North Tartan, on balance, not unhappy

<strong> </strong><strong>Among the Juniors</strong> North Tartan remains in the running for possible state championships in all 4 of the top age groups and overall the Tartan folks seemed to be pretty happy. What made them happiest was North Tartan Herbie’s (after coach John Herbrechtsmeyer) revenge win over Fury 2019 Yellow 61-41 on Friday night. Herbie is rumored to have stomped out of a seeding meeting when the Yellow got the last of the top 8 seeds and Herbie’s team did not. But his team ended up expending an awful lot of energy just getting to the Elite 8 and that’s where they ran out of gas. So, no, Herbie was one North Tartan guy who was not happy. In fact, nobody was happy that his team, as the #9 seed, had to play #1 North Tartan Coury in the quarter-finals, and Herbie was not happy with the play of his bigs in that game. Olivia Lane (Pequot Lakes), Frannie Hottinger (Cretin-Derham Hall) and Kallie Theisen (Wayzata) all took the ball inside successfully. Jadyn Hanson (St. Michael-Albertville) and Ashley Gustavson (Mankato East) held their own against Coury’s more celebrated guards, but it was nowhere near enough, as in 68-30 not enough. The only question about Tartan Coury is if they have enough brainpower on the bench to get the job done. Their coaching staff consisted of Gerard Coury, Greg Dietel, Melissa Geubert and Peter Scalia. I dunno. You tell me. Herbie followed up with another loss to #4 Suns Kietzer 45-30, and this time it was the guard play that was the difference. Mimi Schrader (Wayzata) dominated throughout. She was the only player in double figures with 20 points. Hanson and Gustavson were going a million miles per hour for Tartan, while Schrader never actually looks like she going full-speed. Changing speeds and hands and directions is her game. She puts more moves together in to a dribble drive than anybody—behind the back, crossover, spin, hop step. You name it, but chalk it up. <strong>Then there’s the 8ths</strong> The other Tartan people who were not thrilled on the day included Peter Scalia, whose team also had to play a higher-rated sister team in the quarters. Tartan Contreras took it easy on Tartan Scalia, leading 31-8 at one point before coasting to a 56-36 win. Amber Scalia didn’t score until the 6 minute mark of the 1^st half but ended up as the game-high scorer with 16 points. But Contreras had too many weapons with Tessa Johnson, Amaya Battle (Hopkins) and Ari Gordon all in double figures, while Alayna Contreras (Hopkins) scored just 4 but showed the best-rounded guard skills. I wouldn’t want to put too much pressure on 8^th grader Amber Scalia (Stillwater) but my goodness, she reminds me of somebody, if I could just come up with the name…. <strong>And, then there’s Paige Bueckers’ team</strong> Unlike Herbie, Heat coach Bill Hinck got one of the top 8 seeds in the prelims, and he could probably tell Herbie that’s no picnic either, though his team put together a heck of a half against North Tartan 10^th EYBL or North Tartan Starks. (Or North Tartan Bueckers. Whatever.) Coach Hinck tells me his team was within 4 late in the 1^st half, and trailed by 10 at the half. I saw the 2^nd half, which was all Tartan. Paige (Bueckers, Hopkins) got hot and then everybody got hot and Heat Hinck ran out of gas. Tartan’s quickness on defense is really a deal-breaker for opposing offenses, whether they turn you over or not. Here they got a ton of deflections and caused the Heat to work so hard that they completely ran out of gas down the stretch. Bueckers scored 16 and Lauren Jensen (Lakeville North) 12. Nyamer Diew (Worthington) and Vanessa Alexander (St. Michael-Albertville) were tough inside. Alexander in particular is starting to show the aggression that SMA coach Kent Hamre has been looking for, and probably coach Starks as well. Amee Sheforgen (Cambridge-Isanti) and Jordyn Allen (Heritage) scored 6 for the Heat.