Here is my news and notes for the week of Jan 13-Jan 22. There has been a lot going on and I am a little late in this article beings the number of games and weather. The Hanson Classic was a big success with some great games, a couple upsets and some players having big days.
1000-point scorers this week were a plenty:
Rianna Fillipi scored her 1000-point vs Winner. She is a Senior at Lennox.
Haleigh Timmer scored her 1000-point vs Lead/Deadwood. She is a junior.
Halle Heinz of Ipswich scored her 1000 point against Groton. She is a junior.
Hannah Parsley broke the Flandreau career scoring mark of 1267 points. She is a senior.
Congrats to these girls on these accomplishments.
Game recaps: O’gorman beat SF Washington in an exciting game. Some fireworks in that game as former teammates played against each other.
SF Roosevelt had a big upset over SF Washington early this week. If you have been reading my articles, I felt Roosevelt was a young team with good guards. When they start gelling, they would be a tough out. Looks like that is happening.
Hanson Classic review: Bridgewater/Emery beating Langford was the upset I did not see coming. BE has been a little Jekyll and Hyde all year by playing well and then struggling. Good to see them play well.
Another upset was Parkston beating Hamlin. Hamlin really struggled scoring in this one. I’m not sure if it was youth/stage of Corn Palace, but they just could not get into a groove. Hand it to Parkston, they gutted this one out. Played scrappy defense, balanced scoring, and maybe just wanted this game a little more. Should be a big confidence boost for the Trojans
Sioux Falls Christian scored enough to beat Sioux Valley. Sioux Valley played well enough, but just couldn’t get enough stops and depth played into their loss. Sioux Valley is young and still learning the game a little here.
Ethan vs Faulkton was the most lopsided game. Cameryn Logan for Ethan had a big day and Ethan controlled this game the whole way. Ethan looks to be a handful again and will be moving up in our new rankings.
STM and Mccook Central played a good game. STM just caused a little more defensive trouble and that was the difference. MCM had a chance in this game late, but just couldn’t put things together. Jacy Pulse had a big game for MCM. Haleigh Timmer had a good day for STM with the bulk of her points on layups and cuts to the rim.
White River vs Corsica Stickney was a very good game. Both these teams really seemed to struggle in the early part in scoring. It was low scoring and almost sloppy. Then both teams settled in and started working the ball. Raven Barse had a big day for CS as she was a force driving middle lane. White River answered with Remedy Morrison scoring 16 with some strong inside moves. Caelyn Valandra-Prue had a good day also. Unfortunately, CVP had a gruesome knee injury and the staff at SD Jr All-Stars wishes her good luck on her recovery. She will be back next season and better than ever.
Winner vs Lennox was the highlight game. This one went back and forth with several lead changes. Winner was on the brink with a 10-point lead to put it away, but the Orioles fought back and made some stops to climb back in and take the lead. We felt 4 players would have a big day here and they did. Madysen Vlastuin was spot on cutting and shooting through Winner’s zone while Rio Fillipi was doing her thing. Rio did get into foul trouble and that held Lennox back a little in the fourth qtr. Bella Swedlund was held back for a while, but she was dishing, and teammates were hitting threes to pick up scoring. Swedlund got going nailing NBA style three’s and dishing dimes to her teammate Kalla Bertram who finished very well.
A couple big games this week include SF O’Gorman vs RC Stevens. Big one. I’m going to try preview this one Friday/Sat and hopefully view it if weather allows.
Harrisburg had a couple big wins and is playing well also.
Corsica Stickney vs Ethan will be a battle and will tell us who probably is the new number one in that class as Desmet dropped one this week.
No break for Lennox or Winner as Lennox plays West Central and Winner goes to a very tough place to play in Pine Ridge.
MCM will face Flandreau, SF Roosevelt and RC Stevens will be a great game, WC will play STM, and tons more games. I’m hoping to pick some of these up and have a recap Sat/Sun.
