AA Girls Basketball January 31st - Feb 6th 2012

It was an interesting week of AA girls basketball. All of these teams have a shot at winning the state title but let's take a look at who took a step forward.

(records good through 2/6/12)

Mitchell Kernels (16-1) I am running out of adjectives for this team. They have not lost in over a month. (Jan 2nd) The winning streak is up to 11 games with three games to go before districts. They are playing great defense as a team. Kerri Young has lead this team and Macy Miller is just hitting her stride since coming back from an injury earlier this season. Since the Lincoln game (Jan 2nd) the Kernels have stop shooting the "3" and their shooting percentage is up for the season.

Washington Warriors (12-2) The Warriors traveled to O'Gorman this week and picked up a nice road victory. It was the first time the Warriors beat the Knights and Riders on the road in the same season. In the win Sarah Zirpel lead the Warriors with 17 points but more important it was her start to the 3rd quarter that really got them going scoring 9 points in the quarter. Hannah Weber also had 15 points and Ellie Benson had 12 points. The Warriors travel west to take on Stevens, Central and Sturgis starting 2/9/12. They hope to have Emma Hanson back sometime this weekend.

Aberdeen Central (11-3) The Eagles only played one game this week as they hosted the Watertown Arrows on 2/4/12. They got off to a great start leading 32-21 at halftime but didn't shoot the ball well in the second half (2 for 20) and finished with 22 turnovers and ended up losing 49-40 to the Arrows. Samantha Knect had a double-double for the Eagles with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Yankton Gazelles (9-5) The Gazelles played Brandon Valley on 2/2/12 and came away with a 60-48 win. They sweep the two games during the season. Chloe Cornemann shot 7-10 from the field and 6-6 from the freethrow line for 20 points in the win. Jenn Granflaten had 13 points and Mikala Hora had 12.

Brandon Valley (10-5)  In their lone game of the week they went to Yankton and lost to the Gazelles 60-48. Heidi Hoff had 20 points to lead the Lynxs and Allison Koehn had 13 points. In a rematch of last year's state championship game the Lynxs host Chandler Nielsen and the O'Gorman Knights on 2/7/12. It's an important game for both teams as they both are fighting for home court in district play coming up at the end of the month.

Watertown Arrows (10-6) With 2 wins in a row (Lincoln and Aberdeen Central) the Arrows now sit in first place in their district. They go on the road and win at Aberdeen Central trailing at the half 32-21. Congrats to Tia Hemiller for scoring her 1000 point in the win.

O'Gorman Knights (10-7) The Knights went 1-1 last week losing to Washington at home 63-52 and beating Pierre on the road 58-43. The Knights travel to Brandon Valley this week in a rematch of the title game of 2011. The Knights have 3 games left before districts all on the road. (At BV 2/7/12, At Lincoln 2/17 and at Washington 2/21/12.)

SF Roosevelt (9-6) The Riders have had a long layoff between games. They last played on 2/27 vs the Washington Warriors in a game where they lost the lead late in the 4th quarter. They host the Brookings Bobcats on 2/7/12.

RC Central (9-7) With a win over Stevens on the road the Cobblers now sit in first place by 2 games. The Cobblers sank 8 of 11 3's to earn a 48-38 win over the Stevens Raiders. Chelsey Carmichael lead the Cobblers with 14 points in the win.
Lincoln Patriots (7-6)  The Patriots split a pair of games this week losing at Watertown 48-39 before picking up a home victory 59-53 over Sioux City West. The Patriots travel to Sturgis, Stevens and Central this coming weekend.

RC Stevens (7-8) Their disappointing season continues with a home lost to city rival RC Central 48-38.  Margaret McCloud finished with 13 points for the Raiders. As a team Stevens made just 10-of-41 shots from the field. They host Washington and Lincoln this weekend.


Its all in the numbers:


11 Winning streak by the Mitchell Kernels

250 wins by Yankton Gazelles coach Doug Pesicka

1000 points in Tia Hemiiller's career at Watertown


Looking Ahead

2/7/12
O'Gorman (10-7) at BV (10-5)
Aberdeen (11-3) at Pierre (3-13)
Yankton (9-5) at Huron (2-14)
Brookings (2-13) at SF Roosevelt (9-6)

2/9/12
Washington (12-2) at RC Stevens (7-8)
Lincoln (7-6) at Sturgis (6-9)
Watertown (10-6) at Huron (2-14)

2/10/12
Washington (12-2) at RC Central (9-7)
Lincoln (7-6) at RC Stevens (7-8)
Aberdeen Central (11-3) at Yankton (9-5)
Pierre (3-13) at BV (10-5)

2/11/12
Brookings (2-13) at Mitchell (16-1)
Washington (12-2) at Sturgis (6-9)
Lincoln (7-6) at RC Central (9-7)