December 20, 2007 at 8:11 a.m.
Turnover plague Wildcat girls in losses to Benilde and St. Francis
Turnover plague Wildcat girls in losses to Benilde and St. Francis
In the opening period, part of BSM's outstanding shooting percentage was because of shot selection. Numerous Wildcat turnovers led to fast break points for Benilde. Wildcat senior Kori Sells scored eight first-half points on a variety of baseline jumpers and from the freethrow line to help her team stay in the game.
According to CL head coach Craig Walker, his team had difficulty defending the drive while playing man to man defense and also failed to do a good enough job keeping BSM off the offensive boards. The second chances and inside position let Benilde build a 33-21 halftime advantage.
Chisago Lakes came out in a zone defense after the intermission. That slowed BSM's offense and allowed the Wildcats to climb back into the game. CL cut the lead to six and had a chance to move closer, but the Wildcats missed a good shot in that possession. Benilde-St. Margaret's closed out the game on the freethrow line.
Sells led the Wildcats with 16 points and five rebounds. Megan Corradi chipped in with 11 points and three assists and Summer Young scored 10 for the home team.
"We're beginning to realize the importance of taking care of the basketball. You need to be under the 18-20 range in turnovers to be competitive. Tonight, we had 21," coach Walker said. "We shot the basketball from the field fairly well, but we gave up too many easy baskets in the first half."
SCORING SUMMARY
Benilde 33 21 54
Chisago Lakes 21 24 44
Wildcat Scoring
Amanda Farrell 2
Whitney Tinjum 1
Summer Young 10
Megan Corradi 11
Kori Sells 16
Brenna Coyle 4
Total 44
Chisago Lakes at St. Francis
The Wildcats, led by senior Megan Corradi's 17 points and 13 rebounds, had a better offensive game at St. Francis Friday, December 14. However, they couldn't hold down the explosive, undefeated Fighting Saints in a 90-66 North Suburban Conference loss.
As they did against Benilde three days earlier, the Wildcats committed too many turnovers and gave up too many second shots in the first half. The offensive-minded Saints took advantage to build a 46-24 lead at the intermission.
The Wildcats cashed in on their opportunities at the foul line, going 29 for 42. Corradi was able to build her point and rebound totals, even though she sat out much of the second half with foul trouble. "Freethrow shooting is important for us to be competitive and we were close to our goal of making more than the opponent attempts. And, Megan was a big part of that tonight, going eight for eight from the line," Walker explained.
"Whitney Tinjum continues to make things happen with the basketball by drawing fouls and getting to the freethrow line. Amanda Farrell is improving and had her best game, adding 12 points and three assists. Kori Sells didn't have her usual touch against the Saints, but still finished with 10 points and seven rebounds on the night," Walker added.
"Our game plan tonight was to try to limit the two big scorers and we were successful against Allie Schwartzwald, who averages over 15 points per game, by holding her to eight. But, Melissa Borstner scored her average, 17 points, and we gave up 22 to an average post player by not blocking out and limiting second chance baskets. We were shown tonight that we have a long way to go to be competitive against the conference's best teams. We need to improve our footwork on defense and block out better. They shot 37 free throws tonight and had 20 offensive rebounds, many of which turned into fouls," Walker concluded.
SCORING SUMMARY
St. Francis 46 44 90
Chisago Lakes 24 42 66
Wildcat Scoring
Amanda Farrell 12
Whitney Tinjum 14
Summer Young 6
Megan Corradi 17
Kori Sells 10
Brenna Coyle 3
Jamie Peterson 4
Total 66
The Wildcats finish the 2007 part of their schedule by traveling to Irondale tonight (December 20) for a 7:15 start. After the Christmas break, they host four consecutive NSC games.
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