Pederson leads Armstrong over Orono
By Matt Thomas (From 12/24 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
When a team is struggling to find some consistency, it usually helps to have a go-to player. The Armstrong girls basketball team is without a go-to player, so head coach Patti Weldon looks for different players to step up each night.
In a turnover plagued defensive battle, senior Katie Pederson was the lone player to score in double figures as the Falcons grinded out a 37-27 victory over Orono.
“We’re getting ready for conference play, so we’re ok,” Weldon said. “We’re trying to take away our mistakes and turnovers, we just need to find someone to shoot the ball.”
Pederson opened the scoring in the first quarter with a three-pointer and proceeded to score eight points in the second half to help the Falcons pull away.
Both teams struggled mightily in the first half as the Falcons made five field goals to just four for the Spartans.
“We’re still just trying to find a rhythm and I’m playing everyone pretty evenly right now,” Weldon said. “I’ve got eleven bodies I want to get out on the floor, so we’re still trying things and trying to work out the kinks.”
Orono ended the first half on a 5-0 run to cut the Falcons halftime lead to 13-11.
Nothing changed in the third quarter as the Falcons outscored the Spartans 8-7 behind six points from Pederson. Pedersen went 3-4 from the field in the quarter, while the rest of the team went 0-8.
Pedersen made a mid-range jump shot with four minutes left in the game to put the Falcons up 27-22. The Falcons never led by less than five after that point.
A three-point play by junior center Holly Siverling with 3:09 left in the game gave the Falcons their biggest lead of the game at 30-22.
Seniors Katie Oxborough and Lisa McAtee along with junior Cassy Bethke combined to go 7-8 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to seal the victory.
“In the second half we came out and made our free throws, concentrated on our shots and tried to run our offenses a little more,” Pederson said.
Pederson’s 11 points led all scorers, while senior captain Jessie Dooley added six for the Falcons. The Spartans, who shot 19 percent for the game, were led by Kati Hilbelink’s nine points.
The one aspect of the Falcons game that looked polished was their patented defensive pressure which consistently forced turnovers.
“We’ve been focusing on our defense and hoping that our defense creates our offense,” Weldon said. “We’re also focusing on changing things up a lot and hopefully getting the other team off track a little bit.”
The Falcons saw their record drop to 4-3 with a 60-58 overtime loss to Hill-Murray on Dec. 19. Oxborough and Pederson led the Falcons in scoring with 13 and eight points respectively.
The Falcons are now looking forward to the Alexandria Holiday Tournament on December 27-28.
“I think we need to focus on actually running our offenses all the way through and taking good, quality shots,” Pederson said. “I think our defense is doing good, we need to focus on the offensive part of our game.”
Hopkins cruises behind Coleman, Humphries
By Matt Thomas (From 12/24 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
If you like to attend NBA basketball games to see slam dunks, you can now save about twenty dollars. Pass on the Timberwolves tickets and attend a Hopkins boys basketball game for four dollars.
The talented Royals, who feature three division I recruits, got past a slow start to run, shoot and slam dunk past the Benilde St. Margaret’s Red Knights 67-45 in non-conference action on Dec. 19.
The Red Knights used a patient offensive approach in the first quarter to limit the Royals offensive opportunities. Despite that, Darren Clarke, Dan Coleman and Mitch Henke all hit three pointers in the early going to give the Royals a 15-11 lead.
Coleman started the second quarter by scoring the first six points including an athletic tip-in off a Royals miss.
Duke recruit Kris Humphries scored six of the next eight Royals points as the Red Knights started to unravel.
Clarke stole a perimeter pass and ran down for a lay-up and Humphries followed with a steal and slam dunk on the Red Knights next possession.
The third quarter was all Royals as a dunk by Coleman started a 19-4 run to open the second half.
The Royals had four dunks in all as their size and strength proved too much for the Red Knights.
Humphries finished with a game high 21 points on 9-17 from the field. Coleman added 17 on an impressive 8-10 from the field. Clarke, who has transitioned into the team’s starting point guard finished with 15 points.
The Red Knights were led by senior guard Andrew Thomas’ 16 points, while Seborn Yancy added 12.
With the victory, the Royals are now 5-0 and undoubtedly the team to beat in Class 4A.
While nobody within Minnesota has been able to top the Royals thus far, the team must now try it’s luck elsewhere. The Royals are headed to Lewes, Del. over the holiday break to play in the Slam Dunk To The Beach Tournament.
Trouncing Transfers
Transfering from one high school to another for athletic purposes has been an ongoing problem for years in Minnesota. Star Tribune reporter John Millea hit the nail on the head in his commentary in the December 20 edition. Among other things, Millea reveals that the Minnesota State High School League has had 1,074 transfer requests for athletic purposes since the beginning of the school year.
Lott's Comments Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg
Trent Lott decided to step down today as Senate Majority Leader due to reaction to the racially insensitive comments he made at Strom Thurmond's recent birthday party. While Lott's comments sparked major protests and outrage, I wasn't that surprised.
It's been my opinion for years that many conservatives have racist and disciminatory beliefs towards minorities and homosexuals among others.
Unfortunately it's usually only the religious conservatives like Pat Robertson and Jerry Fallwell who are ignorant enough to stick their foot in their mouth on a national stage.
When Robertson and Fallwell made appalling remarks after September 11th, there wasn't enough pressure or criticism placed upon conservative viewpoints, most likely because Robertson and Fallwell aren't politicians.
Now that we know what Lott truly thinks about minorities I think it's time we ask ourselves a question. Does the apple really fall that far from the tree when it comes to Republicans and their views on minorities?
Do you think Lott's comments were an honest mistake and that he really thinks highly of minorities? Or is it more likely that Lott despises minorities and after years of covering it up in order to win elections, it finally slipped out?
Who's to say this isn't the case for all republicans? We need to demand more from our politicians including the truth concerning their beliefs on minorities.
By Matt Thomas (From 12/24 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
When a team is struggling to find some consistency, it usually helps to have a go-to player. The Armstrong girls basketball team is without a go-to player, so head coach Patti Weldon looks for different players to step up each night.
In a turnover plagued defensive battle, senior Katie Pederson was the lone player to score in double figures as the Falcons grinded out a 37-27 victory over Orono.
“We’re getting ready for conference play, so we’re ok,” Weldon said. “We’re trying to take away our mistakes and turnovers, we just need to find someone to shoot the ball.”
Pederson opened the scoring in the first quarter with a three-pointer and proceeded to score eight points in the second half to help the Falcons pull away.
Both teams struggled mightily in the first half as the Falcons made five field goals to just four for the Spartans.
“We’re still just trying to find a rhythm and I’m playing everyone pretty evenly right now,” Weldon said. “I’ve got eleven bodies I want to get out on the floor, so we’re still trying things and trying to work out the kinks.”
Orono ended the first half on a 5-0 run to cut the Falcons halftime lead to 13-11.
Nothing changed in the third quarter as the Falcons outscored the Spartans 8-7 behind six points from Pederson. Pedersen went 3-4 from the field in the quarter, while the rest of the team went 0-8.
Pedersen made a mid-range jump shot with four minutes left in the game to put the Falcons up 27-22. The Falcons never led by less than five after that point.
A three-point play by junior center Holly Siverling with 3:09 left in the game gave the Falcons their biggest lead of the game at 30-22.
Seniors Katie Oxborough and Lisa McAtee along with junior Cassy Bethke combined to go 7-8 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to seal the victory.
“In the second half we came out and made our free throws, concentrated on our shots and tried to run our offenses a little more,” Pederson said.
Pederson’s 11 points led all scorers, while senior captain Jessie Dooley added six for the Falcons. The Spartans, who shot 19 percent for the game, were led by Kati Hilbelink’s nine points.
The one aspect of the Falcons game that looked polished was their patented defensive pressure which consistently forced turnovers.
“We’ve been focusing on our defense and hoping that our defense creates our offense,” Weldon said. “We’re also focusing on changing things up a lot and hopefully getting the other team off track a little bit.”
The Falcons saw their record drop to 4-3 with a 60-58 overtime loss to Hill-Murray on Dec. 19. Oxborough and Pederson led the Falcons in scoring with 13 and eight points respectively.
The Falcons are now looking forward to the Alexandria Holiday Tournament on December 27-28.
“I think we need to focus on actually running our offenses all the way through and taking good, quality shots,” Pederson said. “I think our defense is doing good, we need to focus on the offensive part of our game.”
Hopkins cruises behind Coleman, Humphries
By Matt Thomas (From 12/24 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
If you like to attend NBA basketball games to see slam dunks, you can now save about twenty dollars. Pass on the Timberwolves tickets and attend a Hopkins boys basketball game for four dollars.
The talented Royals, who feature three division I recruits, got past a slow start to run, shoot and slam dunk past the Benilde St. Margaret’s Red Knights 67-45 in non-conference action on Dec. 19.
The Red Knights used a patient offensive approach in the first quarter to limit the Royals offensive opportunities. Despite that, Darren Clarke, Dan Coleman and Mitch Henke all hit three pointers in the early going to give the Royals a 15-11 lead.
Coleman started the second quarter by scoring the first six points including an athletic tip-in off a Royals miss.
Duke recruit Kris Humphries scored six of the next eight Royals points as the Red Knights started to unravel.
Clarke stole a perimeter pass and ran down for a lay-up and Humphries followed with a steal and slam dunk on the Red Knights next possession.
The third quarter was all Royals as a dunk by Coleman started a 19-4 run to open the second half.
The Royals had four dunks in all as their size and strength proved too much for the Red Knights.
Humphries finished with a game high 21 points on 9-17 from the field. Coleman added 17 on an impressive 8-10 from the field. Clarke, who has transitioned into the team’s starting point guard finished with 15 points.
The Red Knights were led by senior guard Andrew Thomas’ 16 points, while Seborn Yancy added 12.
With the victory, the Royals are now 5-0 and undoubtedly the team to beat in Class 4A.
While nobody within Minnesota has been able to top the Royals thus far, the team must now try it’s luck elsewhere. The Royals are headed to Lewes, Del. over the holiday break to play in the Slam Dunk To The Beach Tournament.
Trouncing Transfers
Transfering from one high school to another for athletic purposes has been an ongoing problem for years in Minnesota. Star Tribune reporter John Millea hit the nail on the head in his commentary in the December 20 edition. Among other things, Millea reveals that the Minnesota State High School League has had 1,074 transfer requests for athletic purposes since the beginning of the school year.
Lott's Comments Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg
Trent Lott decided to step down today as Senate Majority Leader due to reaction to the racially insensitive comments he made at Strom Thurmond's recent birthday party. While Lott's comments sparked major protests and outrage, I wasn't that surprised.
It's been my opinion for years that many conservatives have racist and disciminatory beliefs towards minorities and homosexuals among others.
Unfortunately it's usually only the religious conservatives like Pat Robertson and Jerry Fallwell who are ignorant enough to stick their foot in their mouth on a national stage.
When Robertson and Fallwell made appalling remarks after September 11th, there wasn't enough pressure or criticism placed upon conservative viewpoints, most likely because Robertson and Fallwell aren't politicians.
Now that we know what Lott truly thinks about minorities I think it's time we ask ourselves a question. Does the apple really fall that far from the tree when it comes to Republicans and their views on minorities?
Do you think Lott's comments were an honest mistake and that he really thinks highly of minorities? Or is it more likely that Lott despises minorities and after years of covering it up in order to win elections, it finally slipped out?
Who's to say this isn't the case for all republicans? We need to demand more from our politicians including the truth concerning their beliefs on minorities.
posted by PulseofMN at 3:45 PM
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