Spectrum Outlasts Mora in the Second Half: Game Recap/Five Takeaways

Last night Prep Girls Hoops Minnesota was in Elk River to watch the Spectrum Sting take on the Mora Mustangs in an early-season non-conference matchup that at the half was quite the matchup, but not so much in the end. <strong>Recap</strong> This game was deadlocked at the half at 25 as it was anyone's game. Mora as a team that didn't have a star presence depended on solid showings from <strong>Anna Athey </strong>(2021), <strong>Jaiden Robb </strong>(2022r) and others to stay in the game. As for the Sting, they got a great start from <strong>Abby Thompson</strong> (2020) who lead all scorers with 7 points in the first half even though she struggled through the middle and the end of the half with her outside shooting. She blossomed in the 2nd half and at one point scored more points than the entire Mora team and ended her night with 21 points, with 14 in the 2nd half tying the total amount of points Mora had in the 2nd half. Another strong performance from the Sting came from <strong>Adrienne Foell</strong> (2021) who chipped in double digits with 10 points as well. Those two alone scored 31 points, while Mora's whole roster scored 39 in the entire game which is why the Sting got a strong win, 55-39 over the Mustangs of Mora. <strong>Five Takeaways</strong> <strong>Stockriser: Now On My Radar</strong> <strong>Adrienne </strong><strong>Foell </strong>(2021) was not a player I had on my players to watch list from my preseason team preview on the Spectrum Sting but now is a player to watch in the MCAA. She offered a great 2nd option with Abby Thompson and was a key player in the victory over Mora last night. <strong>Only Double-Digit for the Mustangs</strong> That nod goes another 2021 prospect Mora's <strong>Anna Athey</strong> as she led the charge for the Mustangs offensively. She was key as far as getting rebounds and giving the Mustangs some good second-chance points against the Sting defense. <strong>Play of The Game</strong> My favorite play in last night's game in Elk River was on a fast break when <strong>McKenna Ritter</strong> (2022) used her excellent court awareness to find <strong>Adrienne Foell</strong> (2021) for a key lay in to punch the Sting's ticket to victory against the tired Mora defense in the 2nd half. <strong>Key Contributors for the Mustangs</strong> 11 points may not sound like much to some, but good contributions from <strong>Peyton Oslin </strong>(2021) and <strong>Jaiden Robb </strong>(2022) was the equivalent of almost 29% of the Mustangs scoring yesterday. There is a lot of potential from the Mustangs class of 2021 and 2022, to say the least, so Oslin and Robb should feel proud of their young contributions to the Mustangs roster. <strong>But Seriously, How Good is Abby Thompson?</strong> Sitting currently in the 134th spot of our 2020 rankings is <strong>Abby Thompson</strong> of Spectrum. In what I saw last night, the Hamline commit has a great potential to push closer to 100 with her 21 points she had in the game last night. She didn't just score at will in the 2nd half last night, she did "other great things besides scoring," Coach <strong>Cory Hund</strong> told PGH Minnesota after the game. Thompson is also the happiest player I've ever watched play the game of basketball even after the physical, aggressive play the Mustangs brought on Tuesday night in Elk River. Spectrum (2-0) will head north to Braham (1-1) who got a win against McGregor on Monday, 44-30. Mora (1-1) will go back home to play Moose Lake-Willow River (1-1) who features 2022 PGH Minnesota prospect <strong>Natalie Mikrot </strong>who is averaging 23 ppg for the Rebels and should be a tough matchup for the Mustangs. &nbsp; &nbsp;