Gopher Women's Basketball Team Has Bright Future-Still a Work in Progress

 The mid 1980s rock group Timbuk 3 couldn't have put it better about the Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Basketball Team.  "The future's so bright. " And it looked bright in the Gophers lone exhibition game as they trounced the UW-River Falls Falcons 104-64 Sunday afternoon at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus.  

It was the first opportunity for fans to see the new freshman class in action that included Mallory Heyer of Chaska, Amaya Battle of Hopkins and Mara Braun of Wayzata.  The other member of head coach Lindsey Whalen's recruiting class, Nia Holloway of Eden Prairie is out for the season due to an injury.  

Heyer and Braun were two of the starters against the Falcons and Braun really stood out in the first half as she hit five three pointers and scored 21 points in the first half.  She finished the game with a team high 23 points.  Heyer looked like the complete player not just on offense but also on defense.  Though she scored only six points, she also had six rebounds  and blocked a couple of shots.  She boxed out really well and her defense is going to be an important asset when they enter Big Ten play.  

What about Battle?  She was a battler when she was the first player to come off the Gopher bench.  She would make her presence known, scoring 16 points, seven rebounds and also had four assists and steals.  Could she be a starter this seasdon if she continues to play like that?  

Another post player that will be a key reserve is Arkansas transfer Destinee Oberg.  It's a name that will be familiar to Minnesota girls basketball fans since she first played at Holy Angels and later at B;loomington Kennedy.  She's the first Kennedy Eagle to wear maroon and gold since Tanisha Bell and she did not disappoint, contributing six points and six rebounds.  Also in the mix was former Watertown-Mayer Royal Maggie Czinano.  Czinano went four of six from the field and scored 13 points.  

Other in-state players who saw brief action were Angelina Hammond of Hopkins, Maria Counts of Providence Academy and Alexa Ratzlaff of Rosemount.  They will get their minutes but hopefully not just in mop up situations.  

So there you have it.  The future of a program that's a work in progress. The regular season starts Monday, November 7 at The Barn against the Western Illinois Leathernecks at 5:30 PM.  Get to a game this season.  They could be a surprise in the Big Ten.  

Armstrong Falcons Advance to Section 5AAAAA Final

 Saturday afternoon was sunny for the Armstrong Falcons as Reggie Carter scored four touchdowns and Marquan Tucker and Kevon Johnson reached the end zone twice to lead them to a 62-31 rout of the St. Louis Park Orioles in Plymouth.  

It was the Orioles who took the early lead as Zach Helfmann, moved to quarterback by head coach Jason Foster, fired a 74 yard touchdown pass to Stefano Giovannelli.  The Falcons would tie the game when Jamen Malone thrown a deep end zone pass to Tucker and he would grab it from 32 yards.  Armstrong would get the ball back after an interception by Nick Brandner and Carter would score from one yard to put the Falcons ahead.  The Zach Helfmann-Giovannelli tandem would strike again, this time on an 81 yard touchdown pass.  Armstrong would be armed with offensive weapons who would score the next two touchdowns.  The first would come on Carter's 66 yard tun down the right sideline and Tucker would haul in a 40 yard pass from Malone that put the Falcons ahead 27-14.  

Armstrong would make two more trips to the end zone in the second quarter on a couple of three yard runs.  The first would come on Malone's keeper and the second on Carter's third touchdown with :58 left in the first half that bolstered the Falcons lead to 41-27.  

There would be some good news for Orioles fans in the second half thanks to the defensive play of Henry Bendickson.  He would intercept Malone's pass and send the ball across the goal line.  On the next possession, the Falcons began their drive at the Oriole 10 yard line and Carter would score his fourth touchdown, this one from seven yards.  Another aspect that would prevail for St. Louis Park would be special teams.  On the Armstrong kickoff, Mason Amelse would drive down the right sideline like traffic on Highway 169 and enter the end zone.  Johnson would wrap up the third quarter scoring for the Falcons with an 11 yard touchdown run and Armstrong led 55-25 at the end of the third quarter.  

The Falcons would send the game into running time in the fourth quarter as Johnson broke through the line and score a 60 yard touchdown.  As time ticked away on the Orioles season, they would end the game when Zach Helfmann bobbled the center snap, recovered the ball and scored from one yard.  

Armstrong improved their record to 7-2 and will host their district rival the Cooper Hawks on Friday, November 4 at 7 PM.  Cooper beat Minneapolis Washburn in the other semifinal game 44-20.  St. Louis Park ended their season with a record of 3-7.  

A Section Shutout for SLP Orioles

 Last May, Stefano Giovannelli pitched a no-hitter to help lead the St. Louis Park baseball team to the state tournament.  On a chilly Tuesday night in October, the Oriole senior quarterback helped pitch a shutout by scoring two touchdowns to lead the host Orioles to a 21-0 shutout of the Minneapolis Southwest Lakers in the Section 5AAAAA Football Tournament.  

The Orioles got the ball to start the game and Giovannelli concluded a 3:39 drive with outstanding footwork.  He kept the ball, cut to the center of the field and went around right end to score a 14 yard touchdown.  St. Louis Park would reach the end zone a second time as AJ Foster got the handoff and sprinted up the middle for a 36 yard touchdown to give the Orioles a 14-0 lead.  

In the second quarter, St. Louis Park got the ball back after Southwest lost the ball on downs.  Once again, it was Giovannelli who would reach the end zone from 14 yards with 1:08 left in the first half.  The Orioles would get the ball back when the Lakers punted on fourth down and Mason Amelse returned the ball, breaking several tackles and displaying outstanding moves like the famed dancer Rudolf Nureyev. Unfortunately, Amelse did not cross the goal line and the first half came to a close.  

Neither team would tally in the second half though Southwest would come close but they were hurt by penalties that set them back and they would come up empty on fourth and 11.  

St. Louis Park improved their record to 3-6 and will travel to Plymouth on Saturday, October 28 to face the Armstrong Falcons at 3:30 PM.  Southwest finished their season with a record of 2-7.  

Mpls. Southwest Lakers-SLP Orioles Section 5AAAAA Football Preview

 The regular high school football season has concluded and the road to US Bank Stadium will go through Plymouth, where the Armstrong Falcons are the top seed and will host the winner of the Minneapolis Southwest-St. Louis Park game Saturday, October 28.  Here's a preview of the lone quarterfinal game.  

if there's one common thread between the Lakers and the Orioles, is that both teams ended their regular season with 2-6 records.  Last Wednesday, Southwest snapped a five game losing streak, that included shutouts from Minneapolis North and DeLaSalle to beat the Minneapolis South Tigers 24-6.  The Lakers backfield is well stacked with two players who broke the 100 yard mark last Wednesday, Connor Klemmensen and Andres Ramos.  Klemmensen was the only one who reached the end zone.  Another running back scored two Southwest touchdowns, Mar'Kwon Frelix.  Frelix concluded the regular season on a high note, scoring his first two touchdowns of the season.  

The key to the game for the Lakers is for the running game to wear down the Orioles defense.  

The Orioles finished the regular season on a free fall, losing their last four games as they were outscored 183-27.  Part of the reason was the loss of quarterback Declan Gaines for the rest of the season due to a concussion, leaving the quarterbacking duties to Stefano Giovannelli.  Also factoring into St. Louis Park's slump was losses to tough opponents Holy Angels, Waconia and Chaska.  In the game against Chaska last Wednesday, the Orioles were beaten 42-6.  Giovannelli completed nine of 17 passes for 46 yards, including a touchdown pass to Manny Kaplan.  The bright spot on defense was Zach Helfmann, who recorded 13 tackles.  

The key to the game for the Orioles is for Giovannelli to get into an offensive rhythm and for the running back duo of Jimmy Hager and AJ Foster to reestablish the running game that has been missing.

The weather picture for Tuesday night is for temperatures in the low 50s to the high 40s so you might want to bring a jacket as well as a blanket.  Game time, as usual is 7 PM.  

Chaska Hawks End Regular Season Soaring Over SLP Orioles

 On a chilly Wednesday night in St. Louis Park, the high school football season concluded with Reese Turner rushing for two touchdowns and Jamarrius Courtney throwing for two more to lead the Chaska Hawks to a 42-6 rout of the host St. Louis Park Orioles.  

The Hawks got the game off to a flying started with a kickoff return into Oriole territory.  Turner would move Chaska closer to the end zone with a 27 yard gain and score from one yard.  The Orioles had a couple of opportunities to even the score but they went 0-2 on fourth down conversions.  

In the second quarter, Courtney threw a left side pass to Aiden Fontaine and he went down the right sideline for an 85 yard pick up that would result in first and goal for the Hawks.  Once again, Turner would put the ball in the end zone, this time from two yards.  St. Louis Park would erase the shutout when Stefano Giovannelli, the new Oriole quarterback after Declan Gaines was ruled out for the season due to a concussion, threw an eight yard touchdown pass to Manny Kaplan and the Orioles cut the deficit to 14-6.  But Chaska was not finished in the first half as Courtney fired a 13 yard strike to Aidan Whicker with :01.7 left to give the Hawks a 21-6 halftime lead.  

Courtney would throw his second touchdown pass in the third quarter when he found Nevin Krause deep in the end zone from 13 yards.  The Orioles did have some life on a trick play.  Zach Helfmann passed to Giovannelli but on the next play, the Hawks Preston Lorenz recovered a fumble so Chaska was back in business.  The Hawks did take care of business as the clock hit :00 and Courtney scored on a two yard keeper touchdown.  

With the game pretty much decided in the fourth quarter, Chaska head coach Bryan Dahl started to utilize his bench and it paid off when Xavier Harvieux ran up the middle from 10 yards to send the game into running time due to the wide margin.  Defense also paid off for the Hawks thanks to an interception from Russell Gillette.  

Chaska concluded the regular season with a 6-2 record and St. Louis Park fell to 2-6.  Section play begins next week.  

Chaska Hawks-SLP Orioles Football Preview

 The 2022 high school football regular season wraps up Wednesday night as the St. Louis Park Orioles host the Chaska Hawks.  

In their last two games, the Hawks tallied 35 points in victories against the Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders and the Orono Spartans.  Not so last Friday against the team that's very likely to be the top seed in St. Louis Park's section, the Armstrong Falcons.  Chaska broke a 7-7 tie on Reese Turner's second quarter touchdown that would eventually be the game winner since the scoreboard result remained stationery in the second half.  The Hawks improved their record to 5-2 with a 14-7 win over the Falcons.  Turner had 34 carries for 140 yards, the highest total since he gained 235 yards against Orono the previous week.  

The keys to the game for Chaska are for Turner to have another outstanding ground game and for quarter back Jamarrius Courtney to be a dual threat like he was most of the season.  He has rushed for four touchdowns against Benilde-St. Margaret's and Cretin Derham Hall.  

As for St. Louis Park, last Friday's game was very Munsterlike, just like the dark and gloomy weather.  The Orioles were washed out by the Waconia Wildcats 55-7.  The St. Louis Park defense was decimated by Max McEnelly's 272 yard performance that also included four trips to the end zone.  St. Louis Park was also minus Declan Gaines for the second straight week due to a concussion, so Stefano Giovannelli ran the Oriole offense.  Giovannelli did not fare well, completing five of 18 passes for 43 yards.  St. Louis Park's only touchdown came from AJ Foster, who led the Orioles with 15 carries for 53 yards.  There was one bright spot on defense as Zach Helfmann recorded 15 tackles.  

The keys to the game for St. Louis Park.  Will this be the week Gaines returns?  Foster has to continue his momentum from Waconia and the defense needs to slow down Courtney and Turner.  

The weather picture for Wednesday should be a little better with the high temperature around 50 degrees.  Dress warm for the regular season finale.  Game time is 7 PM.  

SLP Orioles-Waconia Wildcats Football Preview

 Friday night will be the final road game of the regular season for the St. Louis Park Orioles as they head down Highway 5 to take on the first of two straight Carver County opponents, the Waconia Wildcats.  

Last week's Homecoming game wasn't a happy one for the Orioles as they fell to the Holy Angels Stars 34-8 to bring their record to 2-4.  St. Louis Park was minus their starting quarterback Declan Gaines who was sidelined due to a concussion.  So who would step in to run the Oriole offense?  The answer, Stefano Giovannelli.  Giovannelli's inexperience at quarterback showed through most of the game as he completed five of 16 passes for 56 yards and was intercepted twice.  But there were a couple of bright spots for the Oriole senior.  He ran 13 times for 79 yards and threw a 10 yard touchdown pass to Teddy Dahlin.  On defense, Tony Kruse recorded nine tackles and Mason Amelse had seven plus the game's lone interception.  

The keys to the game for St. Louis Park:  Will Gaines return at quarterback?  If not, will Giovannelli get another chance to prove himself as the Orioles signal caller?  Also, the defense needs to slow down the high powered Waconia offense.  

That leads to a look at the Wildcats, who came up shot last Friday against their Carver County rival, the Chanhassen Storm 37-35.  You'll need only two words to describe the Waconia offense, Max McEnelly.  He made three trips to the end zone against the Storm and ran for 175 yards, giving him 1,137 yards this season along with 17 touchdowns.  McEnelly will head to Minnesota next season and join the wrestling team.  Come on PJ Fleck.  You've got to get him out for football in 2023, you could use him next season when Mo Ibrahim graduates.  On defense, McEnelly also excels, recording eight tackles.  BBrayden Kaczmarek led the Wildcat defense with 10 tackles and Tate McDonald had an interception.  

The keys to the game for Waconia are for McEnelly to have another stellar game and wear down the St. Louis Park defense and the Wildcat defense has got to slow down whover is calling the signals.  

The weather picture is going to be a chilly one on Friday, with temperatures in the 40s.  If you plan to make the trip to Waconia, bring your winter coat as well as a blanket.  Game time is 7 PM.