Lady Rebels Drop Their Opener To Rogers

I was able to see the Champlin Park girls basketball home opener against Rogers. CP started Ashley Metcalfe (12), Natalie Kapphahn (12), Kate Darnell (10), Alyse Kaml (11) and Rachel Leitz (12). The 19 girl Champlin roster had nine sophomores on it.

The game gets off to a very slow start and there is really no flow to the game. Half way thru the 1st half CP leads Rogers 12-9. Neither teams offense is effective as can be expected in a season opener. CP 21 - Rogers 13 in a very sloppy 1st half. Rachel Leitz with a couple of half ending 3's for CP.

Varsity boys basketball players Jasper Duberry, Dillon Hager and Eric Sanstead in attendance along with football all-star Brandon Marquartd who is passing on basketball this season.

Rogers miss a ton of chip shots and lay ups but still start the second half with a 10-0 run to take the lead 23-21 using a full court press and trapping defense. CP brings in another sophomore, Melanie Hill, who is able to handle the Roger pressure and is effective on the defensive end as she makes a couple of steals to get CP back in the game (look for Hill to get more minutes going forward as she is able to do the 4 D’s … dribble, drive, dish and defend while playing with a lot of confidence) and keep Rogers close.

Arianna Fuller (another sophomore) makes a 3 and is fouled ... they count the basket as a 2 and NOBODY notices it as she misses the free throw as the Rebels temporarily claw back in the game. Fuller is a talented sometime too aggressive sophomore guard who will defintelitely make a name for herself once she gets a better understanding of the game.

Roseville 35 - CP 31 with 2 minutes left as the lady Rebels get no closer and go on to lose 42-34.

Fun to watch a girl’s game as all I ever see is boys games. I was surprised with the number of unforced turnovers and the lack of height for both teams, however, I was very impressed with Rogers full court press as they got steal after steal and used this defense as their offense.

Kudos to sophomore Hannah Marthaler who saw some meaningful minutes in the first half off the bench as she was effective but looked as if she wasn’t expecting to play and played great defense.

Not a great shooting performance from the lady Rebels overall (from the floor or free throw line) and the number of turnovers they had didn’t help. Fuller and Hill at the guards for the next 3 years will be frightening for other teams as one or both will easily be all conference players by their senior years.

CONGRATS to Rogers on getting the win!