Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Everybody wins! (Well, for the most part)

(Vacation, all I ever wanted,
Vacation, had to get away,
Vacation, meant to be spent alone.)


Oh, sorry, I just had a song rolling through my head, since I have a week off from the usual tedium of work and have the pleasure of spending it with my family. You've met them, right? Colleen, Emily and Libbie? Right, thought so.

Anyway, lots to get to with the ol' blog, including victories for all The System teams that we normally follow. Saturday was particularly special for the best way to play basketball, and it all starts with the school (and team) which started it all.

GRINNELL COLLEGE NCAA DIVISION III MEN'S TEAM

The Pioneers, coached by the tandem of System creator David Arseneault and his son, Dave, traveled to Oskaloosa, Iowa, to win the Pizza Ranch Classic over host school William Penn. The final score was 150-137, and as often happens with this style, a close game veered in favor of the System team down the stretch. Whether it be from fatigue, physical or mental, or other reasons, it is a common occurrence.

Now, before we go any further, let's look at The Formula stats for Grinnell (4-0):

- Attempted 108 shots
- Attempted 62 3-pointers
- Rebounded 41 percent of its own misses
- Forced 29 turnovers
- Attempted 22 more shots than the Statesmen.

Griffin Lentsch, he of the 89-point outburst earlier this season, led the way with 29 points in an unusually high number of minutes (25). He didn't shoot it particularly well (11-for-28 from the field, 4-of-18 on 3-pointers), and only got to the line five times, but he still got it done.

Teammate Patrick Maher had a great game, as well, filling up the stat sheet with 20 points, six assists and three steals, and Jack Adams came through with 17 points and eight rebounds. Luke Yeager added 17 points and four assists, Garrett Nitz had 15 and five and Evan Johnson scored 13 points to give the Pioneers six players in double figures.

And, as usual, 14 players got at least 10 minutes of run. All in all, a good outing. Grinnell played without second-leading scorer Matt Skelly, who is out with a hand injury. I'll check in with the folks at Grinnell to see how long he will be out.

The 12th and final tie of this one came with 13:39 remaining, two free throws from William Penn's Austin Emerson that made it 105-105. Lentsch made a 3 on the other end, then added another less than a minute later, and the Pioneers were on their way in this one.

A night earlier, they opened this tournament at home against Presentation College and came away with a 126-98 victory. Lentsch again was the leading scorer, going for 26 in only 13 minutes of run, and Skelly added 20 despite his unknown-at-the-time injury. Dominique Bellamy had 15 points.

Here are the stats from this W:

- Attempted 111 shots
- Attempted 68 3-pointers
- Rebounded 36 percent of their own misses
- Forced 45 turnovers
- Attempted 36 more shots than Presentation

That is it for the non-conference portion of the Grinnell schedule. Beginning Friday, the final 18 games all will be in the Midwest Conference, starting with a visit from perennial contender St. Norbert. The Green Knights, two-time defending MWC champion, were picked third in the preseason poll, behind Grinnell and Lake Forest. Ripon comes to play the Pioneers on Saturday, the first of their four back-to-backs in conference play.

Best of luck to everyone at my favorite town in Iowa.

GLENVILLE STATE NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S TEAM

This set of Pioneers, coached by Bunky Harkleroad, got back to doing what they do by doing it Saturday in a 114-79 rout of Bowie State. Glenville State was coming off a exceedingly rare home loss to Concord, a West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe, so getting back on the winning track definitely was important.

Also, in a game last season at Bowie State, the Pioneers were held to a season-low in points in a 64-57 loss, so it is nice to see the visitors from Maryland got to see The System in full effect this time.

Tenisha Wilson and Danielle Woodmore led the way again for Coach Harkleroad's team, scoring 18 points apiece to lead six players in double figures. Beth Deren and Mishae Miles each added 15, Kenyell Goodson had 11 and Jelena Elez finished with 10. Elez also had a team-high seven assists to go with five rebounds in a nice all-around effort.

Of course, so did most of the others I mentioned. Wilson had 11 rebounds, Woodmore totaled seven rebounds and five assists, Deren made five 3-pointers and got two steals, Miles grabbed 10 rebounds and Goodson had a team-best three steals.

You can see what a great effort it was in the stats:

- Attempted 114 shots
- Attempted 53 3-pointers
- Rebounded 53 percent of its own misses
- Forced 22 turnovers
- Attempted 31 more shots than the Bulldogs

Nice going for the Pioneers, who return to play in the WVIAC on Saturday with a trip to Pitt-Johnstown. I hope it goes great.

OLIVET NAZARENE NAIA WOMEN'S TEAM

The Tigers rolled to a relatively easy victory after an eight-day layoff, pulling away in the second half to beat McKendree University 114-80 on Tuesday night.

Holly Schacht led the way with 21 points, with Miranda Geever (15 points), Stephanie Denius (13), Rachel Kearney (11) and Danielle Tolbert (10) reaching double figures, as well. Danielle Pipal was on her form of doing the little things and finished with two points, two rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Here are The Formula numbers for ONU (6-1):

- Attempted 96 shots
- Attempted 39 3-pointers
- Rebounded 46 percent of its own misses
- Forced 36 turnovers
- Attempted 16 more shots than the Bearcats

Good victory for the Tigers, who return to action Friday night in their own tournament. The ONU Holiday Express Classic opens with the host playing Harris Stowe State, and continues Saturday when Houghton College plays ONU.

All the best to coach Doug Porter and his team.

JACKSON (MICH.) COMMUNITY COLLEGE NJCAA WOMEN'S TEAM

The Jets improved to 4-1 by dismantling Delta 112-82 on the road Saturday, coming within one point of its season-high total. Coach Andy Hoaglin texted me some totals:

- Attempted 92 shots
- Attempted 59 3-pointers
- Got 25 offensive rebounds
- Forced 35 turnovers
- Attempted 27 more shots than Delta

Davi'elle Thomas had 20 points, one of six players in double figures for Jackson. The others were Kelsey White (17), Nicole Wurster (15), Alyssa Havens (12), Stephanie Berreth (11) and Jessica Vidalez (10).

The Jets, averaging a National Junior College Athletic Association high of 101 points, travel to Edison College on Saturday. I hope they have a successful trip.

GALESBURG (ILL.) HS GIRLS' TEAM

The Silver Streaks bounced back from their loss to Moline in the Western Big 6 conference opener to win the Galesburg Thanksgiving tournament, rolling by Illini West 83-44 in the final.

This one wasn't really in doubt early, as Galesburg led 20-7 after the first quarter and steadily pulled ahead. A running clock for most of the final quarter (once the Streaks got a 30-point advantage) kept the totals a bit lower.

Here are the stats:

- Attempted 76 shots
- Attempted 41 3-pointers
- Rebounded 59 percent of their own misses
- Forced 32 turnovers
- Attempted 30 more shots than Illini West

Sharron Diggins had 18 of her game-high 22 points in the first half for Galesburg, and Sadee Hamilton added 15 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and three steals. Jessica Lieber 13 points, four rebounds and seven assists.

A great night for coach Evan Massey and his team, which returns to WB6 play Thursday on the road at Quincy. I hope it's a successful trip.

OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE STATE UNIVERSITY NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S TEAM

I wanted to give a shoutout to coach Brad Vanden Boogaard and the Aggies, since they picked up their first victory of the season Tuesday night by beating Barclay College 122-56. OPSU (1-7) had been getting closer, including a pair of tough losses over the weekend in a tournament in Grand Junction, Colo.

I don't have any stats available from the W, so we'll have to wait a bit for those. Still, congratulations to the Aggies, who play Wednesday night at Las Vegas, N.M., against New Mexico Highlands. Go get 'em!

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