KP's World

Everybody wins! (Well, for the most part)

2011-11-30T12:43:00.000-08:00

(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!

Eisenhower HS improves to 1-2 with W, Glenville State suffers very rare home loss, Galesburg HS drops conference opener

2011-11-24T08:34:00.000-08:00

Lots to get to, but first, I want to say Happy Thanksgiving to all the coaches and players out there who run The System. I am aware I have problems with my obsession (addiction?) for this perfectly perfect style of play, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I also would be a tool if I didn't let everyone know how thankful I am for my incredibly awesome and beautiful wife, Colleen, and my two stupendously special daughters, Emily and Libbie. Here's to us, gang!

Now, on to the games:

EISENHOWER HS BOYS' TEAM, BLUE ISLAND, ILL.

Amazingly, coach Mike Curta's team opened its schedule with four games in five nights in a Thanksgiving tournament. On Wednesday night, the Cardinals got their first victory, running past Shepard HS 103-85 to improve to 1-2. Complete statistics weren't available, since Eisenhower had teams playing all over the Chicagoland area, but congratulations to coach Curta and his team on getting over the hump.

The Cardinals are very close to being 3-0 at this point, losing leads late in each of their first two games. Leo HS rallied from a six-point deficit in the final 2 minutes to edge Eisenhower 98-94. The opener was a similar story, with Richards HS coming back from 12 points down in the final 2:10 to win 73-72.

We do have some Formula stats from this game, and it is easy to see that Coach Curta and his team are System ready:

- Attempted 92 shots
- Attempted 41 3-pointers
- Rebounded 33 percent of their own misses
- Forced 33 turnovers
- Attempted 27 more shots than Richards

Even better news is that coach Curta has posted video of some of his games, which you can watch here. Pretty neat, right?

The Cardinals have one more outing to complete this hectic week, and I wish them all the luck Friday.

GLENVILLE STATE NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S TEAM

The Pioneers were 12-0 last season at Jesse R. Lilly Gymnasium and rarely struggled. This year's home opener wasn't quite the same.

Andrea Bertrand, Jolysa Brown and Camisha Alexander combined for 68 points and Concord handled Glenville State's pressure throughout to win 103-94 Tuesday night in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The Mountain Lions (3-1, 2-1 WVIAC) finished the game with only 14 turnovers and really won the game at the foul line. They finished 25-for-38 there (the Pioneers were 9-for-15) and held on despite a huge effort from Tenisha Wilson, who went for 25 points and 10 rebounds.

She had plenty of help, with Mishae Miles adding 17 and 12, Danielle Woodmore scoring 14 points and Beth Deren and Jelena Elez getting 10 points apiece. Nice breakout game for Elez, a freshman from Novi Sad, Vojuodina, who handed out six assists (no turnovers) and got two steals.

Here's the Formula stats for Glenville State (3-2, 2-1):

- Attempted 98 shots
- Attempted 35 3-pointers
- Rebounded 44 percent of its owns misses
- Forced 14 turnovers
- Attempted six more shots than Concord

Coach Bunky Harkleroad and his team get back at it Saturday, with a non-conference matchup with Bowie State. I will be rooting for them.

GALESBURG (ILL.) HS GIRLS' TEAM

The Streaks went on the road to open play in the Western Big 6, traveling to four-time defending champ and rival Moline on Tuesday night. The Maroons held on for a 62-57 victory, converting 13-of-17 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Galesburg seemingly was kept off its game throughout and attempted only 14 3-pointers (54 shots total). The defense did force 29 turnovers, but Moline attempted only four fewer shots.

Still, the Streaks were in the game, thanks to the solid player of Sadee Hamilton (21 points, eight rebounds) and Jessica Lieber (20 points, 2-of-9 on 3s).

Galesburg (4-1) returns to play in its Thanksgiving tournament Saturday night, hosting Illini West. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. Go Streaks!

ONU gets back on track with pair of Ws, Glenville State moves to 2-0 in WVIAC, Galesburg HS off to white-hot start

2011-11-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

Back to game updates, while still digesting Grinnell's Griffin Lentsch scoring 89 points over the weekend ...

OLIVET NAZARENE NAIA WOMEN'S TEAM

What a difference in halves for the Tigers on Monday night in a game against Cardinal Stritch in McHie Arena. The first half was all System: ONU made 25-of-52 from the field, including 14-of-31 on 3-pointers, had 18 assists, forced 24 turnovers and came up with 15 steals.

Remember, this all is in the opening 20 minutes, halftime came with the Tigers leading 67-33. What kind of numbers would coach Doug Porter's team put up with another half such as that?

It simply wasn't to be. Oh, sure, ONU (5-1) still won handily, and that certainly is the most important thing. The shooting really fell off in the second half, and I missed so much of it online I don't have an explanation. Following the break, the Wolves outscored ONU 43-27, thanks mostly to the shots simply not falling for the home team.

The Tigers finished 8-for-51 in the second half (15.7 percent), and made only 2-of-33 (6.1 percent) on shots from behind the arc. Only the continued defensive pressure kept the margin comfortable, as Cardinal Stritch suffered 20 turnovers after halftime.

So, for those of you who flunked math in the third grade, the final was 94-76 ONU. Danielle Tolbert led the way with 13 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals, all in 13 minutes of playing time.

This was the second consecutive victory for Coach Porter and his team. They handled Saint Ambrose University 114-91 on Saturday, with Holly Schacht leading the way with 23 points. Four of her teammates also reached double figures: Tolbert (15 points), Denita Phelps (12), Jaimie Buckman (11) and Stephanie Denius (10).

The Tigers forced 42 turnovers, attempted 102 shots and generally got after Saint Ambrose.

Next up for ONU is a visit from McKendree University next Tuesday, Nov. 29. I hope Coach Porter and his team have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

GLENVILLE STATE NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S TEAM

The Pioneers, coached by Bunky Harkleroad, traveled on the road in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to Wheeling Jesuit on Saturday. Glenville State rallied in the second half to win 107-93, with Danielle Woodmore leading the way with 20 points, 10 assists and eight steals. Quite a performance.

She wasn't the only one who put up some numbers. Mishae Miles had 18 points and seven rebounds, Tenisha Wilson came through with 16 and 11 and Ginny Petties (15 points) and Beth Deren (14 points) combined to make nine 3s.

Oh, and Kenyell Goodson added 11 points. The Pioneers (3-1, 2-0 WVIAC) certainly spread the wealth in their second game without guard Tiffani Huffman, who injured her shoulder earlier in the week against Ohio Valley. Huffman most often came off the bench and provided a spark, and replacing her in the rotation is important for Coach Harkleroad.

After four games away from home, Glenville State returns to the friendly confines of Jesse R. Lilly Gym on Tuesday when Concord University comes in to town. Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m., and the best of luck to the Pioneers.

GALESBURG (ILL.) HS GIRLS' TEAM

The Silver Streaks opened play with four games in five nights in the Galesburg Thanksgiving Tournament, and after the dust settled, they were 4-0. What a start.

Perhaps the latest victory will show more than any other was a talented team coach Evan Massey has. Galesburg beat third-ranked Springfield 84-79 Saturday night, using a big second half to win again.

The Senators actually led 41-32 early in the third quarter before the Streaks bounced back, finishing the period on a 28-4 run to lead 60-45. They hit 6-of-11 on 3-pointers in the third, with three coming from Sharron Diggins, and used their press to frustrate Springfield's talented point guard, Zahre Medley.

Medley, someone Coach Massey has said in a NCAA Division I recruit, scored 25 points, but few were easy against Galesburg's defense.

Earlier in the tournament, the Streaks made an amazing 13 consecutive shots at one point to dispatch Metamora 89-64 on Thursday night, then outscored East Peoria 24-10 in the fourth quarter in a 63-44 victory Friday night.

So that's four up and four down for the Streaks, who open Western Big 6 play Tuesday night on the road at Moline. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST. Go Streaks!

JACKSON (MICH.) CC NJCAA WOMEN'S TEAM

Unfortunately, I don't have the full stats, but Jackon improved its record to 3-1 Friday night with a 90-70 victory over the JV team from the Indiana Institute of Technology.

Next up for the Jets is a visit from the JV team at Calvin College on Tuesday night, with tip scheduled for 6 p.m. EST. I wish coach Andy Hoaglin and his team a lot luck.

Lentsch goes off for 89 points for Grinnell, shattering previous NCAA D-III record

2011-11-20T08:44:00.000-08:00

Even the most casual reader of this blog knows that updating everyone on records set by my favorite teams is nothing new. Most every System team sets some type of record periodically, it simply is the nature of this terrific style of play.

This post, however, will break some new ground, and it fittingly comes from the team that started all this craziness 20 years ago: Grinnell College.

The NCAA Division III men's team opened its season Saturday on the road against Principia College from Elsah, Ill. Last season, the Pioneers won this matchup fairly easily, setting a school record with 90 points in the opening half on their way to a 150-90 victory. Grinnell star Griffin Lentsch had 36 points in that game in only 15 minutes of run, making 10 3-pointers along the way.

He did even more in the return game. Playing an almost-unheard-of-for-The-System 36 minutes, the junior from Forest Lake, Minn., scored an NCAA D-III record 89 points, beating the previous mark of 77 set by another Grinnell player, Jeff Clement, in 1998. Lentsch was 27-for-55 from the field, including 15-of-33 on 3s, and converted 20-of-22 at the line. Oh, and the Pioneers won 145-97, not that anyone really cares about that at this point.

Lentsch's point total is the third-highest in NCAA history, behind the 112 points scored by Bevo Francis of Rio Grande College in 1954 and Frank Selvy's 110 points for Furman in the same year.

"It's still setting in," Lentsch said, according to the Grinnell Website. "I didn't think I would ever score that many points."

He had 40 points at the break and then really got down to scoring in the second half. Lentsch went to the line 15 times in the second half, making 14 of them. After teammate Patrick Maher made a jumper with 7:26 remaining, Lentsch scored the final 24 points. His last two came with 19 seconds left on his final shot of the game.

"We knew Griffin had a chance to put up big numbers, but something like this is simply amazing," Grinnell assistant/interim coach Dave Arseneault said, according to the Website. He will take over full-time when his father, System creator David Arseneault, takes a sabbatical in the spring semester to work on his latest book.

"But it really was an entire team effort. The guys contributed in terms of setting screens and getting him the ball. It was incredible to watch. As Griffin scored more and more points, our bench got louder and louder."

That is one of the neatest things about Lentsch's record, the help and support he received from his teammates. The screens, the passes and the unselfishness all combined for a special night. Maher ended up with 13 assists and six steals while scoring 10 points, and Jack Adams added 10 points, too.

All in all, a wonderful game for Lentsch and the entire program.

"All the credit goes to my teammates, in all honesty," Lentsch said. "They did such a great job of setting screens and getting me open. I never would have come remotely close to doing this without them."

We will see what he can do for an encore Tuesday night, when Grinnell plays its home opener against Wartburg College. Game time is 8 p.m. EST.

Have no fear, I will be back with more updates later Sunday. I felt a record such as this deserved its own post, but I have exciting news about all our other System teams, including some important victories for the girls' team at Galesburg (Ill.) HS, along with the women's teams at NCAA Division II Glenville State and NAIA Olivet Nazarene.

Lieber drains late 3 to lift Galesburg, Glenville St. holds on in conference play, other teams not as fortunate this time

2011-11-17T20:38:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was a huge day for The System, with so many of our favorite teams taking the court that it was hard to keep track. Have no fear, I was able to do it. And for a little surprise, I will start with the lone high school, the Galesburg (Ill.) girls' team coached by Evan Massey.

GALESBURG HS GIRLS' TEAM

The Silver Streaks opened their season against Dunlap, a team that gave them fits last season. This one was no different.

Galesburg trailed by seven at half, by nine heading into the fourth quarter and by 12 with about 4 minutes remaining in the game. That is when things finally turned around, and it all started with (what else?) a 3-pointer from Sadee Hamilton.

The Streaks eventually got within two with less than 5 seconds on the clock and ran a nifty inbounds play. Emma Junk cut open to the basket and took a pass, leaving the Dunlap defender with no choice but to foul. She made both shots to tie it up, and after Galesburg's Sharron Diggins stole the ensuing inbounds pass, the ball found its way to Jessica Lieber.

Keep in mind that up to the is point, Jessica was 3-for-22 from beyond the arc. I'm sure she had no time to think about that or anything else as she launched another shot from several steps behind the 3-point line.

The ball swished through at the buzzer, giving the Streaks a thrilling 72-69 victory. Amazing.

Here are The Formula stats, and Galesburg reached all its goals:

- Attempted 79 shots
- Attempted 60 3-pointers
- Rebounded 47 percent of its misses
- Forced 31 turnovers
- Attempted 29 more shots than Dunlap

There is very little time to celebrate for Jessica and her teammates, however, with another game Thursday night against Metamora. The best of luck to Coach Massey and his team.

GLENVILLE STATE NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S TEAM

Tenisha Wilson had 25 points and 10 rebounds to help the Pioneers hold on for a 90-88 victory over Ohio Valley on Tuesday night in the opener of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

What do I mean by hold on?

Glenville State opened a 54-31 lead at halftime, thanks mainly to some wonderful shooting and aggressive defense. The Pioneers made 19-of-41 shots overall, and 10-of-21 on 3s, in that opening 20 minutes while forcing 17 turnovers. It all combined to give them a lopsided edge at the break.

Ohio Valley stormed back, even if the final margin is a bit deceiving. Tara Benedict made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to bring Ohio Valley within those two points.

Beth Deren added 17 points for Glenville State (2-1, 1-0), Kenyell Goodson had 15, Mishae Miles finished with 12 and Danielle Woodmore scored 10.

Here are the other important numbers for the Pioneers:

- Attempted 80 shots
- Attempted 37 3-pointers
- Rebounded 30 percent of their own misses
- Forced 29 turnovers
- Attempted one more shot than Ohio Valley

The season-opening road trip continues for Glenville State on Saturday, when it stays in the WVIAC and travels to Wheeling Jesuit. Game time is 5:30 p.m.

OLIVET NAZARENE NAIA WOMEN'S TEAM

The Tigers suffered their first loss of the season on the road at unbeaten St. Catherine, with the final score of 113-78 Tuesday night in Kentucky. Full stats aren't available, although I did see a mention that ONU (3-1) was 11-for-50 on 3-pointers.

Apparently, St. Catherine scrimmaged against Glenville State to prepare for coach Doug Porter's team, and it appears to have paid off.

The Tigers return to action at home Saturday, playing St. Ambrose University. The tip is scheduled for 4 p.m. EST.

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

The Jets, coached by Andy Hoaglin, had a tough trip on the road to play the Davenport University JV team Tuesday night, and the Panthers came out on top 87-82.

Obviously a close game. Davi'elle Thomas led the way with 18 points, Nicole Wurster had 17, Jessica Vidalez added 12 and Kelsey White finished with 10. This was the first time in three games (2-1) that Jackson CC was held to less than 100 points. It shot 12-of-49 on 3-pointers and attempted 85 total shots.

The Jets take the court again Friday at home against the Indiana Institute of Technology JV team, with the game scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.

OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE STATE NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S TEAM

The Aggies played much better in their second game, even if they still came up on the short side of the scoreboard. Precious Herrin scored 34 points to help Eastern New Mexico beat OPSU 100-96 Tuesday night in Portales, N.M.

Teenie Kent led the Aggies with 23 points, including five 3-pointers, and Camille Washington added 18. Here are their other numbers:

- Attempted 99 shots
- Attempted 49 3-pointers
- Rebounded 35 percent of their own misses
- Forced 34 turnovers
- Attempted 24 more shots than Eastern New Mexico

As you can see, pretty good numbers for a first-year team playing only its second System game. OPSU gets back at it Friday night against Texas Women's University in Denton, Texas, with the game scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. EST.

KNOX NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN'S TEAM

The System opener for coach Emily Cline and the Prairie Fire was a tough one, with Cornell College jumping out to an early lead and holding on for a 107-67 victory Tuesday night.

Abby Owens led Knox with 13 points, with Krystyna Williams adding 12. Here is The Formula stuff:

- Attempted 93 shots
- Attempted 52 3-pointers
- Rebounded 41 percent of its own misses
- Forced 33 turnovers
- Attempted 22 more shots than Cornell

All in all, not a terrible effort, given where the numbers were. And that is an important piece to playing this wonderful style. The Prairie Fire next play at Eureka College on Thursday, with the game scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EST.

Best of luck to all the teams, and I will check back in later.

Galesburg HS ready to get started again, Knox College debuts with The System

2011-11-14T19:53:00.000-08:00

Google Maps puts Galesburg (Ill.) High School slightly more than 2 miles from Knox College. Well, this season, the girls' team at Galesburg will be closer than ever to its older peers, the women's squad at Knox.

This will be the Silver Streaks' third go-around with The System, while the Prairie Fire take the plunge for the first time. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what 2011-12 holds for both of these schools, and we don't have to wait much longer to see what's going to happen: each opens it schedule Tuesday night.

GALESBURG HS GIRLS' TEAM

Coach Evan Massey made the decision to go with The System back in 2009, and I wonder sometimes if even knew what an amazing run his team would have. National records along with a trip to the Class 3A Elite Eight really don't even tell the entire story. He has young people in Galesburg excited about basketball, excited about playing for the Streaks and excited about The System. Pretty amazing.

Last year, Galesburg finished 28-7 with that aforementioned run that ended a game short of the Final Four. This included its first Regional title since 2007 and first sectional title since 2003, not to mention those records. Here is a bit of what the Streaks accomplished:

- National record for made 3-pointers, boys or girls, with 397
- Illinois High School Association marks for 3s attempted (72) and made (22) in a single game
- IHSA records for 3s attempted (1,476) and made in a season

And, yes, there was that 28-7 record, too. That pushed Coach Massey to a career record of 737-267 as he enters his 34th season, leaving him behind only Dorothy Gaters of Chicago Marshall and Dave Powers of Oak Park Fenwick (both Chicagoland schools) in Illinois girls' hoops victories. Pretty special.

He faces a pretty significant challenge this season. All five starters graduated, taking with them an average of about 41 points, and yet, thanks to the beauty of The System, 12 players saw more than 10 minutes of run in each contest. That leaves seven returnees who were regulars in the rotation: Jessica Lieber, Paige Klinck, Rainee Sibley, Chloe Anderson, Myra Diggins, Sadee Hamilton and Emma Junk.

One of those who is gone is Jessica Howard, who made all-Western Big 6 her final three seasons. She also set a state record with 139 made 3-pointers during her season year before taking her talents to Monmouth College.

As he has the past couple of years, Coach Massey prepared a brief Q & A for the media, and I am fortunate he took the time to send it to me.

(Where do you hope to see improvement this season?)

Evan Massey: We hope we can increase the tempo by being a better pressing team and create a better tempo with our presses. And we feel like while we may not have one shooter we can rely on like Jessica Howard, we feel we may have more players capable of scoring. Hopefully that depth will allow us to be quicker offensively.

(How is the depth compared to last season?)

Evan Massey: We return 7 players who played 10 or more minutes. We will rely on their experience. At the start of the year we plan to have 13 players in our regular rotation. We will see as time goes on if we need to limit those numbers at all.

The offseason also was a special time for Coach Massey and the Streaks. Besides the trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., and North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell's camp (where they all got to meet me!), several players took time to work on their games. Four of them made more than 10,000 3-pointers over the summer -- Allison Mangieri, Junk, Sibley and Lieber -- and another three connected on more than 5,000. Those were Casey Williams, Klinck and Anderson.

All in all, expect big things again from the Streaks, who open Tuesday night at home at 8 p.m. EST against Dunlap.

KNOX COLLEGE NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN'S TEAM

Down the road at Knox, coach Emily Cline joined the revolution and installed The System. Regular readers of the blog (anyone? Bueller?) will remember that Knox is a member of the Midwest Conference, which also is home to the Grinnell men's team and coach David Arseneault, creator of this wonderful style of play.

The Prairie Fire go on the road to play Cornell College, with the game scheduled to start at 7 p.m. EST. Coach Cline was kind enough to answer some of my questions in an e-mail a few days ago.

(How has practice gone so far?)

Emily Cline: We have some very good days and some not so good days. Which is pretty typical for this time of the year. The team seems to have made the adjustment to the System pretty quickly, although we have a ways to go. ... I think The System is a good fit for us, if we can stay healthy.

(Tell us a little about your returning players.)

Emily Cline: Two of our top scorers from last year's team are back: Krystyna Williams & Kelly Ricketts. They are both talented post players that could have big year's for us if they continue to work hard. We also have 3 other seniors that should play significant minutes in the 2 and 3 positions -- Steph Nunez, Lynn Mueller, and Abby Owens. Also, our junior class is very strong as well. Kristin McDonald and Sara Johnson will be at the heart of what we do this season, especially defensively.

(How about your recruiting class?)

Emily Cline: We have eight new players, seven of them are freshmen and one sophomore that didn't play last year. They are a deep and talented group that will be looked upon to contribute immediately. Four of the freshmen will play significant minutes early. It should interesting with that many young kids playing.

(What is the team doing well now? What are the sources of concern?)

Emily Cline: We have really picked up the pace of The System (offensively) pretty quickly. We started with a 12 second shot clock from the 1st day of practice so that helps. We still need a lot of work on referee handles, made press, miss press and our half-court press. So obviously, we have a lot of work to do defensively.

Also, we need to learn to continue to play at System pace and get quick shots. We need to learn the difference between shooting quickly and rushing our shot, as well. Also, it will be an adjustment when we start playing games because there are refs there and we haven't been calling many fouls to encourage aggressiveness but it will be different when there are refs there.

(What are your goals, and are they different with The System?)

Emily Cline: I really don't know what to expect. If we were playing conventional I would say our goal is to win 10 or more games. Playing The System I have no idea what to expect.

I love that honesty. It should be a very exciting season for Knox, which finished 6-17 overall and 5-13 in the MWC last season. Best of luck to Coach Cline and her team.

Well, that wraps up this set of previews. Best of luck to everyone, and I will check back on the progress for all our teams.

Tough one for Glenville State in final, OPSU opens System era with a loss

2011-11-13T16:48:00.000-08:00

Two of my favorite teams came up on the wrong side of the scoreboard Saturday night, so this update won't be quite as fun. Still, those coaches and players are the ones going through it, not me, and I empathize greatly with them. I'm sure there are better days ahead.

GLENVILLE STATE NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S TEAM

Coach Bunky Harkleroad's squad had a tight one throughout in the final of the United Electric Tip-Off Classic in Louisville, Ky., hosted by Bellarmine University. The host school rallied in the second half and held off the Pioneers 102-93, dropping Glenville State to 1-1 on the season.

As I said, this one almost always was in doubt. Glenville State by six at the break, fell behind during an early run in the second half by Bellarmine, then battled back to regain the lead on a layup from Tenisha Wilson with 5 minutes left. That made it 89-88, and even my simple math skills tell me that the Pioneers were held to four points down the stretch.

The Knights regained the lead for good on the ensuing possession after Wilson's hoop, with Betsy Goodin converting a pair of free throws to make it 90-98.

Here are The Formula stats for the Pioneers:

- Attempted 87 shots
- Attempted 39 3-pointers
- Rebounded 30 percent of their own misses
- Forced 26 turnovers
- Attempted 15 more shots than Bellarmine

Wilson led Glenville State with 23 points, with Mishae Miles adding 21 points and 11 rebounds. Both of them made the all-tourney team. Ginny Petties finished with 17 points and four steals, while Kenyell Goodson scored 11 points.

The road doesn't get any easier for Coach Harkleroad and his team. After the ride home from Kentucky, they have a quick turnaround before traveling to Ohio Valley on Tuesday night to open the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EST, and you know whom I want to win. (It's Glenville State, fool!)

OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE STATE NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S TEAM

The Aggies opened their first full season with The System on Saturday, losing at home to Adams State 104-79.

The opening 7 minutes went well enough for OPSU, with two free throws from Michelle Kent giving her team an 18-12 lead. But the Grizzlies slowly pulled even and then ahead, using an 11-3 run at the end of the first half to pull to a 50-36 lead. The Aggies never got within 10 the rest of the way.

Here are The Formula numbers for OPSU:

- Attempted 80 shots
- Attempted 38 3-pointers
- Rebounded 25 percent of its own misses
- Forced 25 turnovers
- Attempted 16 more shots than Adams State

Quinae Thomas led the way with 14 points, and Teenie Kent and Nicole Buhl added 11 apiece.

I hate it for coach Brad Vanden Boogaard, but I know (as he does) that there are better days ahead. Hopefully, his team got a good appreciation of what The System is all about and will use that knowledge going forward. That will start Tuesday night with a trip to Eastern New Mexico University, with the game scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Go, Aggies.

Tuesday is shaping up to be a big night for The System. In addition to Glenville State and OPSU, we will have: the NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene (3-0) returning to the court at St. Catherine College in Kentucky; Knox College opening its first season with this style at Cornell College, the NJCAA women's team at Jackson (Mich.) Community College (2-0) traveling to face the Davenport JV team; and the girls' team at Galesburg (Ill.) HS beginning its season at home against Dunlap.

Whew, that is a lot. I hope to be there to cover all the action, even if it is a day or so after it takes place. The best of luck to all our teams.

Late FTs give ONU come-from-behind W, huge second half lifts Glenville State, OPSU prepares for first System season

2011-11-12T08:02:00.000-08:00

Wow, lots to get to in this post, including a season preview of the NCAA Division II women's team at Oklahoma Panhandle State University. The Aggies tip off tonight against Adams State College, with the scheduled start at 6 p.m. EST.

First, the games:

OLIVET NAZARENE NAIA WOMEN'S TEAM

We have to start with Olivet Nazarene, which played defending NAIA Division II runner-up Davenport University on Friday night. Denita Phelps made two free throws with less than 1 second remaining to give the Tigers a thrilling 92-91 victory despite a school-record 43 points by Davenport's Karlee Despres.

The Panthers, who finished 37-1 last season, trailed by 10 points at halftime, and the margin reached 13 early in the second half. But they rallied to take their first lead about midway through the final 20 minutes, and the game was back-and-forth down the stretch.

With the scored tied at 88 in the final minute, ONU's Danielle Tolbert got inside for a layup and a two-point advantage. Davenport's Kia Frazier was fouled with 35 seconds remaining and made the second of two free throws to cut the margin to one, and when Tolbert missed a 3 on the other end, the Panthers had another chance.

This time it was Abby Neff scoring from in close to put Davenport up 91-90, and ONU coach Doug Porter called a timeout with 13 seconds left on the clock. Tolbert and backcourt mate Danielle Pipal broke the Panthers' press, and Pipal drove down the lane before dropping a pass to Phelps, who was hammered on her shot attempt with 0.9 seconds remaining.

Despite a brief delay as the officials made sure the clock was correct, Phelps made both shots to put the Tigers ahead. She then intercepted Davenport's long inbounds pass near halfcourt, ending the game and sending the crowd at McHie Arena home happy.

Tolbert led ONU (3-0) with 21 points. Here are The Formula numbers for her team:

- Attempted 98 shots
- Attempted 72 3-pointers
- Rebounded 40 percent of its misses
- Forced 37 turnovers
- Attempted 14 more shots than Davenport (2-1)

Great job by Coach Porter and his team, it was an amazing game to watch. The Tigers travel to St. Catherine College in Kentucky next Tuesday for their next game, and I hope they have much success.

GLENVILLE STATE NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S TEAM

Speaking of Kentucky, the Pioneers coached by Bunky Harkleroad opened their season Friday night in the opening round of the United Electric Tip-Off Tournament in Louisville, hosted by Bellarmine University.

Danielle Woodmore, a Louisville native, made the most of her homecoming, finishing with 24 points, six rebounds, four assists and five steals to help Glenville State beat American International College 95-76. Tenisha Wilson added 18 points and Mishae Miles had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Pioneers.

Ginny Petties scored 10 points.

A 22-7 midway through the second half helped Glenville State pull away, with seven different players scoring during the spurt. Miles got it started with a free throw, Wilson had a basket and Petties connected on a 3-pointer before Beth Deren got in close for a layup to make it 68-60.

Later, Catherine Butcher converted a pair of foul shots, and Woodmore did the same on the ensuing possession. A 3 from Jelena Elez boosted the margin to 15 before Miles closed it out with another layup. The lead never moved under 10 points down the stretch.

Here are the Pioneers' Formula stats:

- Attempted 85 shots
- Attempted 34 3-pointers
- Rebounded 43 percent of their own misses
- Forced 38 turnovers
- Attempted 35 more shots than AIC

Glenville State will face the host school in the final Saturday night after Bellarmine held off McKendree University 69-67. Game time is 7 p.m. EST, and I will be following the action online.

OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE STATE NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S TEAM

As I said, the Aggies open their season Saturday night against Adams State, and I got in touch with coach Brad Vanden Boogaard earlier this week to see how the transition to The System has gone so far.

The Formula goals for OPSU this season are this:

- Attempt 90 shots
- Attempted 45 3-pointers
- Rebound 40 percent of its own misses
- Force 33 turnovers
- Attempt 15 more shots than the opponent

Here is the rest of our exchange:

(How has practice been? Still happy with the change?)

Brad Vanden Boogaard: We are very happy with the change we made. Practices have been inconsistent at times. We spend a lot of time breaking old habits and are slow to change, which I was expecting.

Scrimmages have went well we play with a lot of energy for three-fourths of them. We got out to a large lead early in the second one and put it in cruise control for awhile. We allowed that team to come back to within two points and then we turned it back on to win by 21. It was a good lesson to learn.

(Tell us a little about your returning players.)

Bran Vanden Boogaard: We have nine returners, six of them being seniors. I consider five of them to be very good shooters, two of them being 5-foot-10 or taller. A few of them have not shown their shooting ability in games yet (Teenie Kent, Megan Taylor, Tomi McDonald, Brianna Gonzalez, Quinae Thomas). Carmela Garcia is a small point guard that is a jet and tough that leads by great example and was honorable mention all-conference last year.

Nicole Buhl and Tra Dishmon are undersized post players that can run well and play at the top of the press really well. Michelle Kent is a hard worker that is crafty getting to the basket and is an average shooter.

(How about your recruiting class?)

Brad Vanden Boogaard: Our recruiting class consist of four freshman, one redshirt freshman, and a sophomore. In the freshman class we brought in two athletes, one that is recovering from an ACL that happened during her senior season, one shooter recovering from a knee scope not practicing at this time and a 6-foot post that runs well, plays the top of the press and is a very good rebounder. The redshirt freshman is a 5-10 shooter. The sophomore is a shooter.

(What are you doing well right now? What are the areas of concern?)

Brad Vanden Boogaard: We are doing a nice job right now of offensive rebounding. We are keeping a good pace of play in getting set in our presses and pushing the ball from the point guard position and for the most part our post are doing a nice job.

My concerns right now are the amount of turnovers and the number of shots we are attempting in our scrimmages. We played two teams that play up-tempo and do some trapping so I think our turnovers will come down against more conventional opponents. The shot attempts concern me because we have been around 100 per game with our goal being 90 or more but with us playing two up-tempo teams I was hoping to be around 110. When we play conventional teams we will need to work harder to get enough shots up.

(What type of teams goals have you set, and would they be similar if playing conventionally?)

Brad Vanden Boogaard: Some of our overall team goals are similar to when we were playing traditionally but our game goals have completely changed. Our goals are 3.3 GPA (nice!), .500 or better record/qualifying for the conference tournament, commit to The System, always play hard, and give OPSU Basketball a name.

Well said, Coach Vanden Boogaard. It appears the home games might be available online, so I plan to catch at least part of the opener Saturday night. Good luck to the Aggies.

Glenville State opens as WVIAC favorite

2011-11-11T07:12:00.000-08:00

The NCAA Division II West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is a meat grinder of a conference, with the 15 teams playing 22 games against each other each season. And with everyone making the year-ending conference tournament, that adds another five games or so if your team is fortunate enough to win it all.

That was the case for the women's team at Glenville State a year ago. The Pioneers finished third in the regular season with a 17-5 record (a single game behind co-regular season titlists Charleston and West Liberty), then rolled through to the tournament championship to secure a bid to the NCAA national tournament. A tough loss in the opening round to Johnson C. Smith left coach Bunky Harkleroad's team with a 23-9 mark, a great finish to his second season at Glenville State.

Now, he and the bulk of his team are back for more. The Pioneers were picked to win the WVIAC in a preseason poll, and they open the 2011-12 season Friday night in the United Electric Tip-Off Classic in Louisville, Ky., hosted by Bellarmine University. Glenville State plays American International College at 6 p.m. EST.

As I said, Coach Harkleroad has the majority of his squad back from a year ago, including leading scorer and first-team all conference member Tenisha Wilson (16.4 ppg). Others returning include Danielle Woodmore (13.6), Mishae Miles (8.9), Kenyell Goodson (7.8), Beth Deren (7.4), Tiffani Huffman (4.9, team-best 44 percent on 3-pointers) and Catherine Butcher (2.2). Huffman missed the final four games last season with a shoulder injury but returns healthy and ready to go.

Here is what Coach Harkleroad had to say about this upcoming season in an e-mail earlier this week.

(Post player LaToya Hambrick will miss the season after suffering an Achilles' injury. What does losing her mean?)

Bunky Harkleroad: Losing LaToya is a big loss. She’s an energy giver and you can never have too many of those. Losing her presence on the court is also going to hurt, she’s a physical player and plays hard. She’s doing well with her rehab and we hope to have her back next season.

(How are the new players fitting in? What do you expect of them?)

Bunky Harkleroad: Our new players are learning and doing a pretty good job of figuring things out. Every person we recruit needs to be able to help us win our league so we have high expectations for all of our new players. There’s a reason we recruited them but you never really know how they are going to respond when they smell the popcorn.

(What is your sense of the team's readiness for the season?)

Bunky Harkleroad: I think we’re ready; our players are excited and are looking forward to outside competition. I think our team has a lot of potential but it’s going to take some time for this team to emerge. I think this team will be different than any team I’ve coached and I hope we play faster than any team I’ve coached.

(You were picked to win the WVIAC. Nice to have the respect, or does that put a target on you?)

Bunky Harkleroad: We work hard to gain the respect of our opponents and, yes, I think it’s nice to be respected. BUT having said that, there’s really no reason to put much stock into a preseason rating.

We do have a bulls eye on our backs but here at GSC we’ve always had that. Our program has a great history in women’s basketball and it’s something we take pride in. We are loved at home and hated on the road. It’s not always easy to get our kids to realize that at first but after a few games they are quick to realize that we get everybody’s best shot.

(A social media question: you and the players often joke around with each other on Twitter, something I think most coaches seem to discourage. What is your take on this? Would you feel differently if you were at a NCAA Division I school?)

Bunky Harkleroad: I can see why some coaches don't like it. I think it’s sometimes difficult to get our kids to realize that they have to be careful and watch what they Tweet or post on (Facebook).

Our basketball team is pretty tight knit and we don’t take ourselves so serious that we can’t laugh at ourselves and give each other a hard time. It’s also a good way for us to keep people involved in our program.

If I were a D-I coach I don’t think I’d view it much differently. I’d probably make more of an effort to ensure that our kids were a little more careful about what they are posting.

A huge thanks to Coach Harkleroad, as always. I wish him and Glenville State the best of luck in Louisville, and I hope to follow the action online.

Final tuneup for Oklahoma Panhandle St.

2011-11-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

You remember this team, right? The Aggies are a member of the NCAA Division II Heartland Conference, and they open their season at home Saturday against Adams State.

Coach Brad Vanden Boogaard's squad had a final scrimmage Monday and reached four of its five goals. Here is what the totals were:

- Attempted 98 shots
- Attempted 62 3-pointers
- Rebounded 49 percent of its misses
- Forced 32 turnovers
- Attempted 15 more shots than the opponent

Coach Vanden Boogaard e-mailed me the update and added this: "In both of our scrimmages, we played teams that wante to play at an up-tempo pace, so our big challenge this week will be preparing for Adams State, who I don't feel will run with us."

I wish the Aggies the best of luck Saturday in their regular season debut with The System. All of us will be behind them for the opener, right?

Season opens with a bang for System teams all around the land (actually, it's mostly confined to the Midwest)

2011-11-08T19:22:00.000-08:00

After typing that headline, I got to thinking -- what is it about the Midwest that seems to spawn System teams? A vast majority of them are centered around the guru of this wonderful style of play, Grinnell men's coach David Arseneault, so perhaps that is why.

Regardless, the season has sprung upon us with two of our favorite teams opening with a pair of victories. And another System squad who we haven't had the opportunity to check in with started off smashingly well, too. I won't waste any more of your time with my musings, on to the games.

OLIVET NAZARENE NAIA WOMEN'S TEAM

The 12th-ranked Tigers, coached by Doug Porter, got going with a 91-75 victory over Ashford University on Saturday in the friendly confines of McHie Arena. Danielle Tolbert, one of the dazzling D's mentioned in our season preview, led the way with 19 points for ONU, with teammates Stephanie Denius and Bridgette Jones adding 11 apiece. Danielle Pipal finished with 10 points.

Before we go any further, we'll go with The Formula stats for the Tigers:

- Attempted 96 shots
- Attempted 58 3-pointers
- Rebounded 35 percent of their misses
- Forced 58 turnovers (nope, not a typo)
- Attempted 30 more shots than Ashford

Looking at those numbers, you would think ONU had an easier time of it. The shooting percent on those 3s (20.7 percent) wasn't as high as Coach Porter would have liked, I'm sure, but all in all, a good effort to start.

And I would be remiss if I didn't give a shoutout to freshman Tai Peachey, who finished with eight points in her collegiate debut. I'm sure she did her coach from Galesburg (Ill.) HS proud, right, Evan Massey?

On Monday night, the Tigers hosted Judson University and cruised to a 125-87 victory thanks to 15 points each from Jaimie Buckman and Taylor Haymes. Liz Bart added 14 and Malory Adam chipped in with 13 for ONU. Anyone else notice those names are completely different from the opener?

Some Formula numbers:

- Attempted 96 shots
- Attempted 66 3-pointers
- Rebounded 39 percent of its misses
- Forced 29 turnovers
- Attempted 20 more shots than Judson

This one really could have gotten out of hand. I caught most of the second half and the Tigers were on the verge of running the Eagles out of McHie Arena. Coach Porter called off the press midway through the final 20 minutes, however, and slowed the pace.

All 18 players on the roster scored for ONU and 11 of them made at least one 3-pointer to set a school record; for the game, those 11 combined to make 27 3s to tie another school mark.

Everyone got at least 7 minutes of run, too.

The Tigers have a tough task Friday, hosting the NAIA Division II runner-up from a season ago, Davenport University. Game time at at McHie Arena is 6 p.m. EST, and I wish Coach Porter and his team the best of luck.

JACKSON (MICH.) CC WOMEN'S TEAM

The Jets, a Division II member of the National Junior College Athletic Association, also opened with a pair of Ws, reaching triple figures in both games.

With Jessica Vidalez connecting on six 3-pointers and scoring 22 points, Jackson rolled past Lakeland Community College 113-96 on Sunday. Five other players joined Vidalez in double figures: Davi'elle Thomas (20 points), DaJanae Wilson (15), Stephanie Berreth (12), Kelsey White (11) and Alyssa Havens (10).

Jackson took an amazing 141 shots and finished 19-for-70 from beyond the arc, on its way to attempting 45 more shots than Lakeland. The Jets forced 41 turnovers to push that pace.

Then on Monday, Vidalez again led the way with 28 points in a 109-73 victory over Mott. Thomas had 27 points, followed by White (14) and Tiki Malone (13). The Jets scored 61 points in the first half and finished 19-for-57 on 3-pointers while taking 112 shots.

Mott had 51 turnovers, if you can believe that.

"We played pretty well defensively," Coach Hoaglin told the Jackson Citizen Patriot. "We've got 11 sophomores on this year's team. They understand the pace of the game, and this was one of our better System games."

The Jets are off until Nov. 15, when they hit the road to play the junior varsity team at Davenport University (sound familiar?). I will be rooting for Coach Hoaglin and his team.

OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN NAIA WOMEN'S TEAM

This is a new one for us, a team playing in the Sooner Athletic Conference which apparently took The System plunge for this season. I'll attempt to get more background, but for now, we'll simply talk about the Eagles first game.

They took a 26-point lead at the half and then held on to beat Texas Wesleyan 110-94 Saturday, setting an unofficial school record for points in the process.

As some of you know, I can be a bit of a System snob, so the numbers posted by Oklahoma Christian leave me a bit skeptical, but perhaps it was an aberration. Here are the stats:

- Attempted 66 shots
- Attempted 33 3-pointers
- Rebounded 27 percent of its misses
- Forced 22 turnovers
- Attempted 15 FEWER shots than the opponent

Now, part of this might have been the Eagles taking an apparent parade to the free throw line. They finished 37-for-44 for the game, and all those foul shots not only limits the number of field goal attempts, they can ruin the tempo of the game.

Katy Clift certainly seems to get The System. She made 7-of-16 from beyond the arc and scored 25 points, with Roz Hamilton (14), Katy O'Steen (12), Logan McKee (11) and Andee Wayne (10) also getting in double figures.

Oklahoma Christian travels to Waxahachie, Texas, for a two-game tournament beginning Friday night, and we'll check back in to see how it goes. I hope the trip down south of Dallas goes well.

It is on like Donkey Kong! (Or, perhaps a better way to say it, the season previews for two of my favorite System teams)

2011-11-05T06:18:00.000-07:00

As amazing as it sounds, we will have actual System hoops to follow beginning this weekend (Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 5-6). The NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene opens its season at home against Ashford University at 3 p.m. EDT, while the women's team at Jackson (Mich.) Community College take the court for the first time Sunday against Lakeland CC at 1 p.m.

Are you as excited as I am?

There is no better time than now to get a little preview up for these two squads, both of which are coming off very successful seasons. The best of luck to both of them.

OLIVET NAZARENE

Coach Doug Porter had only two players graduate from last season's team which finished 27-7 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NAIA tournament. One of those was leading scorer Simone Coburn (12.8 ppg), who got her points in an odd spot for a Sytem team: the paint.

Among those back are point guard Danielle Pipal, an honorable mention All-American in 2010-11 despite averaging only 6.9 points. She also had a team-best 152 assists (4.6 per game) and 124 steals (3.8 per game, good for second best in the nation), all while grabbing 3.8 rebounds per game, as well.

Coach Porter is loaded with two veteran, talented point guards, with Danielle Tolbert (second-leading scorer from a year ago at 12.7 ppg) back to work with Pipal to get the Tigers going. If you've paid attention to this blog, you know that ONU is changing up things a bit this season, going to a more pure Grinnell-style offense.

What does that mean? Well, in simple terms, the initial start of this clears out the entire right side of the court for the point guard to get to the rim. The two Danielles certainly will be able to take advantage of this, and I can't wait to see the results.

Another point guard on the roster is Tai Peachey, a freshman who is no stranger to The System. She played for coach Evan Massey at Galesburg (Ill.) HS and brings that experience with her to college. She's always been one of my favorites (and not just because she is a fan of my blog on Facebook), so I'm hoping her first year at ONU goes very well.

Coach Porter was kind enough to answer some of my questions about the upcoming season, and here are the results of our e-mail conversation.

(With all the returning players from last year's team, what do you expect?)

Doug Porter: I am intrigued by the possibilities this season, but for an odd reason: defense. System teams don’t make a big deal out of the opponent’s scoring average because as David Arseneault once said, "We are all about scoring points." And I enjoy the teasing comments I get from coaches who say, "You guys don’t play defense."

Our team was last in the nation in scoring defense last year (83 ppg), but of course defense is relative to tempo. The real question is (or should be) "How did your defense complement your offense?" In our case, team quickness last year resulted in forcing 36 turnovers a game, and allowed us to set a college basketball record of 735 steals, about 100 more than the (NCAA) DI women’s record. So ... with only 2 seniors graduating from that team, I’m thinking defense will again spark our offense!

(What about your new players, specifically my girl Tai Peachey?)

Doug Porter: Our new players seem behind to me, but I’m hoping that this is because our veterans are so strong that the contrast is more apparent than usual. They will get spot play, some as much as 10-12 minutes a game, some 3-4, and Bridgette Jones (5-foot-6 guard from Seymour, Ind.) and Natalie Tunnell (5-9 Guard from Oklahoma City) have had good preseasons. Bridgette has that rare quality of having what I call a great "motor" meaning she just naturally plays hard. Most kids have to learn the tempo, but in her case, it seems hardwired into her nervous system already. Natalie is a pure shooter who doesn’t shoot enough (yet).

As for Tai, she’s doing just fine. Playing the System in HS at Galesburg for Coach Massey made the transition a little easier for her, I think, but there’s still the jump from HS to College basketball that she’s adjusting to. It usually takes time for any system newcomer to make the “transition” (no pun intended), and as I tell them, "Be patient… you can expect the light bulb go on about 15 games into the first season!"

(Tell us more about the Danielles and their ability to play the Grinnell-style offense.)

Doug Porter: The “D” sisters were born to play the Grinnell offense. I was watching one of Coach A’s clinic video’s last night and he made the point once again, "You have to have PGs who can get to the rim and be a scoring threat to run this offense." Having two this year is going to give our opponents some real problems, since the Grinnell "made shot fast break" as you know consists of a clear-out of the entire right side of the floor in transition for your PG.

The nice thing is that Pipal and Tolbert are completely opposite "types" as PGs. Tolbert is a converted 3-guard who has always been great at putting the ball on the floor. Physically, she’s a tank, easily our strongest player, and can take the pounding going to the basket.

Pipal is also a converted wing, but she’s more of a finesse player who likes the 8-foot pullup jumper. I don’t usually like that shot because it doesn’t allow you to draw contact and get to the foul line, but in Pipe’s case, she’s very accurate with it. Pipe was an HM all-American last year and was #2 in the country in steals (despite averaging just 13 minutes per game), and Tolbert could be at that level too. We’re really blessed to have two like that at once!

(Who do you see filling Simone Coburn's role, if anyone?)

Doug Porter: Honestly, nobody will fill that role this year, which is why we’ve moved to pure Grinnell, which doesn’t really require a post-up type player. The interesting thing about Coburn was that she shot almost 70% from the field last year to lead the nation in that stat, but she was in reality only 5-8.

The System can be designed to get a post player some very good scoring opportunities, but with two raw freshman and two converted upperclassmen forwards playing there this year, the Grinnell offense just seems to make more sense for us right now. Still, we’ll miss Simone because she was our leading scorer (quite a feat for a post player in a totally guard oriented system!)

(I get the sense you expect great things from this team. How has the preseason gone?)

Doug Porter: It’s been an unusually long preseason with such a big break between our first scrimmages and this Saturday’s games, and we are tired of practicing, so it’s hard to gauge where we are right now. We’ve also had some injury/illness problems which will hopefully work themselves out soon. With that said, this could be a pretty special team!

A huge thanks, as always, to Coach Porter, and I wish him and his team all the success in the world, beginning in that opening game.

JACKSON CC

Coach Andy Hoaglin's National Junior College Athletic Association Division II team came up one game short of advancing to the national tournament last season, finishing 19-12 in its first season running The System.

Not bad, considering the Jets started 1-7 before winning 18 of their final 23 games. Jackson CC set NJCAA Division II records last season by averaging 103.6 points and attempting 1,550 3-pointers, with sophomore Erika Bullock voted second-team all-conference and freshman Nicole Wurster getting a nod to the third team. Bullock averaged a team-best 14.2 points and Wurster was right behind with 12.4, while Bullock finished third in NJCAA Division II with 4.58 steals per game.

Coach Hoaglin was kind enough to answer our questions about this season.

(How has the second preseason with The System gone?)

Andy Hoaglin: Our second preseason has gone much smoother than our first year's. We have 11 returners that have a flavor for what we're trying to accomplish with our version of the Grinnell System.

One of the main benefits is not having to convince players that The System is viable method of playing the great game of basketball. All of our freshmen have seen our System in action and understand what we're trying to do with it.

The most beneficial piece this year is having a large group of players experienced in the extreme results (both positive and negative) of System basketball.

(Last season started slowly. What can you do to make sure it doesn't happen again?)

Andy Hoaglin: To put it as simply as I can: The teaching and the absorption is happening much quicker, which allows us to get "deeper" into other System aspects. For example: Finding the second level fade, when the RW is curling, two-man game with the PG, multiple press looks and other concepts we just couldn't unload on the team last year.

We also ran a "hybrid" last year, because frankly, I was hedging my bet on the System. We ran an ONU/Grinnell hybrid. My advice to other coaches: Don't employ hybrids. Choose your path wisely, and hold true to it and don't underestimate players.

One more thing is that we've got depth at the PG position. Our PG's can score from outside and at the tin. They're quick and athletic.

(How have the players accepted the "brand" of being a System team?)

Andy Hoaglin: Put it this way: We went and watched a couple of former JCC players playing against each other in a opening season contest last Saturday. They kept on saying, "Don't ever think about doing THAT to us!" or "Coach, I'll quit if you go back to this!" and finally my wife: "I'll divorce you if you go back to the way you used to coach!"

Our families and players are proud to say they're System. (great answer)

(What are the goals for this season?)

Andy Hoaglin: We've made it a goal to qualify for our National Championship this year. This means winning our district qualifying tournament in March. We can only do this if we work the process of our formula and not focus on that end state.

I think of it the way a teacher explained the process of showing my work in math: Knowing the answer isn't enough. You need to understand how you got there and you need to do this by showing your work. The same with The System formula. Don't get hung up on the results. Work the process and pay attention to the formula. Pay attention to the details of the formula and diligently work. The ANSWER will be there at the end.

125 shots per game + 50% 3FGA + 40% off. rebounds + 35 TO forced + 30 shot differential.

(Going into season two, what is the reaction around campus?)

Andy Hoaglin: We're still facing the same criticism, but we understand it better now and deal with it usually with a smile or a shoulder shrug. We had many people at both scrimmages and we always have people peeking in during practice wondering what we're doing to equip us to be so explosive. Most people just shake their head and ask the typical question, "How do you score all those points?" or say its not basketball.

I'll take our basketball over watching a local 4-year college team lose a game 44-29. Must've been a great defensive game.

Thanks so much to Coach Hoaglin. I hope everyone appreciated his answer about following The Formula for success. To enlighten any new readers, all System teams have five goals in each game, and none of them involve making shots, scoring points or keeping the other team from scoring.

Did you notice Jackson CC's goals? The Jets want to attempt at least 125 shots per game, with half of them being 3-pointers. They also want to rebound 40 percent of all their misses on the offensive end while forcing at least 35 turnovers. All this should lead to Jackson CC attempting at least 30 shots more than the opponent.

These are very ambitious goals; Grinnell, the original System team, wants to take 94 shots in each game, so you can see how high Coach Hoaglin has gone. I hope they do it, because that will mean monster numbers for the Jets.

A quick update from Shoreline (Wash.) CC

2011-10-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

Remember this team, right? Coach Greg Turcott and the men's team at Shoreline (Wash.) Community College are System-bound this season, and I asked him for an update on the progress thus far in practice.

The Dolphins were 13-13 last season, including 6-10 in the Northern Region.

Greg Turcott: "So far it has been easier in regards to the coaching because we are doing the LMU system and have had workouts all fall to put it in. The difficulty is in helping the kids to understand the overall philosophy of shooting open shots and taking chances on defense.

"I really like the style, the pace, and the fact that the kids are in a system where they don't have to think too much as they are running to designated spots on every possession, make or miss! It is a different way of playing and coaching for sure but one that I really enjoy and believe in!!"

Very brief, but great information nonetheless. We'll check back in with Coach Turcott soon.

Also, I hope to have an update in the next day or so on the NCAA Division II women's team at Oklahoma Panhandle State, which was scheduled to scrimmage this week. Make sure you stop back by in a couple of days.

Knox College opens with The System

2011-10-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

Emily Cline, the women's coach at NCAA Division III Knox College (a Midwest Conference rival of the original System team, the Grinnell men's squad), debuted with this wonderful style of play Monday with the Prairie Fire. As I said in an earlier update on Coach Cline, I'm amazed she is the first coach from the MWC to take the plunge, given all the success creator David Arseneault has had with the Pioneers all the years.

I e-mailed Coach Cline and asked for her thoughts on the opening workout, and here is her response:

Emily Cline: "It was great to get out on the court for the first time as a System coach. We put our break in tonight and got a lot of shooting, passing and ballhandling in as well. My players seemed to catch on pretty quickly to the concepts and they went really hard. So I was pleased by the effort.

"However, I know that I have so much to learn about the minutia of The System that I am even more motivated to study and learn as much as possible. Also, practice planning is different coaching The System than conventional basketball so I need to get a better handle on that as well. Overall, I think I will love coaching The System but the learning curve is going to be steep."

Man, that is such good information. I really appreciate Coach Cline taking the time to get back to me, and I wish her and her team the best of luck this season. We'll check back in with them soon.

Jackson CC goes off in opening scrimmage

2011-10-15T18:08:00.000-07:00

OK, so it only was a scrimmage, against a team we really have no way of judging for competitiveness. It doesn't mean anything, right?

Well, perhaps it does, since I am downright giddy with the news about the effort put in by coach Andy Hoaglin and the Jackson (Mich.) Community College women's team Saturday. System teams normally need a few games to fully come together, given all the complexities of running this wonderful style of basketball. Coach Hoaglin's squad got going a bit quicker than that.

First, the details: the Lady Jets beat Sioux College 154-57 on the strength of some amazing shooting from the the 3-point line. Jackson, a Division II member of the National Junior College Athletic Association, finished 43-of-84 beyond the arc, which would be two more NJCAA records for the Jets. They finished last season, their first running The System, with the most 3-pointers attempted in a season (1,550) and the highest scoring average (103.6).

The totals from this one would shatter the NCAA Division I marks for 3s in a game as listed in last year's record book -- in fact, both the attempts and made shots would be more than the highest COMBINED total from two teams in a single game. Ole Miss (17) and Bowling Green (14) connected on 31 treys between them Nov. 26, 1999, and those two teams shot a total of 75 3s in that contest.

Pretty impressive, right?

Jackson forced more than 40 turnovers and attempted more than 125 shots, too. Here are Coach Hoaglin's thoughts:

Andy Hoaglin: "We did many things well today, and I was so impressed with our overall effort with a short bench of 12. We actually had 4 sophomores sitting out today because of minor injuries or participation in other sports. Still, the freshmen grew up in a hurry and surprised me on so many levels ... Just a fun day.

"Obviously one scrimmage means absolutely little, but they KNOW this team has special written all over it."

Great stuff for Jackson. I can't wait to check in with this team again soon.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2011-10-13T19:01:00.000-07:00

Sure, I've used that before, but it doesn't make it any less correct. Basketball practice, at least for colleges, gets started in earnest this weekend around the country, which brings us even closer to the start of the season.

Can you feel the excitement?

Once upon a time, pretty much everybody started on the same day -- Oct. 15. The NCAA relaxed its rules a bit to allow more workouts in the fall, so most of the teams already have worked out together, leaving this weekend as more of a symbolic opening for practices.

I've asked a few of my favorite coaches to give me an idea of what they have planned for this weekend, and since Grinnell was the original System team, I'll let interim coach Dave Arseneault explain what is going on for the NCAA Division III men's program. Remember, he is taking over during his father's sabbatical:

Dave Arseneault: "Quite honestly, I don’t feel too different about this season compared to others in the past. I’m still just as ready and just as amped up for our practices to start as I have been for the last 6 years. I get a sense from the guys that they’re expecting some really big things from this season given that we are returning 12 out of our top 13 scorers.

"While it’s nice to have that kind of foundation to build on, I’m still not quite sure how good we are going to be for a few reasons: (1) We got a lot of lucky breaks last year and you just can’t expect that to happen again; and (2) I’m worried about our team chemistry.

"I’m hoping that we can find a way to avoid Pat Riley’s 'Disease of More.' Riley’s theory is that often times when a team is coming off a successful season all the returnees want more ... more playing time, more shots, more ball. The problem is that when everybody is returning, there isn’t more time, shots or ball to go around, so everybody has to accept a role that will help the team win.

"Even though we’re officially allowed to start practice on Saturday the 15th, we won’t actually start until October 20. Our Fall Break starts this weekend (the kids get a full week off from school plus the two weekends) so I’ve decided to be nice and send them home for the first part of break. I figure this way when I lay the hammer down on the 20th there won’t be any excuses.

"I live basketball, so the 20th can’t get here soon enough!"

I hear you, Coach Arseneault, I hear you.

Next we'll go to Bunky Harkleroad, the women's coach at NCAA Division II Glenville State. His day Saturday will include a special dinner for his team and the men's program, along with any fan who would like to attend. Chicken cordon bleu, lasagna, tossed salad and green beans all are on the menu, with chocolate cake for dessert. Man, that sounds good, right?

Bunky Harkleroad: "We are really excited about this year’s team and are looking forward to getting to work Saturday. I’m a little bit nervous because I really like this team’s energy level and chemistry so far. I’m great at finding things to complain about but so far our kids have really worked hard and seem hungry.

"We did suffer a big loss with LaToya Hambrick; she tore her Achilles during the preseason and she will be out this season. Losing a senior post player wasn’t something we’d planned on but we’ve recommitted to playing faster than ever before and putting more points on the board than ever before.

"With the NCAA rule changes this season we were allowed to have some full team workouts (two hours per week total). Initially we worked out in small groups of 4 and over the past few weeks we made all of our workouts team workouts. Believe it or not we’ve spent the majority of that time addressing what we do on dead ball situations. We’ve never done that before but with a pretty experienced group returning we are trying to clean up turnovers as early as possible and do a better job of executing early in the season.

"In addition to our on court workouts our players have open gym sessions in which they essentially played pickup games with a 15 second shot clock, sometimes 3 on 3 half court, and sometimes our seniors would lead shooting drills. Open gym has been time for our seniors to set the tone with our new players.

"Finally we have short, intense conditioning sessions that simulate a shift. So basically we’ve spent the preseason trying to introduce our tempo, show some X's and O's, and focus on taking care of the basketball when the season starts.

"Our first few practices will be really long ones, I know this seems somewhat anti-System but we have so much to get done there’s no way around it. We pride ourselves on spending most of our practice time focusing on the fundamentals (passing, shooting, dribbling) and we don’t want to ever get away from that. BUT we’ve got a lot to put in, a lot of mistakes left to make (there’s no way around that), and a lot of scrimmaging to do.

"This year’s approach has been a little different than the past but with the NCAA rule changes we think it only makes sense to mix it up."

Great stuff there, right? Look for Coach Harkleroad and the Pioneers to build on last year's trip to the NCAA tournament.

The NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene is coming off a successful season, as well, which ended in the Sweet 16 of the national tournament. Coach Doug Porter has nearly everyone back from that team, along with some talented newcomers, so the Tigers should be ready to roll again.

Doug Porter: "We are looking forward to the upcoming season at ONU. With 13 players returning off last year’s successful run, we’ve got good experience and a very quick squad. Defensively, we were strong last season, forcing over 36 turnovers a game, and we should be even more effective this year.

"A big change for us is our move to more of the pure Grinnell offense. In past years, we’ve used a very simple “dribble-drive” approach, running to spots and using penetration to create shots, along with some basic down-screening action and post play. With our experience and strong point guard play this season, we feel the Grinnell set will give us more room to get to the rim, and will allow us to create better looks for our perimeter shooters.

"Grinnell’s offense is more complex, but I like what I’m seeing from our players so far in the preseason!"

Seeing a new wrinkle from Coach Porter's team should be interesting, and I know he's right: the Grinnell break is perfect for his point guard tandem of Danielle Pipal and Danielle Tolbert.

The women's team at Jackson (Mich.) Community College got a head start of its four-year counterparts, beginning its workouts at the beginning of this month. Coach Andy Hoaglin has high hopes for this year's team, which led all the National Junior College Athletic Association in scoring a year ago (notice the banner with the story), and gave some insight into what he has been focusing on so far:

Andy Hoaglin: "Official practice actually started on October 1st and we've been at it 5 days a week, re-implementing the almighty System. We've got 12 returners from last year's record setting squad with 6 freshmen who are either skilled shooters or rebounders.

"I believe this team has the potential to be better than last year's squad for a variety of reasons.

"-12 players with one year under their belt WITH the experience of results garnered from the system. They know it works.

"-Instead of 2 skilled shooters, we have 7 skilled shooters that can knock it down from beyond the arc.

"-We're 2 deep at every postion, and 4 deep at the all important point guard position (all sophomores).

"-We're more athletic than we were last year. We've replaced traditional posts with pretty much all guards.

"We have our first scrimmage of the new season this Saturday and the ladies are excited for it. We're a little banged up right now, and will go into the scrimmage with 12 able bodies, which is fine, because its still preseason and scrimmages don't matter except from a standpoint of getting experience.

"I believe this team has the capability of winning a conference championship, winning our national championship qualifying district and rewrite many of our offensive and defensive records from last year.

"If we stay healthy and continue working intelligently, I think special things are in store for this team."

One of the new System teams this season will be at Oklahoma Panhandle State University, where coach Brad Vanden Boogaard has his NCAA Division II women's team ready to take the plunge. Following his progress will be exciting, starting with the opening of practice.

Brad Vanden Boogaard: "We are really excited about starting full team practice this weekend. Our individual workouts have gone well we have shot a ton of 3s this fall which is no surprise. Our players are really catching on to how fast we are able to play and are being able to see where we will force our opponents to play at our pace. It is a daily thing that we have to remind them of the aggressive nature they need to play at and that they can play without a fear of failure because they are going to play.

"That thought process is a hard one to get through ... and we are just looking forward to seeing how far we can go by playing The System. Some of our players will have the opportunity to play near their home towns, when we are in Denton, Texas, and Pocatello, Idaho, so they are excited for that. Idaho State is our only D-I on the schedule, it will be interesting to see how the system works against a team at that level. We were able to get that game because the head coach at Idaho State played his final two seasons of college ball here.

"That is all the excitement here it is homecoming week and we will be on the floor Saturday morning shooting and causing chaos on the hardwood."

Great stuff from a System "newbie." I wish all these coaches luck this weekend and throughout the season; I only wish I could be there for everyone's first practice.

Arnold joins Manchester (Mich.) HS

2011-09-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

Surely you remember coach Dave Arnold, right? He's a longtime proponent of The System who coached the boys' team at Monroe (Mich.) HS last season, a year after leading his team at Whitmore Lake (Mich.) HS to a 14-7 record a trip to the Class C District Semifinals.

Coach Arnold has taken his System knowledge to another Michigan high school, this time traveling to Manchester, Mich., to coach the boys' team at the local high school. This is particularly important to me, not just because I'm such a big fan of his, but I'm a big fan of Manchester, too. Well, not really the high school, although I am sure it is a fine place to educate the minds of the teenagers in that part of southern Michigan.

No, I love the town itself, a quaint village (seriously, it's called the Village of Manchester) of about 2,000 people located on the River Raisin, with a simply beautiful downtown area. There is an old-school Dairy Queen located on Main Street, near a bridge over the river. Wurster Park features a gazebo that is home to a weekly concert series in the summer.

I'm sure you are thinking at this point, "How do you know so much about Manchester?" And if you're not thinking that, hmm, have you been paying attention to the stunning detail of an area about 700 miles from my home? Well, I used to travel through Manchester on several occasions, a couple of weeks a year, taking one of my grandfather's famous shortcuts (man, I miss HP) to what is now called Michigan Speedway. On the way back to his house from the track, we always stopped at DQ for a quick dose of ice cream, and I marveled at what a wonderful town Manchester was.

Who knew that all these years later, I would have another brush with that fair village?

OK, enough about me and my childhood memories of that area. This update is to let everyone know that Coach Arnold is ready to take The System to Manchester this season, and few have done it as well as he has in the past. I mentioned the record he posted a couple of seasons ago at Whitmore Lake. In case you've forgotten, and I can't imagine why you have, here are some other eye-popping numbers the Trojans accumulated in his final year:

- Set a school record with 356 3-pointers in 1,225 attempts
- Scored 88.9 points per game
- During a 10-game winning streak, averaged nearly 95 points and 20 3s
- Set the Michigan record with 29 3s on Jan. 21, 2010, in a 117-80 victory over Morenci

This is what the good people of Manchester have to look forward to this season. Coach Arnold, as always, was gracious enough to respond to my email for details on the new job and what he plans to do with The System. You won't be disappointed.

(First of all, you will run The System, right?)

Dave Arnold: "Absolutely! Two schools in the conference have dominated basketball over the last 15-20 years. Even Manchester’s best teams, which were very good teams, have only managed third-place finishes. Therefore, I think it’s vital for us to attack them with something different, see if we can get them on their heels and force them to adjust us rather than the other way around."

(Whew, OK, good. What drew you to the job there?)

Dave Arnold: "Manchester has a strong athletic tradition, especially in football. My thinking is if you have enough athletes with the character to build and sustain a quality football program, you should be able to build a successful basketball program with those same kids."

(What has been the reaction so far from your team?)

Dave Arnold: "We didn’t have much time during the summer to introduce the basic concepts before we started playing. In our area, there are two basic options for summer leagues and shootouts: 1) You go to the small colleges in the area that host events. Every school you play is your size or smaller, and in our case, virtually every team in the league plays in these events. 2) Head into Detroit and play bigger schools and better programs.

"I don’t care so much about winning during the summer; I like to play big, quality teams. We usually take a few beatings, but you never see athletes or teams like that in our league, so there’s a huge upside for us that’s not always readily apparent. By our last season at Whitmore Lake, we were able to compete with and beat these teams. This summer, I chose to go big.

"Truthfully, the schedule was tougher than I even would have liked. We were able to hang around with some quality teams from schools five and six times our size because of the offensive concepts. However, I was also trying to introduce the defense, which just turned into a layup drill against these teams because of the quality of the guard play, team ballhandling and coaching we were competing against.

"That was a bit of a negative, but the overall reaction has been fairly positive."

(Last season at Monroe didn't work out as you had planned. Did that change your view of The System?)

Dave Arnold: "I don’t think it changed my view of The System, but it did open my eyes to adjustments that need to be made at times. At Whitmore Lake, we were just as athletic as the teams we played against, so we took a very straightforward approach – this is what we do, and we don’t change for anyone. We were able to get away with that approach because of the relative similarities in terms of athleticism and talent.

"At Monroe, we played three games against teams that were in the Michigan and Ohio 'Final Four' in big classes the past two seasons. Needless to say, there was some exceptional talent on those teams, including two or three mid-major DI guards. I’ve been doing this long enough to understand that attacking those guards defensively wasn’t the best idea, but you’re torn between establishing a philosophy that says we do what we do, period, and making necessary adjustments, which can also be misunderstood by kids early in the process.

"If we had played either of these teams at Whitmore Lake, I may very well have held the ball. But because our kids knew me and understood the system, they would know this was a one-time change of pace to give us the best chance to win. With a new group, you constantly sell this run, shoot, trap, repeat philosophy, but the first time you play a good team you put on the brakes. There’s a big difference in how that is perceived.

"However, in looking back not only to last year, but this summer as well, I see ways and opportunities for us to incorporate adjustments that would allow us to compete against superior quickness without selling out our core principles.

"You still haven’t seen anyone at the college level in a BCS conference run the system, and this is why. The skill and athleticism is too good – teams finish way too much against the press and you just can’t be effective always taking the ball out of the net.

"That’s what happened to (Paul) Westhead with the (Denver) Nuggets. Kids in our league miss layups because of fatigue or lack of skill. High-level college players and pros don’t miss dunks. Yet protecting against those situations goes against the core values of The System, so there’s a struggle to find some balance."

(What is the biggest challenge in introducing The System to a new team?)

Dave Arnold: "The biggest challenge is getting the kids to understand what playing hard REALLY means. They typically have little or no idea in a conventional system, so to add the level of effort and intensity required of our system on top of that change can be a bit overwhelming.

"The schemes aren’t difficult; I could send the opposing coach a cocktail napkin before the game with our offensive and defensive sets. Getting kids to break habits related to 'normal' basketball can be a challenge at times – getting them to think shoot before pass, getting them to understand that a bad 3 is still better than a forced pass to a cutter that leads to a turnover, etc. It’s tough at times to get them to understand that less is really more with the system.

"We don’t do much at either end schematically, but we do what we do so with such intensity that it is still effective. There will also be plenty of questions early on, especially from the parents, because what we do is so different. Everyone gets caught up in the mass substitutions, 3-point shooting and quick-shot approach. However, just like conventional basketball, The System really works only when you defend in terms of forcing turnovers and rebound at both ends (especially offensively).

"This is the same formula you see winning at every level, but it’s not nearly as obvious with us because of the pace of play. Once everyone understands the 'method to the madness' and we have some success, the questions go away, although there will always be a few dissenters."

(Finally, what advice would you give some of The System newbies out there?)

Dave Arnold: "Keep it simple! One of the coaches described The System as, 'Run, shoot, rebound, press, repeat.' Sounds about right to me! The more you coach, the less System-oriented you become, quickly. Get them running, get them shooting, get them to attack the glass, get them to press hard (start with one scheme and stay there), get them to understand how to do it for 32 minutes and you should be fine!

"Truthfully, I agree with a fellow System coach who would really prefer to not see others running it. I know this comes across as selfish, but for me, it’s all about competitive advantage.

"You always hear coaches suggest it would be a great game if two system teams hooked up. This has happened, and the games have reportedly been rather ugly. Defense dominates, so neither team gets in an offensive rhythm. You have tons of turnovers and missed shots – not exactly a recipe for exciting basketball.

"I know if I was playing a System team, I would probably revert to conventional basketball. I had success against two very good System teams and coaches doing that in the past. One of the great strengths of The System is the contrast in style from the conventional team or the team that really wants to slow it down. We can talk aesthetics, but it still comes down to giving your team the best chance to compete."

As I said, I knew you would appreciate his knowledge, his honestly and, most of all, his passion for The System and basketball in general. I wish Coach Arnold the best of luck. Maybe I can get up there at some point and buy him a vanilla cone at the Dairy Queen.

To pay or not to pay, that is the question

2011-09-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

Perhaps no current topic in college sports is as polarizing as the one posed in the headline, as in, "Should student-athletes be paid beyond what is provided by their scholarship?" Yes, I realize you might not have heard it phrased quite that way, since many who feel these young people are treated unfairly simply want them to earn a salary of some kind. Regardless of whether you think college players are fairly compensated, it is a simple fact that the scholarship they receive is a form of compensation. Is it enough?

Many others with a higher importance and more talent than me have weighed in on this subject; HBO devoted an hour of programming to a roundtable discussion featuring FOXSports.com columnist Jason Whitlock, former Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez and former CBS college basketball analyst Billy Packer, among others, with Bryant Gumbel as moderator. There are a few others who have gotten my attention, as well, including Sports Illustrated writer Joe Posnanski, CBS and Sports Illustrated college hoops expert Seth Davis and noted Civil Rights author Taylor Branch.

My view runs concurrently with Posnanski and Davis and as far away from what Branch believes as possible. If you took the time to read the thoughts of those gentlemen, I likely won't improve upon them. In case you didn't, I will do what I can to summarize those thoughts here. I suggest you read their full writings to get a deeper understanding of their position.

I'll start with Branch, who is a brilliant writer and historian. Unfortunately, he falls on the wrong side in this discussion:

Taylor Branch: He essentially believes NCAA institutions are making millions of dollars a year off the backs of unpaid labor, even going so far to compare it to slavery. A common theme in his long argument for paying college athletes is that no other business would be allowed to follow this model. He talks of the fact that the players should be free to negotiate the terms of their servitude, much like those of us in the real world earning a living.

Seth Davis: This article refutes much of what Branch writes, including the notion that athletic departments at institutions of higher learning are "making" millions of dollars a year. As Davis points out, among the 332 colleges currently making up NCAA Division I, less than a dozen of them earn a profit in athletics. You read the correctly, less than 4 percent. How could they and why should they spend more money?

He also hammers at another point that I often make in discussions on this matter, namely that the NCAA does not prohibit anyone from getting paid for playing his or her sport. There is no NCAA rule that stops anyone coming out of high school from turning professional immediately instead of accepting a college scholarship. The NFL and the NBA are the ones who have limits on who can be drafted, so any complaints about the current system should start with them.

Finally, Davis also disputes the notion that NCAA athletes be allowed compensation similar to the Olympic model, where the competitors can negotiate endorsement deals without compromising their eligibility, their so-called "amateurism." ESPN basketball analyst Jay Bilas is one who constantly belabors this point. Again, I often have asked (rhetorically) if we really want a world where North Carolina's Harrison Barnes, arguably the top returning college basketball player, earns hundreds of thousands of dollars, or more, from Nike or another source. Davis takes it a step further, pointing out that recruiting battles could be contested based on the amount of money a business was willing to give the player. It is utter nonsense.

Joe Posnanski: He eloquently describes how college athletics really is about the school, not the player. It is the same argument used daily by people around the country, based on the old cliche that college athletes should play "for the name on the front of jersey, not the one on the back." It is a valid idea. If the aforementioned Barnes didn't attend North Carolina, would the basketball program in Chapel Hill really suffer? Wouldn't coach Roy Williams' squad still be on national TV nearly every game, and wouldn't fans still fill the Dean Dome to watch the Tar Heels? How can you measure the value of Barnes' impact on the overall program? You can't.

As I said, I urge everyone to read all three of these articles, along with Branch's rebuttal of Davis' rebuttal that was posted on his Website. He again misses the point, even if it makes for good reading.

There is one final thing I'd like to say on the matter, something I haven't heard from anyone during this debate. A simple way to end any questions about the "fairness" of the current system would be to award scholarships only to those who value them, as in recruits who plan to get a college education.

Doug Porter, whom you all know as the women's basketball coach at Olivet Nazarene, had these thoughts when I asked him his views on playing college athletes:

Doug Porter: "College athletes do receive compensation. It’s called a scholarship, and it provides them with a free education that other students often must pay over $100,000 to receive. This education also provides them with a college degree that opens doors for them the rest their working lives. They also receive free room and board for four or five years.

"In a culture that places such a low value on actually learning anything, it’s not surprising that people in favor of paying college athletes a stipend feel that they aren’t being fairly compensated. They must view a college degree and the skills/knowledge it represents as a worthless piece of paper."

Well said, Coach Porter.

The football program at North Carolina currently is under investigation by the NCAA, and the one fact that stood out from all the rest from the entire ordeal was this: one of the players who received extra benefits, Marvin Austin, took remedial English during his first fall semester on campus.

Seriously? A university with the reputation of North Carolina offers a course called remedial English? There is no way that should happen, unless of course, unqualified students are being allowed into school simply to play sports.

OK, so I know that happens at nearly every "big-time" athletic program, so I shouldn't pick on the Tar Heels. Still, that highlights how out of kilter the entire concept has gotten. Let's start allowing genuine college students to play sports for their universities, instead of ones who are athletically talented, yet educationally inferior. This would end most of the troubles befalling our favorite teams now and return college sports closer to what they are supposed to be.

A novel concept, right?

New System coach takes a trial run

2011-09-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

Kevin Moore did an incredible job last season, his first as the boys' basketball coach at Mount Olive HS in Flanders, N.J. Taking over a squad that posted a 4-21 record in 2009-10, Moore led the Marauders to a 17-7 finish and their first conference title in the history of the program.

Sounds like a perfect candidate to switch to The System, right?

For this upcoming season, Mount Olive will be employing the most exciting style of hoops ever seen, taking its previous up-tempo pace a little further as Coach Moore takes the plunge with the creation of Grinnell coach David Arseneault. He and the Marauders already have enjoyed success using it, scheduling a practice game at the end of summer practice (complete with referees) to see just where they were.

The results were pretty amazing. Mount Olive beat Hackettstown 122-97, a game which included the Marauders scoring 73 points in the first half to top their average for an entire game from the previous season. There were the usual moments where Coach Moore wondered if he had made the correct decision -- mostly while watching Hackettstown drive in for layups against the press -- but there were enough good things to leave him excited about the immediate future.

He was kind enough to take time for an interview via e-mail, and I wanted to share his thoughts.

(Tell me about the decision to go to The System.)

Kevin Moore: "I think it was a progression. If you really enjoy the pressing and running game, it simply made sense to me to take it one step further. I believe that as a running team you can come up against another running team that either does it better than you or that is more athletic than your team is.

"This is where I think The System becomes the great equalizer. We also were a very deep team last year and I found that I was forgetting about guys on the bench, so The System made sense to utilize our numbers advantage."

(How did you first hear about The System?)

Kevin Moore: "A number of years ago I came across Coach A's videotape in Syskos, ordered it, and thought that it was just another fast break system. I became fascinated by it, and actually went as far as to dabble with it that season, I believe it was 2003-04 season. The problem was, we had numbers but we did not have the offseason to get enough threes up. We could run and press, but simply couldn't score."

(What surprises have you come across in your thoughts about this style?)

Kevin Moore: "I think I have been surprised by the polarizing effect it has on people. They either love it or think it's a terrible, undisciplined style of basketball that will never work."

(After studying it and implementing it, what jumps out at you about The System?)

Kevin Moore: "The first thing that jumped out at me (and I think our players too) was the effort required to run the system. When you first explain it, it's one thing to talk about maximum effort, it's an entirely different story to play at maximum effort. It's pretty remarkable that in the past I thought my teams played pretty hard, and now I think I have a much better understanding of what that really means.

"I think the second thing is simply the sheer amount of points that can be generated. When I mentioned our first outing in The System to some coaching colleagues, many just didn't believe me that it was possible to score 122 points in a four-quarter high school game, they thought I was fudging numbers."

(Did you share your decision with your staff, the school administration and the players, and what was the reaction?)

Kevin Moore: "Our staff was great from the beginning. All of them embraced the idea, did a lot of research on their own, and we did a lot of talking it through for most of the spring. For us, the pros outweighed the cons and we decided we were all in. We implemented/introduced The System to our players in the beginning of July at our three-day mini camp. The players fell in love with it immediately. They enjoyed the running game last year and are enjoying the turbo charged version even more.

"It was a pretty easy sell to them, we have some pretty bright guys on the team and many of them are also lacrosse players. This helped tremendously because they were used to subbing in numbers and saw the value in prescribed playing time. Also, once you present the numbers and the data to them, they begin to quickly realize that their shot attempts will quickly exceed the amount of times they were able to shoot the ball last season.

"As far as the administration was concerned, we have a great athletic director at Mt. Olive. He is totally supportive of any basketball decisions we make, so when i shared with him the general outline of what we're doing, his answer was simply, 'So you're going to play 15 guys a game, every game?' and that was all he needed to hear. In high school, the biggest parent gripe is always playing time, so he was thrilled to hear that. But of course, he hasn't actually seen it yet, and I'm sure there will be some surprised looks on some faces."

(What challenges do you see?)

Kevin Moore: "Definitely making sure our big guys stay on board. We have two sophomore post players, 6-foot-7 and 6-5, and I want to keep them from thinking they are an afterthought in The System. My second concern would be keeping everyone on board if we start the season the slow. I already broached the subject with the team to begin to prepare them for it. There may be growing pains at first but we have to stay the course.

"And finally, the possibility of having that game where we simply have a terrible shooting night and are down big, and having to stick that out will be tough."

(What do you hope to get out of The System?)

Kevin Moore: "Honestly, I want our guys to have a great time playing basketball this season. They really seem to enjoy this style of play so far, so if their happy than I am happy. They have an opportunity, especially the 10 seniors we have on the team, to do something extraordinary on the basketball court this winter and I'm excited for them.

"Secondly, my personal view is that a lot of high school basketball has become extremely boring to me. Most coaches coming into the profession wind up running the same system their first head coach used for much of their career. Flex, motion, work the ball for one guy to shoot bores me. I can't stand a 44-35 high school basketball score anymore. We will be successful in The System? If I didn't think so we sure wouldn't be going to it. I think our players, our high school, and our community are ready for it, so we're all in."

Congratulations to the players at Mount Olive. It sounds as if they have a coach who cares a great deal about them, and one who is making this change for all the right reasons. I wish Coach Moore and the Marauders all the luck in the world this season, and I'll be sure to check back in with them as we get closer to the start of hoops.

A blog favorite gets a new gig in Arizona

2011-09-05T08:43:00.000-07:00

I'm going way back in the history of the ol' blog here. Hopefully, you remember Mario Malaby, a System aficionado from Phoenix who formerly coached the junior varsity boys' team at Alhambra HS. I say "formerly" because Coach Malaby has moved on from that job to a new one, and this is pretty exciting news: he has been given the task of starting a program at the school where he teaches, Metro Tech HS, also in Phoenix.

Oh, and yes, he's going to run The System. How could he not?

There will be challenges, of course, as there are anytime something is new. Things coaches at established programs take for granted, such as scheduling some open gym before the season. That posed a bit of a problem for Coach Malaby.

"I got started with a schedule and then stopped. I realized I don't even have a basketball yet!" he told me earlier this week on the phone. "I figured I'd better develop an infrastructure here before I got too complicated."

That shouldn't take too long. Coach Malaby is one of the most determined and passionate people I ever have had the pleasure of speaking with, even if our friendship is based on a few phone calls and some e-mails. He's a huge fan of the "Rocky" movies, even going so far as to joke about using a line from one of those films during his job interview.

At first, Coach Malaby wasn't sure he wanted the job. He will have the issues of starting from scratch, and since the team is new, the schedule will be sort of piecemeal, with Metro Tech placed in a division with charter schools in the area. The Knights will have to wait a while to face some of the top talent in the area on a consistent basis.

Still, Coach Malaby said he couldn't turn down this opportunity.

"The AD approached me and I was vaguely interested," he said. "You want to play against the best, even if you get your headed pounded in. But then I thought, 'How many times am I going to have the chance to start a program from scratch?' You have to take the chance.

"I had a really good interview. I was really encouraging, because I was able to come up with a five-year plan to sell myself and my ideas. I was not shy. I said we are going to run, we're going to press and we're going to score. I'm going to push the ball.

"I think I got the job simply because of what I said. I talked about what is most important. At the beginning, wins and losses don't really matter, it's all about effort and keep going forward. Or some line I got off 'Rocky.'"

Whatever he said worked. Coach Malaby will have a bit of a hybrid approach to his version of The System, running pure "Grinnell" on the break, while mixing in some Paul Westhead/Loyola Marymount offensive schemes as well. On defense, he likely will run a press developed by noted coach Vance Walberg, who also is credited with creating the "Dribble, Drive, Motion" offense widely used at the NCAA Division I level.

"What I love about the Walberg press is there is no press-breaker for it, and it's not hard to teach," Coach Malaby said. "I'm a big proponent of using something like that."

Practice begins Oct. 22 for Metro Tech, and with the basketballs now ordered, Coach Malaby can look forward to what the season holds.

"I'm excited, because I know our league is not that tough, so I think we can have some initial success with The System, having a chance to compete against some lower-level teams," he said. "We're the only public school in the league. If I can raise enough money, I'm hopeful we can get in some tournaments and play against anywhere from the eight to 12 of the best schools in the state. That's what I'm hopeful for."

I have no doubt Coach Malaby will be able to accomplish whatever he sets his mind to. Even if he does need some help from time-to-time from Rocky Balboa.

A System team brings the show to N.C.

2011-09-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

I have spoke often of my desire to have a System team closer to me. Instead of driving 17 hours or so to Grinnell, Iowa, or 4 hours up to Bluefield, W.V., for a Glenville State away game, to see the best style of basketball around, it would be so nice to have some place to go that was nearby.

Well, that still ain't happening (excuse my English, Mrs. Lambeth). Not quite, anyway. I do have some incredible news, however: one of my teams has scheduled a game in North Carolina for the upcoming season!

What a surprise when I got the news from Mike Curta, the boys' coach at Eisenhower HS in Blue Island, Ill., just outside of Chicago. He e-mailed earlier this week to say he was close to signing a game at Southern Durham HS, located, coincidentally enough, in Durham, N.C., then got back in touch Friday with the final word. The game was signed, sealed and (nearly) delivered.

It will be held Saturday, Jan. 14, just before the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, so Coach Curta and the team will have plenty of time to return to Chicagoland for classes. I'm still pinching myself to make sure this really is happening.

Of course, I wanted to share the news with those who check out the blog, so he sent more information on the genesis of this trip, as well as his ideas on travel in general. Here is what he wrote:

Mike Curta: "When I was at Mount Carmel during my first job as a head coach, our team statistician and school historian gave me a list of all the gyms that he wanted to visit before he died. He was a huge fan of Indiana High School Basketball and knew the history of the game in that state inside and out.

"That got me to thinking about traveling because he was such a good friend of mine and we had the luxury of having some exceptional players at that time that made us an attractive opponent. We went to some of the biggest gyms in the state of Indiana and played some of the most storied programs at the high school level. It was a great experience for our kids, coaches and most importantly that statistician, Frank Kiszka, who has since passed away.

"We didn’t travel much over the next six years at my next two stops, but when I got to my current job we really took traveling to another level. Allen Dandridge, my assistant coach, is the man really responsible for our opportunities now. He works tirelessly putting on weekend tournaments for all age levels that help us raise the money to be able to travel. In our first three years we have gone to Hawaii, Reno (Nev.), Las Vegas, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.

"So that brings us to this year. We originally were planning on a trip for the entire program to Cincinnati, but that fell through. Because I knew you were in North Carolina and were such a passionate fan of System Basketball, I started looking for games through the North Carolina High School Association Website. We didn’t have much luck until last week when we made contact with the head coach from Southern Durham High School. We struck up a conversation, agreed on the dates, and got our Athletic Directors' stamp of approval and now we are just working out the minor details of the trip.

"We play on Friday, January 13th at home. We plan on boarding a bus with our sophomore and varsity teams and heading down to Durham after our game that night. That should put us in Durham early Saturday. We will play that night and then spend the night before returning to Blue Island on Sunday.

"We are excited about the opportunity to play the game, but more for the opportunity to see the campuses of North Carolina, North Carolina State and Duke. I made the trip to Greensboro while in college for the NCAA tournament, but have never been to any of those campuses. This should be a great trip and we look forward to playing our best for our #1 long distance fan in Keith Parsons."

I questioned whether to leave that last sentence, but in the interest of staying true to Coach Curta's wishes, I went with it!

As I said, I can't possibly thank Coach Curta enough, not simply for scheduling a game near me, and not simply for always responding to my requests, no matter how ridiculous, and not simply for running The System. It is really all of the above, and at the risk of missing out on some good stuff between now and then, I hardly can wait for January.

Speaking of System against System ...

2011-08-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

Remember a recent post about two high school girls' teams running the System who just happened to play each other in a summer camp? Really, you don't remember? Just scroll down a bit, then, it's just a couple of updates below this one. There, now your memory is refreshed.

This does happen extremely infrequently. To my knowledge, the original System team, the Division III men's squad at Grinnell, never has faced another team using this style in the 20 years since coach David Arseneault first created it. That, perhaps more than any other statistic, describes just how unconventional The System is.

Well, back a few years ago, a pair of coaches who believe in this way to play set up a pair of games for their teams. Doug Porter, the women's coach at NAIA Olivet Nazarene, and Bunky Harkleroad, now the women's coach at NCAA Division II Glenville State, had become friends once both decided to "take the plunge," in System vernacular, so they decided to play each other.

This was when Coach Harkleroad was at NAIA Berea College in Kentucky, which played in Division II (ONU was in Division I). Also, Coach Porter's program offered scholarships to its players while Berea didn't, so the two programs weren't quite on the same level at the time.

Both games were won by Olivet Nazarene, including a 112-72 victory in the first one, but the second one was much closer. Berea fell behind by 10 at halftime and rallied to make it a game before losing 106-101.

Given both teams were interested in getting up and down, the scores seem a little low, but I'll let both coaches address that. Each was kind enough to send a note with his memories of those games. First up is Coach Porter.

Doug Porter: "We scheduled the game because we thought it would be interesting to have two System teams face off. I’d known Bunky for awhile already, and he was a big help in getting started with the System because his team at Berea did it before we did. He also came and spoke at our 2005 System clinic here at ONU.

"The game was somewhat anticlimactic in the sense that it wasn’t quite as high scoring as I’d expected. ONU won 112-72, but were actually down at halftime by 8-10 points, as I recall. Bunky told me later they’d had some dissention in the locker room at halftime which explained their subpar performance in the second half.

"From a statistical standpoint, it was interesting to see that we shot fewer 3s than normal (34) while taking 89 shots overall. This was because we pressed each other, resulting in more open layups for both teams. We could have elected to take the three after breaking Berea’s press, but we apparently got lots of good layup chances (just as they did against us!). The big difference seemed to be the turnover differential. We forced 45 TOs, while committing “only” 24 ourselves. Not sure how to explain that ... I guess Berea — as a System team — was not used to being pressed, but I would have expected us to turn it over more as well.

"We also played at Berea in 2007-08, winning a close game 106-101. That game we turned it over 40 times vs. Berea’s press, while forcing them into 46 turnovers. The score is surprising, again, because you’d expect that with a tempo that fast we’d both create more points. But I see they were only 12-43 from the arc, while we weren’t much better at 13-43. The excessive turnovers, however, seem to be the key reason why neither team scored consistently that game. I guess 106-101 seems like a high scoring game to some, but in the case of two System teams going head to head, I think the score would have been much higher if we’d both just agreed to run and shoot, without pressing. After all, much of the reason for using a press in the System is to force tempo, and there’s certainly no need to do that vs. another System team!"

Great stuff there from Coach Porter. Now, here are Coach Harkleroad's thoughts.

Bunky Harkleroad: "We actually played twice, once at ONU. Close game at half and then we couldn’t buy a bucket and got beat by about 50. The next (time) we played at Berea. I had a friend dying of cancer and I actually wasn’t at the game but ONU prevailed in a close battle. Both games were kinda odd if you ask me. We seemed to offset each other and it wasn’t as exciting as a System team playing a team that 'took the bait' and tried to run with. We both ended up straying in a few subtle areas to offset the other team.

"At Berea we had zero scholarships and were NAIA D2 whereas ONU takes athletics seriously and I think they had 10 scholarships. Regardless, they were clearly the better team and Coach Porter did (and still does) an amazing job. In my humble opinion, it’s hard when two System teams go at it because the bottom line is both teams want to win and will do whatever it takes, even if that means making adjustments that get you away from true System ball."

Again, really good information from Coach Harkleroad. I appreciate their time very much, and I hope everyone out there reading did, as well. I anxiously anticipate the upcoming season, where ONU and Glenville State again should challenge for conference championships and a trip to their respective national tournaments.

Good luck to both teams!

Coach A takes a sabbatical at Grinnell, turns over the program to his son

2011-08-25T19:04:00.000-07:00

This should be a very interesting season for the NCAA Division III men's team at Grinnell, the original System team. Coach David Arseneault, the man who came up with this dynamic style of play, plans to take a sabbatical to complete a book on how his creation has affected basketball. It should be a wonderful read, and if possible, I already would have placed my pre-order for this gem. He is traveling the country to visit with coaches who have used The System to great success, and he plans to tell their stories in the pages of his latest book. Good stuff, right?

Well, ordinarily you might feel as if that would leave a hole at the top for the Pioneers. Have no fear -- the program will be in great hands. Coach A's son, David N. Arseneault, has been named the interim replacement. It should be an exciting time for both of them as they work side-by-side to keep Grinnell near the top of the Midwest Conference.

The younger Arseneault starred as a point guard for his father, averaging a D-III-record 9.4 assists during his four-year career. He was a three-time finalist Bob Cousy Award for the top point guard in each NCAA division and set the all-division, single-game record with 34 assists against North Central University in a 151-112 victory Dec. 8, 2007. During his time as a player, the Pioneers compiled a record of 65-31 while winning two MWC championships. He has served as Coach A's assistant since graduating.

Even though the "official" point of transition will be the semester break over Christmas, the younger Arseneault will have total control for the entire season, according to his father. Each of them took time from his busy schedule to answer a few questions I had regarding the announcement, which has been in the works for a couple of months now. I'll start with the original Coach A, and then move to Coach A 2.0, for lack of a better term. And, no, before you ask, they are not "Sr." and "Jr." They each have a different middle initial.

Here we go.

(What do you think it will be like watching your son run the program?)

Coach A: "David had so much freedom to coach these past couple of years, that any transition kinks have already been smoothed out."

(How involved will you be?)

Coach A: "I am going to be his assistant for the entire year. My role will not change over the course of the season. To satisfy some people in our administration the results of first semester will go on my career record and David will be credited with the second semester results. But he will be making the decisions throughout."

(How would you describe the differences and similarities in your coaching styles?)

Coach A: "We've been finishing each others thoughts and sentences for a number of years. I don't expect too much to change."

(Finally, how is the new book coming?)

Coach A: "I have completed two of the fourteen chapters and will be starting Chapter 3 next week. I am thoroughly enjoying this process!"

A huge thanks to Coach A for his time. As I said, it will be interesting to see how this season plays out. Now, on to the "new" coach.

(First things first: are you still going to run The System? And please say yes ...)

Dave Arseneault: "It’s safe to say that ‘The System’ will be out in full force for the 2011-12 campaign. Besides, I don’t think the guys on the team would listen to me if I taught them the principles of tough, half-court man-to-man defense or the intricacies of the ‘Wisconsin Swing Offense.'"

(How did this all come about?)

Dave Arseneault: "It was actually my dad’s idea. He came to me during the middle of last year and told me that he was thinking of taking his sabbatical for the 2011-12 season. He asked me if I was ready and willing to take over in his absence. I was extremely excited at the possibility of taking over the program while he was on leave. From there, I applied for the position and was eventually hired."

(You've been such an integral part of that program for several years. Any downside to that familiarity?)

Dave Arseneault: "The only downside I can really think of is that I haven’t had the opportunity to learn from a variety of other coaches. But it’s hard to complain too much given that I’ve been working with somebody that I consider as one of the best and most innovative coaches in the country!"

(You and I have discussed your desire to learn a variety of styles of play from a variety of coaches. Do you still feel that way?)

Dave Arseneault: "I still feel that learning from as many different coaches and learning about as many different playing styles would help me develop as a coach. At the same time, an incredible opportunity presented itself and I’d be crazy to not take advantage of gaining valuable head coaching experience."

(How about the differences in your coaching styles? Your dad is somewhat noted for his habit of pulling up a chair at the far end of the bench, in the corner, and watching the action.)

Dave Arseneault: "Dad and I have a very similar thought process and very similar coaching styles. My mother thinks it’s a little scary because we’ll finish each other’s sentences at the dinner table. There are times during practice where we’ll both say the exact same thing to a player without even knowing it until after the fact. Even still, I’ve heard from some of the past players that the big fella has grown a bit mild-tempered as he’s gotten older. He’ll remain in his chair down the end of the bench, but his advice will certainly be called on regularly."

(What has been the reaction on campus and around the program?)

Dave Arseneault: "From what I know, the campus has been very receptive of the change. Everybody that I have talked to has been very supportive, including past teammates and current players."

(Now that you're in charge, can I finally get you to schedule a game in North Carolina?)

Dave Arseneault: "I’d love to get out to North Carolina for a game as long as you’re taking care of our travel accommodations ..."

That's a deal: I just have to find an opponent willing to play Grinnell, come up with a sponsor to pay for the team's travel, and we're in!

As I said, I'm always appreciative of these guys' time, as I am with all the coaches who take time to visit with me. We are getting closer and closer to hoops season, when The System will be in full effect. I have more teams than ever to follow, and I simply can't wait.

A rarity: Two System teams play each other at Villanova University camp

2011-08-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

OK, for those of you keeping score, you remember how often I have discussed the uniqueness of The System, right? How disappointing it is that more teams don't use it? Right? Remember?

Well, Scott Horton thought the same thing when he decided it was time for his girls' team at Manalapan HS in Englishtown, N.J., to take the plunge with this incredible, exhilarating style of basketball. He prepared his team for camp at Villanova University, where it would debut with The System and almost assuredly be the only team there running it.

Amazingly enough, it didn't work out that way, and Coach Horton needed only the opening game to realize it.

Longtime blog subject coach Keith Freund had his team from North Shore HS, in Glen Head, N.Y., at the camp, too, and as fate would have it, Manalapan was matched up with North Shore in that first game. Coach Freund hadn't experienced going against The System, either, so both coaches got a look at it from the other side of the court, so to speak.

North Shore ended up winning 36-34 (summer games are shortened somewhat with a running clock), and both coaches came away with a new appreciation with The System. They spent some time together discussing it over the remainder of the weekend, and Coach Horton found his way to the Yahoo! message board that serves as a wonderful support group for all coaches (and wannabe coaches who have a blog devoted to The System).

I tracked down Coach Horton through the board, and he graciously agreed to an interview. Hopefully you will enjoy his thoughts as much as I did.

(First of all, what was it like playing against The System in your very first game?)

Coach Horton: "To me, it was just one more sign that we have to run The System. I had told the players how no one plays this way, and the first time we do it, we are playing another System team. Unbelievable.

"The game is about to start, and Keith (the North Shore coach) says to me, 'We press the whole time, and I sub a lot.' I say, 'OK.' Then the game starts, and about 50 seconds in I say 'SUB!' and so does Keith. A minute later the same thing happens. We are standing right next to each other at mid-court. After the second line shift, Keith looks at me and says, 'Grinnell, or ONU?' I say, 'I'm not sure, this is our first time running it, but we are trying to be more like ONU.' I said, 'You?' Keith said, I'm an ONU guy.'

"Suddenly, I felt like this great way to play ball was out there, and I was late to the party. Anyway, the game was amazing. It was complete chaos. And the interesting thing to me is this: For both North Shore and Manalapan, it was the lowest scoring game each of us played the whole weekend. ... There were players all over the floor at anytime, and the ball was just flying up and down. I felt a little bad for the officials. They had no idea what they were in for.

"So after the game, Keith and I spoke, and then I spent a lot of time that weekend listening to Keith and asking him questions. He was great."

(Why'd you decide to make the switch to The System?)

Coach Horton: "I've been coaching since 1994. I regularly attend clinics, go to local college practices, AAU practices, and some boys H.S. practices. Once I heard Coach Arsenault speak about The System, I could not get it out of my head. Whenever I examined something new, I always came back to 'The System.'

"Then, last spring I attended a clinic in Syracuse, N.Y. While there, I purchased 'The Century Scoring System' by Doug Porter. I get home from three days of basketball coaching lectures and I watch Porter's DVD. He starts by referencing Coach Arsenault and Coach (Paul) Westhead, and I watch the whole DVD and realize that I can't get away from this.

"However, I had a brand new team. I graduated six seniors 2009-2010. For the 2010-2011 season, I had two transfer students and a whole new freshmen class coming in. I had only one returning player. Because I did not know the players, and quite honestly, I did not feel prepared, I was not ready.

"As we played last season I quickly saw that we had talent and depth. At one point we were 10-3. I was miserable. We were winning, but it was not fun. I did not enjoy watching the team play. There were the typical inner struggles with playing time, shot distribution, and overall boredom with 'running plays' and defensive drill work. It was at that point that I told the assistants that 2011-2012 would be different. We were moving to The System.

"I have an athletic team. I have some depth. And I have been coaching girls basketball for 17 years, and I can't coach quarter-court basketball anymore. It simply is not rewarding for the players or myself. So we started before the season ended by playing much faster. Then after the season, we had a meeting where we ate pizza and I explained the system and why we were doing it. I showed some video and answered questions. We did the same thing in June right before the summer. Then we went to Villanova team camp and ran the system, and it was amazing. The kids love it, and so do I.

(Any other thoughts on the camp at Villanova?)

Coach Horton: "This may sound strange, but I have to say that the Villanova team camp was the highlight of my 17 year coaching career. And I mean that. I'll start specifically, and then talk in broader terms.

"On Sunday morning we beat Gloucester Catholic by 14 points. In 2010-2011 Gloucester Catholic won the South Jersey Parochial State Championship. They did graduate really good players, but they are great program, and incredibly well coached. If we played traditional basketball, their top 5-7 players are better than ours, and she is a better coach than me. But with the system, our depth becomes better than their talent. In addition, her coaching is minimized because we are not playing that style.

"Also, we had a couple of those 8-0 and 9-0 runs that are just killer to the opponent. Against Gloucester, there was one stretch where we made a 3, then we made a steal in the press, and my guard dribbled backward to the three point line and banked in a three, and that just took the wind right out of our opponent. It was a backbreaker.

"Another highlight was watching one of my guards who on her own, developed a step back 3-point shot move. She is a good athlete, but it is something she kind of fell into by playing this way, and by Sunday, it was a pretty good move.

"Now bigger picture are a couple of important points. We lost Friday night. On Saturday we won one game and lost two. So at that point, we were 1-3. Amazingly, we were 1-3, and my team loved what we were doing. Then on Sunday, we won all three games. To me, based on what I've read, it was almost like a season. Every other team at camp deteriorated as the weekend progressed. We got better with every game and every (very light) practice. We beat Gloucester on Sunday. I don't think we would have beaten them on Friday or Saturday. They were fresher and sharper then. Also, our players were absolutely better on Sunday then they were Friday.

"Another very important point. My players were all saying the right things. They said things like, 'I can't wait for November.' 'Coach, why didn't we do this before now?' 'Coach, I tried to watch two other teams play, but I can't. It's too boring.' 'Coach, please don't ever let us play how we used to.' 'I was watching another team set up their offense and run to set a screen, and pass the ball, and jog back, and I wanted to say to them there's a better way to play.

"My point is that these players love basketball now. And setting them free and watching them play without fear is a thing of beauty. There are so many players making plays they never would have in traditional basketball. I now feel like conventional basketball is like shackles on a player's talent. It sets a ceiling for how good they can be. With The System, I have no idea how great these athletes might be."

(What are some of the best things about The System?)

Coach Horton: "I don't know where to begin with this one.
- Players love basketball
- Players get better every day
- Players have fun
- Players are truly part of the team
- Players do things you never thought were possible
- Players smile
- It is fun to watch
- No one can deny the educational value of maximized participation
- Basketball is supposed to be fun
- The score is irrelevant, yet it still helps you win
- Happy coach equals good coach"

(What do you hope to achieve from going to The System?)

Coach Horton: "I want my players to improve and love basketball. I want them to learn that aggression is a good thing. I want them to learn to trust their ability and talent and attack at all times. And if you fail, fail going forward 100 miles an hour. No one can ever regret that type of mentality."

Simply incredible reaction there from Coach Horton. I can't wait to see how his team competes when the season begins. As one of his players told him, I can't wait for November. The best of luck to him and the Braves.

Keith Freund: 'I am System for life!'

2011-08-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

I am finally ready to admit that I have an addiction. No, not that. Or that. It is The System, of course, that wonderful, amazing, way of playing basketball that has engulfed me. At this point, I can't get enough of it.

Believing in something so much can present a problem, such as fellow basketball-crazed fans who don't share my belief in The System (you know who you are, Johnny Rain Cloud.) Or other coaches and players who feel as if it is a gimmick, a fad, or some other type of passing phenomenon. Sure, try telling that to David Arseneault, who came up with this style nearly 20 years ago and still wins regularly with it.

All this is why I was surprised, and, yes, somewhat disappointed to hear last season that one of our own, a coach making terrific use of The System, would no longer use it when his current crop of players used up their eligibility. Keith Freund, the girls' coach at North Shore HS in Glen Head, N.Y., got as much out of it as anyone this past season, leading the Vikings to a 16-3 record (including 12-0 in their conference) and a trip to quarterfinals of the state tournament.

Coach Freund has a solid rotation of girls now, yet felt when he no longer had the talent to go at least 10-deep, he would have to adjust his plan. You know, the old adage that you coach to your team's skill level.

Well, shortly after the regular season ended, he posted the following on the Yahoo! message board devoted to The System regarding his ideas about the present and the future. It was one of the best things I've read regarding The System, and with his approval, I wanted to share it with you.

And, yes, I know if you're not sold on my favorite way to play the game, this likely won't change your mind. That used to bother me somewhat. I felt a bit like the art lover who sees a certain beauty and longevity in a single work of art, only to discover there are those who mock the painting, the artist and anyone who feels differently.

I'm good with it all now. There are enough of "us" out there to feed my passion, my obsession, and, yes, my addiction. I'm happy to say that group now includes Coach Freund, as you'll see from his message here from shortly after the season ended:

Coach Freund: "I've often said on this website that if I did not have the kids to run The System, I would stop. Two years from now, we are going to be seven deep and I've said over and over, we will not be a System team then.

"Outside forces are railing against that thought, however. I met with my AD yesterday and when discussing it, he said I was crazy. He said he is a believer and it is the best way to play and I would be crazy to change, just develop 3 more kids he said (pretty good point considering I have 2 years for that). I went home and told my wife and she said, 'I told you so,' and if I ever stop playing this way, she is going to stop going to the games.

"Then, last night at the Senior Game practice, the kids asked to run our offense and after explaining it, you should have seen their faces. The smiles, the 'for real?' looks. It was like unleashing a puppy and watching them play. They were so excited. Some of the college coaches watching starting taking out their notebooks and copying it down and afterwards asked if they could call me.

"The other coach with me was saying that he is going System next year and that I am revolutionizing basketball on Long Island and he believes from speaking with other coaches, that about 10-15 are going to go System in the next few years and that I cannot change. He watched us twice this year and said how much he loved it and loved watching our bench.

"After three encounters with people whom I really respect, I guess I am System For Life and instead of worrying about which kids cannot run it, I will worry about developing kids who can."

Incredible stuff there from Coach Freund. I am so happy he feels this way and will embrace The System. Certainly, it isn't the only way to play the game, and I never would say that. It simply is the most fun way I have ever seen.

It's about time: another team from Grinnell's conference takes on The System

2011-08-07T16:37:00.001-07:00

Over the past eight or nine years I have dedicated to Grinnell, coach David Arseneault and The System, one thought more than any other has been stuck in my brain -- why wouldn't another team in the conference try to play this way? No basketball program was as downtrodden as NCAA Division III Grinnell before Coach Arseneault decided to start this one-of-a-kind style in July 1991.

How downtrodden? Well, in the 22 seasons before the man affectionately known as Coach A took over in 1989, the Pioneers had an overall record of 94-383, or a winning percentage of .197. That included one completely winless season (0-22 in 1979-80), two one victory seasons and four seasons with only two victories. The closest Grinnell came to reaching .500? That was 1984-85, with the Pioneers finished 9-13.

Amazingly, the results in the Midwest Conference were even worse over that span. In those 22 seasons, Grinnell was 62-254 for a winning percentage of .196, and it had won a total of one conference game in the two years before Coach A came to town. There were three winless seasons, two with only one victory and six with two. No wonder he came up with something as revolutionary as The System.

Evan Massey, the girls' coach at Galesburg (Ill.) HS, graduated from Knox College, a conference rival of Grinnell's, and shared some memories on his blog of how poorly the Pioneers competed during that period.

Coach Massey: "People don't know how bad Grinnell was before Arseneault instituted 'The System.' In the 1970's, it was great to play Grinnell - it was a sure win. My last game at Grinnell there were about 20 non-players in attendance at the game at Grinnell. Most of them were from a fraternity with a dog sitting on the sideline and a wagon with a beer in the back. I never dreamed Grinnell could win. Grinnell would have 10-12 players for their home games, and 7-9 for their road games - some players did not want to make the trips. Coach Arseneault totally transformed that program."

Yes, he did. In the 22 years since Coach A took over, including two playing traditionally, the Pioneers are 275-222 (.553 winning percentage). This includes a record of 182-152 (.545) in the MWC along with five conference championships. Pretty amazing, right? I don't think even I, perhaps the top fan of The System and Grinnell outside of the state of Iowa, have given Coach A enough credit for what he had done. It truly boggles the mind.

So, anyway, back to my original point, how could any coach watch this over time and not appreciate Coach A and his invention? Or, better put, not appreciate it enough to want to give it a go with his/her own program?

Well, finally, someone from the conference has seen the wisdom behind The System. Emily Cline, the women's coach at Knox College, plans to take the plunge this season, becoming the first coach to hope to emulate the success Grinnell has had in the past 20 seasons. We have someone else to thank besides just Coach A for this wonderful fact; since Knox is in Galesburg, Ill., Coach Cline has seen firsthand how successful another team can be with The System by following coach Evan Massey and the Galesburg girls' team.

Coach Cline was hired at Knox in May 2008, and the Prairie Fire (love that mascot!) were 6-17 last season, including 5-13 in the MWC. I caught up with her via e-mail last week, and here are the results of our exchange:

(First off, are the rumors true? Are you going to The System next season?)

Coach Cline: "Yes, the rumors are true. We are going to The System. I am very excited about going to The System. I know it is going to be a challenge but I think it will be a great experience for our team."

(OK, tell us why.)

Coach Cline: "There are several reasons we are going to The System. Some of the main reasons are I love the thinking behind The System, I really enjoy watching teams play The System, and I have been intrigued by The System for many years.

"I first started hearing about the System when I was an assistant at Sewanee: The University of the South. My second year there the men's assistant was a former Grinnell men's player and he would talk about The System and show me clips/highlights. I was impressed by his enthusiasm about The System and I loved watching The System clips.

"However, if you would have asked me then if I would ever coach The System I am not sure my answer would have been 'yes.' Some more specific reasons we are going to The System are I think my players really fit well into The System, we should be deep this season (barring injuries) and I love the participation side of it. All of my players will play so I think that will make team chemistry better than it already is."

(Any other System influences?)

Coach Cline: "Another person that had a huge influence on my decision to go to the System was Coach Dickie McCarthy at Sewanee: The University of the South. I was Coach McCarthy's assistant at Sewanee for four years from 2003-2007. Coach McCarthy is my mentor and when he made the switch to the System in the 2009-10 season I was really struck by how much he enjoyed coaching the System. I think Coach was rejuvenated by coaching the System and that definitely had an impact on my decision to go System.

"Also, I think our situations are similar in that both Sewanee and Knox are selective colleges and we get similar type of athletes. I called Coach several times a week to talk about the pro's and con's of going System before I made the decision and we talk several times a week still about the System."

(What has it been like the past several seasons watching the Grinnell men's team play?)

Coach Cline: "I really enjoy watching the Grinnell men play. Coach Arsenault is a great coach and I think what he has done with his program at Grinnell is remarkable. I think getting the chance to see The System live has definitely help cement my decision to put in The System.

"I love how hard the Grinnell men play and they are so exciting to watch. I want my team to play that hard. So I think watching Grinnell play and getting to know Coach Arsenault over the last three years helped make my decision. Also, I love their defense."

(How much of an influence has it been watching Coach Massey and his team over the previous two seasons?)

Coach Cline: "Yes, watching the Galesburg girls' team play also helped make my decision. I love watching them play and try to make as many of their games as possible. Coach Massey has been a huge help and supporter since I arrived at Knox.

"Coach Massey has also been a invaluable resource as we transition to The System. I talk to Coach Massey a lot about The System and I think he will be very helpful throughout the season. It is a wonderful blessing to have a System coach in Galesburg to lean on."

(Have your shared your decision yet with the players, and if so, what was the reaction?)

Coach Cline: "My players all know about the switch to The System. They are excited now that they have had time to let the idea soak in. Their initial reaction was very mixed but now they can't wait to get started.

"My athletic director has been great about the whole thing and he is 100% supportive. I am very fortunate to have his support and I am sure a lot of AD's wouldn't be as supportive. Coach Massey has been very helpful in educating my AD and others about The System and what to expect. Also, I have a new assistant that is excited about learning The System."

(What do you hope to accomplish with The System?)

Coach Cline: "My main goal is for my players to have a great experience. Also, we hope to represent Knox well and play 100% all the time. I also hope for people to enjoy watching us and bring even more excitement to Knox Women's Basketball."

Great stuff there from someone who truly appreciates The System. Since this is the first time he has been "mimicked," so to speak, in his own conference, I got in touch with Coach A to discuss the development. He got back to me very quickly despite being in California visiting some friends and family, and for that, I am grateful. I particularly wanted to know if the women's coach at Grinnell, Kate Gluckman, might come to him for advice on how to prepare for Knox this season.

Here is what he said.

Coach Arseneault: "Curious to see how it will work out for Emily Cline. My gut feeling is that a number of coaches would like to experiment with The System but feel that they either have to have job security or not care if they get fired should things not go well. I think Mike Worrell from Illinois College would have tried it if he weren't in the conference (he doesn"t want to play second fiddle to us). Given how many coaches seem to be running the same boring thing these days, on any paticular year someone is playing second fiddle to someone anyways, so I really don't understand that rationale.

"Coach Gluckman has already sheepishly asked me whether I would be of help to her when they played Knox -- I sensed she was questioning whether my loyalties were to Grinnell or our System. I reassured her that my loyalties were to Grinnell, although I really don't yet know how I will be advising her (particularly since I do not know how committed Coach Cline is to implementing our System in full)."

Again, thanks for both of these coaches for their time. Oh, I almost forgot one other interest factoid about the upcoming season. Jessica Howard, who set an Illinois state record this past season by making a 139 3-pointers for Coach Massey's team, is set to play for Monmouth College, a conference rival to Grinnell and to Knox. So Coach Cline will be going against two teams who should have some knowledge of The System. I can't wait to see how it works out.

More good news; another team moving to The System!

2011-08-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut. Of all the coaches I have tried to convince to go to The System, none actually have. There sometimes is some interest, and I'm holding out hope for one of them actually to follow through with it, but I'm 0-for-life in making this happen.

That doesn't mean other coaches don't see the benefit of this style.

Take Greg Turcott, for instance. The men's coach at Shoreline (Wash.) Community College, he is all in for making the switch in the 2011-12 season. I've exchanged a couple of e-mails with him and his excitement is completely genuine, I bet he has a lot of success with taking the plunge. His father, Gary, coached at Carroll College from 1990-2009, so he obviously grew up in the business.

The Dolphins (nice mascot!) were 13-13 last season, including 6-10 in the Northern Region. Coach Turcott was kind enough to take the time for a quick e-mail interview while on vacation last week. See, I told you he's enthusiastic! Here is what he had to say, or write:

(Tell me about your decision to go with The System.)

Coach Turcott: "I started to become interested in the sytem after watching a special on ESPN about the Loyola-Marymount team of 1989. I had watched that team play as a youngster and really loved the style. We started playing much more aggressive and uptempo as the year went on and I was amazed at how the game really opened up for our players!"

(How would you describe your offense and defense previously?)

Coach Turcott: "I have been a real fundamentals-first, ball-control, defense-first coach and have had success but also have had lots of conflict with players and never felt real good about the spirit of our teams."

(How did you come across The System?)

Coach Turcott: "After seeing the special I started looking into more on Loyola Marymount and Paul Westhead, and it led me to the Grinnell system and a coach I knew from years ago, Gary Smith who coached at Redlands. Coach Smith was really helpful to me as I got into the whole concept."

(As you learn more, what are some surprises?)

Coach Turcott: "That The System is really pretty simple if you are willing to keep it simple as a coach and do not try to micromanage your players and The System. I am surprised at how successful some players are in the new System that really could not contribute in a more conservative and ball-control style."

(What type of things have you done to education yourself on The System?)

Coach Turcott: "I have watched several tapes done by Paul Westhead on the system and then read the book done by Gary Smith and (Olivet Nazrene women's coach) Doug Porter, which is really good. I have also talked with coach Smith, and contribute to the run and gun (message board) as much as I can. Really good info on the (message board) from coaches who have done this for a while!"

(With whom have you shared the plan, and what was the reaction?)

Coach Turcott: "Shared it with administration, players, and coaches as much as I can and everyone has been supportive."

(What challenges do you foresee?)

Coach Turcott: "Players who really like the ball control, high percentage style of play are going to have a hard time with it at first but that is expected."

(What do you hope to get out of it?)

Coach Turcott: "A high scoring fun style of play that kids will really enjoy!!! Return the game to the players and the fans and let kids be aggressive and free to play and make mistakes in the name of uptempo play."

(Finally, from what you've gathered, what's the best thing about The System?)

Coach Turcott: "It creates a system for the kids to use their athleticism and skills in an uptempo fast pace that is really good for our level."

A huge thanks to Coach Turcott for his team, and I look forward to hearing more about his progress with The System.

"'The System?' We don't need no stinkin' System!"

2011-08-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

OK, OK, pretty poor attempt at humor in the headline. It simply was the first thing that popped into my head, so forgive me.

Yet I did want to let everyone know this post was going to be a little different. For one of the few times since I've dedicated this blog to those lovable squads who "run, shoot, rebound, press, sub," it is featuring a non-System coach. Don't worry, this coach and his program still put up amazing numbers, even if they go about it a bit more traditionally than my favorite teams.

Jim Crutchfield has been the head coach at NCAA Division II West Liberty University for seven seasons, and in that time, he has the highest career active winning percentage of any D-II coach at .814 (175-40). In 2010-11, he led the Hilltoppers to their best season, a 33-1 finish that took them all the way to the Final Four in Springfield, Mass., where BYU-Hawaii prevailed in an up-and-down classic, 110-101.

Mostly because West Liberty is in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with Glenville State, where coach Bunky Harkleroad does his thing with the women's team, I kept up with the Hilltoppers as they mowed through the regular season. It mostly was due to the eye-popping scoring totals they put up: they averaged 153.3 points in their first three games, reached at least 100 in 25 of their games and finished the year scoring 111.3 points per game.

Coach Crutchfield did it more as Paul Westhead and Loyola Marymount did back in the day; that is to say, a shorter player rotation of seven-to-eight players who were in phenomenal physical condition, a constant full-court press that fell back to a more conventional style in the half-court and less of a focus on 3-pointers than System teams. Don't get me wrong, however, West Liberty did shoot the 3. Its nearly 36 attempts from beyond the arc in each game came more from the flow of the offense, rather than as a point of emphasis.

In fact, during our conversation, I got the idea Coach Crutchfield did what he could to distance himself from The System (of course, I am incredibly biased when it comes to this, so perhaps I read it wrong). You will note a couple of occasions during our conversation where he points out that his style is based on "fundamentals," which might be where I misinterpreted his views. Looking back, I believe he really meant "traditional," or "conventional," when differentiating between what he does and what System coaches do. You be the judge.

(How did you develop this high-scoring style at West Liberty?)

Coach Crutchfield: "When I got this job seven years ago, it hadn't been very successful. I felt we needed to do something very different if we were going to change that. Something a little different, not too far off-center, a kind of a package, with half of them on offense and half of them on defense. I continue to tweak them a little more."

(What do you emphasis in this style?)

Coach Crutchfield: "The kind of numbers we put up, I have never once set a goal with our team. We don't care if it takes the full 35 seconds of the shot clock, we want to get a high-percentage shot with our players in good offensive rebounding position. What (System teams do), that's completely different than our philosophy. We want to get the ball back without our opponent scoring. If we do that enough, eventually we're going to win the basketball game.

"I've never looked at how many points we score, and I know if you look at these numbers, you would think we talked about it. But we've gotten pretty good at what we do."

(How would you describe how your team plays?)

Coach Crutchfield: "When I watched a game, there always is a little bit of a lull in that period between offense and defense, where a point guard can find his coach and ask, 'What do you want to run here?' What we've tried to do is take that lull out of the game, that is basically it.

"It's just something that I wanted to do. The very first year, we were picked last in the league, and people thought we were going to control the score, control the tempo. I had never been a walk-it-up-the-court guy. Now, we don't take bad shots. It really has evolved. We put pressure in any situation, and we understand risk vs. reward. We don't take high risks, we're not looking at giving up layups to play uptempo. We play fundamentally, I want to keep my best players on the floor most of the time. It's pretty much a seven- or eight-man rotation."

(Do you think your style is looked at as being a "gimmick," a criticism you often hear when discussing The System?)

Coach Crutchfield: "Not really, and it's because we're beating good teams. I'll be honest, we called Grinnell to see about setting up a game, but they would struggle playing us. I would like to see those two systems going head-to-head. We don't use the platoon, and we're not really running down and launching 3s. You're going to be surprised when you see the final score and we've got 100 points.

"One game, we hit 100 at halftime, but no one really has looked at it as a gimmick, since we play so fundamentally."

(Where do you want to go next with your program?)

Coach Crutchfield: "I have been trying to get a Division I team to play us, and no one will. They say, 'We could lose to you, you've got a good team.' I'm not connected enough. I want to see how it would look against a Division I team. I think you would be surprised."

(Have you had many opportunities to leave for a Division I position?)

Coach Crutchfield: "Honestly, I'm very happy where I'm at. This is a great school, and I'm having a blast. I've gotten a few phone calls this year, but it wasn't the right situation. You look at (Butler coach Brad) Stevens and those guys, hell, I'm 55 years old. I'm an ancient guy in this game. If I were just younger, maybe the jobs would have opened up. A lot of people are looking for somebody younger than 55. If the right situation opened up, I would be open to it."

(What do you expect from your team in the upcoming season?)

Coach Crutchfield: "We lost our top four players, and all were here for four years, all scored at least 1,000 points, and between the four of them, they scored 6,000 points. They were also on the second team when they came in as freshmen and grew up together. I've never had a Division I transfer, never had a junior college guy. Some people would say, 'All they have coming back are subs.' Well, we've done pretty well with subs in the past, when it was their turn on the first team.

"I feel good about the guys coming in, and we have a handful of guys coming back who know how I want to play. We're going to be younger, but we're going to be fine."

A huge thanks to Coach Crutchfield for taking time to speak with me, and I wish him luck in the upcoming season. Unless, of course, he does get that game with Grinnell.

Great story from The System

2011-07-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

What do I enjoy most about The System? Gosh, how much time do you have? Certainly, the high-scoring, fast-paced action featuring participation from every player on the roster is the key to what makes this style so attractive. Few can argue with the empowerment that comes from being the 12th player on a team's bench, yet still being able to make consistent contributions while gaining quality run in every game.

Another wonderful facet of the best way to play basketball that I've ever seen is the bond developed between coaches who run it. I've mentioned on several occasions the message board on Yahoo! that gives any coach who joins the opportunity to ask questions, to post success stories (and non-success stories) and to seek guidance from those that came before them. The answers often come from the college coaches who have used The System so successfully, including the one who started all of us on this amazing voyage, Grinnell coach David Arseneault.

Perhaps other "styles" have similar results. I kind of doubt it, since being so unconventional and "outside-the-box" in and of itself creates a level of camaraderie that is neat to see. And more often than not, the coaches might know each other only through this message board, yet it's enough to pull them together for the common cause.

Another example of this came earlier this summer when coach Bob Belf, longtime System proponent and the moderator of the message board, traveled from his home near Detroit to help fellow System coach Glen Irvin, a regular on the blog who coaches the girls' team at Wabasha-Kellogg High School in Minnesota. Having shared some e-mails and chat sessions with Coach Irvin, I know his passion for this way to play and his desire to get his team doing the best it can.

Enter Coach Belf. I asked each of them to share a bit from the experience this summer, and I'll start with Coach Irvin:

Coach Glen Irvin

"We had a historical summer at Wabasha-Kellogg High School! We have a very, very young group of girls coming back next year, so it was the perfect opportunity to go full boar and develop an identity now through The System. The day after school was over, we had Coach Belf come to Wabasha for four days and hold the our first annual 'Run and Gun Academy.' The girls ran two-a-days and received a crash course in 'The System.'

"Coach Belf went through the made, miss, turnover and ref-handle offenses. We then went through the defense and through some special situations. All the time, Coach Belf installed System drills that kept the girls engaged both physically and mentally. The girls really enjoyed Coach Belf's sense of humor and coaching method. At the end of the camp, the girls were expectedly exhausted. They thanked Coach Belf and we gave him some souvenirs to remember us by.

"The next day we headed out to the Wisconsin dells for a three-day tournament!! The tournament went great and the girls had tons of fun. The best part of the whole experience was when the girls kept asking/telling me things like, 'Are we really going to do this? This is going to be awesome!'

"I highly recommend Coach Belf to any coach wishing to install the system or anyone wanting a refresher course!"

Pretty great stuff there, right? Here are Coach Belf's thoughts:

Coach Bob Belf

"We had a blast with his group. He has a very ambitious, aggressive young team that absorbed the instruction like sponges. Coach Irvin is as enthusiastic about The System as anyone and is now armed to make the style work for his program. I got to meet his assistants and in our 4 days we were as in-depth as possible to be sure they all got a full grasp of the system. I also got a chance on my way home to see the sophomores play in their first summer contest and certainly go through the learning curve.

"It was great to work with Glen and his team and am hoping to get back there during their season to follow up with them."

As I said, what a nice story to show how supportive these coaches are of each other. I wish Coach Irvin and his team the best of luck this season and hope all the effort from this summer pays off.

Catching up with Andy Hoaglin, the coach at Jackson (Mich.) CC

2011-07-27T17:05:00.001-07:00

Dreadfully few coaches are brave enough (smart enough?) to see the wisdom of Running The System, so us loyal followers have to make due with the wonderful results of those couple of dozen or so that do. And of those, ye ol' blog regularly followers about six or seven of them. Of all those teams, none put up the type of numbers seen this season by the women's team at Jackson (Mich.) Community College.

The Lady Jets won 18 of their final 23 games to finish 19-12, and along the way, coach Andy Hoaglin's bunch got stupid with the shots and points. We've covered a handful of the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II records set by this FIRST-YEAR System team -- averaging 103.6 points, shooting 1,550 3-pointers -- and I was able to track down a few more (or, at least, had them e-mailed to me by Coach Hoaglin). Here you have it:

- Most turnovers forced in a single game (59)
- Most turnovers forced in a season (1,192, or about 38.5 per game)
- Most combined points in a game (during a 133-131 double-overtime loss to Edison State CC in Ohio)
- Most attempted 3-pointers in a single game (79)
- Most shots attempted in a game (the Jets actually have the top three totals: 147, 140 and 134)

Pretty amazing, right? And this came after Coach Hoaglin decided to convert to the best brand of basketball around AFTER he already had completed his recruiting. Now, with a full season under his belt, he's ready for more, and he was kind enough to join me on the phone to discuss his success with The System.

(What made you make the change?)

Coach Hoaglin: "I was kind of fed up coaching the traditional way, and I ran a variety of traditional offenses: the Swing, the read and react. I was looking for something that was a little more enjoyable, something that would get everybody involved and at the same time, be competitive. I was sitting on the computer on (coaching guru) Pat Anderson's Website, and this thing pops up, the CBS Sports March Madness, look at Grinnell. I watched that thing and just kind of decided I was going to educate myself.

"I decided in July, on my trip to Disney World, that I would implement The System. I didn't recruit for it, but I knew I had some cogs that would work, I just had to educate them."

(How would you say your first season went?)

Coach Hoaglin: "I think it went even better than I could have expected. At first, I told the team we were just going to play fast. I showed them some game film of Olivet Nazarene (another one of this blog's favorite teams), and they looked at me like, 'Yeah, coach, no problem. What are you doing? This is going to be crazy.' It took some time, but they eventually got it."

(What were some of the early problems?)

Coach Hoaglin: "Our biggest problem, at 1-7, is we didn't know what we didn't know. We started to play more safe, trying to execute better, and we gave up some points. We learned we had to play this way the whole game and worry about The System Formula, and the rest will take care of itself.

"In one game, we were just playing horribly, and we were getting drilled. Only after I sat down and shut my mouth did we execute. I found out letting them play was the way to go. Once I sat down and relaxed, our performance got better. It was hard, and it's still hard, but that's what I have to do."

(What do you expect out of this season?)

Coach Hoaglin: "We're returning 10 really great pieces from last year's team, and that's a big thing. We actively recruited four new players for our needs, so we got shooters, we got athletic kids. Our sophomore class is going to be the strong suit. My recruiting class, based on what we need to do in The System, well, let's just say I'm definitely cautiously optimistic."

(What do you like about The System? Would you like to see more coaches go with it?)

Coach Hoaglin: "I definitely like the fact that it's unique. I'd like to see a high school that can feed me players, or a boys' team at a local high school, but I definitely like to be unique. It's a nice way for us to brand ourselves, at the local, regional and national level. When we go recruit, we can tell players they get to experience something that nobody else is doing and feel good about it. They can be a part of history, write their names, all our names, in the record book. So somebody can say about them, 'You played for Jackson, you guys scored all those points.'

"I just love being able to be unique. I don't think a lot of people are going to be moving to The System."

(How do you think your players like it?)

Coach Hoaglin: "Well, in our open gyms, I can't be involved, so our players run the open gyms. They press the whole time, just like we will in games, they're subbing in and out every 30 seconds, they shoot 3s all the time. It's great."

Well, I guess that covers it. A huge thanks to Coach Hoaglin for his time, and I know I speak for all of us when I say I hope he has an even better season this year. It sure sounds as if he's possible.

Also, make sure you check back later in the week. I'll have more updates for you on The System.

More on Galesburg's trip to UNC

2011-07-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

I'm sure everyone remembers this, right? I traveled up to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to watch the girls' team from Galesburg (Ill.) High School on my birthday? Less than two weeks ago? Remember? Good, I thought so.

Coach Evan Massey was kind enough to pass along some stats from the eight games the Silver Streaks played at the camp (finishing with a 5-3 record), and I wanted to share. This is a great look at the depth they will continue to have this season despite losing five seniors from last season's team that reached the Elite Eight.

Some of the players sat out a game or two to rest injuries, and these are the totals for the entire camp. Here we go:

Points

Allison Mangieri......................59
Sharron Diggins......................48
Jessica Lieber..........................44
Paige Klinck............................29
Myra Diggins..........................27
Chloe Anderson......................24
Sadee Hamilton......................16
Rainee Sibley..........................15
Hannah Smith.........................12

3-pointers

Mangieri.......................17
Lieber, S. Diggins.........12
Klinck............................8

Rebounds

M. Diggins.......................27
Anderson.........................24
Hamilton, Jackson.............16
Klinck.............................14
Lieber, Mangieri, S. Diggins.......12
Micayla Eisele......................10

Offensive rebounds

M. Diggins...........................14
Anderson............................13
S. Diggins.............................9
Sibley, Jackson, Mangieri.......8
Dani Teel..............................7
Klinck...................................6
Marisa Miller, Eisele, Lieber.....5

Steals

Lieber..................................12
Mangieri..............................10
S. Diggins............................9
Hannah Smith, M. Diggins.....6
Hamilton, Anderson, Teel.......5

Great stuff there. A huge thanks to Coach Massey for getting those to me (well, not just me, he posted them on his blog.) Another interesting factoid from his blog is the continuing development of his players, mostly on their own. He said he often gets texts from players interested in getting into the gym to shoot; a huge shoutout to Rainee Sibley, who became the first player this off-season to reach 5,000 made 3s. That's a lot of shooting.

Best of luck to her on her quest for 10,000 (a total the now-departed Jessica Howard put up last summer), and best of luck to the rest of the players as they prepare for the upcoming season.

Another college team moves to The System: Say hello to the Lady Aggies of Oklahoma Panhandle State

2011-07-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

No surprise, really, for those of us paying attention to the success of all The System teams last season. Another team is ready to make the plunge after treading lightly into the abyss in 2010-11: the NCAA Division II women's team at Oklahoma Panhandle State University. The Lady Aggies finished 3-23, including 0-10 in the Heartland Conference, but that included a heart-breaking 111-106 loss to regular season champ Newman in the season finale.

Gazing at the statistics, it appears OPSU is a perfect candidate, given the depth it showed in playing time and scoring. There were 11 players who averaged at least 13 minutes of run, and 10 of them averaged at least 4 points (none more than Tra'Niqia Dishmon's 8.0). So the Aggies appear to have the players to run The System, and coach Brad Vanden Boogaard has been an admirer of this style of play for a few years. He is good friends with Rusty Kennedy, who used it at Clarendon Junior College in Texas before moving to Our Lady of the Lake University.

Now, Coach Vanden Boogaard plans to rattle his Heartland Conference foes with it. He was kind enough to respond to some e-mail questions I sent him late last week, and here is the entirety of our conversation:

How instrumental was Coach Kennedy in your decision to go to The System?

Coach Vanden Boogaard: "Rusty and I talk a couple times a month. He did have some influence on my decision to make the change. When Rusty was at Clarendon running The System, he was in a similar situation that I am in. We are very enrollment driven university with limited scholarships, forcing us to carry more players than your normal team carries. Playing The System will assist us in keeping more people involved and improving within our program helping us keep players in our program for four years.

"We need to make a change; what we were doing was not working. The other influential part is our location, we need to force people to play a different style than they want because most teams do not enjoy having to travel to our place so we will try to make it even tougher playing at such a fast pace with controlled chaos."

What did you know before you started your research, and has your perception changed since you've learned more about The System?

Coach Vanden Boogaard: "The first time I heard of The System probably was in the late 1990s or early 2000s. I was an assistant men’s coach at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa and we were hearing about Grinnell playing the game a complete different way. At that time I really didn’t learn much about it. I really started learning about it three years ago watching Clarendon play.

"The more I learn about it the more my perception changes. I really enjoy how it helps keep everyone involved in our program and keeps them excited about the opportunity for them within our program. At first glance it looks like a team that is completely playing without much of a plan or a purpose. After learning the goals and understanding the thoughts/research of the innovators of The System it really fits our situation.

"Also really fits my thoughts on playing the game with great effort and playing The System forces you to play every second with great effort."

How would you describe your style of play previously?

Coach Vanden Boogaard: "In the past I was a very conventional basketball coach. We played a half court style, really emphasizing man-to-man defense. Offensively we would run when we could but played motion offense looking for a good shot willing to wait until late in the shot clock."

What has been the reaction to those you have told? From your assistant, Alisha Sladek, and your players?

Coach Vanden Boogaard: "When we started to implement it late last year, I think my assistant thought I was crazy. She had played for me when we had some success the conventional way so she was wondering why; since teaching her about it she really enjoys it.

"As for the players they bought in well and are excited to see what it can do for us. It helped that we have two players that have played in The System before and really helped sell it to their teammates. As for our AD he really has backed me on the change. He is also our men’s coach and says it is really exciting for anyone watching the game."

What do you hope to get out of The System?

Coach Vanden Boogaard: "Just like any competitor ultimately I am hoping it brings more wins to our players. After the past four years of seeing players come and go because they have not been happy with their playing opportunity, I hope this brings some continuity to our program helping us keep more players in our program for four years. I hope this will bring more team camaraderie, too.

"Our administration and fans have been very supportive during my four years, I am looking to repay them with some success and excitement when they come watch us play."

Great stuff from a relative newbie with The System. Here's hoping the Aggies have tremendous success next season, and I plan to stay in touch with Coach Vanden Boogaard to follow his progress.

What better way to spend a birthday?

2011-07-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

Many of you might remember that for my 40th birthday, my lovely wife, Colleen, allowed me and "Iowa" Tim to travel all the way to Grinnell College, birthplace of The System, to attend two games in December 2009. Well, my actual birthday is July 11, but where can you find basketball the way it was meant to be played in July? Ordinarily, you can't, which I why I celebrated my birthday that year by freezing my buns off amongst the cornfields of Iowa, watching System creator David Arseneault and his Grinnell NCAA Division III men's team do their thing. It was a wonderful trip, something I will never forget.

Well, I have another memory to add to that list. Coach Evan Massey and his girls' team from Galesburg (Ill.) HS are in Chapel Hill, N.C., for Sylvia Hatchell's basketball camp at the University of North Carolina. I already had squeezed an extra day of vacation, so with Monday free, I ventured up the road about 85 miles to catch the Silver Streaks in action. And I had so much fun at their 8:15 a.m. game (yep, that's right, A.freaking.M, way too early for hoops) that I drove back home to pick up Colleen and my daughters, Emily and Libbie, so they could get a chance to see what Coach Massey has done with The System in Galesburg.

Wow, what a day. Yes, I was disappointed for the team when they lost a close one in the morning to Parkwood HS from Monroe, N.C., a team that finished 25-3 last season, and felt even more so when a very solid team from Arizona held on for about a 10-point victory. Yet summer camp games certainly shouldn't be all about winning, or any about winning, really, and Coach Massey and assistant Andie Allison reflected that in their court-side demeanor.

There was quite a contrast in the opening game. At one point while play was ongoing, Coach Massey was leaning on the stands and polishing off some type of breakfast bread (Muffin? Bagel? Not sure) along with his cup of coffee. The Parkwood coach was standing near mid-court, waving his arms and imploring his team to find a way to get the ball in against the Galesburg pressure. He also had eight players total on his roster, played one of them hardly at all and left another one sitting out the entire game. Meanwhile, the Streaks rolled with 13 players (two were injured), and everyone essentially got equal playing time. Which method do you think will build depth and team chemistry, all while giving each girl her money's worth at the camp? Gee, I wonder.

In the second game, the sideline comparison was even more drastic. Coaches Massey and Allison calmly gave instructions and encouragement, and the coach from the Arizona school stalked around as if she was Brenda Frese, the women's coach at Maryland (for those of you more familiar with the men's game, think Kansas State's Frank "Crazy Eyes" Martin). The referees had to ask this coach to get back on her side of halfcourt! Pretty crazy.

Here are some other tidbits from my wonderful day with the Streaks:

- The entire team couldn't have been any nicer to me, Colleen and the girls, and that includes Coach Massey's son, Allen, who sat with me during the first game and patiently answered my questions about who was doing what. He did all this while keeping stats, and you can tell he has a sharp basketball mind.

Before the second game, Emma Junk, a rising junior who is out with a stress fracture, came over to introduce herself and immediately made Emily and Libbie feel comfortable. She took them out to meet the team, then invited them to sit on the sidelines for the second half with everyone else. What a neat thing for someone Emma's age to do.

And when we left, everyone made a point to smile and thank us for coming. I guess Coaches Massey and Allison don't deserve all the credit, but someone sure is doing right by these young ladies.

- Coach Allison is a fan of The System. Having played for Coach Massey at Galesburg, and later at Knox College, she has seen varying styles of play, and she likes what she sees from the Streaks' version of this breathtaking style of play.

"It just builds such a great feeling of 'team,' of camaraderie, for everyone," she said. "It really has stuck with the players, and I think everyone still is excited about what we do. The teams we face in the conference all know what we do and they prepare for us, but they're preparing to do this twice a season. We do it all year."

It also is easy to see that the players respect Coach Allison and look to her for guidance. What a great asset she is for Coach Massey.

- The System is hampered by the rules of summer camp games, with a small court, running clock and haphazard officiating. Still, it is a wonder to see when it clicks, and Galesburg did plenty of that. The quarters run so quickly that it is difficult to see the full effect of the "melt down," when the other team falls apart, yet it happened at least once in both games. It was easy to see the opponent's were gassed and looking for rest, yet the Streaks kept coming on offense and on defense.

- I had a chance to meet guard Paige Klinck's grandfather, who traveled with his wife up from Lake Oconee, Ga., to watch. He formerly lived in Galesburg and had seen Grinnell face hometown Knox College, so he was somewhat familiar with The System. Still, you could tell he enjoyed himself, and Paige did both her grandparents proud with a spirited effort in both games.

- I've already addressed the disparity in playing time for the Streaks and their opponents, but it bares repeating. I was able to go to team camp during my high school playing days and felt fortunate to get some run. Imagine being that player for Parkwood who sat out an entire game! Now, certainly, she could have been injured or held out for some other reason, even though she went through warmups with no problems. Still, I can see why the coach might have done it. He probably figured she wasn't going to play any during the season, so why waste time on her in the summer, right? Hopefully, we all see the idiocy of that reasoning. Some System coaches call their brand of hoops the "No Child Left Behind Style of Basketball," and nothing could be more true.

- It is so hard to single out player for her individual effort (mostly because I'm not entirely sure of everyone's name), but I did want to give a shoutout to point guard Jessica Lieber. I loved watching her push tempo throughout her shifts, always looking up to advance the ball a little bit quicker. She has a nice touch on 3-pointers, as well, and a nose for the ball on defense. Look for a big season for Jessica.

I wish Coach Massey, Coach Allison, Emma, Paige, Jessica and everyone else the best of luck during the remainder of their stay in my state. Hopefully, I will get a chance to visit Thiel Gymnasium to watch a real game at some point. I know Emily and Libbie will be up for the trip, since they already have plans to build a snowman with their new pal, Emma.

Keep doing your thing, Streaks.

Finally, here is your season-ending update!

2011-07-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I could make up a long list of excuses for why I never let everyone know how the season ended for all of our favorite teams. Was it my kidney stone that originally got me off-kilter? Was it my time spent coaching Emily's rec league hoops team, then soccer team, and finally softball team? Was it my time spent helping feed the hungry children of .... OK, actually, I didn't do that.

Whatever the reason, I know I let everyone down with my neglect, not to mention all the coaches and players who make System basketball the finest in the land. So I was determined to put a wrap (finally) on the 2010-11 season for all these teams. And, yes, I understand it's July 3. The good news is this gives us something to talk about during the long months of a System-free existence! Good, right?

Here's what I have.

GRINNELL

We have to start with the original team that got me so involved with this amazing style of play, the Division III men's team coached by System creator David Arseneault. The Pioneers had a rough start of play in the Midwest Conference, winning only three of their first nine games. A second consecutive losing season seemed almost certain at that point.

That was before the game at Lawrence on Jan. 22, when Grinnell fell behind 60-35 at halftime. Yep, you read that correctly, a 25-point deficit at the break on the heels of a two-game losing streak. Any avid reader of this blog (or even a casual one) likely remembers what happened next, a furious rally by Coach A's Pioneers to force overtime, and, eventually, culminating in a 112-103 victory for Grinnell. One of those once-in-a-lifetime games that proved once again why The System is so wonderful.

Grinnell used the momentum from this tremendous effort to win its final eight MWC games, pulling all the way into a tie for second and qualifying for the conference tournament once again (only the top four teams make it). A 93-91 victory over Illinois College in the semifinals put the Pioneers back in the championship game, and even an 89-67 loss to host St. Norbert hardly diminished what was a fabulous recovery for this team.

Grinnell finished 18-7 overall and 12-6 in the MWC, and Coach A was awarded Coach of the Year for the fifth time. Pretty special. Sophomore guard Griffin Lentsch from Forest Lake, Minn., made first-team all-conference, as well. Additionally, the Pioneers led D-III in three team categories: points per game (102.9), 3-pointers made per game (17.8) and steals per game (14.7). Point guard Scott Kaitz led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, as well, at 4.56.

There's even better news. Assuming everyone who is eligible to return does just that, including Lentsch, Grinnell brings back 91 percent of its points and 95 percent of its 3-pointers in the 16 players with eligibility remaining. A couple of losses came in areas that don't show up in the stat sheet, with the graduation of Kale Knisley and Alex McDonald. Sure, each averaged a team-best 3.9 rebounds, and Knisley was second with 38 steals, but that doesn't tell the complete picture. They were integral in setting screens to free up Lentsch and the other shooters, and McDonald's 55 offensive rebounds at least 20 more than anyone else.

I have to believe Coach A will find the necessary players to keep the Pioneers on top, and it will be interesting to see the progress of Lentsch and some of the others.

GLENVILLE STATE

The NCAA Division II women's team coached by Bunky Harkleroad enjoyed a tremendous season, as well, winning the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament and advancing to the NCAA tournament. Pretty sweet effort in only the second year on campus for Coach Harkleroad.

The Pioneers (catchy nickname, right?) finished 23-9 and 17-5 in the WVIAC, which was good enough for third, one game behind co-regular season champs Charleston and West Liberty. Glenville State opened the tournament with an easy 98-39 victory over Alderson-Broaddus at home, finishing 12-0 in the friendly confines of Jesse R. Lilly Jr. Gymnasium.

For the final three rounds, play moved to the Charleston Civic Center, where the Pioneers whipped Pitt-Johnstown 91-73 and Concord 110-87 to reach the final against Charleston. Beth Deren made four 3-pointers and poured in 16 points, helping Glenville State hold on for a 77-73 victory.

That sent the Pioneers to Edinboro, Penn., for the opening round of the NCAA tournament, where they fell behind early and couldn't quite recover in a 74-69 loss to Johnson C. Smith. Deren again led the way with 12 points. The end came suddenly but couldn't spoil the tremendous job Coach Harkleroad has done in bring The System to Glenville State. He's won 41 games in two seasons and brought his team back to the top of the WVIAC, and the future certainly looks bright up on the mountain.

Leading scorer Tenisha Wilson (16.4 points) was rewarded for a great season, making first-team all-conference, and point guard Danielle Woodmore was named to the second-team. Also, Kenyell Goodson got a spot on the all-freshman squad.

As usual with The System, the Pioneers led all-divisions of women's basketball at 95.7 points per game and made 369 3-pointers. Coach Harkleroad will have to replace four key contributors beginning next season, with Autumn Davis (10 ppg, team-high 80 3's), Kim Stephens (7.5 ppg), Kristen Golden (7 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and Miranda Reed (4.8 ppg, team-high 5.2 apg) all using up their eligibility.

Everyone else should be back, and Coach Harkleroad has hit the recruiting trail hard to bring in more talent. Expect big things next season fro Glenville State.

OLIVET NAZARENE

More success found the NAIA women's team coached by Doug Porter, which made it to the Sweet 16 of the NAIA tournament after finishing in a tie atop the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings. Coach Doug Porter's Tigers ended up 27-7 overall and 9-1 in the CCAC, ranked 16th in the final NAIA coaches' poll. They also led all of NAIA in the following categories, besides simply scoring and shooting 3s:

- Offensive rebounds per game (25.8)
- Assists per game (21.2)
- Steals per game (21.6)
- Turnover margin (plus 12.5)

At one point, ONU went two months without a loss, winning 13 consecutive games while averaging 112 points in that span. The run include a pair of victories in Hawaii in the Hoop N Surf Classic, where the Tigers romped past South Dakota School of Mines and Technology 117-88 and Morningside College 113-67.

A tough loss on the road at Saint Xavier cost ONU the outright regular season CCAC title and gave the Cougars home-court advantage in the tournament, which ended with a 101-91 victory for the home team. Still, the Tigers was one of 32 teams invited to the NAIA tournament, and they beat Southern Poly 87-79 in the opening round.

That led to a matchup with two-time defending national champ Union (on Union's home floor, no less), and ONU saw its season end 81-69.

Still, an incredible run for Coach Porter and his team. They led all of women's college basketball with 103.9 points per game (anyone else sense a theme?) and made 493 3-pointers, all while having 15 players get on the court in at least 33 of the 34 games. No one averaged more than the 14.6 minutes of run per game than Jaimie Buckman, and leading scorer Simone Coburn (12.8 ppg) was on the court for slightly less than 12 minutes. Um, and in case you forgot, colleges play 40 minutes in every game. I'm getting all tingley just typing that.

In all, 16 of the 17 players on the roster averaged at least one point, another amazing factoid. You want another one? Point guard Danielle Pipal was named honorable mention all-American despite averaging only 6.9 points. She added a team-best 152 assists (4.6 per game) and 124 steals (3.8 per game, good for second best in the nation), all while grabbing 3.8 rebounds per game, as well. Oh, I probably should mention she's only 5-foot-8.

Pipal also made first-team all-CCAC, along with Coburn and Danielle Tolbert (12.7 ppg, 3.4 apg, 3.7 rpg), and Coach Porter was conference Coach of the Year.

The team should be loaded again next season. even though ONU does lose Coburn and Lisa Beyer (3.8 ppg). Given Coach Porter's history, I know it will be another successful run.

GALESBURG (ILL.) HS

The girls' team coached by Evan Massey simply did it all in the second season of The System for the Streaks: a 28-7 finish, a trip to the Elite Eight and numerous state and national records. So what if it ended what must have seemed a bit too prematurely with a 77-70 loss to Country Club Hills Hillcrest?

Prior to the season, Galesburg was picked to finish in the bottom half of its conference, a tough one known as the Western Big 6. A second-place finish set the stage for an incredible postseason run, with a regional title and the first sectional title since 2003.

And, yes, there are the records. Jessica Howard made 139 3-pointers during the season to set the Illinois mark, and the team totals of 1,476 3s attempted and 397 3s made for the season are national records. Galesburg also had single-game highs of 22 3s and 72 attempted 3s, both state records.

As sometimes happens with System teams, the Streaks started off slowly, losing two of their first three games before finding their collective grooves.

A 13-game winning streak included the championship of the Charleston Holiday Tournament, and even though Galesburg lost its regular-season finale to rival Moline (a game that decided the WB6 race), Coach Massey had his team ready for the postseason. The Streaks won the Geneseo Regional and the Metamora Sectional before losing in the Supersectional to Hillcrest, a game that was close all the way.

What a great season. Now, Galesburg will have to replace five seniors, including Howard, point guard Tai Peachey, Jamie Johnson, Mickey Rodriguez and Megan Young. Three plan to continue their careers in college: Howard will play at Monmouth College (a conference rival of Grinnell), Peachey is going to Olivet Nazarene (how sweet is that?) and Johnson will be at Black Hawk College. Best of luck to all of them.

How will Coach Massey replace them? Well, if spring workouts are any indication, he certainly will have the numbers to do so. So far, 15 players have indicated they are interested in playing for him next season, and there are 19 incoming freshmen who want to play hoops, as well. Viva la System!

EISENHOWER HS (Blue Island, Ill.)

A first-year System team, the boys' team coached by Mike Curta won a share of the conference title, the first such result in 28 seasons, on its way to a 14-14 finish. Along the way, the Cardinals set a national record by attempting 1,391 3-pointers (49.6 per game) and a state record by making 370 (good for third-best total in the nation). Six players, including the coach's son, Nick, averaged at least one 3 per game, and Tyrone Terrell led the way by making 130 of 453 for the season.

The season ended with a 107-65 loss to Crete Monee in the state tournament, but Coach Curta wasn't too disappointed with the conclusion. He has 11 players returning next season, so the future certainly appears bright at Eisenhower HS. Best of luck to them.

JACKSON (MICH.) COMMUNITY COLLEGE

The National Junior College Athletic Association women's team came one game shy of advancing to the national tournament, losing to Kalamazoo Valley Community College 121-96 in the district championship game. The Jets finished 19-12 in their first season with The System -- winning 18 of their final 23 games -- and coach Andy Hoaglin's squad should be even better next season.

Jackson CC set NJCAA Division II records by averaging 103.6 points and attempting 1,550 3-pointers. Sophomore Erika Bullock made second-team all-conference and freshman Nicole Wurster got a nod to the third team, as well as a spot on the all-freshman squad. Bullock averaged a team-best 14.2 points and Wurster was right behind with 12.4, while Bullock finished third in NJCAA Division II with 4.58 steals per game.

Here's hoping nothing but success for Coach Hoaglin and the Jets next season.

NORTH SHORE HS (GLEN HEAD, N.Y.)

The girls' team coached by Keith Freund lost a heartbreaker in the quarterfinals of the state tournament, falling to Lynbrook 69-68. Still, an amazing season by the Vikings, who finished 16-3 overall and won their conference with a 12-0 mark. Along the way, North Shore put up some wonderful numbers out on "The Island" in The System:

- Average margin of victory in the conference was 32 points
- Nassau County record 151 3-pointers made
- Led the county with 72.5 points per game
- School record 95 points in a single game
- School record 16 3s made in a single game

Coach Freund returns nine of his top 11 players and expects to be favored to win the state title. Here's hoping he can pull it off.

Well, that wraps up the wrapup, as it were. I hope everyone forgives me for delaying this so long, and I hope the coaches and players who utilize this perfect style of play have a great offseason. I plan to be back with some interviews and other stuff this summer, so check back frequently. I won't let you down again.

Catching up with my favorite teams

2011-02-06T10:31:00.001-08:00

My apologies to all those out there who anxiously await updates on those lovable System teams, I've been on another little hiatus. Not to fear, I'll get you caught up in one single post. Hang on, it might just blow your mind. To keep things simple, I'll provide the latest news on each of the teams we regularly follow under a header with its name. No confusion that way, right?

Here we go:

Grinnell

We have to start with the original team, right? The NCAA Division III men's team at Grinnell haven't lost since we last checked in, running its winning streak to five consecutive games. That includes a couple of un-System-like final scores, including a 79-65 victory over 12th-ranked St. Norbert on Saturday in the Midwest Conference.

A day earlier, the Pioneers ran away early and blew out conference foe Ripon 110-83, with Matt Chalupa providing a career-high 24 points on an 8-for-16 performance on 3-pointers. Pretty spiffy, right? Against St. Norbert, Griffin Lentsch was the man, going off for 18 points and missing only one of five attempts from beyond the arc.

Another player really stepping up lately is sophomore guard Dominique Bellamy, who had provided a spark off the bench in each of the games during this Grinnell hot streak. He is averaging 13.8 points while shooting 59 percent from the field and 75 percent at the line, with at least 10 points in each game.

One of Bellamy's best efforts came earlier this week against Lake Forest, another conference opponent who makes it a priority to slow down the Pioneers' attack. The plan was successful, as the final score was 87-76 in favor of Grinnell, at the time the lowest point total of the season for coach David Arseneault's team. Bellamy had 17 points in this one, making 5-of-7 from the field and 2-of-3 on 3s, while grabbing eight rebounds and totaling two steals.

The final four of these Ws were at home in the friendly confines of Darby Gymnasium, and three of the final four games on the schedule for the Pioneers are on the road, beginning Wednesday night at Monmouth. Game time is 8 p.m. EST, as Grinnell continues to climb in the Midwest Conference standings. Remember, only the top four (of 10 teams) qualify for the conference tournament. Here's a look at the standings, with MWC record first, followed by the overall:

St. Norbert....................12-3, 16-4
Ripon............................10-5, 12-8
Illinois College..............9-5, 13-6
Lawrence.......................9-6, 10-10
Grinnell.........................8-6, 13-6
Carroll...........................8-6, 10-9
Lake Forest....................7-7, 9-10
Beloit.............................7-7, 8-11
Monmouth....................1-12, 3-15
Knox.............................0-14, 1-18

The Pioneers finish up with games at Monmouth, home against Illinois College, at Knox and at Lake Forest. Certainly, four winnable games, and four losable games, as well. The conference is very evenly matched this season. The best of luck to Coach A and his team, and I'll keep you posted.

Olivet Nazarene

The NAIA women's team coached by Doug Porter simply continues to get better, running its winning streak to 11 games with two more victories this week. Up to No. 15 in the national coaches' poll, the Tigers won their pair of games by an average score of 105-73, including a 104-65 rout of Indiana-South Bend. The Titans had won 14 of their previous 15 games, yet still couldn't contain ONU.

Danielle Tolbert led five players in double figures with 16 points for the Tigers. In the previous game, a 106-81 victory on the road over Robert Morris University, Simone Coburn carried the way with 18 points as ONU sprinted out to a 66-38 lead at halftime.

Coach Porter's team steps out of conference Tuesday when it hosts Holy Cross College, then returns to Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play Saturday against the University of St. Francis (Ill.), also at home. Here's a look at the Division I CCAC standings as we head into the second half of the conference round robin:

Olivet Nazarene...........................5-0, 20-4
Saint Xavier.................................4-1, 16-6
Indiana-South Bend....................3-2, 18-5
Robert Morris..............................1-3, 15-8
Roosevelt....................................1-3, 13-10
St. Francis...................................0-5, 7-17

ONU has home games with St. Francis and Robert Morris, and travels to Saint Xavier, IU-South Bend and Roosevelt to complete its schedule. We'll check back with the Tigers next week.

Glenville State

The NCAA Division II women's team coached by Bunky Harkleroad have won three of its four games since we last checked in, including an 86-68 victory Saturday at home over Seton Hill. The Pioneers really spread the wealth in this one, with Kristen Golden (17 points and 10 rebounds) and Beth Deren (11 points) the only two players reaching double figures.

But eight others had at least six points and Glenville State held Seton Hill to 29 percent shooting in the second half.

In the previous game, a 97-91 victory on the road against Davis & Elkins, Tiffani Huffman had 20 points off the bench for the Pioneers, while Deren added 17. Mishae Miles carried the load in the W before that one, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds (also off the bench) as Glenville State beat Wheeling Jesuit 96-74, also on the road.

You sense the theme? Coach Harkleroad has plenty of offensive options, which makes shutting down the top-scoring team in Division II very difficult. Tenisha Wilson leads the team with an average of 17.1 points, followed by Woodmore (14.0) and Autumn Davis (11.0), but several others are capable. Huffman "averages" only 5.3, so you see what I mean?

Here's a look at the standings in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which makes the Big East look tiny:

West Liberty......................................13-2, 18-3
Charleston........................................14-3, 18-5
Glenville State....................................13-3, 15-6
West Virginia Wesleyan......................10-4, 12-5
Fairmont State....................................10-6, 13-7
Seton Hill............................................10-6, 14-6
Pitt-Johnstown....................................9-6, 11-8
Shepherd............................................9-7, 11-9
Concord.............................................7-8, 10-9
Ohio Valley.........................................7-9, 11-8
West Virginia State..............................5-10, 7-14
Wheeling Jesuit....................................5-11, 6-14
Davis & Elkins......................................3-13, 5-17
Alderson-Broaddus.............................2-14, 2-18
Bluefield State.....................................1-16, 2-19

Coach Harkleroad and his team finish up with home games against West Virginia Wesleyan (Thursday), West Liberty (Feb. 19) and Ohio Valley (Feb. 26) and travel to Charleston (next Saturday), Concord (Feb. 14) and West Virginia State (Feb. 23). Here's wishing them the best of luck.

Galesburg HS

Coach Evan Massey's girls' team from Galesburg, Ill., continues to keep it going, winning all four games since we last heard from the Streaks. This included two in the Western Big 6 Conference, setting up a de facto championship game this coming Thursday night against Moline.

In a non-conference matchup against Bloomington HS on Jan. 29, Galesburg broke its own state record by making 22 3-pointers in an 88-47 victory. The score at halftime was 55-18, removing any doubt about the outcome, and when Sadee Hamilton made a shot from beyond the arc in the final 2 minutes, the Streaks had another record.

The conference victories weren't quite so "pretty," for lack of a better description. Galesburg slugged its way past United Township 61-58 two days before the blowout of Bloomington, then added a 69-58 victory over Alleman this past Thursday before the season finale against Moline.

The Streaks narrowly beat Dunlap 53-50 to improve their record to 24-5, but the conference title is what is important now. Since 1990, Coach Massey and Galesburg have won 12 Western Big 6 championships, with Moline winning six. No other school has more than two. From 1990 through 2004, the Streaks finished on top in 11 of the 15 seasons, an amazing run of success.

Here's hoping they add another one Thursday.

Eisenhower HS

The boys' team in Blue Island, Ill., coached by Mike Curta finally saw its winning streak end at four with a 118-100 loss to Shepard on Friday night. It dropped the Cardinals to 6-4 in the Suburban Red Conference, decreasing their chance of winning a title for the first time in 28 years.

Here were Eisenhower's numbers:

- Attempted 95 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 64 percent of its shots from 3 (goal is 40 percent)
- Rebounded 20 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 35 percent)
- Forced 15 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted 11 more shots than Shepard (goal is 24)

Coach Curta's team did set the state record for 3-pointers in one season, with its 18 in this one, giving the Cardinals 297 on the season. The old mark was 286, set in 2004-05 by Lincoln in 36 games. Eisenhower has played only 22 games.

Here are some other thoughts from Coach Curta:

"Only met 3 goals and just got physically dominated by a team of stronger seniors to our youngsters. Clearly evident by the offensive rebounding percentage. This is the first time during the season that we played the same team twice and they did a nice job of spreading us out and attacking with quick dribbles and bullet passes up the sideline for a ton of 2 on 1 chances early on . Down 39-19 after one, we tried to vary our presses a bit to slow them down, but not much luck.

"Played better in the second half, but could see in our kids eyes a bit of distrust in what we were doing. After halftime, we went with hold and on-denial (System terms, don't sweat it) and got back in with a 35-23 quarter. Kids energy was great and I think we might have learned finally that playing System ball means we are never out of a game. At one point cut the lead to six and could never get 'over the hump.' I did like our change in demeanor and approach and I think this game will serve us well as we move forward with the System.

"We tried not to make this too big a game, but this was a new experience for all of our kids to play a game in conference with meaning this late in the season. We had some of our younger kids let the moment get to them, but also had some kids step up and seize the moment. Good learning experience, but not what we were looking for. Now get the treat of going on the road to play a terrific Galesburg team who will probably be similar in attack and the physical nature that we saw tonight."

Catch that? Eisenhower traveled to face the Galesburg boys' team, which is ranked seventh in the state. The Streaks, who had a 15-game winning streak stopped a night earlier at Rock Island, won 104-83. The Cardinals (11-12) did add to their state record, finishing 15-for-51 from beyond the arc to increase their total for the season to 312.

Eisenhower returns to the court Tuesday at home against Richards. I hope the Cardinals get another winning streak going!

Wabasha-Kellogg HS

The girls' team coached by Glen Irvin up in Minnesota, forced to go away from The System for a time because injuries, had perhaps its biggest victory of the season this past Tuesday, beating Dover-Eyota 73-62. The margin actually was 20 with about 5 minutes to go before Coach Irvin went with his delay game.

And for the first time in his three-year tenure, the Falcons had five players reach double figures. They were Nicole Alexander (22 points), Emily Huth (13), Taylor Lerum (12), Amanda Feils (11) and Kalyn Biever (10). Breanna Hall didn't score as much as her teammates but finished with nine steals.

Here are the numbers:

- Attempted 78 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 25 3-pointers (goal is 40)
- Rebounded 42 percent of the rebounds on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 40 turnovers (goal is 20)
- Attempted 20 more shots than Dover-Eyota (goal is 15)

Way to go, Wabasha-Kellogg! The best of luck to Coach Irvin and his team down the stretch.

North Shore HS

The girls' team from Glen Head, N.Y., coached by Keith Freund, stayed on a roll in Conference A-III, moving its record to 11-2 and 8-0 in the conference with a 73-58 victory over Floral Park last Saturday. Sophomore Erin Sheerin led the way with 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and Amanda Johansen added 15 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

The day before, the Vikings rolled past Manhasset 74-42, thanks mostly to a 25-6 opening quarter. The score after three quarters was 65-28 before Coach Freund backed off the pressure. Liz Sheerin went for 13 points and four steals in this one, and Johansen added 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Juniors Bridgette Lincoln (12 points) and Laura Wefer (nine points, five steals and three assists) had career highs in points.

The best I can tell, North Shore returns to the court Tuesday night at Floral Park. I'll keep you updated.

Jackson CC

The women's team from Jackson, Mich., moved above .500 for the first time since its opener with a 105-90 victory over Ancilla in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association on Saturday. The Jets have won 10 of their past 13 games to improve to 11-10, and 6-3 in the conference.

Erika Bullock and Nicole Wurster each had 20 points for Jackson, with Caitlyn Owens (19 points) and Davielle Thomas (13) also reaching double figures. The Jets finished 19-for-63 from beyond the arc, with Wurster and Owens each making four 3s.

Jackson leads all divisions of the National Junior College Athletic Association in scoring with 101.8 points a game.

Grinnell continues dominating play

2011-01-27T18:50:00.000-08:00

Remember the comeback from Grinnell's most recent game? You know, down by 25 at the half, rally to take a late lead in regulation only to see the game head to overtime, then dominate overtime on its way to a victory? Right, that one. Well, coach David Arseneault pointed to this as a possible "season saver" in a post on the Yahoo! message board devoted to The System.

Game 1 of the rest of the season went like clockwork.

Griffin Lentsch made 10 3-pointers and had 32 points, five other players reached double figures in scoring and Scott Kaitz had 10 assists to help the NCAA Division III Pioneers roll past Monmouth 133-92 in the Midwest Conference on Wednesday night. Matt Chalupa, Matt Skelly, Dominique Bellamy and Aaron Levin all finished with 17 points and Patrick Maher added 10 for Grinnell (10-6, 5-6 MWC), which boasts consecutive conference victories for the first time this season.

Part of me wanted to write that this one was over at the halftime, when the Pioneers took a 71-40 lead. Of course, given that huge comeback over the weekend at Lawrence, nothing is for sure, but Grinnell did what it had to do in the final 20 minutes. Here are the numbers for the game:

- Attempted 89 shots (goal is 94)
- Attempted 59 3-pointers (goal is 47)
- Rebounded 41 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 33 percent)
- Forced 29 turnovers (goal is 32)
- Attempted 15 more shots than the the Fighting Scots (3-13, 1-10)

The Pioneers trailed took control with a 20-5 run in the first half, then completed the domination by outscoring Monmouth 16-5 over the final 4:18 leading into the break. The final 20 minutes was more of the same, with the margin reaching 45 points on Lentsch's final 3 with about 3 minutes remaining in the game.

The solid play is coming just in time for Grinnell, which is seventh in the MWC with only the top four teams qualifying for the conference tournament. But it's a tight race for that final spot, with Lawrence, a team with two losses to the Pioneers, currently holding it with a 7-4 mark. That's a two-game difference, with Illinois College and Lake Forest tied for fifth at 6-5.

Grinnell has one game left against Illinois College and two with Lake Forest, including one Saturday in the friendly confines of Darby Gymnasium, where the Pioneers are 7-1 this season. Game time is 4 p.m. EST, and I wish Coach A and the boys nothing but the best.

Second half momentum easily carries ONU to ninth consecutive W

2011-01-26T18:47:00.000-08:00

Something about Saint Xavier seems to bring out the worst in the NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene. Seriously. In the past six seasons, each time coach Doug Porter and the Tigers were able to put together a winning streak of at least six games, it was the Cougars of Saint Xavier who stopped the run.

Not this time.

On Tuesday night, No. 21 ONU buried 10th-ranked Saint Xavier with a huge second half and went on to win 92-72 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Stephanie Denius led the way with 18 points, including five 3-pointers, Danielle Tolbert added 16 points and Danielle Pipal finished with 15 points and four steals as the Tigers (18-4, 3-0 CCAC) won their ninth consecutive game.

The score was tied at 42 at the half, and ONU led only 59-53 with 12:40 left in the game before building some momentum. A 17-3 spurt over the next 4 minutes boosted the margin to 20, capped by back-to-back-to-back 3s from Tolbert, Holly Schacht and Denius.

The Cougars (13-6, 1-1) creeped within 78-64 but not any closer, allowing Coach Porter and his team to join Indiana-South Bend as the only two unbeaten teams in the CCAC. Alex Barone and Shalonda Young each scored 17 points for Saint Xavier.

Here are the numbers for ONU:

- Attempted 93 shots
- Attempted 48 3-pointers
- Rebounded 49 percent of the rebounds on offense
- Forced 28 turnovers (tied a season low for opponents)
- Attempted 13 more shots than the Cougars

The 14 steals for the Tigers also was a season low, which is pretty amazing. Eight of them did come in the second half when Saint Xavier had 16 of its turnovers, so the wear and tear was apparent after halftime.

Next up for ONU is a trip to Robert Morris (15-6, 1-1) on Saturday, with the tip scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. I wish Coach Porter and his team the best of luck.

Way to go, Wabasha-Kellogg!

2011-01-25T18:55:00.001-08:00

Coach Glen Irvin and the girls' team at Wabasha-Kellogg HS in Wabasha, Minn., have had a rough time this season, with injuries depleting their roster and forcing them to go away from The System for a while.

Once he had enough depth to go at it again, Coach Irvin went back to the most wonderful style of basketball the world has ever seen. The results, at least for one game, were wonderful.

The Falcons traveled to Lake City on Monday night and came away with a 68-59 victory, improving their record to 3-12 and giving the players some much needed momentum heading into the final portion of the schedule. Nicole Alexander led the way with 21 points, 16 rebounds and six steals and Kalyn Biever added 17 (and five 3-pointers) as Wabasha-Kellogg opened a 32-point lead in the first half.

According to Coach Irvin, Biever came in averaging only about four points, but played the role of "preferred shooter" in the Grinnell-style offense and made the most of her opportunity. All five of her 3s came in the first half.

"We only have three wins this season but I have a really good feeling that we are going to make a run here at the end of the season," Coach Irvin wrote to me in an e-mail.

I certainly hope so. The best of luck to the Falcons the rest of the way, beginning with a home game Friday night against Caledonia.

Amazing comeback for Grinnell, great results abound for The System

2011-01-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

Anyone who even casually reads this blog knows of my love for The System and the teams, coaches and players who run it. I wouldn't say I live and die with the results of their games, because that would be silly, yet I do care probably more than I should about the outcomes.

It makes writing about losses difficult. Fortunately, today isn't one of those times, as the past couple of days provided some of the most wonderful successes of the season for some of my favorite squads. For the first time I can remember, each team that I track that still is using this style exclusively is coming off a victory or two. Or, in the case of the NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene, eight of them.

Still, perhaps no story from the weekend is as impressive as the original System team, the NCAA Division III men's team at Grinnell. The Pioneers lost a tough one on the road Friday night, losing 119-108 at Beloit, and had another matchup Saturday against Lawrence, which came into this game with a 7-2 record in the Midwest Conference. One of those losses had come at Grinnell, so I certainly thought Coach David Arseneault and his team could sweep the season series with the Vikings.

Those hopes were diminished somewhat by halftime, when Lawrence took a 60-35 lead into the break. Lawrence shot 71 percent from the field in the first half and appeared on its way to keep the Pioneers winless away from home in the conference. The second half started promisingly enough for Grinnell, with Griffin Lentsch making a 3-pointer, and when the Vikings failed to get the ball across half-court on two consecutive possessions, Lentsch made another from long range to cut the lead to 19.

Just maybe ...

Well, I got called away from the computer and missed the rest of the game. I'm still kicking myself. Using that momentum gained from the quick start, and a lack of depth from a Lawrence team that went into double overtime the night before in a 89-89 victory over Knox, the Pioneers continued to stay after it. Still, the Vikings' lead was 89-75 with 7:55 remaining in the game, or should I say, remaining in regulation (plot spoiler!).

Grinnell then went on an 18-3 run, highlighted by four consecutive 3-pointers from Patrick Maher, Dominique Bellamy, Matt Chalupa and Lentsch. That made the score 89-85, and a couple of minutes later, Garrett Nitz and Matt Skelly each converted two shots at the free throw line to tie the score at 92.

After the lead changed hands a couple of times, Kale Knisley put the Pioneers ahead 97-96 with a layup with 1:20 left. Lawrence's Conor Klusendorf was fouled with 11 seconds on the clock, and after missing the first, he made the second free throw to force overtime.

It was all Grinnell in the extra period, and really, it should have been. By that point, all the Vikings' starters must have been exhausted. Tyler Crisman ended up playing 43 minutes (he played 44 against Knox) and Erik Borresen finished with 42 (47 against Knox). Lentsch opened overtime with a jumper to give the Pioneers the lead for good, and Brian McManamy followed that with a 3 to make it 102-97.

Lawrence got within three at one point but wouldn't get any closer, and Skelly finished off the incredible rally with a pair of free throws in the final seconds to make the final 112-103, Grinnell. Wow.

Lentsch led the way with 26 points, including six 3-pointers, and Chalupa added 17 for the Pioneers (9-6, 4-6 MWC). Maher scored 13, followed by Skelly (12 points), McManamy (11) and Bellamy (11). Maher and Bellamy led the defense with four steals apiece.

Here are the other numbers:

- Attempted 92 shots
- Attempted 53 3-pointers
- Rebounded 28 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 31 turnovers
- Attempted 40 more shots than Lawrence (8-7, 7-3)

Klusendorf had 35 points for the Vikings and Borresen finished with 25 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists.

Grinnell returns home for a pair of games this week, hosting Monmouth on Wednesday and Lake Forest on Saturday. The best of luck to Coach A and his team, here's hoping they can keep it going.

Speaking of huge second halves ...

Coach Doug Porter and Olivet Nazarene were unstoppable in the final 20 minutes Saturday against Trinity International. The 22nd-ranked Tigers, who led only 35-31 at the break, put up 83 points following halftime to win going away on the road, 118-73, their eighth consecutive victory.

The seventh was one of the games I missed with my little hiatus. ONU (17-4) beat Calumet College of St. Joseph 105-91 Thursday night in a game that really wasn't that close. I watched a good part of the second half and Coach Porter's team was in solid control throughout.

Over the span of those two games, point guard Danielle Tolbert totaled 40 points, nine rebounds, 12 assists (only three turnovers) and nine steals to lead the Tigers. Lexie Heinold finally cooled off a bit in Saturday's W, making 1 of 9 from beyond the arc after shooting 32-for-64 in the previous seven games.

Here are the rest of the numbers:

- Attempted 96 shots
- Attempted 49 3-pointers (made 15 of 26 in the second half)
- Rebounded 38 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 30 turnovers (20 steals)
- Attempted 27 more shots than Trinity International (13-11)

ONU returns to the friendly confines of McHie Arena on Tuesday to play Saint Xavier, one of the top teams in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Tip is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST.

The NCAA Division II women's team at Glenville State continues to get back on track, as well, winning its fourth consecutive game Thursday night by beating Alderson Broaddus 93-67 on the road in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Tenisha Wilson had 19 points and six steals for the Pioneers (12-5, 10-2 WVIAC), and Tiffany Huffman added 14 points. Autumn Davis also had six steals, and Miranda Reed filled up her stat sheet with five points, nine assists and five steals.

Here are the other figures:

- Attempted 79 shots
- Attempted 25 3-pointers
- Rebounded 39 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 32 turnovers
- Attempted 13 more shots than the the Battlers (1-13, 1-10)

Coach Bunky Harkleroad and his bunch have a bit of a break in their schedule, next taking the court Thursday at Fairmont State. The best of luck to Glenville State.

Those wonderful Silver Streaks at Galesburg (Ill.) HS, the girls' team, got back on track in a huge way Saturday after a two-game losing streak, the second one a heartbreaking 51-48 loss at Rock Island that dropped coach Evan Massey's team into a tie for second in the Western Big 6, a half-game behind Rock Island.

To complete their Winter Classic, the Streaks played a doubleheader Saturday, hosting Normal U-High and No. 9 Champaign Centennial at John Thiel Gymnasium. Galesburg is ranked seventh in the state 3A poll, so the matchup with Centennial was a good one.

The Streaks won the opener against U-High 66-56, making 14 3-pointers in the process. The nightcap was even more exciting, particularly the opening 16 minutes, or as Coach Massey posted on his blog: "... Our first half was as good as we have ever played."

The score was 33-16 after one period and 55-36 at halftime, thanks in large part of 22 offensive rebounds -- IN THE FIRST HALF!

The Chargers (20-3) made their run, eventually getting to 69-65, but the Streaks (20-5) made 16 of 17 at the line in the fourth quarter to hold for an 84-74 victory. Point guard Tai Peachey had 10 assists and made all four of her free throws, and Jamie Johnson had 10 rebounds and missed only one of her nine free throws.

Great bounce back after two tough losses. Here is Coach Massey's description from his blog:

Coach Massey: "I think the key ingredients with this group is their humility and loyalty. Because of their humility, they accept personal responsibility for losses. They have an amazing desire to improve. I am really fortunate to work with a group like this."

And they're fortunate to have him as the coach.

Galesburg gets back at it Thursday night at home against United Township, which is tied for second in the conference with the Streaks. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST.

The boys' team at Eisenhower HS in Blue Island, Ill., won again Friday night, beating conference foe Argo 88-75. Here are the numbers, as reported by coach Mike Curta:

- Attempted 107 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 58 3-pointers (54 percent of total shots, goal is 40 percent)
- Rebounded 51 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 35 percent)
- Forced 29 turnovers
- Attempted 48 more shots than Argo (Wow!)

Here is Coach Curta's report: "Just cannot seem to wear an opponent down when they are on the verge of cracking ..... we continue to let teams off the hook and give them life when we stop the games due to our fouling. Kind of goes like this: we build a lead, lose our edge a bit, take some silly fouls, and as will happen ... the opposition finds some life and comes roaring back. To our kids credit they found a way to get the win, and have been doing so in our last three games."

There are worse things, right? It appears the schedule has the Cardinals (10-10, 5-3 South Suburban Red Conference) next playing Thursday at Oak Lawn. Best of luck to Coach Curta and his team.

At North Shore HS in Glen Head, N.Y., the girls' team keeps on keepin' on, winning its past two games by an average of 22 points. Perhaps even more impressive is the number of shots coach Keith Freund's team is putting up: in the two games this week, the Vikings totaled 130 and 139 shots! Seriously. For a 32-minute high school girls' game. This includes a combined total of 115 3-pointers in those games.

In the first one, a 74-56 victory at Seaford, Amanda Johansen went off for 17 points, 23 rebounds, five assists and eight steals, and she followed up that effort by finishing with 17 points, 17 rebounds, eight steals, eight blocks and seven assists when North Shore beat Great Neck North 85-69 at home Saturday.

Coach Freund's team is 9-2 overall and 6-0 in the Conference A-III out on Long Island. Best of luck to the Vikings the rest of the way.

Finally, I wanted to check back in with the women's team at Jackson (Mich.) Community College, where coach Andy Hoaglin is in his first season with The System. The Jets put up some more ridiculous numbers Friday night in a 101-55 victory over Grand Rapids (Mich.) Community College.

According to Coach Hoaglin, the Jets (8-10, 3-3 Michigan Community College Athletic Association) took 150 shots and rebounded nearly 50 percent of their misses on offense. Great stuff.

Caitlyn Owens led the way with 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Nicole Wurster had nine points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Congratulations to Jackson CC, and I wish Coach Hoaglin and his team success for the rest of the season.

Glenville State and ONU dominate; North Shore rolls, Galesburg loses

2011-01-19T16:05:00.000-08:00

The rematch wasn't even as competitive as the first game for the NCAA Division II women's teams at Glenville State and Bluefield State. Remember, I attended the first game in Bluefield, W.Va., getting a close-up view of how Pioneers coach Bunky Harkleroad runs his System, at the expense of the Lady Blues.

That one finished with a score of 118-63, and while Glenville State didn't quite reach that point total in the return engagement, Bluefield State came up woefully short of its number, as well.

Kim Stephens made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points in only 15 minutes of playing time, Kristen Golden added eight points, nine rebounds, five blocks and three steals, and the Pioneers picked up an easy 116-46 victory Monday night in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Where else to go for stars? Well, Autumn Davis connected on four 3s and scored 16 points, Mishae Miles had 13 points and 11 rebounds, LaToya Hambrick grabbed 11 boards and Miranda Reed dropped 10 dimes. Yep, another team effort, brought to you by the most wonderful style of basketball known to man (and woman).

Here are the rest of the numbers:

- Attempted 100 shots
- Attempted 52 3-pointers
- Rebounded 63 percent of the misses on offense (What?!)
- Forced 33 turnovers
- Attempted 29 more shots than the Lady Blues

You know, normally opponents shoot a much higher percentage from the field, since many of their shots come from close range after beating the press compared to about half of the attempts coming from beyond the arc for the System teams. Well, that wasn't the case in this one, particularly in the first half -- Bluefield State (1-13, 0-10 WVIAC) finished 7-for-37 from the field in the opening 20 minutes, a shooting percentage of 19 percent. Hard to win when that happens.

Coach Harkleroad and the Pioneers (11-5, 9-2) return to action Wednesday night, on the road at Alderson Broaddus, the first of four consecutive games away from home. Game time is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. EST.

Olivet Nazarene, ranked 22nd in the most recent NAIA women's poll, also had a blowout this week, running past Trinity Christian 122-65 Tuesday night on the road on the strength of a spectacular effort from Lexie Heinold. The junior from Washington, Ill., didn't miss a shot from anywhere except the free throw line, making all seven shots (six from the 3-point line) on her way to 22 points. She did finish 2-for-3 at the line, spoiling what would have been every player's dream.

I know you're wondering about Danielle Pipal, who consistently fills up her stat sheet while running the team from point guard. She had eight points, five assists and six steals in only 12 minutes. Simone Coburn missed only one of her nine shots and scored 17 points, Denita Phelps had 14 points and Miranda Geever added 10 points, five assists and five steals for the Tigers (15-4).

Here are The Formula numbers:

- Attempted 83 shots
- Attempted 31 3-pointers (a season low for coach Doug Porter's team)
- Rebounded 45 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 46 turnovers (26 steals)
- Attempted 19 more shots than the Trolls (great mascot)

So far this season, ONU has forced at least 28 turnovers in each game and more than 30 in 17 of the 19 games, with a high of 52 against Illinois-Wesleyan. Many of these have turned into steals, too: the Tigers average nearly 24, the best in the NAIA and about four more than the next team, Southern University at New Orleans.

Next up for ONU is a visit from Calumet College of St. Joseph on Thursday, with game time scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST. Let's go Tigers!

Coach Evan Massey and his girls' team at Galesburg (Ill.) HS finally had its 13-game winning steak come to an end with a hard-fought loss to Morton by the score of 49-38 in the Winter Classic at Knox College on Monday night. Those 38 points represent a season low for the Streaks (18-4), ranked seventh in the state 3A poll. The previous worst was 62, so quite a comedown for Galesburg.

On his blog, Coach Massey pointed to a the 23 fouls committed by his team, which led to 25 attempts the line for Morton (17-3). The Streaks finished with 14 and lost the battle on the boards 44-26.

Jamie Johnson scored 12 points, the only player to reach double figures, and added eight rebounds. This was a non-conference game, so Galesburg still leads the Western Big 6 at 5-1, with a huge game coming up Thursday at second-place Rock Island, which is one game back. Here's hoping the Streaks get back to the things that make them so successful.

The girls' team at North Shore HS in Glen Head, N.Y., continued to dominate Conference A-III, beating Valley Stream South 62-32 Tuesday night to move to 5-0 in the conference.

The Vikings (7-2 overall) trailed 10-9 at the end of one quarter before coach Keith Freund made some clutch adjustments that allowed his team to rally and to pull away. He reported that he called off the press early in the fourth quarter when the margin reached 32 points.

Here are his impressive stats:

- Attempted 99 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 40 3-pointers (goal is 40)
- Rebounded 32 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 43 turnovers (goal is 32)
- Attempted 58 more shots than Valley Stream South (goal is 25)

Amanda Johansen had 11 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and six steals for North Shore, and Liz Sheerin scored 10 points. Coach Freund said his team has two more games this week, so I wish them the best of luck.

Glenville State, ONU keep it going; Grinnell loses late lead at home

2011-01-16T09:19:00.000-08:00

The NCAA Division II women's team at Glenville State had its game against Bluefield State on Thursday night postponed by the weather, and I'm not sure if it was the extra time to prepare or what. But the Pioneers, coached by Bunky Harkleroad, had one of their best efforts of the season in a surprisingly easy 106-75 victory over Fairmont State in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

How surprising? Well, let's look at each of these teams efforts in the past week against conference leader West Liberty: last Saturday, the Hilltoppers handed Glenville State its worst loss of the season, 84-63; then on Thursday, West Liberty traveled to Fairmont State, which won handily 76-60 to stop the Hilltoppers' 10-game winning streak.

So it's easy to believe that Coach Harkleroad's team would have its collective hands full with the Falcons. It didn't quite work out that way, thanks in large part to a dominating effort from Glenville State point guard Danielle Woodmore. She went for 21 points, eight assists and eight steals, leading six of her teammates in double figures. The others were Autumn Davis (12), Tenisha Wilson (12), LaToya Hambrick (11), Kenyell Goodson (10) and Miranda Reed (10).

Here are the numbers for the Pioneers (10-5, 8-2 WVIAC):

- Attempted 91 shots
- Attempted 31 3-pointers
- Rebounded 42 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 31 turnovers
- Attempted 19 more shots than Fairmont State (9-5, 6-4)

Great effort that leaves Glenville State one game behind West Liberty in the loss column. Of course, given the enormity of the task in the WVIAC - 22 games apiece! -- there still is plenty of time for that to change. Coach Harkleroad and the Pioneers make up their game against Bluefield State on Monday, with the start scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EST, before a trip to Alderson-Broaddus (1-11, 1-9) on Wednesday. That will be the first of four consecutive games on the road for Glenville State.

The NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene remained undefeated early in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, going on the road to beat St. Francis (Ill.) 118-109 Saturday behind a wonderful defensive effort. Yes, the naysayers out there (hello, Johnny Raincloud) would look at the 109 points given up and smirk about a lack of D. Looking a bit deeper in the box, however, shows that the Fighting Saints finished with 40 turnovers and trailed 49-13 in points off turnovers.

ONU (14-4, 2-0 CCAC) totaled 23 steals (led, again, by Danielle Pipal with five), with 13 coming in the second half following a defensive adjustment by coach Doug Porter. Without giving too much away, the Tigers essentially altered how they were forcing the action in the backcourt, which led to more effective double-teams and more opportunities to get into the passing lanes.

The result was more pace, with 27 more combined points scored after the break, even as it appeared to give St. Francis more trips to the free throw line. The Fighting Saints (7-13, 0-3) were 35-for-45 for the game, which not only allowed them an opportunity to score while the clock was stopped, but also negated somewhat ONU's depth advantage, since the St. Francis players were able to rest during the stoppages.

Still, in the end, it didn't matter much. with the Tigers picking up their fifth consecutive victory; they have averaged 117 points in that span. Here are The Formula numbers from the latest W:

- Attempted 91 shots (goal is 90)
- Attempted 43 3-pointers (goal is 45)
- Rebounded 39 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced those 40 turnovers (goal is 33)
- Attempted 29 more shots than St. Francis (goal is 15)

Rachel Kearney had 20 points for ONU, while Simone Coburn (17), Stephanie Denius (13) and Danielle Tolbert (12) also reached double figures. Coach Porter's team travels to Trinity Christian College on Tuesday, with tip scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST. Best of luck to the Tigers.

The NCAA Division III men's team at Grinnell lost its first game at home this season, with Carroll rallying late for a 105-102 victory Saturday in the Midwest Conference. This set of Pioneers (8-5, 3-5 MWC) faces a tough fight to finish in the top four and qualify for the conference tournament at the end of the season.

Here are the numbers:

- Attempted 87 shots (goal is 94)
- Attempted 52 3-pointers (goal is 47)
- Rebounded 36 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 33 percent)
- Forced 20 turnovers (goal is 32)
- Attempted 26 more shots that Carroll

Grinnell led for the majority of the second half, until Carroll's Kyle Jones made a layup with 3:04 remaining to tie the score at 90. Carroll eventually went ahead 98-92 with 60 seconds remaining, and not even a pair of 3s from Aaron Levin down the stretch were enough.

Matt Skelly had 25 points, Levin added 21 and Griffin Lentsch finished with 19 in the losing effort. Matt Chalupa scored 10 points.

Grinnell travels to Beloit on Friday, with another conference game the next day against Lawrence. I'm rooting for coach David Arseneault's bunch to get it going in the remaining month of the schedule.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner; System teams go 4-0 Friday

2011-01-15T06:45:00.000-08:00

Some of my favorite teams got theirs Friday, as the coaches and teams who regularly are featured on this blog went unbeaten in four games. That's one college men's team (NCAA Division III Grinnell), one high school boys' team (Eisenhower, from Blue Island, Ill.) and two girls' high school teams (Galesburg, Ill., and North Shore, from Glen Head, N.Y.). Quite a night.

Let's start with where The System began, with coach David Arseneault and the Pioneers of Grinnell. They moved to 6-0 in the friendly confines of Darby Gymnasium with a 104-95 victory over Lawrence in the Midwest Conference, with Griffin Lentsch's 19 points leading five players in double figures.

The others were Matt Skelly (17 points), Aaron Levin (12), Dominique Bellamy (11) and Patrick Maher (11). Grinnell (8-4, 3-4 MWC) jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never trailed, with the margin eventually reaching 20 points in the second half. Erik Borresen had 27 points and 18 rebounds for the Vikings (6-6, 5-2).

Here are the numbers for the Pioneers:

- Attempted 80 shots (goal is 94)
- Attempted 52 3-pointers (goal is 47)
- Rebounded 41 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 33 percent)
- Forced 23 turnovers (goal is 32)
- Attempted 18 more shots than Lawrence (goal is 25 more)

Grinnell led only 38-34 with 4:21 left in the first half before an going on an 11-0 run, highlighted by a 3 from Lentsch and a 6-for-6 performance at the free throw line. The lead was 59-44 at the break, giving the Pioneers 21 points during that stretch. Pretty amazing, right?

Coach A and the gang are back at it Saturday, hosting Carroll at 4 p.m. EST. Go Pioneers!

At Eisenhower, coach Mike Curta and the Cardinals won their second consecutive game, beating TF South 95-84 on the road to improve to 9-10 overall and 4-3 in the South Suburban Red conference. According to Coach Curta, Eisenhower is one game behind the conference leader and in control of the chase for the regular season championship. Sweet!

The Times of Northwest Indiana reports that the Cardinals finished 28-for-76 from the field, including 11-for-31 from beyond the arc. My simple math tells me they made 28 free throws, too. Nice quote here from TF South's Michael Lee, who had a game-high 25 points.

"It was fun at first, until we started losing," Lee told the newspaper with a laugh. "But honestly, win or lose, that was a real fun, competitive game."

The Rebels fell to 6-13 overall and 3-4 in the conference.

Congrats to Coach Curta and his team.

Meanwhile, The System showed its true colors (as did the Silver Streaks of Galesburg) in the final 2:42 of the third quarter in Galesburg's 70-62 victory over Normal West.

The Streaks trailed 47-40 at that fateful time before unleashing what coach Evan Massey called "the most dominating basketball any Streaks team has ever played," according to his blog. Here are some of his other thoughts on that stretch, a 15-0 run that left Galesburg ahead 55-47:

Coach Massey: "Since we have gone to the System, that was the most high energy our girls have played. In the last 2:42, we had four separate shifts play. If you do the math, that means each shift lasted about 45 seconds. When each of those groups came over, they were totally gassed and could not continue. By the time we got to the end of the third quarter we did not have any of the 12 players who were ready to go back in, they had played with such energy they had to have a break."

Imagine how the players of Normal West felt? Here are Galesburg's other numbers:

- Attempted 68 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 45 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 44 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 41 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted 11 more shots than Normal West (15 is the goal)

Jessica Howard and Jessica Lieber each made three 3-pointers, Jamie Johnson had nine rebounds, and point guard Tai Peachey filled up the stat sheet with five steals and five assists, both team highs. Did someone say "depth?"

The Streaks now are 18-3, one more victory than all of last season, and ready for what Coach Massey called the toughest part of their schedule. The next five games are against Morton, Rock Island, U-High, Centennial and United Township, starting with Morton on Monday at Knox College, part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday tournament.

Here's hoping Galesburg keeps it going.

The North Shore team coached by Keith Freund remained undefeated in Conference A-III with a 76-44 victory over Glen Cove, improving the Vikings to 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the conference.

Amanda Johansen had 16 points, 13 rebounds and four assists for North Shore, and Nicole Scuderi scored a career-high 12 points and added six steals. This one appears to have been won in the second and third quarters, when the Vikings outscored Glen Cove 49-22.

According to the ol' schedule, North Shore returns to action Tuesday at home against Valley Stream South, which is 4-1 in the conference. It should be a good test for Coach Freund's team, and I wish them the best of luck.

Galesburg HS again ties state record, Eisenhower HS gets nice victory

2011-01-14T19:46:00.001-08:00

Will it ever get old? I doubt it. For the third time this season, the girls' team at Galesburg (Ill.) HS made 21 3-pointers in a single game, tying its state record set earlier this season in a 90-45 victory over Quincy on Thursday night in the Western Big 6 conference.

Eight different players made at least one 3: Jessica Howard (eight), Jessica Lieber (five), Mickey Rodriguez (three), Megan Young (two), Jamie Johnson (one), Myra Diggins (one) and Sharron Diggins (one). Here are the other stats for the Streaks (17-3, 5-1 WB6):

- Attempted 76 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 59 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 36 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 30 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted 10 more shots than Quincy (goal is 15)

Here's some individual numbers:

Rebounds - Johnson nine and Sadee Hamilton six
Assists - Paige Klinck eight and Tai Peachey seven
Steals - Howard four, with Lieber and Young adding three each.

All in all, a great night for coach Evan Massey and his team. The Streaks now are leading the WB6 standings by a half-game over Rock Island. Galesburg stepped out of conference Friday night to play Normal West at home, and I'll have the results this weekend.

Meanwhile, the boys' team at Eisenhower HS in Blue Island, Ill., got back on a winning note, beating Bremen on the road 91-85. This likely was particularly special for Cardinals coach Mike Curta, who previously coached at Bremen.

Here are the numbers for the Cardinals:

- Attempted 84 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 47 3-pointers, or 56 percent of total shots (goal is 40 percent)
- Rebounded 37 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 35 percent)
- Forced 28 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted 34 more shots than Bremen (goal is 24)

Nice bounce back for Coach Curta and his team. They traveled to TF South on Friday, so check back in for the results. I wish Eisenhower the best of luck.

ONU wins CCAC opener easily, Grinnell takes a loss on the road

2011-01-12T19:05:00.000-08:00

Anyone who ever has read this blog knows how The System allows a coach, and a team, to spread the love among the entire roster. And by love I mean points, rebounds, assists and steals. You know, playing time, run. It is one of the beauties of this style, and easily my favorite facet.

Sure, I love the 3-pointers, and the high scoring, yet the most perfect part of teams employing this is how so many players are a part of any success. The NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene proved this again Tuesday night.

The Tigers trailed only twice -- the final time at 9-8 -- and pulled away in the second half to beat Roosevelt University 120-84 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. It was ONU's first CCAC game; the Lakers had won their first conference game, beating St. Francis 87-66 last Saturday.

Here is what the Tigers (13-4, 1-0 CCAC) did:

- Attempted 94 shots
- Attempted 56 3-pointers
- Rebounded 38 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 39 turnovers
- Attempted 12 more shots than Roosevelt (12-6, 1-1)

Individually, the numbers speak for themselves. ONU sent 16 players on the court at one time or another, each for at least 8 minutes and no one for more than 15. Seven different players scored in double figures, led by Miranda Geever's 16 points and followed by Danielle Pipal (14), Malory Adam (14), Holly Schact (12), Lexie Heinold (12), Stephanie Denius (12) and Simone Coburn (11). Three players -- Geever, Rachel Kearney and Lisa Beyer -- finished with four steals apiece. Five different players totaled at least five rebounds, led by seven from Denius. Oh, and three players made four 3-pointers apiece (Schacht, Adam and Heinold).

Amazing, right? Nice effort for coach Doug Porter and his team. They stay in the CCAC with a trip to St. Francis on Saturday, with the opening tip scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. The best of luck to the Tigers.

At Grinnell, the NCAA Division III men's team fell behind early and never really recovered, losing on the road to Illinois College 104-92 in the Midwest Conference on Tuesday. The Blueboys (9-2, 5-1 MWC) shot 62.5 percent for the game and led by at least 10 points over the final 14 minutes or so.

Here are the numbers for the Pioneers (7-4, 2-4):

- Attempted 89 shots
- Attempted 51 3-pointers
- Rebounded 40 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 28 turnovers
- Attempted 25 more shots that Illinois College

Patrick Maher led Grinnell with 24 points, followed by Aaron Levin (21 points, all on his seven 3s) and Griffin Lentsch (16). The Pioneers host conference foe Lawrence on Friday, followed by a visit from Carroll on Saturday. Here's hoping coach David Arseneault and his team get it going again. I'll let you know how it goes.

Glenville State snaps losing skid; North Shore HS dominating

2011-01-11T19:11:00.000-08:00

The NCAA Division II women's team at Glenville State ended a two-game losing streak with an emphatic 89-74 victory over the University of Charleston on Monday night in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Pioneers (9-5, 7-2) rallied from a 14-point deficit in the first half to win for the first time since Dec. 18.

Tenisha Wilson led the way with 19 points and eight assists, while Mishae Miles added 14 points and Kenyell Goodson had 11. Here are the relevant stats:

- Attempted 90 shots
- Attempted 34 3-pointers
- Rebounded 39 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 29 turnovers
- Attempted 15 more shots than the Golden Eagles

Charleston (9-5, 5-3) jumped to a 25-11 lead 8 minutes into the game on a jumper by Tiana Beatty, leading to a 30-second timeout by Glenville State coach Bunky Harkleroad. He must have worked his magic, since the Pioneers rallied to within six points by the end of the first half.

They took their first lead of the second half on a 3-pointer from Goodson to make it 50-48, then moved in front to stay about 5 minutes later when Goodson worked inside for a layup. The score was 63-61 at that point, and Glenville State steadily pulled away down the stretch.

Nice W for Coach Harkleroad and his team, who stay at home to face Bluefield State on Thursday night. Game time for that one is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EST, so check back in for an update.

Meanwhile, the girls' team at North Shore HS in Glen Head, N.Y., continue to roll with the start of conference play. The Vikings are 5-2 overall this season and 3-0 in Conference A-III, and coach Keith Freund's team is coming off two impressive outings.

On Jan. 6, North Shore won at Great Neck North 77-48, and as the saying goes, it likely wasn't that close. The Vikings led 25-2 after the first quarter, leading Coach Freund to really call off the dogs the rest of the way. The result was similar two days before at West Hempstead: the lead after one quarter this time was 21-2, on the way to a final of 67-24.

Coach Freund reports North Shore is ranked second in Nassau County and fourth on Long Island (among public schools) by highschoolhoops.org, an independent Website covering, well, high school hoops in that area. The Vikings were back at it Tuesday night at home against Floral Park, the only other undefeated team in the conference. C'mon back to see how they did.

ONU, Galesburg HS roll to victories; Glenville State, Eisenhower HS lose

2011-01-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

The NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene returned to action from the holiday break Saturday, and the results nearly were the same was when we left the Tigers. They jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back, beating Lindenwood-Belleville 118-69 in the friendly confines of McHie Arena.

This appears to have been a perfect way to get back into the swing of The System; Lindenwood-Belleville (4-16) is a program in its infancy, so it is likely the players weren't quite ready for the type of pressure ONU was going to bring. The margin quickly ballooned in the first half, going from 13-2 to 23-4 before it stabilized a bit with Tigers coach Doug Porter subbing even more liberally than normal: all 15 players saw between 6 and 8 minutes of run, and that continued for the remainder of the game.

Lexie Heinold made the most of her time, making six 3-pointers and finishing with 18 points to lead ONU. Five teammates joined her in double figures, including Holly Schacht (15 points), Simone Coburn (14), Taylor Haymes (12, all on 3s), Malory Adam (11) and Stephanie Denius (10).

Danielle Pipal, whom I enjoy referring to as the "glue" for the team, got hers in only 10 minutes of play, finishing with six points, three rebounds (all offensive), three assists and NINE steals. Pretty amazing, right? Lisa Beyer dropped five dimes (assists, remember?) and added four steals for Coach Porter.

Here are The Formula stats:

- Attempted 111 shots
- Attempted 73 3-pointers
- Rebounded 45 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 42 turnovers
- Attempted 35 more shots than the Lynx

All in all, a nice effort for the Tigers, who have averaged 116 points in their three-game winning streak that began on the trip to Hawaii. They open Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play Tuesday night, at home, against Roosevelt University, with tip scheduled for 8 p.m. EST. Best of luck to Coach Porter and ONU.

At Galesburg (Ill.) HS on Saturday, the girls' team coached by Evan Massey continued to march through its schedule, improving to 16-3 with a 68-48 non-conference victory over Queen of Peace. The Streaks trailed at the half after an uninspired effort in the opening two quarters before responding with a dominant third quarter: they outscored the Pride 24-8 to regain control and held on to win their 11th consecutive game.

Jessica Howard and Paige Klinck each made four 3-pointers as Galesburg finished 14-for-61 on the game, guaranteeing free cheeseburgers for the members of its "Three-diculous" club at school. Oh, c'mon, surely you know that anytime the Streaks make at least 13 3s, the local McDonald's donates the burgers to the members? OK, good, you had me worried.

Here are the other stats:

- Attempted 77 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 61 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 31 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 32 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted 34 more shots than Queen of Peace (goal is 20)

Nice effort for the Streaks, who host Quincy on Thursday night in the Western Big 6. Go, Galesburg!

Meanwhile, things didn't go quite so well for the NCAA Division II women's team at Glenville State, who lost its second consecutive game on the road in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Saturday, falling to conference leader West Liberty 84-63.

The Hilltoppers (11-1, 6-0 WVIAC) used a 15-2 run early in the game to take control, then steadily pulled away in the second half. Danielle Woodmore led the Pioneers (8-5, 6-2) with 16 points, with Tenisha Wilson and Kristen Golden adding 13 apiece.

The Formula:

- Attempted 91 shots
- Attempted 19 3-pointers (only made one)
- Rebounded 37 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 24 turnovers
- Attempted 13 more shots than West Liberty

Coach Bunky Harkleroad and his team return to the court Monday, at home, against Charleston, the beginning of a busy week at home. Bluefield State comes into town Thursday, followed by Fairmont State next Saturday. Here's hoping Glenville State gets rolling again.

The boys' team at Eisenhower HS in Blue Island, Ill., lost a tough one Friday night to defending Class 3A state champ Hillcrest 90-72. Here were the numbers:

- Attempted 73 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 35 3-pointers (goal is 40 percent of total shots, this was 51 percent)
- Rebounded 25 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 24 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted four fewer shots than Hillcrest (goal is 24 more)

Here is the report from coach Mike Curta: "Best team that we will play all year and it was obvious. Their Division I point guard was unflustered all night. We just aren’t at the point where we will 'let go' and take chances, gamble and be aggressive. We play tentative, 'not to get beat' too much in the press and we lose our edge. We will get there for several possessions but definitely not enough to overcome the disparity in talent that we saw tonight.

"They also had a D-I big, 6-foot-6 who we didn’t challenge and make work enough up and down the floor. Just got physically dominated which has happened a few times with the number of sophomores that we put out on the floor.

"Not crushed or terribly disappointed, I know that we will get better with System basketball. One of the things that we cannot make big strides in right now is our lack of strength and fundamental skill in our young kids. That will show in a big jump over the offseason we anticipate with these kids."

Next up for the the Cardinals is a trip to Bremen on Wednesday, where Coach Curta previously coached. Hope he and Eisenhower get it going again.

Galesburg HS keeps on Streak-ing, Eisenhower HS readies for challenge

2011-01-07T17:18:00.000-08:00

In the finale of the 2009-10 season, the Moline (Ill.) girls' basketball ran past Galesburg 97-53, the largest loss of the season for coach Evan Massey and the Streaks. Well, they got a little payback Thursday night, beating the Maroons 62-53 behind 13 points from Jamie Johnson and contributions from a host of others.

Galesburg's 10th victory in a row was the first over Moline in four years and left the Streaks (15-3, 4-1 Western Big 6) a half-game behind league leader Rock Island (5-1).

After the Maroons (10-11, 3-2) closed within 53-56 with about 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Johnson corralled an offensive rebound and found teammate Mickey Rodriguez lurking at the 3-point line. The senior made her shot for a five-point margin and Galesburg made 6-of-8 at the line down the stretch to hold on.

Here are Coach Massey's comments from his blog: "Not our best game of the year but a good road win. There are MANY things I like about this team. But one of the things I like about this team is their enthusiasm. I think it comes from them caring about each other. After the win, after they shook hands, it was so exciting to see our players hugging the coaches and hugging each other. As hard as they have worked in the offseason and during this season, it is good to see how much they enjoy their successes."

Word that. Here is the Formula stuff:

- Attempted 55 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 23 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 58 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 21 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted four more shots than Moline (goal is 15)

So, much as Grinnell did a night earlier, Galesburg found a way to win when The System was taken away by an opponent. Nice going. The Streaks host Queen of Peace at 2:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, and I wish them the best of luck.

Hey, remember the Eisenhower HS boys' team from Blue Island, Ill.? The first-year System team coached by Mike Curta? Yeah, I figured you did.

Well, over the Holidays, they went through an amazing streak of games, six in seven days during one stretch, followed by another tournament featuring back-to-back games less than a week later. All this denied Coach Curta the necessary practice time to make adjustments, make improvements and otherwise coach his team.

And, really, Eisenhower (7-9) didn't need much tweaking on the offensive end, at least on its effort from the 3-point line. The Cardinals are 225-for-796 from beyond the arc, on pace to set state records for both numbers and should at least challenge the national marks, as well. Pretty impressive.

Coach Curta and his team face a tough challenge Friday night, defending Class 3A state champ Hillcrest travels to play on Eisenhower's home court. Game time was scheduled for 8 p.m. EST, and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Now, as he has all season, Coach Curta was kind enough to give us a glimpse into what he worked on with his team during its recent practice sessions. This included some suggestions from System guru Gary Smith, the retired coach from the University of the Redlands, and Coach Massey. This is great stuff, so please pay attention:

Coach Curta: "We had a really solid six days of practice since last Friday. We spent quite a bit of time watching video of our games over Christmas and really tried to get the kids to see what was happening on the floor and then tell us what were the good things and what we needed to work on. I’ve always thought that when the kids respond initially to what they see on video with their thoughts it gives our team much better insight into where we are at.

"Once on the floor, we tried to keep things simple and work on refining those few things that we are really trying to do well. We incorporated more varied shooting drills to try and simulate getting quality shots up while going at our pace. They were also more competitive than we had been doing which got the kids juices flowing. Coach Smith was a great help to us with a couple of ideas that I think will help us on both offense and defense. I went back to the message board and printed out all of his messages and our staff bounced around some of the things that he had found successful with his group at Redlands.

"Offensively we are, as always, concentrating on the speed with which we convert from defense to offense. We also tweaked a few things with our 2 man diving back through the lane if we are unable to get him an open look off the staggers, or we are unable to get a slip. In addition, we have really been pushing our point guards to be more aggressive in looking to score first.

"Defensively we were able to spend more time with our presses, particularly our STAY call. We spent most of our time in this area walking through ball movement and rotations so that the kids could see how we need to be more aggressive. Coach Massey’s 5-on-4 drill with a coach inbounding and dictating various offensive looks for the defense was really helpful to the kids.

"As far as (Friday), we play a conference opponent who is the defending 3A state champion and is currently having another great season….I think that they have something like 23 or 24 straight seasons of 20 wins or more. This is the game that I have been looking forward to the most because they are really good, well coached, they like to pressure and run, and it will be a great challenge for us. It also has put our kids in the spotlight this week.

"We started late last week with a big spread in one of our major papers here in Chicago. Then we started getting calls from television outlets telling us that they have heard about our style of play and had an interest in coming out to see our kids. There was an interview for a high school sports show in the area on Monday. Next Comcast Sports came out on Wednesday for a feature that they will be doing on their highlight show next Friday night. Finally, our local NBC morning show gave us some notice as their game of the week tonight.

"Everyone has been very complimentary and what has stood out for all of them is the fact that all of the kids are playing and we are having fun playing the game of basketball. Now if we can string some wins together we will really have something going here in Blue Island!"

Wow, I spoke the truth, right? Best of luck to Coach Curta and the Cardinals.

Grinnell back in action with a W

2011-01-06T16:47:00.000-08:00

After nearly a month off for the holidays -- at least from games -- the NCAA Division III men's team at Grinnell returned to the court with a tough 98-93 victory over Beloit on Wednesday night in Midwest Conference play at Darby Gymnasium. Griffin Lentsch led way with 22 points, Matt Skelly had 21 and Matt Chalupa scored 14 of his 17 in the first half for the Pioneers (7-3, 2-3 MWC).

Freshman Aaron Levin added 13 points and made two clutch free throws with with 29 seconds remaining in the game to give Grinnell that 98-93 lead. Beloit's Michael Horton turned it over on the other end, and despite Skelly missing a pair at the line, the Pioneers hung on.

Kind of a weird game for The System. At the half, Grinnell led 63-51, well on pace for a typical scoring game. And the Buccaneers (3-7, 2-3) finished the opening 20 minutes with 19 turnovers, so the pressure clearly was having an effect. It was much the same after the break, with the Pioneers sprinting to an 17-point lead with 12 minutes left in the game thanks to Chalupa's only points of the half, a 3-pointer to make it 84-67.

So, let's see, 84 points with 12 minutes left, after scoring 21 points in the first 8 minutes. Pretty nice. Not sure what happened after that, since Grinnell managed only 14 points the rest of the way. Not bad for most teams, just not on the usual pace of the nation's highest-scoring team.

Oh, well, at least coach David Arseneault and his team came up with a W in their return to the court. Here are your Formula numbers:

- Attempted 75 shots (goal is 94)
- Attempted 43 3-pointers (goal is 47)
- Rebounded 36 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 33 percent)
- Forced 31 turnovers (goal is 32)
- Attempted five more shots than Beloit (goal is 25)

I tend to look at most things, particularly my favorite men's college team, with a "glass-half-full" approach, so it's striking that the Pioneers won this game while failing to reach four of the five goals. Remember, when they reach all five, they win about 95 percent of the time.

Coach A and the boys have a little more time off, getting back at it on the road at Illinois College (7-2, 3-1) on Tuesday night. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST, and you know I'll be following the action. Good luck, Grinnell.

Also on Wednesday, the NCAA Division II women's team at Glenville State had its five-game winning streak come to an end on the road at Shepherd University in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Rams won 102-93, holding off a furious rally by coach Bunky Harkleroad's bunch.

The Pioneers (8-4, 6-1 WVIAC) trailed 73-55 with 14:26 left in the game after Shepherd's Hannah Safren completed a personal 5-0 run with a 3-pointer. The margin still was 11 about 7 minutes later before Glenville State really turned it on -- a 12-2 spurt cut that to a single point, thanks to eights points from Danielle Woodmore.

It was nip and tuck over the next few minutes, with the Pioneers getting within one again at 94-93 with about 90 seconds remaining on LaToya Hambrick's layup. But the Rams (8-3, 6-1) went 8-for-8 at the line down the stretch to complete the scoring, with Glenville State unable to add to its total.

Great comeback for Coach Harkleroad and his team, just too bad they couldn't quite complete it. Here are the goals:

- Attempted 93 shots
- Attempted 29 3-pointers (made only five)
- Rebounded 36 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 30 turnovers
- Attempted 23 more shots than Shepherd

Next up for the Pioneers is another road game, this time at West Liberty, at 5-0 the only remaining team unbeaten in the conference. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST. The best of luck to them.

MVP Howard, Peachey lead Galesburg to tourney title

2011-01-02T15:20:00.000-08:00

The final statistics might not have screamed "SYSTEM," as they did when the girls' team at Galesburg (Ill.) HS set and then tied a state record for 3-pointers in a single game twice in one day, the day before the final. Yet the result was all the same -- the Streaks came out on top.

Tourney Most Valuable Player Jessica Howard had 23 points, point guard Tai Peachey missed only one of her 10 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter and Galesburg held on to beat Teutopolis 79-67 in the championship game of the Charleston Holiday Tournament last Wednesday at Eastern Illinois University.

Peachey added six rebounds and three steals on her way to the all-tournament team, where she was joined by Howard and Jamie Johnson. The Streaks (14-3) have won their past 10 games, a great run of success for coach Evan Massey and his players. The most recent one wasn't easy. The Wooden Shoes of T-Town (12-2) were ranked seventh in the state in Class 2A and had about 2,000 of their fans in attendance hoping to will them to victory.

The opening possession set the tone. According to Coach Massey's blog, Teutopolis started four players 5-foot-10 or taller, while Galesburg doesn't have anyone that tall. Yet after winning the opening tip, the Steaks got off four 3-pointers (and rebounded the first three), with Howard making the final one for a quick 3-0 lead.

It was that type of effort that helped Galesburg win a holiday tournament for the first time since 1999. With the Wooden Shoes frantically denying as many opportunities as possible from beyond the arc, The Formula numbers are a bit skewed. Here they are:

- Attempted 52 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 27 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 43 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 28 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted three less shots than T-Town (goal is plus-20)

Coach Massey wrote on the blog that Wooden Shoes point guard Jessie Wendt was one of the top players his team had faced all season, and she was everywhere in the first half that ended with the Streaks leading 39-38. The pace took its toll on Wendt and her teammates in the final two quarters, allowing Galesburg to pull away.

Who could blame them? Both teams played four games in three days, and since Galesburg was able to go 15-deep in both of its outings the day before, its players were better prepared for the final. Another bonus of The System.

A huge congrats to Coach Massey and the Streaks. They return to action Thursday, traveling to Western Big 6 conference foe Moline, with opening tip scheduled for 8 p.m. EST. Good luck to them.

With the holidays now over and the world comfortably in 2011, the schedule gets busy again this week. The NCAA Division III men's team at Grinnell gets back at it Wednesday with a visit from Midwest Conference opponent Beloit, the NCAA Division II women's team at Glenville State travels to Shepherd in a West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game that same night and the NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene hosts Lindenwood-Belleville on Saturday.

All our favorite high school teams get going again, too, so check back in for updates. A belated Happy New Year to everyone.

A wonderful day for Galesburg HS

2010-12-28T10:55:00.000-08:00

Where to start? The girls' team at Galesburg (Ill.) HS had a record-setting day on Day 2 of a Christmas tournament in Charleston, Ill., putting up numbers that even I, a devoted a follower of the Streaks and The System, have a difficult time believing.

Galesburg again had a doubleheader, an amazing phenomenon in and of itself, and coach Evan Massey's team took care of business. In the morning, the Streaks made an Illinois record 21 3-pointers in a 88-57 victory over Paris, with Jessica Lieber and Jessica Howard making six apiece. Jamie Johnson and Mickey Rodriguez added three each, Allison Mangieri had two and Tai Peachey connected on one.

And before we go any further, here are The Goals from the opener:

- Attempted 70 shots (goal is 72)
- Attemtped 58 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 44 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 32 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted 14 more shots than Paris (goal is 20)

Peachey added seven assists and five of Galesburg's 26 steals, and Sadee Hamilton finished with five steals, as well. Where to go for an encore?

Well, the Streaks tied their hours-old mark of 21 3-pointers and gained a new record for attempts with 72 in a 75-33 victory over Rantoul later in the day. Yep, you read that correctly. A total of 42 treys in consecutive games for Galesburg, and three state records. And, of course, the 72 attempts breaks a number set last season by the very same team. Wow, right?

With the score out of hand (it was 51-14 at one point), Coach Massey pulled off the full-court pressure for the final three quarters. Here are The Goals:

- Attempted 82 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 72 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 42 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 24 turnovers
- Attempted 22 more shots than Rantoul (goal is 20)

Hamilton had seven rebounds in the nightcap, and Peachey dropped seven dimes. Nice.

The Streaks (13-2), who have won eight consecutive games and 12 of their past 13, move on to the championship game, where they will face the Wooden Shoes of Teutopolis (I am not making that up). Game time is set for 8 p.m. EST. The best of luck to Coach Massey and his team.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, the boys' team at Eisenhower HS in Blue Island, Ill., lost its tournament opener in Milwaukee by the score of 79-77. I wasn't able to find the opponent, but coach Mike Curta sent along The Formula stats:

- Attempted 55 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 56 percent of its shots on 3-pointers (goal is 40 percent)
- Rebounded 44 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 35 percent)
- Forced 11 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted the same number of shots as the opponent (goal is 24 more)

Tough night for Coach Curta. The Cardinals (7-8) get a quick chance to get back on the winning track in the consolation game Wednesday. Check back for an update.

The best (and only) Christmas present I can give each of you

2010-12-25T08:33:00.000-08:00

And, no, it isn't that I'm ceasing and desisting from this blog. Nope, I'm finally back with another update, nearly two weeks since I last hit you up with news of my favorite hoops teams in the world. I've been dealing with a kidney stone -- and will be for at least a few more days -- and as many people who have experienced this type of ailment have told me, it ain't been fun.

Enough about me. Merry Christmas to everyone out there and thanks for checking back in. I've got a lot to get to, so the game updates likely won't be as long as normal, but I wanted to get everyone caught up as we head toward the New Year.

Let's start with Olivet Nazarene, ranked 25th in the NAIA women's poll and coming off perhaps its most impressive pair of victories of the season. Out in Hawaii for the Hoop N Surf Classic, the Tigers dismanted both the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (117-88) and Morningside College (113-67). Morningside is ranked No. 3 in the NAIA Division II poll and has been good for years; coach Jamie Sale has led the Mustangs to three national championships, including consecutive ones in 2004-05 and then again in 2009.

Wow, right? Huge victory for coach Doug Porter and ONU. As most of you know, the Tigers had been struggling somewhat this season from behind the 3-point line, but Lexie Heinold finally might have broken that drought for good with her performance against Morningside. The 5-foot-7 junior from Washington, Ill., finished 9-of-13 on 3s in that one and finished with 27 points, while Liz Bart (3-for-4), Miranda Geever (3-for-6), Stephanie Denius (3-for-10) and Jaimie Buckman (3-for-11) each made at least three treys.

Overall, ONU was 24-for-58 beyond the arc, its best effort of the season.

Hopefully, the pair of Ws in the islands helped take the sting off one of the Tigers' few losses lately. They lost to Wisconsin-Parkside 102-79 just before heading to Hawaii, so it was nice to see them bounce back in fine fashion. Headed into the break, ONU is 11-4, with five victories in its past six games.

Next up on the schedule is a home matchup with Lindenwood University-Belleville on Jan. 8, with game time set for 3 p.m. EST.

Also in college women's action, the NCAA Division II Glenville State Pioneers continued to roll for coach Bunky Harkleroad, winning their final game before the Holiday Break 130-95 over West Virginia State on Dec. 18 in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Glenville State also was solid on 3s, going 22-for-44 against the Yellow Jackets (3-8, 1-4 WVIAC).

Autumn Davis made seven of those and finished with 21 points, and conference player of the week Tenisha Wilson led the way with 27 points, six rebounds, three assists (no turnovers) and five steals.

The Pioneers (8-3, 6-0) remains one of three unbeaten teams in the conference and have at least two more victories than either of the others. They are averaging 116.6 points during their five-game winning streak, and they are off until traveling to WVIAC foe Shepherd on Jan. 8. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. EST.

The Galesburg (Ill.) HS Silver Streaks continue to, well, streak as they head into a Christmas tournament next week in Charleston, Ill., with three of the four games played at Eastern Illinois University. Galesburg won three more games during my little hiatus, capped by Jessica Howard's school-record performance in an 83-61 road victory over Washington on Dec. 21.

The senior guard made 11 3-pointers (yes, you read that correctly) and scored 37 points. Her long-range effort came up one short of tying the state record, but still led to the home crowd at Washington cheering for her when she made her final shot, as coach Evan Massey pointed out on his blog.

The Streaks traveled to Chicago to upset Maine South 67-60 on Dec. 18 and added a Western Big 6 Conference victory over Alleman by the score of 68-38 on Dec. 16. That leaves Galesburg at 10-3 heading into the tournament this coming week, which begins Monday at noon EST against Effingham. There will be four games in three days, including one at 9:30 a.m. EST on Tuesday. Ouch.

The boys' team at Eishenhower HS in Blue Island, Ill., recently completed a stretch of six games in seven days, which is unheard of even for an NBA team. And the Cardinals, coached by first-year System user Mike Curta, have another Holiday tournament coming up this week. Amazing.

Eisenhower won four of the six games to improve its record to 7-7, and I can tell from our e-mail exchanges that Coach Curta feels his team is starting to turn the corner with this new style. Here is a breakdown, in chronological order, of how his week progressed, along with any highlights gleamed from his notes:

Friday, Dec. 17 - An 89-65 victory over conference opponent Oak Forest. First time his team was far enough ahead that Coach Curta felt he had to "call off the dogs" a bit down the stretch.

Saturday, Dec. 18 - A 102-86 victory over Chicago Perspectives, in a jamboree type setting at Moraine Valley Community College. Eisenhower led 58-39 at the half in what Coach Curta called its best two quarters of play this season.

Monday, Dec. 19 - An 81-73 loss to Aurora Central Catholic in the Waubonsie Valley HS tournament. The Cardinals finished with only 79 shots, the first time this season they have failed to reach The Formula goal of 80.

Tuesday, Dec. 21 - A 94-93 victory over Glenbard North in the Waubonsie Valley HS tournament. Junior Dustan Lewis made two free throws with 4 seconds left to secure the victory for Eisenhower.

Wednesday, Dec. 22 - A 96-77 loss to the host school in the Waubonsie Valley HS tournament. The Cardinals forced 15 turnovers in the first quarter but struggled shooting, and Coach Curta believes this allowed the overall effort to deflate a bit.

Thursday, Dec. 23 - A 106-65 victory over Immaculate Conception (no, not this). With the game a bit out of hand, Coach Curta allowed a special-needs player to stay in for the entire fourth quarter. Here's his report on that: "He must have taken 12-15 shots as our kids do a great job of screening and trying to get him a basket when he is in the game. He ended up with four points and again it was like we won the lottery with all of the cheering for him. Really neat that our kids look to do that for him. I know that it will make his Christmas that much nicer being able to share his experience with his family."

On top of that, as Coach Curta was leaving the gym, a random fan stopped him to say: "You guys sure do give me my $4 worth!" What a way to cap the tournament.

Eisenhower plays in its second Christmas tournament beginning Tuesday, with another game the following day.

At Monroe (Mich.) HS, the boys' team coached by Dave Arnold completed its pre-Christmas schedule with a 2-1 record, with an 84-76 victory over Fordson and a 72-52 loss to Roosevelt. Coach Arnold and his team are back in action Jan. 4 at Rogers, and I hope they got in some good work over the break.

Coach Glen Irvin and the girls' team at Wabasha-Kellogg HS in Minnesota lost a couple of games in their final week before the Holiday. Caledonia beat the Falcons 77-45 and Dover Eyota won 90-73; however, in the second loss, W-K met four of the give goals, with 100 shots attempted, 47 3-pointers attempted, 40 percent offensive rebounding totals and 22 more shots than Dover Eyota.

Best of luck to Coach Irvin and his team when they get back at it.

The women's team at Jackson (Mich.) Community College won its fourth consecutive game, beating Lakeland (Ohio) Community College 89-86 on Dec. 21. DaJana’e Wilson hit a pair of free throws with 50 seconds to play to give the the Jets (5-7) the lead for good, despite making only 28 of 118 shots from the field, including 11-for-55 on 3-pointers. They had scored at least 100 points in five games in a row, but I'm sure coach Andy Hoaglin will take the W.

In the game before that one, Jackson CC beat Edison State 106-100, avenging that loss from a couple of weeks prior that proved to be the highest-scoring game in the history of Division II of the National Junior College Athletic Association. Remember that one? It was 133-131 in double overtime.

he Jets are off until Jan. 5, when they open conference play at Muskegon Community College.

Finally, the girls' team at North Shore HS in Glen Head, N.Y., went into its break on a winning note, winning its first conference game 60-39 on the road at Manhasset. The best I can tell, the Vikings travel to West Hempstead on Jan. 4 for their next game. I'll keep you up to date.

Whew, that should about cover all I can think I owed you. Merry Christmas to everyone, and please check back soon for an update.

Great effort by newly ranked ONU

2010-12-13T19:07:00.000-08:00

The latest NAIA coaches' Top 25 for Division I women came out Monday, and what do you know? The Olivet Nazarene Tigers, coached by System guru Doug Porter, entered it at No. 25, their first ranking of the season. They found a perfect way to celebrate later in the day, too, even if might not have been their prettiest effort of the season.

ONU took on the Illinois Wesleyan Titans, who are ranked 13th in the latest NCAA Division III women's poll at d3hoops.com. The Tigers controlled the majority of the game, and in fact, the only tie came when Illinois Wesleyan's Olivia Lett tipped in a miss with 37 seconds left to make it 95-95 and force overtime.

In the extra period, ONU's Taylor Haymes and Jaimie Buckman made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give their team the lead for good, and the Tigers did just enough at the free throw line down the stretch to win 110-106. Danielle Tolbert had 23 points, five assists and four steals to lead ONU (9-3), and Simone Coburn added 20 points and five rebounds, all offensive.

Yes, many others chipped in, too: Danielle Pipal got 12 points, five assists, seven steals and four rebounds, and Tolbert, Holly Schacht and Denita Phelps each finished with four steals. The Tigers forced an incredible 52 turnovers (34 steals!) to overcome some nice shooting by the Titans; they made 63 percent in the second half and 50 percent for the game, but the turnovers led to a shot advantage of 28 for ONU. That was the difference.

Before I forget, here are your Formula goals:

- Attempted 107 shots
- Attempted 39 3-pointers (this was down a bit)
- Rebounded 30 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 52 turnovers, as previously discussed
- Attempted 28 more shots than Illinois Wesleyan, also as previously discussed

Give the Titans credit, however. They trailed by 13 at halftime before scoring the first 11 points of the second half to get back in the game, then rallied from six down in the final 2:19 of regulation to tie it up. Even when ONU jumped to the early edge in OT, Illinois Wesleyan wasn't done, cutting was eventually was a seven-point deficit down to one with 35 seconds remaining.

Schacht then made 1-of-2 at the line, and Coburn rebounded the miss before adding a pair of free throws herself for the final margin.

I don't think pointing out how wonderfully inclusive The System is ever will get old. ONU had 72 points from the reserves, leaving 38 for the starts, but of course, 16 players got in the game. And 14 of those played at least 12 minutes, with Schacht and Buckman getting most at 17.

The Titans went 10-deep, but four of their starters played at least 30 minutes. Those four players -- Nikki Preston, Olivia Lett, Hope Schulte and Stacey Arlis -- combined for 72 points, 40 rebounds, 18 assists and 29 turnovers. Arlis had 26 points to lead the way.

Now, after a 4-1 homestand, Coach Porter and his team go back on the road, with a trip Wednesday to Wisconsin-Parkside before a longer excursion to Hawaii for the Hoop N Surf Classic. Play starts there Saturday with a matchup against the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and concludes Monday against Morningside College.

Best of luck to the Tigers, and you can check back here for updates.

Galesburg wins twice in one day; ONU, Glenville State roll on as well

2010-12-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks would be proud of the girls' basketball team at Galesburg (Ill.) HS - the unranked Streaks not only played two games in a single day, they won both against teams in the top five of the Peoria (Ill.) Journal-Star poll.

On Saturday morning, Galesburg used a school-record nine 3-pointers from Jessica Howard to beat short-handed No. 5 Peoria Central 82-60, then continued the strong play a couple of hours later with a 73-60 victory over No. 3 Peoria Notre Dame. Pretty sweet, right?

The Streaks (7-3) went to their delay game late in both games, keeping The Formula numbers a bit down, so here they are:

Against Peoria Notre Dame:

- Attempted 60 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 41 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 26 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 36 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted five FEWER shots than Notre Dame (goal is 20 more)

Against Peoria Central:

- Attempted 65 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 52 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 21 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40)
- Forced 33 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted five FEWER shots than Central (goal is 20 more)

As I said, Howard did most of the damage from long range, adding six 3s in the nightcap after the record-setting nine earlier, and finished the day with 49 points (31 against Central, 18 against Notre Dame). Central was down to only seven players since several were taking the ACT, so the result of this game is somewhat misleading.

What isn't misleading is the defensive pressure the Streaks are creating without fouling, something coach Evan Massey noted in the game story from The Galesburg Register-Mail.

“Today was a big day for us,” he told the paper. “I’m really happy with our defensive effort lately. We have been able to pressure without fouling. You look at where we were a year ago in that area, it’s night and day.”

Of course, The System wouldn't be The System without help from the entire roster, as Coach Massey included on his blog. In the victory over Central, Paige Klinck was 4-for-7 from behind the line as Galesburg finished 19-for-52 as a team. Six different players made 3-pointers.

Other individuals standing out during the day:

- Jamie Johnson grabbed 10 rebounds in each game and finished with four steals and four assists against Notre Dame

- Sadee Hamilton added seven rebounds in each and made all four of her free throws against Notre Dame

- Point guard Tai Peachey came up huge, with eight assists and seven steals against Central, then adding five assists and an 8-of-11 performance at the free throw line against Notre Dame

- Baylie Boyer totaled five assists in each game

All in all, a wonderful day for one of my favorite teams. Galesburg is off until Thursday, when it returns to Western Big 6 conference play against Alleman. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST.

Elsewhere on Saturday, the NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene sprinted away from a close game in the first half and blew away Hannibal-LaGrange 105-57 with a dominant final 22 minutes.

How dominant? Well, the Tigers led only 38-36 with 1:41 left in the first half, so you don't have to be my brother do that math. Even I can do it. That's 67-21 for the remainder of the game; System coaches often talk about opponents hitting that meltdown stage, and it appears this is exactly what happened to the Trojans.

Nine unanswered points in the final 79 seconds of the opening half gave ONU a 47-36 lead, and the second half got worse quickly. A 26-9 run in the opening 7 minutes boosted the margin to 28, and the spurt stretched to 49-15 when a tip-in from Danielle Tolbert gave the Tigers a 96-51 lead.

One reason could have been fatigue. Hannibal-LaGrange used its top three players for well over 30 minutes apiece, and against the wave-upon-wave of players ONU coach Doug Porter sent to the court, it wasn't enough. This included 15 players getting at least 10 minutes of time, simply astounding. Here are your Stats for the Tigers (8-3):

- Attempted 96 shots
- Attempted 49 3-pointers
- Rebounded 55 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 46 turnovers
- Attempted 31 more shots than the Trojans

Five players reached double figures for ONU, with Simone Coburn leading the way with 18 points. Stephanie Denius (16 points), Jaimie Buckman (12), Taylor Haymes (12) and Tolbert (10) also got there, and Haymes, Buckman and Denius each made four 3s.

Point guard Danielle Pipal ran things with her usual efficiency, finishing with four assists, six rebounds and three steals while taking only two shots. Lisa Beyer scored only two points but added a team-high five steals, four assists and five rebounds, all on the offensive end.

Great game for Coach Porter and his team, and they return to action Monday night against Illinois Wesleyan. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. EST, and I wish them luck.

At Glenville State, coach Bunky Harkleroad and his NCAA Division II women's team continued to roll with a 118-81 victory over Wheeling Jesuit in West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action Saturday. The Pioneers now have one four consecutive games, all in the conference, while averaging 113.3 points in that span.

Glenville State actually fell behind at the start when the Cardinals opened the game with a 9-2 run, but it quickly turned in favor of the home team. A layup from Kenyell Goodson completed a 25-8 spurt to give the Pioneers a 10-point lead, and the margin grew steadily from there. The score was 66-41 at the break and the spread never was less than 23 points the rest of the way.

Here is The Formula:

- Attempted 101 shots
- Attempted 44 3-pointers
- Rebounded 44 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 26 turnovers
- Attempted 23 more shots than Wheeling Jesuit

Another balanced scoring day for Glenville State (7-3, 5-0 WVIAC), with six players reaching double figures. Tenisha Wilson had 20 points, Kim Stephens got 18 (all on 3-pointers), Goodson finished with 15, Mishae Miles scored 14, Autumn Davis added 13 and Danielle Woodmore totaled 10.

Other contributions came from, well, most everybody else, with 11 players getting at least 11 minutes of run and no one getting more than Woodmore's 22. Kristen Golden went for eight points, eight rebounds and five assists (with no turnovers), Beth Deren had eight points, six rebounds, two assists (no turnovers) and four steals. It was, again, a total team effort to keep the Pioneers one of only three teams undefeated in the WVIAC.

They have a week off before finishing up the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule next Saturday at home against conference foe West Virginia State. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EST, and I'll be rooting for Coach Harkleroad's squad.

The NCAA Division III men's team at Grinnell, coached by System creator David Arseneault, didn't fare quite so well Saturday. Carroll used a 9-0 run midway through the second half to take control of a tight game and held on to beat this set of Pioneers 109-99 in the Midwest Conference.

Grinnell trailed only 75-73 when Carroll scored those nine consecutive points to make the margin 11 points, and it never got less than seven the rest of the way. Here are The Stats for Grinnell (6-3, 1-3 MWC):

- Attempted 85 shots (goal is 94)
- Attempted 55 3-pointers (goal is 47)
- Rebounded 30 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 33 percent)
- Forced 22 turnovers (goal is 32)
- Attempted 11 more shots than Carroll (goal is 25)

So you can see Grinnell reached only one of its goals, and making only 15 of those 3s didn't add up to a victory for Coach A and his team. Matt Skelly led the way with 19 points (in a season-high 22 minutes of playing time), Griffin Lentsch added 17 despite going 1-for-10 from beyond the arc, Patrick Maher got 11 points and Aaron Levin scored 10.

Grinnell won't play again until after the Christmas break, returning to action Jan. 5 against Beloit in the friendly confines of Darby Gymnasium. Game time for that one is 8 p.m. EST, and I wish Coach A and everyone at Grinnell a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

In high school System play Friday, frequent Blog interviewee coach Dave Arnold opened a new season at a new school with a W, as his Monroe (Mich.) HS boys' team rallied to beat Anderson 90-87. You can expect some first-game jitters, and that's exactly what happened to Coach Arnold's Trojans, who trailed 41-31 at halftime after making 5-for-34 on 3-pointers in the first two quarters.

Monroe got it going after the break, scoring 59 points over the final 16 minutes to win the game. Coach Arnold reported via e-mail that his team was 12-for-32 from downtown following halftime as the players became more comfortable.

"We didn't always play well, but we played really hard and battled back from 15 down, which is a great accomplishment for this group," he wrote in an e-mail to me. "Hopefully we can build on this as we have games Tuesday and Thursday next week to finish our short 'pre-season' schedule before the holiday break."

The Trojans finished 32-for-87 from the field, including 17-for-66 on 3s, and won despite making only 9-of-21 at the line. You have to love the balance, as 11 different players scored and eight different players made a 3. Tedd March led the way with 15 points (all on 3s), with Robert Burris, Brandon Bagley and Blaine Whitlow each adding 14 points. Bagley had three 3s.

Great effort for Coach Arnold and Monroe. They hit the road for both games this week, traveling to Fordson on Tuesday and to Roosevelt on Thursday. The best of luck to this group.

Finally, the Eisenhower HS boys' team from Blue Island, Ill., snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Lemont HS 81-69 Friday night. Coach Mike Curta didn't have the complete numbers, since his statistician took the book home, but he did report the Cardinals made 14 3-pointers in the game and forced 18 turnovers in the first half alone.

Glad to see Eisenhower got back on track in this one. The Cardinals return to the court next Friday at home against Oak Forest, and I hope Coach Curta's team can get on a roll before Christmas.

Grinnell hangs on to beat Knox, ONU and Glenville State also win

2010-12-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

It might not have been pretty, and The Formula stats likely went awry, but the NCAA Division III men's basketball team at Grinnell pulled out a gritty victory Wednesday night by beating Knox 132-120 in the Midwest Conference.

The Pioneers (6-2, 1-2 MWC) never gave up the lead (there were three ties early in the first half) and led by as much as 22 in the second half. Yet, according to System guru Bob Belf, who watched the game online, the Prairie Fire (1-5, 0-3) went to a 1-3-1 zone at that point to slow down Grinnell a bit.

The margin dwindled a bit at a time, getting as low as nine at 101-92 with 5:33 remaining in the game. But Tanner Carlson missed a free throw for Knox before Jesse Ney made a 3 on the other end, boosting the lead back to 104-92. The spread never was less than 10 the rest of the way, thanks mostly to the Pioneers converting just enough at the free throw line.

In the final 4:27, Grinnell was 22-for-31 at the line to overcome six 3-pointers by the Prairie Fire in that span, including one that turned into a four-point play for Ben Wetherbee. Still, it was enough to give coach David Arseneault and the Pioneers their first conference W of the season.

Here are the stats:

- Attempted 84 shots (goal is 94)
- Attempted 57 3-pointers (goal is 47)
- Rebounded 52 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 33 percent)
- Forced 28 turnovers (goal is 32)
- Attempted 16 more shots than Knox (goal is 25)

Griffin Lentsch continued his strong play, finishing with 29 points in only 12 minutes of playing time. Matt Chalupa added 20, Ney had 17 and Matt Skelly scored 15 for Grinnell, but the most interesting box score line to me came from one Brian McManamy, a sophomore post player from Charlotte, N.C. He didn't take a shot, made all eight of his free throws, grabbed four rebounds and dished out six assists with no turnovers. Pretty special effort.

Others chipped in, as well, with 17 players getting on the court. Marques Valdez eight points, five rebounds (four on offense), two assists, one block and five steals. Patrick Maher had four steals.

All in all, a productive night for the Pioneers, who return to the court Saturday on the road at MWC foe Carroll, their final game before Christmas break. Game time is 2 p.m. EST, and I will have an update later that day.

We had a handful of System teams in action Tuesday night, starting with the NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene. The Tigers beat Purdue University-Calumet 100-94 at McHie Arena, using 15 points from Simone Coburn and 14 from Jaimie Buckman to overcome a late deficit.

ONU led throughout most of the game until a surge from the Peregrines (what?!) gave them the lead. A 3 from Purdue-Calumet's Jennifer Britton tied it up at 92 with 3:04 remaining before teammate MeMe Harris made a pair of free throws, and suddenly, the Tigers trailed.

Not to worry. They stuck with the plan and scored the final eight points of the game, improving to 7-3. Here are the numbers:

- Attempted 116 shots (wow!)
- Attempted 57 3-pointers
- Rebounded 44 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 30 turnovers
- Attempted 32 more shots than the Peregrines

Holly Schacht added 13 points, Rachel Kearney had 12 and Miranda Geever scored 10 for ONU, which stays home to face Hannibal-LaGrange University on Saturday. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST, and I wish coach Doug Porter and his team the best of luck.

The NCAA Division II women's team at Glenville State also had a thrilling conclusion to its game Tuesday, trailing by one with about 90 seconds remaining before coming back for a 106-99 victory over Concord Univeristy in West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

Danielle Woodmore gave the Pioneers (6-3, 4-0 WVIAC) the lead for good with a three-point play to make it 100-98, then Miranda Reed converted two free throws for a four-point advantage. That was all coach Bunky Harkleroad's team needed as it held on down the stretch to remain one of three unbeaten teams at the top of the conference standings.

Here is your Formula stuff:

- Attempted 104 shots
- Attempted 40 3-pointers
- Rebounded 51 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 18 turnovers
- Attempted 16 more shots than the Mountain Lions

Tenisha Wilson had 26 points, Woodmore scored 20 , Autumn Davis added 12 and Kristen Golden finished with 11 for Glenville State, which remains at home for matchup with Wheeling Jesuit on Saturday. Game time for that one is 5:30 p.m. EST, so check back in for the results.

Congratulations to coach Keith Freund and the North Shore High School girls' team from Glen Head, N.Y., which won its opener 63-50 over Wantagh on Tuesday. According to Coach Freund, Wantagh was ranked fifth in the preseason Nassau County poll. Nice going.

Here are the numbers for the Vikings:

- Attempted 80 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 29 3-pointers (goal is 40)
- Rebounded 55 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 41 turnvoers (goal is 32)
- Attempted 27 more shots than the Warriors

Coach Freund and his team go at it again Thursday. The best of luck to them.

At Wabasha-Kellogg HS in Minnesota, coach Glen Irvin and the Falcons lost 69-50 to St. Charles despite continuing to put up some numbers. Nicole Alexander had 17 points and Emily Huth added 14 for Wabasha-Kellogg (0-3). Here are The Formula things:

- Attempted 87 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 28 3-pointers (goal is 40)
- Rebounded 26 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 33 turnovers (goal is 33)
- Attempted 27 more shots than St. Charles (goal is 15)

If the Falcons (0-3) stick to the plan, I have no doubt they will turn this around. The effort clearly is there. They play again Saturday, at home, against Lake City, and I hope they have nothing but success.

Finally, the boys' team at Eisenhower HS in Blue Island, Ill., dropped its third consecutive game by the score of 93-81 to unbeaten Tinley Park. Cardinals coach Mike Curta was without two of his best players - Dustin Lewis (IHSA rules violation) and A.J. Bridges (discipline) - and still led at the break 43-42.

The third quarter was a different story, as Tinley Park (5-0, 2-0 Suburban South Red) outscored Eisenhower 29-15 to take a commanding lead, one it didn't relinquish. The numbers for the good guys:

- Attempted 85 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 49 3-pointers (goal is 32)
- Rebounded 34 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 35 percent)
- Forced 30 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted 15 more shots than the Titans (goal is 24)

Tyrone Terrell had 28 points for the Cardinals (2-5, 0-2), including a 7 of 22 performance on 3-pointers, Isaac Bronaugh had 13 points and Olajuwon Prude added 10.

Here is what Coach Curta had to say in a post on the Yahoo! message board:

Coach Curta: "Saw some things from the opposition that gave me the idea that we are close: twice they had kids on the floor call timeout on their own due to fatigue. Coaches and players were yelling at each other to 'slow down' while playing at our pace the whole game."

Eisenhower gets another chance Friday night, on the road at Lemont. You know I'll have an update over the weekend.

Record-setting night for Grinnell

2010-12-06T19:23:00.000-08:00

Fresh off two consecutive losses, Grinnell made the most out of its final out-of-conference game of the season, scoring a school-record 94 points in the first half on its way to a 150-90 victory over Principia College on Monday night. The Pioneers play their final 16 games against opponents from the Midwest Conference, beginning Wednesday night at home against Knox College.

Griffin Lentsch had another big outing, making 10 3-pointers and scoring 36 points, while Scott Kaitz had 13 assists. Grinnell (5-2) led 94-50 at the break, with its point total breaking the previous mark of 88, accomplished three times and most recently Nov. 23 against Faith Baptist.

The Pioneers led 73-44 with 3:13 left in the first 20 minutes before they closed on a 21-6 run. Matt Chalupa had a pair of 3s, Aaron Levin, Xander Strek and Jesse Ney each added one of their own, Lentsch got inside for a dunk, Matt Skelly made two free throws and Kaitz finished the half with a jumper right before the buzzer. Really, the outcome was all that was in doubt at that point.

Levin finished with 19 points, joined in double figures by Chalupa (15), Strek (11), Skelly (11) and Jack Adams (10), and Marques Valdez had a team-high four steals. Lentsch and Skelly got 15 minutes of playing time apiece, with 17 others getting on the court.

Here are The Formula stats:

- Attempted 103 shots (goal is 94)
- Attempted 71 3-pointers (goal is 47)
- Rebounded 54 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 33 percent)
- Forced 32 turnovers (goal is 32)
- Attempted 26 more shots than the Panthers (goal is 25)

That's 5-for-5 in goals for Grinnell, which almost always leads to victory. The 150 points is the most it has scored since it reached 163 in a victory over Fontbonne in the 2008-09 season. Hopefully, we haven't seen the last of this type of scoring.

Todd Zimmerman had 19 points for Principia (2-4).

As I said, the Pioneers stay at home to face MWC foe Knox on Wednesday night, with the opening tip scheduled for 8 p.m. EST. The best of luck to coach David Arseneault and his team.

Also Monday, a high school boys' team debuted with The System in fine fashion, as coach Chris Schultz and Deaborn (Mich.) Advanced Technology Academy beat Huron Valley Lutheran 71-36. Coach Schultz reports the amount of enthusiasm on the bench was the most he'd seen from his players. Good stuff.

Here are the numbers:

- Attempted 87 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 39 3-pointers (goal is 40)
- Rebounded 60 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent
- Forced 21 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted 52 more shots than Huron Valley Lutheran

Obviously, the offensive rebounding tells the story. Nice effort for Coach Schultz's team in its first outing; the next one comes Wednesday. I plan to check back in with this team.

Tuesday figures to be a busy day for The System, with the NCAA Division II women's team at Glenville State and the NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene back in action, along with a host of high schools. I'm rooting for all of them!

Nice W for Glenville State, ONU nearly upsets No. 1, plus even more

2010-12-05T08:03:00.001-08:00

For the first time this season, the NCAA Division II women's team at Glenville State played a regular season game in front of its home fans. The Pioneers didn't disappoint, beating Pitt-Johnsontown 111-96 Saturday in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Plenty of good stuff here. Six players reached double figures for coach Bunky Harkleroad's team, with Tenisha Wilson, Miranda Reed and Beth Deren all finishing with 17 points. Danielle Woodmore had 16, Kristen Golden went for 13 and Kenyell Goodson added 10 for Glenville State (5-3, 3-0 WVIAC).

Reed and Woodmore, who shared time at point guard during my visit to watch them play at Bluefield State, opened together in the starting lineup and, while not quite as dominant as they were against the Lady Blues, still put up some solid stats. They combined for 11 assists and five steals, and Wilson had a team-high eight rebounds. Deren tied Reed's high with three steals.

Here are The Formula things:

- Attempted 96 shots
- Attempted 36 3-pointers
- Rebounded 48 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 27 turnovers
- Attempted 10 more shots than Pitt-Johnstown

This pretty much was the Pioneers' game from the get-go, with the Lady Cats leading only at 8-7. The lead at the break was 55-41 for Glenville State and the margin grew to as much as 18 points in the second half. Nice effort for Coach Harkleroad and his team. They remain one of three teams unbeaten in the conference, along with West Virginia Wesleyan and West Liberty.

The Pioneers continue their four-game home stand Tuesday with a visit from WVIAC foe Concord, with game time 5:30 p.m. EST. Good luck to them.

On the second day of the Holiday Inn Express CCAC Challenge, the Olivet Nazarene women's team had an impressive outing Saturday, even if it came in a 96-88 loss to Union, the No. 1 team in the NAIA coaches' poll and the two-time defending national champ.

A 12-2 run midway through the first half gave the Tigers (6-3) a 32-15 lead, with Danielle Tolbert and Holly Schacht getting it started with consecutive 3-pointers. Lisa Beyer got inside for a tip-in, Simone Coburn made a jumper and Rachel Kearney followed with a basket of her own while the Lady Bulldogs (10-0) could manage only a pair of free throws from Zeinab Chan.

ONU still was on top 50-40 at the break and a 3 from Miranda Geever increased that to 53-42 early in the second half. But Union rallied to get back in it, using a 16-4 spurt to take its first lead since early in the game at 58-57 on a 3-pointer from Kayla Hudson. It was nip-and-tuck for several minutes before the Bulldogs moved ahead by 10 at 84-74 on a three-point play by Hope Adams.

That's when the Tigers bounced back. Geever converted two free throws to cap a 14-6 run to make it 90-88 with 2:08 left to play, but those were the last points for the home team. Union got two buckets from Chan, who was voted MVP of the tournament, and a pair of free throws from Kayla Bryant to finish out the scoring.

Still, a solid effort from coach Doug Porter's ONU squad, who beat No. 14 Trevecca Nazarene 110-82 Friday night. Here are The Formula stats from Saturday's game:

- Attempted 85 shots
- Attempted 45 3-pointers
- Rebounded 34 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 28 turnovers
- Attempted 16 more shots than Union

Danielle Tolbert led the Tigers with 16 points and Coburn added 13. Five players got 16 minutes of run and another seven got at least 10, with 17 players getting on the court at one time or another. Pretty amazing. Point guard Danielle Pipal, one of my favorite players, went for seven points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals, and Denita Phelps had a team-high four steals.

Coach Porter and his team stay at home to play Purdue Univ.-Calumet on Tuesday, with game time scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST.

Meanwhile, the NCAA Division III men's team at Grinnell lost its second consecutive road game in the Midwest Conference, with Ripon coming out on top 125-113 Saturday. The Red Hawks (4-1, 2-0 MWC) are expected to battle St. Norbert at the top of the conference, a spot the Pioneers (4-2, 0-2) hope to be in, as well.

It's amazing the Grinnell was even in this one after a casual glance at the box score. Ripon made 81 percent of its shots for the game (42-for-52) yet still found itself tied at 103 with 6:45 remaining in the game. A late run secured the victory for the home team, but I'm sure Pioneers coach David Arseneault saw plenty to be proud of from his team.

Here are The Numbers for Grinnell:

- Attempted 104 shots (goal is 94)
- Attempted 81 3-pointers (goal is 47)
- Rebounded 38 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 33 percent)
- Forced 30 turnovers (goal is 32)
- Attempted 52 more shots than Ripon (Wow!)

Freshman Aaron Levin continues to get more and more comfortable, leading a balanced attack with 24 points. He was followed by Matt Chalupa (23 points), Griffin Lentsch (18) and Patrick Maher (13), with a total of 14 players putting points on the board. As usual, 13 players got at least 12 minutes of time and 16 got in altogether.

You hopefully noted the high number of 3-pointer attempts for the Pioneers. The majority of these came from Chalupa (7-for-17), Levin (6-for-15) and Lentsch (5-for-15), and Chalupa added a game-high four steals. Maher and Scott Kaitz had five assists apiece for Grinnell.

For Ripon, Aris Wurtz had 35 points and 12 rebounds, Alex Tomshek went for 22 points and 10 rebounds, Taylor Koth finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds and point guard Scott Gillespie had 15 points and 14 assists. Whew, those are a lot of numbers, right?

The Pioneers have a busy week ahead, with three games in the next six days to finish off the pre-Christmas schedule. It starts with a visit from Principia on Monday, with game time at Darby Gymnasium is 7 p.m. EST.

A team we haven't checked in with in a bit is the women's team at Jackson (Mich.) Community College, which opened its season with a victory but since had lost six consecutive games. Make that seven after another one Saturday, but this wasn't your ordinary loss.

The Jets (1-7) fell on the road to Edison State in Ohio 133-131 in double overtime in the highest-scoring NJCAA Division II game ever. Jackson CC attempted 119 shots, also a national mark. Erika Bullock had a quadruple-double for the Jets, finishing with 31 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals. Very nice.

Others in double figures were Caitlyn Owens (19 points), Jessica Vidalez (18), Nicole Wurster (16) and DaJana’e Wilson (15). According to coach Andy Hoaglin, the home crowd gave his team a standing ovation when it left the court.

“I can’t take anything away from our girls,” Hoaglin told the Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot. “They’re getting it. I’m not happy with the results, but we’re getting very close. We’re not as worried about November and December as we are being ready for when league play begins in January.”

The Eisenhower HS boys' team from Blue Island, Ill., lost its second consecutive game Saturday, when Rich East beat the Cardinals 89-69. Coach Mike Curta reports that for the first time, his team met only two of The Formula goals. Here's what Eisenhower put up:

- Attempted 89 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 44 3-pointers (goal is 32)
- Rebounded 30 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 35 percent)
- Forced 25 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted 13 more shots than Rich East (goal is 24)

The Cardinals return to the court Tuesday, at home, against Tinley Park, with tip scheduled for 8 p.m. EST. The best of luck to Coach Curta and the team, and I have no doubt they will see better days ahead.

I also need to update you on the Wabasha-Kellogg HS girls' team from Minnesota, which lost to Lewiston-Altura 68-55 last Thursday. Coach Glen Irvin checked in with me via e-mail, and I'll let him tell the tale:

Coach Irvin: "... We played an athletic Lewiston-Altura team that was ready to run with us as I expected. The thing I didn't expect is to pickup 12 fouls in less than 5 minutes to begin the game. That put us off of our game and I actually had to take out my best post player and rebounder Nicki Alexander for the majority of the first half with 3 fouls in the those first 5 minutes.

"At halftime we were only down by eight 37-29 so I felt comfortable that we would get back into the game especially because the game was perfectly frantic! We ended up losing by ten ... though the game was closer than that but we were fouling at the end to make up the difference."

Here are Wabasha-Kellogg's Formula stats:

- Attempted 86 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 31 3-pointers (goal is 40)
- Rebounded 24 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Attempted 32 more shots that Lewiston-Altura

Good stuff. Coach Irvin and the Falcons go at it again Tuesday, at home, against St. Charles, and I wish them the best of luck.

Lots of games, including first loss for Grinnell, big victory for ONU

2010-12-04T09:44:00.000-08:00

Basketball season is starting to hit its stride, with colleges and high schools all over the country getting into the heart of their schedules. It has been a busy past couple of days, so I'll catch you up to speed.

First, on Friday night, the NCAA Division III Grinnell men's team suffered its first loss of the season, falling 112-85 on the road at No. 8 St. Norbert in the Midwest Conference opener for both teams. The Pioneers go at it again Saturday at Ripon (3-1), which opened MWC play with a 97-79 victory over Knox on Friday night.

Plenty of balanced scoring for Grinnell despite the loss, with Jesse Ney (14 points), Matt Skelly (13), Aaron Levin (11) and Griffin Lentsch (10) all reaching double figures. Reserve guard Dominique Bellamy filled up his stat sheet with three points, six rebounds (three offensive), two assists, one block and one steal in 14 minutes of playing time; no one got more than that, and a total of 13 players got at least 10 minutes.

Here are The Formula stats:

- Attempted 85 shots (goal is 94)
- Attempted 50 3-pointers (goal is 47)
- Rebounded 31 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 33 percent)
- Forced 20 turnovers (goal is 32)
- Attempted 22 more shots than the Knights (goal is 25)

Of course, it didn't help that St. Norbert shot 83 percent from the field in the first half. Yep, that's right, 83 percent. That's 25-of-30, for those hoping to keep track at home, and the score at the break was 67-40.

David Wipperfurth led the Knights with 20 points.

As I said, the Pioneers get a quick shot at their first conference victory, with game time at Ripon 4 p.m. EST. Good luck to coach David Arseneault and his team.

Elsewhere, the NAIA Olivet Nazarene women's team coached by Doug Porter finally returned home after a seven-game road trip to open the season, and everything went well in a 110-82 victory over Trevecca Nazarene in the Holiday Inn Express CCAC Challenge at McHie Arena. Trevecca Nazarene, from the TranSouth Atlantic Conference, was ranked 14th in the preseason NAIA poll.

The Trojans (2-6) led only at 2-0 and 5-3 in the early going before the Tigers (6-2) took control, eventually taking a 15-point lead the half. At that point, ONU already had three players in double figures: Simone Coburn had 13 and Stephanie Denius Jaimie Buckman each scored 11 points. Denius and Buckman had three 3-pointers apiece in the opening 20 minutes.

Here are The Formula stats:

- Attempted 91 shots (goal is 90)
- Attempted 54 3-pointers (goal is 45)
- Rebounded 39 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 40 turnovers (goal is 33)
- Attempted nine more shots than Trevecca Nazarene (goal is 15

Perhaps the best part about this performance was the perimeter shooting for the Tigers, who have struggled somewhat this season from beyond the arc. They made 19-of-54, a very solid 32 percent, with Buckman leading the way with five 3s. She and Coburn each finished with 17 points to lead the balanced attack, while Denius ended up with 16, Taylor Haymes added 15 and Holly Schacht scored 14.

And 11 players got at least 11 minutes of playing time, with 17 players getting on the court altogether. Good stuff.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for Coach Porter's team. It has a matchup Saturday with No. 1 Union, the two-time defending NAIA national champ, with the game scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. EST. I'll be rooting for ONU.

In high school boys' play, the Eisenhower HS Cardinals from Blue Island, Ill., lost to T.F. North 87-78 in the South Suburban Conference on Friday night. Eisenhower (2-3, 0-1 SSC) forced 26 turnovers in the first half alone (39 for the game) before fouls started taking a toll.

The Cardinals still managed to lead 42-41 at halftime before falling behind by 10 after three quarters. According to coach Mike Curta, they rallied to within five with 2 minutes left but couldn't get any closer. Here are Eisenhower's Formula stats:

- Attempted 97 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 61 3-pointers (goal is 32)
- Rebounded 27 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 35 percent)
- Forced 39 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted 25 more shots than T.F. North (goal is 24)

All in all, pretty good effort for Coach Curta and his team. They get another chance at home Saturday against Rich East, and I'll keep you updated.

Finally, I need to update you on coach Evan Massey and the Galesburg (Ill.) HS girls' team, which increased their winning streak to four by beating previously unbeaten Rock Island 68-61 Thursday night in the Western Big 6. The Streaks (5-2, 2-0 WB6) took a commanding lead during the fourth quarter and went to their delay game for the final 3 minutes, which likely held the score and their Formula stats down.

Here are those results:

- Attempted 55 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 45 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 55 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 31 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted five more shots than Rock Island (goal is 20)

As I said, the slowness of the pace in the final quarter kept Galesburg from reaching a few of the goals, but still, a very nice effort. Coach Massey pointed to the depth of his team's scoring, and that is very evident: Jessica Howard and Jamie Johnson each had 13 to lead the way, and six more players scored at least five points and six different players made 3-pointers.

Another thing holding down the Streaks' numbers was the number of times they sent players to the foul line. This is a good thing, of course, particularly when you make your shots. They were 24-for-36 for the game, compared to only 6-for-12 for Rock Island.

Other key contributors that Coach Massey pointed out on his blog were Sadee Hamilton (six offensive rebounds) and Paige Klinck (three assists).

Galesburg is off until next Thursday, so the players all have the weekend to rest and gear up for the remainder of the season. I wish all of them the best of luck.

A wonderful trip to watch Glenville State

2010-12-03T07:05:00.000-08:00

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. -- Where to start? From the chance to sit right behind the bench and here various strategies, to keeping a close eye on the substitution patterns, to hearing coach-to-player and player-to-player instruction, my trip Thursday to Bluefield to watch the NCAA Division II women's team at Glenville State was completely worth it. And, who knows, given the convenience of the trip and the chance to meet up with a friend from college, if coach Bunky Harkleroad continues to lead this program, it might become an annual trek!

First, the details: the Pioneers jumped out early and stayed on top throughout, beating Bluefield State 118-63 on the road in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Really, I know it's somewhat of a cliche, but it could have been much worse.

Now Glenville State finally returns home after eight consecutive road games to open the season; incidentally, one of those games only will count in the conference standings, since Ohio Valley used an ineligible player in its overtime victory over the Pioneers on Nov. 16. So Glenville State's record improved to 4-3 overall, 2-0 in the WVIAC. Weird.

In this one, the Lady Blues (1-3) dressed only eight players, so even if their level of talent would have been equal (it wasn't), the toll of running with Glenville State for 40 minutes likely would have been too much. Coach Harkleroad backed off in the second half after taking a 62-27 lead the break, employing only a half-court trap following made baskets for the first 8 minutes or so before completely abandoning any type of full-court defense in the final 8 minutes.

Still, the Pioneers got their numbers. Here are The Formula stats:

- Attempted 87 shots
- Attempted 46 3-pointers
- Rebounded 40 percent of their misses on offense
- Forced 33 turnovers
- Attempted 11 more shots than Bluefield State

The point guard tandem of Miranda Reed and Danielle Woodmore completely dominated, particularly once fatigue started playing a role. They combined for 40 points, 17 assists (only six turnovers) and eight steals, a wonderful display of solid basketball. Woodmore had 22 points, seven assists and five steals, with Reed going for 18 points, 10 assists and three steals. Seven players in all reached double figures in scoring for Glenville State, with Kenyell Goodson (14 points), Kristen Golden (14 points and 13 rebounds), Autumn Davis (12), Tenisha Wilson (11) and Tiffani Huffman (10) joining Reed and Woodmore.

All 12 players scored, with a 3-pointer by Kim Stephens with 2:20 left in the game getting her off zero. Everybody got plenty of run, as always, prompting my friend that went with me, Dave Barr, an old roommate from my time at Elon, to say about 5 minutes into the game: "Everybody's played so far, right?" Yep, Dave, everybody played.

Really, the details of the game likely aren't worth repeating. In one way, this wasn't a great game to attend because it wasn't very competitive. Yet, in another aspect, it was the absolutely perfect game to watch, since Coach Harkleroad was able to focus so much on getting his team to stay true to The System.

"Keep your shape!" he instructed many times while his team was on defense, essentially asking the players to retain the look of their press, even in the half-court.

"No fouls, keep running!" he told them, hoping to keep the game moving to allow the Pioneers' superior depth to take over.

"Score that!" he pleaded with Golden, one of his post players, when she grabbed an offensive rebound and immediately looked to pass back out.

Great stuff. Dave and I were fortunate to arrive early enough to secure our prime seats, so everything was right there in front of us. We were able to hear the shifts called out, including which players were involved and when they were scheduled to go on the court, which was very fascinating.

Here are some other observations from the game:

- The competitiveness and focus of Glenville State's players was evident throughout. Not sure how else to put it. The looks in the eyes of the players during the entire game was something that surprised me. It wasn't even that I expected it to be anything different, it was just so easy to see why each of them is contributing to a college program.

- It was nice to see the Pioneers get going a little bit from the perimeter. Of course, last season against Bluefield State, they set the all-division NCAA record with 29 3-pointers on 62 attempts, another all-division high. Oh, and in case you didn't know, or I didn't share, Glenville State set a few other all-division marks last season: 3s in a season (394, old record was 386 by Clarion in 1992), 3s attempted in a season (1,286, old record was 1,101, Clarion, 1993) and 3s made per game (14.1, old record was 13.3 by Clarion, 1992).

This time, the Pioneers finished 17-for-46 in the game, but made 10-of-22 in the second half. Goodson was 4-for-9 and Davis was 4-for-14.

- Coach Harkleroad has a wonderful sideline demeanor. Sure, the score really never was in doubt, but you know he never took that for granted. He didn't stomp his foot or scowl at his players (anyone ever seen the behavior of Andy Landers, the women's coach at Georgia?), preferring to teach in a calm voice, one-on-one. He also rarely had any words for the officials, even when they were missing traveling violations on the players from Bluefield.

- Speaking of the refereeing, I've often read posts on the Yahoo! board about how sometimes a majority of calls goes against System teams. It happened in this game. In passing, I've mentioned the numerous traveling violations against Bluefield that weren't called; yet, a handful were called against the Pioneers that weren't nearly as egregious as the ones committed by the Lady Blues.

Also, midway through the second half, with the score a bit out of hand, Wilson was called for an intentional foul while jockeying for position on defense. Certainly, she might have meant to elbow Bluefield's Kateishia Wright, but it appeared to me as if both players were simply jostling for the spot. In any regard, shortly after that, Glenville State's Beth Deren had possession of the ball while being harassed by a pair of defenders. She appeared to pivot in an attempt to avoid giving up the ball, but she, too, was called for an intentional foul.

This led to a timeout from Coach Harkleroad, where he no doubt instructed his players to avoid contact all all costs!

- Anyone who believes System teams "don't play defense" (you there, Johnny Rain Cloud?) needs to watch a game in person. Sure, Glenville State gave up some open looks with its press, yet the amount of effort each player gave to create traps was something to behold. Watching Reed or Woodmore sprint down the sideline to cut off a dribbler, or watching Golden creep in from the back of the press, or watching the face-guarding going on during an in-bound pass, there is no way to deny they were playing defense.

- The men's teams had a game scheduled immediately after this one, so the Glenville State squad sat amongst Dave and I to watch the women. And almost to a man, at least the players sitting close to me, they tracked the game with a keen eye, encouraging the Pioneers to keep up the pressure. I even heard the comment: "They're going to reach a hundred tonight, for sure." I will tell you the Bluefield State men's team wasn't as involved.

Would this have happened if Coach Harkleroad's team walked it up the court and won 50-40? I doubt it.

- A nice group of fans traveled to watch Glenville State, including, I'm sure, many parents. Still, neat to see them congratulating the team following the game, hugging all the players and really exemplifying a family atmosphere.

- There seemed to be occasions when a handful of Pioneers' players weren't sure what to do on defense, which happens when you have several new faces. Again, Coach Harkleroad treated these moments as ones meant for teaching, not criticizing, and once they get it, it's easy to see this is a supremely talented team.

- Glenville State went with an interesting defense in the final minutes, one I remember the late Jim Valvano often employing at North Carolina State. There were three defenders playing man-to-man, with the two others ("bigs," to use coaching vernacular) guarding the paint. It stifled Bluefield State almost as much as the press, which was interesting.

That's it for my observations. I'll let you hear what Coach Harkleroad had to say about this one, and the season so far, in our conversation after the game:

(Was this just another step in the process?)

Coach Harkleroad: "It was, we needed a game like that, where we could get on somebody early and stay on them. Because we've been playing such good competition, and playing on the road, so hopefully we can keep the momentum. We needed a momentum game, so hopefully we can carry that into Saturday. We've got a home stretch here before Christmas."

(I'm guessing it will be nice to get back home.)

Coach Harkleroad: "Our gym's great. It's an older building, but we've got great fans. People really get into women's basketball. We're excited about that. All our news kids haven't experienced it yet, except for a scrimmage, so we're excited about it."

(The effort against Liberty, a Division I team, in the game previous must have been pretty good.)

Coach Harkleroad: "The first 10 minutes were basically a wash, and then they go on like a 23-3 run in the last 10 of the first half. Then we competed in the second half. We got beaten by 18. We did things that we can control, the effort on the offensive glass, and a pretty good defensive effort, those were big positives. We couldn't control some of the shots not falling, we were trying to make them. They were so good defensively, though, we settled for a lot of bad shots that were NBA 3s, and we don't practice those."

(How about the shooting in the second half against Bluefield State, it appeared you got on a little hot streak?)

Coach Harkleroad: "Hopefully, we're doing a better job of making a steal and then kind of settling down and finding somebody in rhythm. Like I said, shooting shots we practice. Toeing the line instead of just rushing. With our shooters, we were talking in the huddle; at practice, we have to get on them about going harder, and then in the games, we're having to get on them to slow down."

(What are some things you want to clean up before Saturday?)

Coach Harkleroad: "Oh, turnovers, big-time. Tonight was better. We do so many things with the ball that we really shouldn't. A lot of them are aggressive mistakes, and one of the struggles with The System is you have to get them to go, go, go. So aggressive mistakes you can live with for a while, but then it becomes a matter of discipling yourself and making the easy pass. We're still not doing the best job, either, of ball reversal. We'll throw it to the point, and we'll have a wide-open shooter on the wing. And it may not be our primary or our best scorer, but still, share the ball and make pass. And we're not doing a good job of recognizing what the situation is or what the easy pass is."

Good stuff there. Again, thanks to Coach Harkleroad for his hospitality at the game (the man gave up his halftime stats to me and Dave!), and congratulations on the victory. Unless something bizarre happens, it's unlikely I'll catch Glenville State in person again this year, but I will follow them right to the end.

Good luck to him and his team the rest of the season, beginning Saturday (at home!) against Pitt-Johnstown in another WVIAC matchup. Game time is 5:30 p.m. EST.

Wabasha-Kellogg loses opener

2010-12-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

The girls' team at Wabasha-Kellogg HS in Minnesota dropped its opener Tuesday night to local rival Plainview-Elgin-Millville 73-69. The Falcons, coached by blog interview subject Glen Irvin, took a quick 10-point lead and forced some early foul trouble.

"Unfortunately we couldn't capitalize on free throws or wide open looks or we would have easily eclipsed the century mark," Irvin wrote to me in an e-mail. "Instead the game stayed close throughout and we missed key free throws in the last minutes that helped them seal the victory."

Here are The Formula numbers for Wabasha-Kellogg:

- Attempted 90 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 40 3-pointers (goal is 40)
- Rebounded 46 percent of its misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 48 turnovers (goal is 30)
- Attempted 33 more shots than Plainview-Elgin-Millville (goal is 15)

So, 5-for-5 in goals, which almost always leads to a victory, yet didn't this time. Falcons shot 18 percent on their 3s and only 21 percent at the free throw line, and you would expect those numbers to improve as the players get more accustomed to The System.

Taylor Lerum led Wabasha-Kellogg with 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting and Emily Huth added 13 points and eight rebounds. Others chipping in included Nicki Alexander (eight points and 12 rebounds), Karli Harris (eight points) and Kalyn Biever (five points, five assists and five steals, a triple five-pack!).

Coach Irvin and his team travel to Lewiston-Altura on Thursday night.

"Last year we had two great games that we played against them winning at home and losing on the road," Coach Irvin wrote. "This team will run with us so hopefully the score is in the 80s, which I believe will give us a great chance to pull off a win."

Good luck to him and the Falcons. We'll check back in with them.

Glenville State plays well in loss, ONU sees win streak end

2010-12-01T17:29:00.000-08:00

The NCAA Division II women's team at Glenville State gave its best effort on the road Tuesday night, taking an early lead on D-I Liberty before losing 93-75. Last season when these teams met, the Flames won 86-45, so it's easy to see how much coach Bunky Harkleroad's bunch has closed the gap in the past year.

The Pioneers (3-4) scored five unanswered points to take a 14-9 lead, thanks to a 3-pointer from Kenyell Goodson and two free throws from Tenisha Wilson. That's when Liberty (3-4) went on a back-breaking 31-6 run to take control, and the margin was 22 at the break (49-27).

But Glenville State was far from done, getting back within 15 on a couple of occasions, the final time on a layup from Mishae Miles midway through the second half. And the lead could have immediately gotten smaller, too, when Wilson got a steal shortly after Miles' basket. Wilson missed a 3 that was rebounded by the Flames, and Beth Deren quickly got the ball back for the Pioneers with a steal of her own.

Her shot from beyond the arc also missed, and when Tolu Omotola got inside for a putback on the other end, Liberty led 74-57 and held control for the rest of the game.

Coach Harkleroad saw some great things from his team. The Pioneers forced 35 turnovers (23 steals) and grabbed 25 rebounds on the offensive end (45 percent). The shooting woes still were there; they shot only 2-for-22 on 3-pointers in the first half and improved only slightly after the break, going 5-for-24. All in all, 15 percent just won't get it done against a superior opponent.

Here are the complete Formula stats:

- Attempted 82 shots
- Attempted 46 3-pointers
- Rebounded 25 of the misses on offense
- Forced 35 turnovers
- Attempted six more shots than Liberty

Wilson must have been electric. She finished with 23 points and four steals and teammate Autumn Davis added 15 points. Deren also had four steals and Davis and Miles collected three apiece.

Glenville State returns to the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Thursday, continuing its marathon season-opening road trip at Bluefield State, the eighth consecutive game away from home for Coach Harkleroad's squad. And some good news: I will be in attendance!

Yep, I will be making the trek up U.S. Highway 52 and Interstate 77 to cover the game. In person. Really. It should be a blast, and I'm looking forward to it. Check back for a report Friday.

Also on Tuesday, the NAIA women's team at Olivet Nazarene saw its four-game winning streak end with a tough 99-96 loss at McKendree, which was ranked 25th in the preseason NAIA coaches' poll. The Tigers, coached by Doug Porter, also finished 7-for-46 from the line in this one, matching the effort hundreds of miles away from Glenville State. Would have thunk it?

ONU led by 10 early in the second half after two free throws from Miranda Geever made it 64-54 before the Bearcats rallied. After Jessica Steinmetz got inside for a hoop to make it 80-80 with 6:36 left, McKendree got its first lead since the first half on a free throw by Leann Voss.

The lead grew to seven before the Tigers bounced back, and it was nip-and-tuck down the stretch. The Bearcats were up 98-93 in the final minute when Geever made the first of two shots at the line, but teammate Simone Coburn got the rebound and scored to make it 98-96.

With 29 seconds remaining, McKendree's Katie Fullerton was fouled by Danielle Pipal and converted 1-of-2 for a three-point edge. Holly Schacht and Pipal each missed shots in the final 15 seconds, with Pipal's a 3 that would have forced overtime. Tough way to lose, sounds as if it was a great game.

Here are ONU's Formula stats:

- Attempted 101 shots
- Attempted 46 3-pointers
- Rebounded 27 of the misses on offense (41 percent)
- Forced 39 turnovers (23 steals)
- Attempted 19 more shots than the Bearcats

Danielle Tolbert led the Tigers with 17 points and Pipal was her usual dominant self, finishing with 11 points, eight assists, three rebounds and five steals. Coburn had an efficient 10 points, taking only four shots. And, per The System, no one played more than Jaimie Buckman's 17 minutes and 13 got at least 10 minutes on the floor, with three others going 9 minutes. Pretty impressive.

Finally, ONU heads home, hosting the Holiday Inn Express CCAC Challenge on McHie Arena. The games won't be very easy, though, with a matchup Friday night with No. 14 Trevecca Nazarene followed by a visit Saturday from the top-ranked team in the country, two-time defending national champ Union. Nice scheduling, Coach Porter!

Good luck to him and his team, and I'll provide updates when I have them.

The System goes to Long Island!

2010-11-30T18:39:00.000-08:00

OK, so it's the second year that girls' coach Keith Freund at North Shore HS in Glen Head, N.Y., has run this exciting style, but I just loved that headline.

On Saturday, he and his team held their first scrimmage and had some early success. They played six, 10-minute quarters with a running clock and reset the score after each period. The Vikings won each mini-game, including an 18-point margin in the final one, and totaled about 50 points more than the opponent. Pretty sweet.

Now, not sure what the competition was like, and Coach Freund was quick to point out that a pressing defense early in the season (or especially before the season even begins) often has the advantage. Still, he saw plenty he liked, and when North Shore played this team in the regular season a year ago, it came up on the short end by four points.

Another neat thing was that prior to the final period, he asked the opposing coach if he would like the Vikings to play more conventionally. You know, perhaps a little 2-3 zone so the other coach could actually work on some offense. When Coach Freund's players heard this, about nine of them asked to sit out if they were going to have to play slow! Amazing.

Coach Freund was kind enough to take some time to answer my questions, which likely will seem a bit familiar to my blog-ites out there (I think I just made up a word). Still, I'm always interested to see how a coach came to this style of play and what he or she thinks of it. Also, it's interesting to hear how much many of these newcomers rely on the Godfather of The System, Grinnell coach David Arseneault, or Olivet Nazarene women's coach Doug Porter, or even others.

Here we go. This was just an amazing interview, and I hope all of you enjoy it as much as I did:

(What was the genesis to your conversion to The System?)

Coach Freund: "Two years ago we had a 6'1" post-up player who averaged 18 points and 14 rebounds a game. After she graduated, I knew that we were going to have to change our style. We played uptempo with her, but if we did not get a quick layup, we pulled it out and got the ball into the post and she would either score or draw a double team.

"We were very successful that year, we were 15-4 and Conference Champions, but I knew that the next year, no one on our team would be able to draw a double team in the post or score with their back to the basket. In addition, we were returning 12 players (almost all of whom were around 5'7") and of those 12, 8 could be considered very athletic, but not great 'basketball' players.

"Therefore, I was on Championship Productions and I was buying videos and books on fast break basketball and I found Coach A's original book in the clearance section. I bought it just on the title alone - 'The Running Game: A Formula for Success.' I didn't know about The System (it does not get much press on the east coast) and so when it came in the mail, it was probably the third book that I read. When I read it, I had to read again to understand what I was reading. As I was reading, it seemed to be serendipity. I knew that this style was perfectly suited for our team and I emailed Coach A and he responded back in about 10 minutes and he hooked me up with the Run-N-Gun yahoo group and the website and once I started reading the posts, I knew that this was for us."

(What other type of research did you do before switching?)

Coach Freund: "Once I read the book and emailed Coach A and joined the yahoo site, I bought Coach Porter's 4 DVD's and emailed him several times. I then bought the Run-N-Gun clinic videos and with the two of those, I put together a 200+ page binder of System stuff. I then read the old posts to try and answer questions that I had without having to ask the same questions that I was sure had been discussed several times in the past.

"I then met with the AD and showed him the YouTube clip of Grinnell playing (84 points in the first half). He loved it and told me that I was crazy if i DIDN'T do this. He knew my girls and he knew they could do this. I then met with the coaching staff and gave them a copy of the binder and we discussed its pros and cons. They were all for it and also agreed that it was the only way for us to play. Having support and agreement from the AD and the entire coaching staff made the decision much easier (even though I probably would have done it even if they did not agree).

"After that, I bought the Grinnell game DVD's and after watching them, I made a highlight video that I put to music. I showed it the team in June and starting selling it to them six months before the season began."

(Looking back, do you wish you had come to this sooner, or was the timing perfect?)

Coach Freund: "I admit that I am not the typical System coach. While I do really love the outcomes of The System, I would not run this style unless it was the best choice for my team. If my team could not press effectively, then I wouldn't press. This style is the best style for our team right now. It was the best style last year, this year and next year. I am not sure in two years, if it will still be the best for us.

"I will never, however, be able to play walk the ball up the court offense. I know for the rest of my career we will run on offense, I cannot promise that we will always press and trap the entire game. I guess what I am trying to say is, last year was the absolute best time for us and I wouldn't change that."

(What is your favorite thing about The System?)

Coach Freund: "IT IS FUN! My goodness, this is how basketball should look. Get up and down the court and have the fans cheering and the bench is excited. Last year, we played 17 girls in a playoff game. 17 PLAYERS TOOK PART IN A PLAYOFF GAME! What is better than that? Every kid had an effect on every single game. When we met the next day to discuss the game, I was speaking to every kid. Not just eight, but every kid.

"The fun factor and the participation are my favorite things. In addition, they are also the girls favorite things. I can't speak for boys, but I can say that girls are very happy that all their friends are playing. They love the fact that they don't have to feel like they are apologizing to their friends who sat the whole game.

"On a side note, my wife's favorite part was watching the bench cheer the whole game and not feeling uncomfortable in the stands as some parents were talking about me and their daughter sitting."

(What are the biggest drawbacks, if any, with The System?)

Coach Freund: "The biggest drawback is blowouts. Both against you and when you are blowing teams out. When you're getting blown out, there is no major adjustment to make. The only way to get back in the game is to press and shoot and that got you down to begin with.

"We lost a game last year 76-35 and it was team that was even with us talent-wise, but not that night. With any style of play that night they would have beaten us by 20, but a 20 point loss looks a lot better than a 41-point loss when you are still pressing in the 4th quarter. (BTW-we played them again 2 weeks later and beat them 68-45 - the girls last year were so resilient and I think was partly because they played from behind so much early in the game and were used to coming back in the second half).

"In addiion, when we blow a team out it is a tough balancing act. When your kids are already sitting half the game anyway and everyone is playing, how do you handle it? Do you keep pressing and shooting or do you walk the ball up the court and pack in your defense? Never mind the fact that once your kids enjoy playing this way, they never want to do anything else and everyone volunteers to sit out when have to walk the ball up the court."

(You had a great post on the message board last year after your loss in the playoffs, about how much fun your team had all season and how no one wanted it to end. Is it impossible to create that kind of chemistry again? Is it something you can create?)

Coach Freund: "Team bonding is something that we always do, but The System definitely made us closer. We always do fun things as a team, as I believe that every team should do, but every girls team MUST DO. This is the stuff they love. Girls love the feeling of a team. They love the relationships and the sense of community. So we skip practice some days and go to an indoor air castle place or an arcade. We go bowling and then to Friendly's.

"In addition, my family hosts a holiday dinner for the entire team and their families every year. The girls do a secret santa and they play with my kids and I get to talk to the parents. I try to avoid basketball talk (but it always comes up) and we talk about their families and such and their daughters that I coached in the past and how they're doing in college. I also always have little sisters of the girls on my team keep stats for us. We really try to stress family with the girls and make basketball an enjoyable experience for every kid on the team.

"That being said, however, The System makes it so much easier. The kids LOVE the fact that everyone plays.The kids LOVE the fact that this is so much fun. They LOVE when their teammates do well in this style and that is certainly not always the case. There is so much less jealously and much more of a sense of a team. No one feels like if one player is taken off the team the whole team would go down the drain. It is a real team in the highest sense of the word and even I feel like I am part of a team and not a coach on a team.

"So when we lost last year and we had one last bus ride together, I didn't want to spend it crying and being sad, even though we were. I wanted them to have one last opportunity together to think about the season and how much fun it was. I told them that this was my favorite season ever and I thanked them for being the wonderful human beings that are and told them to never change and I hoped they enjoyed this season half as much as I did. I finished by saying that I was watching a documentary on the 'Miracle on Ice' team and after they won everything and met the president and were on the plane heading home, one of them started crying and when his teammate asked why, he said, 'Because it's over.' Even if we have been heading home on bus after winning a state title, I would be crying. I wasn't crying because we lost, but because it was over. Sorry so long, but yes we do things to encourage team unity, but it is definitely also an outgrowth of The System."

No problem there, Coach Freund. Simply wonderful stuff. I have the feeling your teams would play for each other and have the the type of chemistry you describe playing any style. We're just lucky you're running The System. Good luck this season.

Georgia prep coach continues with The System

2010-11-29T16:34:00.000-08:00

Meet Chris Wolski, the boys' coach at North Paulding HS in Dallas, Ga., who is in his fourth season of, as he puts it, "running and gunning." Previously, he had run everything from Princeton, to Blocker-Mover (that sounds interesting!), to Flex, etc., looking for anything to help. He settled on a hybrid of the Grinnell style, as created by coach David Arseneault, and the old Loyola Marymount stuff employed by then-coach Paul Westhead.

So far, he and the Wolfpack are off to an 0-2 start, with a game against Walker HS on Tuesday night. Coach Wolski is in his 14th year of coaching, and in his fourth season with the program, which began exactly four years ago with only freshmen. This will be his first team with seniors.

I caught up with Coach Wolski via e-mail, and here is all you need to know about him and his team:

(How did you come to The System?)

Coach Wolski: "I was at a small school that had no chance of competing. I started researching the philosophy of basketball with kids that had trouble winning and came across Coach A's philosophy; therefore, I was exposed to his system. Previously, I had known about Coach Westhead's philosophy, but nothing about Coach A's philosophy."

(What was your research like when you made the decision?)

Coach Wolski: "As I stated above I researched the philosophy at a previous school. I contacted Coach A and he was awesome in answering my questions via e-mail. I also bought his book and DVDs."

(What has been the biggest challenge at your school?)

Coach Wolski: "The biggest challenge has been getting the parents to buy in to the style. The previous school I was at I was fired because of the system. Literally, I had one board member that didn't think it was 'basketball,' and got me fired. Here, since I opened the school as coach, there has not been as much resistance. It amazes me, though, how much people still do not buy in to the system."

(What about staff? Administration? Players?)

Coach Wolski: "My staff is totally on board. We have control of 6th - 12th grades; therefore, I have 6 teams running and gunning. I really believe this will help sell the system in the long run. My sell to the staff and administration is the fact that we DO NOT have real basketball players. In grades 6-12 I have a total of 5 year-round basketball players. The rest are just good, or great, athletes. Therefore, this system, LMU, gives us the best opportunity to be successful."

(What do you want to get out of The System?)

Coach Wolski: "Ultimately, I want the kids to know what it feels like to totally outwork someone else. They are buying in to it this season wholeheartedly. We are 0-2 to start this season, but they grasp what we are doing and know it is just a matter of being in better shape to do what we do."

(What's been your best experience so far?)

Coach Wolski: "My best experience came the year I was fired. We were up 32 going into the 4th quarter and we have the mercy rule in Georgia. They put 6 minutes on the clock and my players started flipping out about why. I told them why, and one of my least talented kids looked at me and said, 'But coach, down 30 points in a quarter is NOTHING.' Kids believing that they are never out of it is by FAR THE BEST PART OF SYSTEM BALL!"

Amen to that, Coach Wolski. I appreciate his time, and wish him and his team the best of luck during the rest of the season. I'll do what I can to keep you updated.

Galesburg HS continues to roll

2010-11-28T14:40:00.000-08:00

The 3-pointers aren't going in quite as much as they did last season, so those home fans aren't taking advantage of the "Three-diculous" promotion to get free McDonald's triple-cheeseburgers (more on this later). Still, the girls' team at Galesburg (Ill.) HS appears to be "Streak-ing" at the moment and using The System to dominate opponents.

On Saturday night, Jessica Howard made six 3s and scored 21 points, leading the Streaks past Rich East 86-55 in the their own Thanksgiving tournament, their third consecutive victory overall. Galesburg (4-2) made 12 3-pointers in all, tying its season high but falling short of the 13 required to give participating students the coupons for the free burgers. Remember from last year? "Triple-cheesburger" has 13 letters, the Streaks shoot a bunch of 3s, so a local McDonald's agreed to be a part of this. Neat stuff.

Here are the Formula stats, and remember, the final quarter had no clock stoppages:

- Attempted 67 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 40 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 57 percent of its own misses (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 29 turnovers (goal is 26)
- Attempted 12 more shots than Rich East (goal is 20)

Pretty impressive stuff, as was the halftime score: 59-27 favor of Galesburg. Howard was her usual spectacular self, and she had tons of help up and down the roster, with Jessica Lieber (15 points), Jamie Johnson (12 points and 15 rebounds) and Tai Peachey (nine assists) helping out a bunch. Others chipping in included Myra Diggins (nine points), Sadee Hamilton (six points and six rebounds) and Emma Junk (season-high eight points and five rebounds, all on the offensive end).

Here are some thoughts from coach Evan Massey, courtesy of his blog: "I don't know if it is just the quality of this group or if it is the nature of playing 12 kids regularly but at this point in the year, they are extremely unselfish. It seems like they all know they are going to get a chance to play so they are not worried about personal stats. Definitely fun night!"

I couldn't have said it better myself. Of course, I wasn't even there, so how could even comment? Hmm, weird. Anyway, way to go, Galesburg. Coach Massey and the Streaks are off until Thursday night, when they host undefeated Rock Island at 8 p.m. EST. I'll have an update.

Grinnell moves to 4-0 with road victory

2010-11-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

The shots might not be falling as much as coach David Arseneault would like, yet the NCAA Division III Grinnell Pioneers improved to 4-0 with a 100-83 victory at Wartburg on Saturday night, the first one on the road for the nation's highest-scoring team.

Talk about balance -- Matt Skelly led five players in double figures with 16 points (4-of-7 on 3-pointers), with Matt Chalupa (12), Marques Valdez (11), Griffin Lentsch (10) and Jesse Ney (10) getting in on the fun, as well. Lentsch played 17 minutes, the most of anyone, and 13 other players got at least 10 minutes of run. In all, 18 players got on the floor for the Pioneers, who set an all-division NCAA record in their previous game when 19 different players made a 3.

No such luck in this one, not that it mattered. Grinnell finished 14-for-46 from beyond the arc, with Lentsch, Ney, Chalupa and freshman Aaron Levin making two in addition to Skelly's outburst. Here are your (actually, Grinnell's) Formula stats:

- Attempted 85 shots (goal is 94)
- Attempted 46 3-pointers (goal is 47)
- Rebounded 41 percent of its own misses (goal is 33 percent)
- Forced 32 turnovers (goal is 32)
- Attempted 29 more shots than Wartburg (goal is 25)

Again, it's easy to see, if you've been paying attention, that the vital goals are offensive rebounds and turnovers. Meet those numbers and that gives you more possessions in which to shoot. And it's even more prevalent with the Pioneers, since they have been particularly adept at "squeezing the orange," as CBS college hoops analyst Clark Kellogg would say. They turned it over only 13 times themselves in this game, a pretty amazing figure when you consider how fast they push the ball up the court.

Grinnell took control with a 12-2 spurt shortly after the midpoint of the first half, keyed by 3s from Levin, Ney and Dominique Bellamy, that broke the fifth and final tie to make it 37-27. The score was 56-43 at the break, and when the Pioneers scored the first six points of the second 20 minutes, they were off and running. Brian McManamy got three the old-fashioned way with an and-one from in close, followed by a 3-pointer from Valdez, to make it 62-43.

The lead never got lower than nine the rest of the way and Kale Knisley's layup in the final minute pushed Grinnell to the 100-point plateau. That makes Coach A's squad 4-for-4 in reaching that number this season, and it is average more than 117 points so far.

The schedule continues to get tougher, with a Midwest Conference road trip next weekend to favorites St. Norbert on Friday and to Ripon on Saturday. St. Norbert was ranked 10th in the d3hoops.com preseason poll. Good luck to the Pioneers, and you can check back here for the results.

Galesburg rolls again, Eisenhower plays well in loss, McQueen opens with W

2010-11-27T06:54:00.000-08:00

The System keeps getting better and better for the girls' team at Galesburg (Ill.) HS. Of course, coach Evan Massey is one of the reasons why, along with solid efforts from his players.

On Friday night, the Streaks beat Metamora 78-47 at a neutral site, on the court at Knox College. Sadee Hamilton had 18 points and five rebounds, Jamie Johnson added 13 points and six boards and Galesburg forced 29 first-half turnovers on its way to the victory.

Here are your Formula goals:

- Attempted 75 shots (goal is 72)
- Attempted 40 3-pointers (goal is 36)
- Rebounded 51 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 41 turnovers (26 is the goal)
- Attempted 34 more shots than Metamora (20 is the goal)

So despite making only nine 3s (23 percent), the Streaks roll by hitting all five goals. Nice effort. On his blog, Coach Massey called the first-half performance "without a doubt, the best half of defensive pressure we have had since going to 'The System.'" The score was 48-24, and only a bit of a stumble in the third quarter kept the final margin down.

Coach Massey also praised the defense of 1,000-point scorer Jessica Howard (six steals) and Tai Peachey (four steals), while also pointing out how well the point guards have been controlling the ball: in the past three games, Peachey, Paige Klinck and Baylie Boyer have a combined five turnovers, pretty impressive for this style of play.

Galesburg finishes out its Thanksgiving tournament Saturday against Rich East, with game time scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. Hope it continues to go well for Coach Massey and his team.

Elsewhere on Friday night, the boys' team at Eisenhower HS in Blue Island, Ill., lost the final game of its season-opening tournament 94-75 to Leo Catholic HS, a private school in Chicago that featured two 6-foot-7 players in the starting lineup, with a pair of 6-5 reserves on the bench. Tough matchup for any team.

Here are how the Cardinals (2-2) fared on four of their goals:

- Attempted 96 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 47 3-pointers (goal is 32)
- Rebounded 24 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 35 percent)
- Attempted 29 more shots than Leo

Not sure how many turnovers Eisenhower forced, but those four statistics look pretty promising for a first-year System team.

As always, here are the thoughts of coach Mike Curta:

Coach Curta: "What is really hurting us right now is our offensive rebounding and penchant for fouling. We turned over a pretty good team tonight, but the shot differential is skewed because of the amount of trips we are sending teams to the line. Also, this defeats our goal of wearing them down. It seems like when teams are on the verge of melting down, we let them off the hook and give them a rest. With a week of practice we are looking forward to correcting these areas.

"On the positive side, we would have never been in the game tonight playing conventionally. We let it get away in the fourth quarter, but would have been buried earlier the old way. Also interesting to see how more talented teams actually become defensive when playing against this system. (They) were sending two and three guys back to stop our rush. Best question I keep getting is, 'Are you really going to keep playing this way all of the time?' My response, 'Only if someone can find a way to play faster!' I also use the quote a former player of mine made famous everytime someone asks me why we are shooting so many 3s: 'Because there are no 4s.'

Coach Curta and the Cardinals are off until Friday when they play Thornton Fractional North from Calumet City, Ill. Good luck to them.

Finally, the girls' team at McQueen HS in Reno, Nev., opened its season with a 77-57 victory over Truckee. Coach Joe Bischopink was kind enough to share some details, including the fact that the Lancers averaged only 41 points last season. They hit 10-of-25 from the 3-point line and rebounded 40 percent of their misses on offense in the opener

After leading by only five entering the fourth quarter, McQueen pulled away down the stretch. Congratulations to Coach Bischopink and his team, and I'll keep you updated on their progress.

Update on new gig for System guru Dave Arnold

2010-11-25T19:05:00.000-08:00

You remember him, right? He led Whitmore Lake HS in Michigan to a 14-7 record last season while putting up huge numbers, then took his talents to Monroe HS, also in Michigan. Just a reminder of what Coach Arnold saw his team do last season:

- Averaged 90 points
- Made a school-record 356 3-pointers
- Set a Michigan record with 29 3-pointers in a 117-80 victory over Morenci on Jan. 21, 2010
- Enjoyed a 10-game winning streak late in the season, during which his team averaged 94.8 points

I checked in with Coach Arnold to see how it was going getting The System installed at Monroe; he doesn't open his season until Dec. 10, so he has a little more time to prepare. Here is what he e-mailed me:

Coach Arnold: "So far, things are progressing about as expected. Offensively, they're picking up the concepts in drills. However, when we kick into 5-on-5 situations, we still tend to revert to disorganized playground ball. Defensively, we just started with the basic structure this week, so that's a work in progress, but I can tell we have a ways to go in terms of understanding the effort and intensity needed to drive the press. All-in-all, they're picking it up pretty well, but the real test will be the scrimmages (Friday) and next Friday."

Good luck to him and this new set of Trojans (that also was the mascot at Whitmore Lake, in case you forgot). Hopefully, we'll get some info on those scrimmages.