 | ||||||
| ||||||
2005-06 Main Page Team Picture Schedule Roster Results Schedule (Fr) Roster (Fr) Results (Fr) | ||||||
Complete article The Notre Dame de Sion Lady Storm must have gotten a good night's sleep Friday. After a dismal offensive performance against the Jefferson City Lady Jays on Friday night, which included a scoreless third quarter, the Lady Storm seemingly hit everything they threw up Saturday afternoon in a 66-49 win over the Helias Lady Crusaders at Rackers Fieldhouse. "We were not aggressive," Helias coach Leslie Verslues said. "We stood back and let them shoot over the top of us." The Lady Storm were deadly from the outside, hitting 10-of-17 3-pointers through the first three quarters. Amanda Barnard was the main culprit, hitting 4-of-5 on her way to 19 points in the first half. "We did not guard (Barnard) well," Verslues said. "We could not stay with her." The Lady Crusaders started the game pounding the ball inside, with Lyndsay Schlup scoring nine of Helias' first 11 points. A bucket by Schlup gave Helias an 11-9 lead with 5:06 to go in the opening quarter. But Barnard hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Lady Storm the lead for good as Notre Dame de Sion took a 21-16 advantage after one quarter. That was just a preview for the second quarter. Barnard scored all of the Lady Storm's points in an 11-2 spurt to start the period as Notre Dame stretched its lead to double digits. The Lady Crusaders got to as close as eight late in the quarter, that coming on a pair of Erica Groose free throws with 1:57 remaining to make it 35-27. The Lady Storm, who led 39-28 at the half, put the game away in the first five minutes of the third quarter. "We went brain dead," Verslues said. Sparked by a pair of 3-pointers by Morgan Henderson, the Lady Storm opened the second half with a 13-0 run to take a 55-28 lead. "We didn't come out ready to play in the half," Verslues said. "That was the game right there. We spotted them so many points, they built their lead in what seemed like no time." The Lady Crusaders scored just one field goal in the quarter, that coming with :02 left on a layup by Schlup, as the Lady Storm took a 60-35 advantage into the fourth quarter. Thanks to some poor free throw shooting by the Lady Storm in the fourth quarter (6-of-17), the Lady Crusaders got as close as 16 points on a couple of occasions before falling by the 17-point final margin. Barnard finished with 22 points for the Lady Storm (11-2). Henderson added 13. Schlup, who was honored in a pregame ceremony for scoring her 1,000th career point earlier this season, scored a game-high 24 points for the Lady Crusaders. Groose totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds. Helias (6-6) is the No. 2 seed in this week's Union Tournament. The Lady Crusaders open against St. Clair at 6 p.m. Tuesday. In the JV game, the Lady Storm posted a 37-18 victory over the Lady Crusaders. Abby Stone had nine points to lead Helias.
Lady Jays pull off upset, 45-38 Anytime you can hold an opponent scoreless throughout an entire period, there's a good chance you're going to pull off a victory. The Lady Jays did exactly that Friday night against the second-ranked Notre Dame de Sion Lady Storm, as Jefferson City upset the Lady Storm 45-38 at Fleming Fieldhouse. After two consecutive losses in the Unilever Lady Jays Holiday Tournament, the win was even sweeter for the Lady Jays. "This has to be the biggest regular season win we've ever had in my four years here," Lady Jays coach Doug Light said. "This is a team that is nationally recognized. We've played a lot of teams like that and haven't beat them in my four years. "This is big for our program." Jefferson City (9-3) raced out to an 11-4 lead in the first quarter before the Lady Storm ripped off 11 straight points to take a 17-11 lead midway through the second period. The Lady Storm's run was a result of Lady Jays leading scorer Brianna Culberson getting into early foul trouble. But Light used it to get Jefferson City motivated. "When Brianna got in foul trouble, I would have used all five timeouts if I had to," he said. "But I wanted to make it clear to them that this is a team, and she can't do this all on her own. "It's going to take everybody on that floor all the time to win this game." It must have taken awhile for that to sink in, because Jefferson City couldn't find an answer for the Lady Storm's Morgan Henderson, who rattled in 14 points in the first half. However, she only added one point in the second half to lead the team with 15 points. That can only be attributed to the play of the Lady Jays' defense in the second half. "At halftime, (Notre Dame) was ahead because we were not doing what we're capable of," Light said. "I told the girls 'I believe we're better than them.' But we had to do some things better." How about holding a powerhouse like the Lady Storm scoreless? That will do it. Brianne Holtkamp gave Jefferson City a 22-21 lead when she hit a jumper off a turnover. From there, Culberson poured in six of her game-high 16 points to give the Lady Jays a 30-21 lead at the end of the third. Jefferson City pushed its lead to a comfortable 13 points to open the fourth quarter before the Lady Storm came storming back. Down the stretch, Notre Dame pulled to within three points by going on a 8-2 run to make it 41-38 with under a minute remaining. But Amber Thomas and Kathryn Ommen nailed clutch free throws in the closing minute to seal the victory. "We knew they had a charge in them, but the kids did a good job of holding them off," Light said. "With the game on the line, Thomas and Ommen really dug down inside themselves and made some big plays." When Jefferson City opens up the first round of the Union Tournament on Monday against Union, Light wants the Lady Jays to learn from this game and keep playing as a team. "We're not even playing on all cylinders (as a team)," Light said. "That's going to be a key for this group. If we can keep playing as a team and learn our roles we will be something to deal with." Notre Dame de Sion (10-2) will take on Helias today at Rackers Fieldhouse.
KTXR LADY CLASSIC THIRD PLACE * Notre Dame de Sion 77, Sacred Heart 59: Morgan Henderson scored 26 points on 11-for-17 shooting to lead four Notre Dame de Sion players in double figures. Hillary Buren added 16 points, and Anna Florzak and Amanda Barnard had 12 each for de Sion (9-1). Leading 33-24 at halftime, de Sion stretched the margin to 55-39 after three quarters and never looked back. Sacred Heart (7-4), which committed 27 turnovers, was led by Caroline Klein and Elizabeth Campbell with 14 points each.
KTXR LADY CLASSIC Misty Meadows and Mike Dunn were looking for tougher competition when their teams accepted invitations to the KTXR Lady Classic. The coaches got what they were looking for Wednesday, as Meadows' Jenks (Okla.) Lady Trojans outlasted Dunn's previously unbeaten and No. 9 regionally ranked Notre Dame de Sion Storm 57-52 at Weiser Gym. Jenks, which advanced to the championship game at 7 p.m. today, will face West Monroe (La.) in the finals, as the Rebels overcame a 10-point first-half deficit to defeat Sacred Heart of Louisville, Ky., 57-44 in the other semifinal. Both Jenks and West Monroe are competing in the tournament for the first time. The Jenks-de Sion game was a back-and-forth battle with 16 lead changes in the first half, but Jenks went on a 7-0 run at the start of the third period and held the lead for most of the second half. Notre Dame de Sion clawed its way back capped by a bucket by Kristen White to give the Storm its only lead, 49-48 late in the final quarter. Jenks junior guard Hunter Peterson answered in a big way, hitting a driving layup and converting a free throw for a conventional three-point play with 1:51 left to give the Lady Trojans the lead for good. The bucket was a shot at redemption for Peterson, who had missed a wide-open layup earlier in the quarter. Jenks (6-0) was led by Jessica White with 15 points. Anna Florzak and Morgan Henderson each had 16 for the Storm (8-1). "We had only two starters returning and you never know how the young players are going to react," Meadows said. "But players like Hunter really stepped up tonight and showed me that they are ready." Dunn thought the loss would benefit his team. "That is why we came down to this tournament, to measure ourselves against the best and I think we did a great job," Dunn said.
KTXR LADY CLASSIC * Notre Dame de Sion 52, Hillcrest 42: There were just enough "what-ifs" in the Hillcrest Lady Hornets' opening game of the KTXR Lady Classic to leave them a little frustrated, and according to coach Jeni Hopkins, hungry for another matchup today. The Lady Hornets (5-4) trailed de Sion (8-0) by as many as 13 points in the second half, but trimmed the Storm lead to six at 47-41 with 1:15 remaining after an offensive rebound and putback by Stephanie Hiller. Shortly after Hiller's bucket Hillcrest got the ball back, moved to its end of the court and were moving the ball around the perimeter. The Lady Hornets' coaches called for a timeout to set up a play. Immediately after the timeout was granted, a 3-pointer from Caitlin Russell went up from the corner and swished through the net, seconds late, that would have trimmed the lead to three. "Yeah, we could've been down three," said Hillcrest coach Jeni Hopkins. "That happens sometimes. You could also look at the fact we missed nine free throws. We had opportunities here or there that could have been the difference." Not the least of Hillcrest's regrets was its shooting percentage, which in the second half dipped to 25 percent (5-for-20). "We knew they were quick, but we came out cold offensively," said Hopkins. "Notre Dame is well-coached and they play very hard." De Sion, ranked ninth in the country by USA Today, was led by Amanda Barnard with 16 points. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these girls," said Dunn. "For three days, we get a measuring stick of just how good we actually are. I love this gym at Drury. I love the whole thing. We need to take full advantage of this experience."
Sion presses its way to another tournament championship The names and details will change, but here’s the CliffsNotes version of how Notre Dame de Sion won a tournament championship: A suffocating press, relentless offensive rebounding and crisp ball movement. On Saturday, that formula produced a 56-42 win over Blue Valley North in the title game of the Blue Springs/Blue Springs South girls basketball tournament. Down the road, it’s sure to produce bigger successes. “I think from the get-go,” Sion senior Anna Florzak said when asked at what point she felt her team was in control. “We had confidence we could go get it done.” Sion improved to 7-0 by staying in command of virtually the entire game. Its full-court press helped guide BV North into 31 turnovers and just 12 field goals. In the first half, when the outcome was decided, Sion won the offensive rebounding battle 10-3. Sion returns everyone from a 24-3 team and looks every bit capable of being better than it was last year. Florzak is versatile enough to help out on the boards and defend the perimeter, and Amanda Barnard kept BV North from crashing down low with four three-pointers. Its depth — 14 girls played for Sion; nine were in the regular rotation — allowed Sion to play fast on both offense and defense, at times overwhelming BV North. “If anything, we just wanted to create tempo with (the press),” Sion coach Mike Dunn said. “We like to get up and down and play a lot of girls.” Sion opened with an 11-2 run and led by as many as 23 early in the third quarter. BV North post player Hillary McCormick managed 13 points, and Callin Taylor added 10, but BV North never closed closer than eight in the first half and 13 in the second half. McCormick led BV North to the Kansas Class 6A championship last year, and the team has high hopes again, even after dropping to 3-1. Sion, though, was just on a different level. “Usually a team can only be really good at three, maybe four different things,” Dunn said. “We always want to make sure one of those things is rebounding.”
HOOPS WATCH Friday’s semifinals of the Blue Springs/Blue Springs South girls tournament set up a rematch of last year’s final. Notre Dame de Sion did its part first by blowing out host Blue Springs South 54-23 behind a balanced scoring attack led by Morgan Henderson’s game-high 19 points, 14 by Amanda Barnard and 10 by point guard Anna Florzak. “The girls played real well defensively,” Sion coach Mike Dunn said of his team, which improved to 6-0. “We’ve held teams to 24 to 26 points now in six games.” In the nightcap, Blue Valley North downed Pembroke Hill in a battle of defending state champions 45-37. BV North’s Hillary McCormick led all scorers with 17. “McCormick’s a good player,” Dunn said. “They like to go inside to her. They play good defense, everything an (BV North coach) Ann Fritz team does. If they get the ball into (McCormick), you might as well put two points on the board.” Sion could reap the benefit of having played more games. The game against Pem Hill was just BV North’s second this season. The Storm beat BV North handily in last year’s final. Still, Dunn is expecting a difficult battle at 7 tonight at Blue Springs South. “We don’t get to play too many Kansas schools,” Dunn said. “It’ll be nice going up against a defending state champion in the top class in their state. “It should be a great game.”
2005-06 Girls Basketball Preview Heard this one before? Among the best girls basketball teams in the Kansas City area are St. Thomas Aquinas, Blue Valley North, Notre Dame de Sion and Pembroke Hill. In related news, Oprah is still rich. Many of the area’s top players return on both sides of the state line. In Missouri, you have Tyra White of Hickman Mills, Tanisha Smith of Lincoln Prep and Danielle Adams of Lee’s Summit. In Kansas, there’re Lindsay Ballweg of Aquinas, Marisah Henderson of Sumner Academy and Danielle McCray of Olathe East. Kansas City’s two defending state champions are also led by top players. There’s Kristina Mingos and Kaniesha Agee at Pembroke Hill, and Hillary McCormick and Micaela Damas at Blue Valley North. So even though it might be the same old teams at the top again, there are some interesting questions to be answered. Just how good is Sion? The Storm has its best team since the Erica Grimaldi-led 2002 squad won a second straight state championship. Everyone is back, and we mean everyone. From Morgan Henderson, who led the team with 15 points per game last year, to Anna Florzak, a 6-foot guard with a deadly jumper and an Iowa State scholarship. Sion went 24-3 and lost to Lee’s Summit in sectionals last year. The team should be better now, with another year of experience, and Kristen White now fully recovered from a ruptured Achilles’. “It’ll be kind of like with Rockhurst football, we know we’re going to get the best from the opposing team, and we have to understand that,” Sion coach Mike Dunn said. “It’s a nice problem to have, but as a coach, it’s difficult.”
Sion spotlight The signing ceremony for Notre Dame de Sion’s two top senior basketball players, Anna Florzak and Morgan Henderson, quickly became a comedy act once Henderson got behind the microphone. She addressed the student body and began thanking teammates and spinning stories. Henderson signed to play next season at the University of San Diego, while Florzak signed with Iowa State. “When I got to San Diego, I was impressed with the energy of the place,” said Henderson, who also considered Harvard. “It’s a program on the rise.” Florzak has been a devoted follower of Iowa State since she and her father began making annual trips to the Big 12 Conference tournament when she was 10 years old. “I wasn’t sure I’d get this opportunity,” Florzak said. “They didn’t come into play until last January. When they offered, I knew immediately that’s where I wanted to go.”
Top prep stars commit to USD (Link to original story) As USD's four seniors prepare for the upcoming women's basketball season, three rising high school seniors have announced plans to follow in their footsteps. Sara VanderHorst, a 5-foot-10 shooting guard, Morgan Henderson, a 6-1 guard/forward, and Hannah Morgenstern, a 5-6 point guard, have accepted scholarships to play for the Toreros next fall. As a junior forward at Amador Valley High, VanderHorst averaged 21 points per game while averaging just under seven rebounds and four steals per game. VanderHorst also played for the AAU East Bay Xplosion, the same club that prepped USD senior Polly Dong. A senior-to-be at Notre Dame de Sion High in Kansas City, Mo., Henderson averaged 15 points and six rebounds last year for the Storm (24-3). The all-state honoree was a part of the Kansas Belles, who won the AAU U-19 National Championship in Orlando, Fla., last month. Morgenstern, a senior at Highlands Ranch High in Lonetree, Colo., led the Falcons (17-10) to the state large school Final Four. Morgenstern, who plays AAU ball with the Colorado Hoopsters, averaged 10 points and 2.5 rebounds during the 2004-05 season, but will sit out the first part of next season as she recovers from ACL surgery last month. All three are expected to sign a national letter of intent during the fall early signing period, which begins Nov. 9. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nicole Vargas: (619) 293-1390; nicole.vargas@uniontrib.com | ||||||
 | | | | | ||