Just the Facts, Ma'am: St. John's erased a seven-point halftime deficit, but Indiana State held on in double overtime, 73-67. Jasmine Grier led the Sycamores with 21 points off the bench, adding six rebounds. Aliyyah Handford led all scorers with 27 points.
For mistakes, disasters, bad passes, uncouth behavior, stomping the bleachers, a lack of focus, and the shaking of heads, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.
And here we are at the championship game, with Indiana State wearing the home whites against St. John's in their navy.
I hate our insistence on emphasizing blue uniforms, by the way. We are the Red Storm, not the Navy Blue Storm, so why do we keep trying to switch to blue uniforms?
At halftime, Indiana State is up 31-24, and we can't rebound for love nor money. The only saving grace is that we had three starters on the bench for most of the first half with two fouls, and I'm pretty sure that having Amber Thompson, Jade Walker, and Danaejah Grant available again will be useful. The reserves managed to keep it close, which is more than I expected playing most of the freshmen together.
Ugh. This was a great game until it turned into a ref show. We made stupid mistakes, and Indiana State made some great plays, but the officials made sure that the game went to overtime, made sure that the game went to double overtime, and in general inserted themselves into the game at any given opportunity in a way that would inconvenience a team making a run. I did not pay to watch Brandon Enterline, Norma Jones, and Rachelle Jones.
One of the Indiana State fans thought it would be a good idea to sit directly behind the center court bleachers that host 6th Man when the student section deigns to show up, and is home to the combined forces of Amber and Aliyyah's families in other times. She also believed it would be a good idea to attempt to disconcert Amber at the free throw line from this position. This is not a good idea. Her constant stamping on the bleachers from said position inspired the band to mock her. I'm all in favor of supporting your team, but sitting on the home side of center court and being rude to home fans is not on.
Indiana State went deep, though not as deep as they did yesterday, and that helped them in the end- they had players like Rhagen Smith who were ready and able to step up when Chelsea Small and Racheal Mahan fouled out. She didn't put up big numbers, but she was in the right place at the right time playing defense or boxing out. Jasmine Grier was smooth on both ends of the floor. I like her shot. I don't know if I like her mouth- she seemed to be doing a lot of chirping, and it seems uncouth to be chirping to a reserve freshman when you're a senior. Joyea Marshall did a good job of getting to the line, especially in the latter part of the first half and the overtime. She used her height well. Cierra Ceazer brought the offense and a little bit of rebounding. Alexis Newbolt had some critical plays at the end of the game, and sealed the deal for the Sycamores.
Foul trouble, attentive defense, and a lack of shot selection kept Chelsea Small off the scoreboard for most of the game. That was the one thing we did right. Racheal Mahan was all over the floor- pulling down rebounds, coming up with big shots on the inside, that sort of thing. Natasha Zurek didn't score until late in regulation, but ran the offense with a steady hand. I really feel like I should remember more about Stephanie Wittman, but I thought the guard play off the bench was more impressive than the guard play from the starters.
Coach did something that I thought was smart at the time, but he didn't follow through with it. He watched the second half of the SMU-Indiana State game, and saw that SMU made the second half comeback, so near the end of the first half, with the foul trouble for the starters, he gave the bench heavy minutes. Tonoia Wade gave good defensive effort, but she's got to hold on to those rebounds. Kyra Dunn pulled down one good rebound and was otherwise a source of boundless frustration for her inability to hold on to the ball. Selina Archer's minutes were brief and unremarkable. Tamesha Alexander was actually the first sub in, early in the first half for Aaliyah Lewis's only rest. Crystal Simmons got extended run in the second half as a sub for Aliyyah Handford, and while she looked uncomfortable out there, she didn't look completely out of place.
Poor Aaliyah Lewis is going to break one of these days. She's so tiny, especially in basketball terms, and she gets run into the ground. I think it got to her, and it's going to keep getting to her. Jade Walker, of course, got called for fouls at every opportunity and neer got a good call in her favor. She had a nice second half with jumpers from the short corners, and good boards. Danaejah Grant was good offensively, and she rebounded well, as she usually does, but she was a couple of steps slow on defense, and that killed us when it came to Grier- she was on Grier and Grier used her length to get over her, and Danejah couldn't or wouldn't counter with athleticism. Amber Thompson rebounded strong, but I'd like to see her be more assertive offensively. Defense is her calling card, her bread and butter, and her cliché storm, but she needs to be a complete player. I'm exceedingly grateful that we have Aliyyah Handford. I don't know where we'd be or what we'd do without her. She drove the lane, she hit jumpers- she was a little off her game on defense, though. I miss seeing her play the passing lanes as beautifully as she did at the beginning of the season.
Stupid mistakes. So many stupid mistakes. Stupid fouls. Bad, bad passes. Hurried shots. We didn't think.
And then the ref show started. I'm pretty sure that the little half-circle at the back of the lane isn't just decorative, but this crew seemed to ignore positioning when calling charges. They were addicted to jump balls- there were something like ten jump balls called in this one. For all the travels the Joneses were calling yesterday, there was a distinct lack of them today. Competence would be nice, but at this point, I'm really just hoping for consistency.
I would like to say that Indiana State won this game, that we didn't lose it, that it wasn't given to anyone... but I'm honestly too petty and irked to do that. Indiana State is a good solid team, and a throwback to what Missouri Valley basketball should be, but we should still have beaten them, and I'm worried about conference play more than I was before.
Sunday, December 21, 2014
December 21st, 2014: Indiana State at St. John's (Chartwells Holiday Classic)
Saturday, December 20, 2014
December 20th, 2014: Indiana State at SMU (Chartwells Holiday Classic)
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Indiana State built a big first half lead and held off a second-half charge from SMU to win 64-55. Chelsea Small led all scorers with 20 points, adding a team-high seven rebounds. Gabrielle Wilkins led SMU with 13 points off the bench, with Morgan Bolton and Alicia Froling each chipping in 10.
For stark contrasts, blue shoes, rebuses, families, rebounding, social obligations, runaway headbands, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand twins, join your intrepid and referential blogger after the jump.
Two! Two games today! Pretty much everyone has left, though, since most folks in New York really don't have any strong connection to SMU and Indiana State. Some Johnnies are roaming the crowd. I think Jade Walker has family here.
Our Buffalo Bulls are still here, grooving out to the sound of the music.
Jade Walker with a small child breaks the cuteness scale in ways I previously thought only Ashley Battle could manage. (No, fingers, Ashley Walker breaks a different cuteness scale, just ask Natasha Lacy.)
Perhaps appropriately enough, Jasmine Grier is rocking the flattop. I also approve of Racheal Mahan's team-blue ponytail.
We have a few fans here for each team, and I salute them. One of the Indiana State shirts is about as Exactly What It Says On The Tin as possible: an image of the state of Indiana and the word State. Kind of like a rebus.
Though they arrived late, I think we were sitting behind Morgan Bolton of SMU's parents. They cheered for everyone, but the guy's camera was tracking her pretty closely when she was on the floor.
At halftime, Indiana State is up 37-17, and to be honest, it should probably be more. SMU does not look good. Indiana State is rebounding very well, and I'd like to see them go inside more. Chelsea Small looks really good. (Buffalo, like many people in the crowd, left at the half.)
Indiana State rolled pretty deep, a thought that terrifies me for tomorrow. Cierra Ceazer seemed like the odd woman out, in the sense that while she was excellent offensively, she didn't seem as inclined to crash the boards as her teammates were, and there was a lot of board crashing going on. Jasmine Grier of the awesome flattop had a very complex shot, which didn't go in as often as she would have liked, but she was tough on the boards and had a huge block in the first half. Alexis Newbolt brought a little bit of offense as part of the first line of subs in both halves. We saw a little bit of Lashonda Littleton on the boards. You'd think I'd remember a player who had four turnovers, but I don't remember much about Kelsey Dirks. She might have been the one with the happy feet, though. Rhagen Smith popped some pretty jumpers.
Natasha Zurek and her face mask showed toughness and poise running the offense. Rachael Mahan and her rocket-contrail hair worked the boards hard and got buckets on the inside. Stephanie Wittman left no impression. Travecia Franklin got herself in foul trouble late in the game, and I feel like I should remember more of what she did. I was very impressed with Chelsea Small, who showed stroke both inside and outside, as well as rebounding moxie.
Indiana State crashed the boards hard and consistently. Pretty much everyone was either rebounding or boxing out. I love it. I would love it more if we didn't have to face them tomorrow.
SMU also went deep into their bench, running some interesting three-guard sets once Destynee Hives-McCray got into foul trouble. Gabrielle Wilkins played big minutes and caught a brief case of what Mike Lupica memorably referred to in his novels as Wanna Be The Man disease- late in the game, she kept taking the shots, even when she didn't have the best shot. Maybe this is normal for her and for her team, but it wasn't working. Stephanie Collins had a rough first half, but seemed to find her feet in the second half, using her height to disrupt Indiana State's plans on the inside. Taylor Brame was a big body in the middle, but possibly not one at 100%- she spent one timeout being intensely stretched. Variations on the three-guard set included Mikayla Reese in the first half and Aurmani DeGar in the second half, with mixed results- Reese was ineffective, while DeGar followed a sweet basket with a dumb foul.
I didn't just like Morgan Bolton because I was pretty sure we were sitting behind her parents. She stepped up big in the second half, even if she did get stuck holding the bag for the intentional fouls at the end of the game. She had a nice pass to Wilkins for a three. Destynee Hives-McCray makes too many fundamental mistakes for a redshirt junior, but she's a strong presence on the inside- when she's in the game. Foul trouble forced her out, and I was impressed at how SMU adjusted without her. Kiara Perry had distractingly bad handles for a guard- a guard consistently losing her dribble is a pet peeve of mine, and one of the few I tend to notice with guards. I do not like Keely Froling and her elbows. I like Alicia Froling's shooting, but I don't like her elbows either.
There are a lot of freshmen on SMU. There is a bit of a learning curve. The first half demonstrated what happens when a team full of freshmen runs headlong into a team full of seniors. The second half demonstrated what happens when a good coach takes those freshmen in hand.
Officials were solid but had some bonehead mistakes. When the SMU parents in front of you are side-eying the jump ball call in SMU's favor, and when they say it should have been a lane violation on Froling, you might have missed the call. They were also odd with the travels, calling shuffles and spin moves, but not football-style drives. (I am also curious if Cynthia Brooks is related to Denise Brooks- they look a lot alike.)
I am intrigued by both of these teams, and glad that they came out to New York.