Eden Prairie dominates Apollo to win Game of the Week #9
As works of art go, this was more Paint-by-Numbers than Picasso, but when you are relearning how to paint within the lines every victory feels like a masterpiece. No, it wasn't pretty, but it was a W for the Eden…
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Continue ReadingAs works of art go, this was more Paint-by-Numbers than Picasso, but when you are relearning how to paint within the lines every victory feels like a masterpiece. No, it wasn't pretty, but it was a W for the Eden Prairie Eagles Wednesday night as they defeated St. Cloud Apollo 88-65 in the Northstar Girls Hoops Game of the Week. The game didn't go exactly according to plan for Eden Prairie's first-year coach Ellen Wiese, but it was close enough.
“I certainly thought we would win; I didn't think we'd score 88,” she said. “I was disappointed how sloppy it was. I'm not sure how many turnovers we had but it was too many… There was no rhythm, no flow. We just couldn't keep the game clock going, which was kind of depressing, but we did what we had to do.”
It wasn't particularly physical, and neither team was very aggressive, but somehow we were in the double bonus in both halves. That would explain the lack of flow. There were 28 free throw attempts in the first 18 minutes, 64 in total. Of course there tend to be more fouls in a sloppy game, but that's a chicken-and-egg type of thing, isn't it? If Eden Prairie did not have an uncharacteristically bad night at the line, they might have hit the century mark.
Junior wing Lariah Washington gave St. Cloud the lead when she scored the first basket in the first minute. Seconds later it was tied and Apollo never led again. By midway through the opening half, EP was up 21-7 and the lead was 16 at the half. Washington is St. Cloud's best player, an athletic scorer who has greatly improved on the defensive end, as well. Eden Prairie was clearly prepared for her arsenal of weapons. “She got her 23 points but I never felt like she was going to lead them to victory,” Wiese said. “I think she is a fabulous player. She's a very good defender, she's a very good leaper, but one person is not going to beat us no matter how good they are.”
One player who did put her stamp on the game was 6' wing Abby Johnson, who had 14 points. The Eden Prairie junior, who has committed to Nebraska-Omaha, shot lights out. She was 3 for 3 from 3 in the first half and didn't have a ball so much as hit the rim until midway through the second. Apollo must have known Johnson is a shooter, but they expended most of their energy trying to contain 6'2″ post Natalie Mazurek (18 points) inside. “Abby is shooting the ball very well, and her teammates are doing a good job of getting her the ball where she can catch and shoot,” Wiese said. “It helps to have an inside presence like Natalie. If they double her, who are you going to leave open?”
The other Eagle who truly impressed was 5'10″ sophomore Nneka Obiazor. She has been scoring consistently all season, and it's not hard to see why. Obiazor has power and finesse, and she gets to rim in variety of ways. At one point Wednesday, she executed not one, not two, but three spin moves en route to the hole, leaving Apollo's Jessica Timpane no choice but to foul her hard in the lane. Obiazor was also relentless on the boards.
“She's kind of a beast. When she gets in that mode you're not going to stop her,” Wiese said. “Personally I would never take a charge on her. You can step in front of her, but it's at your own peril.” Like many sophomores, she also does a lot of stuff that makes coaches pull their hair out. “That's Nneka!” Wiese said with a laugh. “But she is a finisher. She had 18 and they were all right around the basket.” One Eagle who almost always makes the coach happy is 5'3″ sophomore Abby Jirele, who was a factor at both ends of the floor. She had 4 points, 7 assists and a bunch of rebounds. “I mean she is 5-foot-nothing and she's out there getting rebounds just because of her scrappiness and will,” Wiese said. “I thought she played fantastic.”
Defensively, EP was just too quick for Apollo. They constantly had a hand in the lane. Their length was a problem, which resulted in numerous turnovers leading to transition baskets. In the second half, St. Cloud resorted to bombing threes with little success. Timpane finished the game with 19 for Apollo, while Shelby Phannenstein scored 9 and Ashley Koepp had 8.
The win raised the rebuilding Eagles' record to 9-8, not bad for a team that had fallen into the abyss the past two years. On this night, they looked like a squad with a future, one that will definitely include Nia Holloway, an athletic 5-foot-11-inch 8th grader. She impressed in limited minutes, scoring 8 points and making it obvious she will be a factor in the Class of 2022. “Oh my gosh, her upside is huge,” Wiese said of Holloway, who was playing 7th grade B travel ball one year ago, 6th grade C the year before that. “She has a world of talent and a great work ethic… She is the future.”