MyParkTeam

Friday, 2/15/08 @ SLP H.S.
Girls Freshmen vs. Cooper

The Freshmen fell, 52-14, to a great Cooper team Friday afternoon.

The good news is that Park was consistent, scoring seven points in each half. The bad news is that Cooper scored 20 points in the first half, and 32 in the second.

Trailing 9-0 to start the game, Mara Olson grabbed an offensive board and hit the putback to cut the lead to 9-2, but Cooper scored the next four points before Olson hit a putback off another offensive board.

Paris Delaney took a charge, followed by a three-pointer (off the glass!) by Olson to make the score 15-7 Cooper.

Olson took a charge, but Park couldn’t capitalize, and the half ended with Cooper leading 20-7.
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Olson hit a pull-up jumper in the opening minutes of the second half, giving her all nine of Park’s points to that point. Cooper went on a huge run to take a 35-9 lead, before Katie Caron hit a bank-shot after grabbing an offensive rebound.

After a 6-0 Cooper run, Olson weaved through four defenders and hit a layup to make the score 41-13.

Over the final five minutes, Park could only muster a free throw by Alexa Verner, and Cooper cruised to a 52-14 win.

Park had many bright spots despite the loss. Olson, Delaney and Verner each took charges, and Park had five players with at least three rebounds.

Stats:
Mara Olson—11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 steal
Katie Caron—2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal
Alexa Verner—1 point, 5 rebounds, 1 steal
Nyumuli Tshiteya —5 rebounds
Leigha Sledge—5 rebounds, 1 assist
Dalonda Gray—1 rebound
Paris Delaney—1 rebound

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“Magic” Mara Olson Just Misses Triple-Double
Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008 @ SLP H.S.
Park Freshmen vs. Spring Lake Park Panthers

Mara Olson filled up the stat sheet like Magic Johnson, just missing a triple-double, and Park cruised to a 42-29 win over Spring Lake Park.

Cortney Frakes got Park on the board on an outside jumper, and Paris Delaney grabbed an offensive board and hit the put-back to give Park an early 4-2 lead. After the Panthers tied the game, Olson nailed a three-pointer, and Katie Caron hit from outside off a nice pass from Delaney to put Park up 9-6.

Olson hit from outside again, followed by an Alexa Verner jumper for a 13-8 lead, then a Delaney block led to an Olson lay-up and a 15-8 lead.

Caron found Olson for an open jumper for a 17-10 lead, and, after a Panther hoop, Frakes made a steal and lay-up to end the half with Park leading, 19-12.

Early in the second half, Park made a conscious decision to force the ball inside to let Leigha Sledge take advantage of her strength in the paint. On back to back possessions, Olson and Caron found Sledge inside for baskets, and Sledge was fouled on the next possession, and she hit one of two free throws to push the lead to 24-14.

Shakia Martin hit one of two free throws for a 25-14 lead, and on Park’s next possession Olson nailed a three to put park up 28-15 with 9:44 left in the game.

Olson, a tenacious defender, ripped the ball away from a Panther (an oriole got a ball away from a panther?) that led to a Caron jumper.

After the Panthers cut the lead to 32-18, Olson hit a running bank shot from the free throw line, a-la Ward Cleaver, for a 34-18 lead.

Frakes caught fire as the game was ending, and hit three outside shots in the last four minutes, followed by a Caron 15-footer, and the game ended 42-29.

Olson was one rebound shy of a triple double in the game, and Frakes and Caron were both deadly from outside.

Stats:
Mara Olson: 16 pts, 9 rebounds, 10 steals, 1 assist
Cortney Frakes: 8 pts, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
Katie Caron: 6 pts, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Leigha Sledge: 5 pts, 1 rebound
Alexa Verner: 3 pts, 1 rebound
Paris Delaney: 2 pts, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 assist
Dalonda Gray: 2 rebounds, 2 steals
Nyumuli Tshiteya: 1 rebound
Raquel Uribe-Kauhaihao: 1 steal

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Friday, Jan. 11, 2008 @ SLP H.S.
SLP Freshmen vs. Irondale Knights

Park lost a heart-breaker Friday afternoon, falling to Irondale, 35-34.

Irondale dominated the first half, with Park scoring only nine points. Trailing 1-0, Mara Olson hit a jumper from the baseline, and Leigha Sledge grabbed an offensive board and hit a put-back for a 4-1 Park lead.

After Irondale tied the score, Olson scored on a nice drive to put Park up 6-4, but Irondale went on a 5-0 run to take a 9-6 lead.

Cortney Frakes had a steal and lay-up to pull Park within one, 9-8, but over the last 5:30 Park could muster only one point, a free throw by Paris Delaney. The half ended 16-9 Irondale.

After Irondale scored the first basket of the second half, Katie Caron nailed a long jumper to cut the Irondale lead to seven, and after another Irondale basket Frakes nailed a three-pointer to pull Park within six, 20-14.

Trailing 24-14, Park’s Dalonda Gray nailed a lay-up off a nice pass from Olson, then Caron nailed a long three-pointer to pull Park within five, 24-19.

A Caron free throw cut the lead to four, and a great offensive rebound and put-back by Frakes brought Park within two!

Park tied the score with 8:27 left when Gray scored off a nice pass from Olson. After an Irondale basket, Park’s Shakia Martin had a putback off an offensive board, and Park tied the game again a minute later when Olson scored on a drive with 3:50 left.

Gray hit back-to-back jumpers to put Park up by four, 32-28, and after an Irondale free throw, Frakes nailed a deep jumper for a five point lead with 1:30 left.

Irondale hit one free throw and a three-pointer to pull within one, 34-33, but things still looked good for Park because they had the lead, the ball, and only 20 seconds left. Unfortunately, Park committed a turnover which led to an Irondale lay-up, and Park called their last timeout with 2.5 seconds left, down 35-34.

Park couldn’t get a shot off before the horn sounded, and the game, disappointingly, ended.

Stats:
Cortney Frakes—8 pts, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
Dalonda Gray—8 pts, 4 rebounds
Mara Olson—6 pts, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Katie Caron—6 pts, 3 rebounds
Leigha Sledge —2 pts, 7 rebounds
Shakia Martin—2 pts, 5 rebounds
Paris Delaney—1 pt, 5 rebounds, 1 assist
Nyamuli Tshiteya —1 block

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Friday, December 7, 2007 @ Benilde St. Margaret’s H.S.
St. Louis Park Freshman Girls vs. Benilde

Park was a bit overmatched by their cross-town rivals, and fell, 40-19, Friday night at Benilde.

Benilde dominated the boards in the first half and pushed the ball up at every opportunity. Park had trouble getting back on defense, and Benilde was up 24-11 at the half.

Leigha Sledge hit a free throw to open the second half to pull Park to within 12, but Park would not get any closer.

Trailing 33-12, Mara Olson showed off her athletic ability with several outstanding plays. First, Olson hit Shakia Martin with a nice pass for a lay-up. On Park’s next possession, Mara Olson drove the lane, her shot was blocked and she was knocked to the floor as Benilde took control of the ball. But, Olson got up, sprinted up-court, and stole the ball from behind, pushed the ball up-court and was fouled. Olson made one of two, which didn’t exactly get Park back into the game, but it did show the tenacity with which Olson plays.

With a few minutes left in the game, Olson hit a bank shot from close range, and Alex Verner ripped down an offensive rebound and scored inside as the buzzer sounded.

Park’s scoring was sporadic but balanced, with Paris Delaney, Shakia Martin, Mara Olson and Alex Verner each scoring 4 points; Courtney Frakes added 2, and Leigha Sledge had a free throw.

Olson led Park with 5 steals, Martin led with 7 rebounds, and Amber Pruitt was very good on defense throughout the game with 4 steals.

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Friday, November 30, 2007 @ Richfield High School
St. Louis Park Freshman Girls vs. Richfield

The St. Louis Park Freshmen opened the season in impressive fashion Friday afternoon, beating Richfield, 31-15. Park scored 21 in the first half, then called off the dogs in the second half, adding only 10.

Cortney Frakes led the Orioles with 10 points, Shakia Martin added 8, Paris Delaney 7, Katie Caron 4 and Dalonda Gray 2.

“We took good care of the ball, and didn’t have many turnovers,” said Coach Diane Tolzman. “We also played tough defense.”

Players not in the scoring column, but also playing well in the victory were Mara Olson, Amber Pruitt, Leigha Sledge, Myamuli Tshiteya and Alexa Verner.

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