Riffing on Apple Valley-Eastview
The South Suburban Conference championship, or at least a share of it, is likely to be on the line when these 2 teams meet again to close out the regular season on February 24. And it’s likely they’ll meet yet…
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Continue ReadingThe South Suburban Conference championship, or at least a share of it, is likely to be on the line when these 2 teams meet again to close out the regular season on February 24. And it’s likely they’ll meet yet again with a trip to the state tournament on the line. So, let’s cut to the chase. Which of them is more likely to play for a state championship?
Well, Apple Valley just won on the road at Eastview. So they’re the obvious favorite. But Eastview shot 4-of-24 over 14 minutes of the 1st half, yet came back to make a game of it. What’s the likelihood they’re going to shoot 4-for-24 over 14 minutes again? The honest to goodness truth is that Apple Valley’s not a very good defensive team. Yes, they get up in your face and into the passing lanes and they create some turnovers. But when it comes simply to defending a basket and a shooter, no, they’re not a great defensive team and so, no, it’s not likely Eastview will go 4-for-24 again.
The bottom line may be Allie Pickrain, who has now scored in double figures in just 1 game out of 9 in January. She sat out against Shakopee and scored 13 against Lakeville North. Otherwise, it’s been 8 and 7 and 2 and 7 and 3 and 8 and 3. She doesn’t look to be hurting, maybe she’s been in a lot of foul trouble. She was last night, a little. But you'd think that she has to be hurting with that sudden falloff in her point production, or maybe it's “just” a shooting slump. It's also true that she was productive in other ways. In any event, the wild card when these 2 teams meet again might be whether the old Allie Pickrain is in the house.
Andrea Abrams, 6-0, junior, forward, Eastview
Abrams played some very long minutes against Apple Valley, in part due to foul problems but also because she provides a nice combination of size, mobility and versatility on both sides of the ball. She was effective inside, making 3-of-4 2-point shots and grabbing 5 boards. And she threw 2 assist passes, both from the outside-in. But she settled for 4 3-pointers out on the perimeter, missing all 4. She’s also a solid inside defender.
Megan Baer, 5-10, sophomore, shooting guard, Apple Valley
Baer is the next Sarah Teske/Erin Baxter type for Apple Valley—lean, long and able to run the floor as much and as long as you like. Now, she’s a little loosey-goosey with the ball when she’s asked to put it on the floor in the backcourt, but otherwise she handles it OK. And, like Abrams, she threw not one but 2 assist passes. She shot 1-for-1 from long range while missing 2 2-pointers.
Erin Baxter, 5-11, senior, wing, Apple Valley
“She’s not the best player on the floor,” an Apple Valley fan told me, “but she has gotten better every year.” And there is definitely something to be said for getting better every year which means that now, as a senior, Erin Baxter is playing like a senior. She’s active, she’s in the flow, in the play, she’s relevant . She’s especially good at filling the passing lanes on defense, using anticipation and quickness and a long reach to get steals and deflections. She could always get to the rim, now she's finishing. She remains not a great outside shooter yet she made 8-of-8 from the line. But, in the end, her length, her mobility and her defense make her a valuable player.
Macy Guebert, 5-9, sophomore, wing, Eastview
Made 2 quick 3s early on, then disappeared, going 0-for-2 from the field over the final 32 minutes.
Allie Pickrain, 5-8, senior, point guard, Eastview
I had noticed that she had scored in the single digits several recent games—now I see that has been the case in 7-of-8 January games, and she did not play in the Shakopee game. So I gotta believe she’s not 100 percent. She made just 3-of-15 shots last night.
Rachel Ranke, 6-1, senior, forward, Eastview
Ranke missed her first 7 shots last night, and if both she and Pickrain are not scoring, Eastrview is in trouble. After that she hit 7-of-12 with 10 rebounds.
Lyndsey Robson, 6-1, senior, guard, Apple Valley
Robson scored 14 which, for her, is an off night. But she had 8 assists, many of them to junior post Brynne Rolland. She consistently threaded the needle to Rolland throughout the 2nd half, usually going over the top as Eastview tried to front her. But they were not lob passes, they were frozen ropes as Rolland stayed active moving along the baseline and Robson would find a seam rather than go over top. Rolland shot 5-of-6 and Robson had 7 assists.
Brynne Rolland, 6-2, junior, post, Apple Valley
Everytime I see Brynne Rolland, I see something new. This time it was her ability to catch those bullets that Robson was throwing her. Most people could not have caught those passes, period.
Sara Teske, 6-0, senior, forward, Apple Valley
Teske, like Robson in some respects, is not as impressive as she used to be because now she’s got and Robson’s got a mature Brynne Rolland and a vastly improved Erin Baxter sharing the load with them. But the bottom line is that Teske, always big on basketball skills, has gotten bigger and stronger and more athletic and she is a load for any defender.
Megan Walstad, 6-2, junior, power forward, Eastview
Walstad has seemed to disappear at times this year, more than I remember her doing in the past. But like Teske and Robson, she’s got some great teammates. And, then there’s the fact that when I see her and her Eastview teammates, it’s usually when they play Hopkins or Apple Valley or some top 5 type of opponent. In this case, Walstad, a 6-2 power forward, spent much of the night defending Robson, a 6-1 point guard—and, then, being guarded by Robson who, I probably don’t need to remind you, is a D1 recruit. And, again, it’s also true that all of Walstad’s teammates also disappeared for 14 minutes last night. But in the 2nd half, she came on strong with 12 points on 6-of-6 shots, mostly jumpers anywhere from 5 to 15 feet out. She also had 2 assists, both of them inside-out, one out to Ranke beyond the 3 point line and the 2nd to Abrams in the mid-range. She was in other words more active than I’ve seen this year.