite 51-48, then surprised Fury 2019 Blue, to whom they lost in the AAU tournament, 46-41.</p> <p>But, that was nuthin’ compared to what they accomplished at Battle of the Best in Ames, IA. First came a 4-0 record in Pool A with wins over the home-standing AIA 10th NIKE 58-57 and a 41-37 shocker over AAU champions North Tartan 10th EYBL. Then, in the bracket came the real shocker—Crossfire Theisen 38 North Tartan 9th 36. This is the same Tartan team that beat their sisters at Tartan 10th 62-31 Tuesday at the Meltdown. Like you, we immediately wondered if Paige Bueckers was in uniform for Tartan 9, and we have been assured that she was.</p> <p>CFT and NT 10 EYBL were tied at halftime, but CFT pulled ahead by as many as 8 in the 2nd half. Kallie Theisen had 21 points, 12 boards and 6 blocks. Taylie Scott had 11 points and 5 assists.</p> <p>Next time out, AIA had a 4 point lead and the ball <strong><em>with 10 seconds left! </em></strong>Taylie Scott got a pick out of the full court press and fed Hannah Purcell, who drained a 3. After a foul and missed FT by AIA, CFT had the ball in the backcourt with 3 seconds left. After a timeout they got the ball to Theisen at half court and, incredibly, she was fouled going up to shoot a three at the buzzer. With no time left on the clock, she missed the first one but made the next two for the one point win. Hannah Purcell led the way with 20 points and 9 rebounds, Scott had 11 points and 5 assists, Kaylee Nelson 12 points and 5 rebounds, and Theisen with 13 points, 14rebounds and 6 assists. </p> <p>In the finals against North Tartan 9, Crossfire led by one at the half. CFT built the lead to 8 in the 2nd half and held on to win by 2. Theisen had 12 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks while Purcell had 16 points and 10 boards.</p> <p>Over 6 games, Theisen averaged 14 points, 11 boards and 4 blocks, Purcell averaged 13points and 8rebounds, and Scott 8 points and 4.5 assists. Coach Theisen added that, “Overall, the team played excellent defense led by Kallie (Theisen) and Kaylee (Nelson) and did a great job holding teams to low point totals in the tourney."</p> <p><strong>The Case for Tartan 10th EYBL</strong></p> <p>But, against these late breaking heroics, Tartan 10th EYBL can boast of year-long excellence. To be honest, Tartan’s 2019 team had been pretty mediocre in past years, and so they came into the AAU Prelims as the #4 seed. They lost to Fury 2019 Blue, as expected, in the pool, but surprised Crossfire Theisen’s 2-time defending state champs 52-43 to move up a notch to #3.</p> <p>The fact is they had seriously upgraded their roster, adding no less than 5 new players. Coach Melissa Guebert attributed much of their success to the addition of point guard Anna Harvey and wing Frannie Hottinger, both of whom brought a big injection of energy to the club. She called Hottinger, in particular, an “energy girl.” Not only that, but Hottinger, who has generally played inside, has been learning to play the 3 and that, Guebert said, is a big adjustment.</p> <p>They also added some serious size with 6-2 post and rebounding machine Mykel Parham; inside scorer Liza Karlen, who simply moved up from Tartan’s 2020s; and Makayla Johnson. I mean, this is a team that had Lauren Glas in the post 2 years ago. Finally, coach also said that returning guard Sara Scalia, always a great shooter, had suddenly really grasped the mental game and was making better decisions.</p> <p>And, so, in the AAU Tartan upset #2 Stars Nelson 49-39 and #1 Fury Blue by the outlandish score of 46-29. Now, they were running on cruise control.</p> <p>But, suddenly, came a 62-31 thrashing by Tartan 9th in their division final at the Meltdown and then the loss to Crossfire in Ames. NT 10 was then scheduled to play arch-rival Fury Blue for 3rd place but the game was scheduled 4-and-a-half hours after the championship game and 2 teams decided forego the game and head for home.</p> <p>Frankly, if Tartan had played and lost that game, they would have dropped out of the #1 slot. If they had played and won, the would have stayed in #1. But, they did neither. Now, what the heck are we supposed to do?</p> <p><strong>In Summary</strong></p> <p>In summary, North Tartan 10th Elite went 4-2 against Crossfire Theisen, Fury 2019 Blue and Stars Nelson, and won the AAU championship. Crossfire Theisen went 4-3 against the “big 4” with that big, big win over NT 9. Who is your pick for #1?</p>