Royals Roll Over St. Cloud Apollo: Game Recap/Five Takeaways
Last night Prep Girl’s Hoops was in attendance to witness the Royalton Royals rout over St. Cloud Apollo 60-34. Here are my brief game recap and 5 takeaways from the battle between Royalton and St. Cloud Apollo. Recap This game…
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Continue ReadingLast night Prep Girl’s Hoops was in attendance to witness the Royalton Royals rout over St. Cloud Apollo 60-34. Here are my brief game recap and 5 takeaways from the battle between Royalton and St. Cloud Apollo.
Recap
This game was won from the tip when Royalton’s Jenna Anderson put in a layup to start momentum in the right direction for the Royals. The Eagles from Apollo struggled with turning the ball over as they struggled to beat Royal’s tough full-court press defense early. They did get a nice game out of Keshona McGaughy who tallied 19 points with 11 of those being in the 2nd half when the Royals were at their best. This game finished at the half by a score of 29-15, in which the Royalton’s frontcourt of Jenna Anderson and Autumn Schoenrock (2022) tallied more points than the entire Apollo team at the half. The second half was all Royals, as they got key contributions from Ashley Popp (2020) off the bench and sealed the large margin of victory against the Eagles, 60-34.
Five Takeaways
Apollo Had No Answer for Anderson
Finishing with 17 points, Jenna Anderson (2020) wins my MVP of this one. Apollo’s Jaida Hansen (2022) was just no match down in the low post against Anderson. Jenna also was dominant on defense as well as Apollo’s frontcourt never really found a way to get into a rhythm while she was on the court.
Royalton’s Jenna Anderson pitched in 17 points in their 60-34 over St. Cloud Apollo.My Hustle Player of the Game
This one isn’t about stats, points, rebounds, etc. it’s who I thought showed the best hustle during the game. That award goes to Noelle Hackenmueller (2022) of St. Cloud Apollo. Although her team was faced with a deficit most of the game, she continued to play hard, hustle for loose balls, and fight for the ball after a rebound.
Full Court Pressers
To start the game, the Royals went into the full-court press against the young squad from Apollo. The Royals guards led by Cierra Gottwalt (2020), Allyson Waletski (2020), Macey Petron (2020) and Emily Walikowski (2020) were able to create quick turnovers not just by pressing but getting in the head of the Apollo offense and causing them to make subpar passes and costly mistakes especially in the first half.
The Spark of St. Cloud Apollo: Keshona McGaughy
McGaughy (2021), was a player off my radar before this one but led the charge for Apollo scoring over half of their points with 19 points. She had a good outside shot and went to the bucket with no fear as she used her dribble-drive to her advantage in the second half. I’m looking to see how the rest of her season goes in the Central Lakes Conference.
The All-Around
Another player that caught my eye for Royalton was Macey Petron (2020). If I was a college coach in D-2 or D-3, looking for a player that runs the court well, shares the ball (multiple assists in this one) and plays clutch defense I would be giving Petron a call for sure. She gets my nod for the best all-around player in this one.
St. Cloud Apollo (0-1) faces another tough test, as they head to Princeton tonight to take on the Tigers (2-0) who won at Grand Rapids on Saturday, 60-47.
Royalton (1-0) will play hosts to Milaca tonight, which will be the Tigers’ first game of the season.