Semifinal Night! (Weather Permitting...)

[GateKeeperRefugee]

So we're down to the Final Four and two of the four teams were expected to be here when we started last week, the other two weren't, which could make for some interesting hoops.

3 Conrad vs. 7 Ursuline - Ursuline is The Undertaker of girls' hoops - they keep sitting back up after getting knocked down. Knocking off Sanford in the quarters earned another semi trip and a chance at another revenge win against young and talented Conrad. Maggie Connolly's still playing first team All-State ball and Kay Wulah and Olivia Mason are getting back into game form at the right time, which helps the Raiders out immensely. For Conrad, Julie and Stefanie Kulesza will likely be the first pair of sisters ever to make first team All-State in the same year and Ny Whittlesey has become one of the state's top post players. As much as another Ursuline title would be an amazing story, I just get the feeling Conrad's time is now and for the following two years at least. Conrad wins it 57-47.

1 Caravel vs. 5 St. Thomas More - Caravel handled these same Ravens by 34 on Valentine's Day, so while they should win this one, they should be prepared for a challenge. STMA's guards are slightly better than Howard's, though Caravel definitely has the advantage in the paint. Can the Bucs finally become the bride instead of the bridesmaids? We'll find out Friday night. Caravel 62, St. Thomas More 44.

 

[Justabasketballfan]

Conrad Vs Ursuline-Ursuline- There defensive matchup problems all over the place in favor of Conrad. The main matchup problem is Stephanie Kulesza. And the reason why I say this is the only player technically able to guard her is Kay Wulah size wise. Kay’s mobility is still an issue and with just fully getting back fatigue is a big issue. Kay is knocking on 6 feet and with her long arms and reputation to block shot will be asset as part of their defense. They could also bring in Kaliegh White another 6 footer to rotate in defensive spurts when they go man to man. The problem truly out of all of this is that Ursuline will have to extend their defense past the three point line instead compacting it in the paint. Which will be a problem getting solid rebounds against Whittlesey if she can camp in the paint solidly. Wulah is better rebounder and Olivia is very active but isn’t as solid enough to handle Whittlesey in the paint. The key will be if they can get the rebounds and have Wulah and Olivia rim run to out run Whittlesey and get easy lay-up they will be in good shape. Ursuline cannot do the 3 point battle with Conrad they will lose. They will have to run on missed shots and then spread the floor and continue to attack Whittlesey in the half court set by taking her away from the basket and then drive on her. Both Kay and Olivia are outside shooters with in the past couple of games so Conrad will have to honor that.

Conrad- Conrad got here based on their three point threats and Whittlesey’s offensive rebounding. Whittlesey doesn’t have great post moves to isolate in the paint one on one. But she cleans up all the misses. She is also improved from the high jump shot to add to her dimension. The way for Conrad to beat Ursuline will be to put Whittlesey on the weak side box and on the strong side clear it out for a guard on guard pick and roll or pick in flair with the sisters if they go man to man. Ursuline can’t go zone Conrad will shoot them out of the zone. The other option is to set off screens away from the ball to get the sisters free to shoot. They are improving on attacking the basket but the core of them are three point shooting, so sending them to the basket would be best.

Winner- If Ursuline’s defense is on point I see Ursuline winning in a close game. If Conrad gets to shooting well and they can’t keep Whittlesey off the boards. Conrad could win by 10 points. Ursuline wins by 5


Caravel Vs St. Thomas More- St Thomas More- People for some reason consider this team young. I feel they are very experienced except for being this deep in the play-offs. They did not have a great schedule and the strong teams they played they got beat bad during the season. Which really was only Sanford. Now here is the funny scenario of this team. All of the teams they lost to in the regular season (Except Sanford) they beat in the play-offs to get to this point in the play-offs. They avenged most of their loses this year in two very close games to get to the final four. Now they face Caravel. A team that is balance on paper from top to bottom. Shockingly enough both teams weakness is the other team’s strength. They key for St Thomas more is there point guard play and scoring from that area. DahNaija Barnes is a scoring machine from the point position. I don’t see them putting Cauley on her if they go man to man. Marvel is the best defender on the team so that could be the match up that slows St Thomas more down. Defensively St Thomas more will have a hard time dealing with Kendra Warren. Her inside presence will hurt them bad. And if she gets them in foul trouble they have no bench to defend. St Thomas more may due more zone than anything to contend with her. St Thomas more may try to run to get Kendra out of the game in transition from defense to offense.

Caravel- On paper caravel is the best team from top to bottom. They have a deep bench and serviceable players who can fill in. There not a big three point shooting team. They are a solid mid-range shooting team. They play sound defense and will attempt to control the tempo of the game. Marvel is the engine. She plays both ends of the floor very well. While St. Thomas more has won both of their play-off games in close fashion in last 2 minutes of the games, Caravel did not play well vs Howard leading up to this game. Howard had well into the double digit turn overs and yet the game was still close. They still have wide spread scoring amongst there team which makes it hard to key in on one player. This will not be the case. Kendra will see more action at attacking the middle and pounding the inside in order to wear down St Thomas more weakness in the painted area. Caravel will slow the game down in order to get Kendra in the painted area. So if you looking for a fast and exciting game this will not be it.

Winner- If Caravel gets the big players in foul trouble with Kendra Warren Caravel will win along with their bench play. If St Thomas More gets out and runs to keep Kendra off the floor they can win, if they can keep that pace for the entire game with a little bench. Caravel wins by 10

 

[84rider]

Semifinals moved to Friday, js

 

[SenatorPride]

Defensively St Thomas more will have a hard time dealing with Kendra Warren. Her inside presence will hurt them bad. And if she gets them in foul trouble they have no bench to defend. St Thomas more may due more zone than anything to contend with her. St Thomas more may try to run to get Kendra out of the game in transition from defense to offense.

Caravel- On paper caravel is the best team from top to bottom. They have a deep bench and serviceable players who can fill in. There not a big three point shooting team. They are a solid mid-range shooting team. They play sound defense and will attempt to control the tempo of the game. Marvel is the engine. She plays both ends of the floor very well. While St. Thomas more has won both of their play-off games in close fashion in last 2 minutes of the games, Caravel did not play well vs Howard leading up to this game. Howard had well into the double digit turn overs and yet the game was still close. They still have wide spread scoring amongst there team which makes it hard to key in on one player. This will not be the case. Kendra will see more action at attacking the middle and pounding the inside in order to wear down St Thomas more weakness in the painted area.

Caravel +10 is about right but your analysis is wrong Kendra only scored 4pts in the paint in the last game. These girls play AAU with each other so they're familiar with each others games. Kendra style plays into STMA up and down game that makes it easier to defend her in the post. Where she killed them was the (4) 3 pointers she made. Her other 2 point came from the foul line. She talented but not impossible to defend down low if you know how to, but her jumper when on can kill you!. The key is Caravel Otlowski and STMA's Lynch and if STMA gets into foul trouble it's over. I feel Caravel wins it easily because of their depth but if they play like they did against Howard and STMA hangs around until the 4th qtr they could pull off a shocker.

 

[Filmore00]

Got another good feeling about Ursuline knocking off Conrad unless they exerted too much energy celebrating the win vs Sanford. It looked as though Ursuline was celebrating a championship after the Sanford game. We shall see. Caravel wins by 20+.

 

[Filmore00]

A shot clock is definitely needed but since Delaware has never had one, as a coach you have to be prepared. And Noonan and Ursuline were not prepared at all. He did the same thing vs Sanford and was very fortunate to pull that one out. Not the prettiest of games last night but both teams battled. Not a big fan of Noonan and his jumping up & down screaming to try to intimidate the opponents. Can’t believe a Catholic school allows that nonsense. I’ve witnessed his antics 4-5 times this season and its completely ridiculous. Refs should have given him technical in each game. Constantly out of his coaching box. Then his bench players looked ridiculously foolish with there antics trying to imitate what they see in TV. I really thought that Noonan and Ursuline had more class. Connelly can’t be the main player. She struggles majorly being the top dog. She played better the past years sitting in the corner and not carrying the load. Julie Kulesza proved she should be the player of the year once again. I thought Kulesza pulled the ball out way too soon and it almost cost them. They also didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball late but making your free throws are key and they were 13-14 for the game.

 

[big-picture]

Lol

 

[big-picture]

A one possession game,and you say they wasn't prepared. The bottom line is the best team won and that is all. Great job UA and good luck to Conrad and Caravel!!!!!

 

[Filmore00]

Let me clarify. Noonan wasn’t prepared for Sanford’s stall or delay & again he sat back & allowed Conrad to hold the ball. Not that they weren’t prepared for the game

 

[Nightrain44]

Let me clarify. Noonan wasn’t prepared for Sanford’s stall or delay & again he sat back & allowed Conrad to hold the ball. Not that they weren’t prepared for the game

I didn’t see it that way. I thought Ursuline did a half decent job with pressure on Conrad’s stall ball which created a few key turnovers which were close to contributing to an Ursuline win. They tried doubling the ball to get it out of the sisters’ hands and forced I think two Conrad timeouts from the pressure of the traps. I didn’t like how much time Ursuline took off the clock on offense with under 20sec left and didn’t put up a shot which they made until under 3sec left. Also it appeared Ursuline didn’t make it a strong effort to put someone else on the line down the stretch other than the sisters and had opportunities to foul others. Decent game though with a lot of talent on the floor.

 

[GateKeeperRefugee]

Thing with Conrad is that all the starters are reasonably good foul shooters, even Whittlesey's somewhere around 75-80 percent, so it's pick your poison. But that was a great game and I think Monday will be another good one.

 

[Onlooker7]

A shot clock is definitely needed but since Delaware has never had one, as a coach you have to be prepared. And Noonan and Ursuline were not prepared at all. He did the same thing vs Sanford and was very fortunate to pull that one out. Not the prettiest of games last night but both teams battled. Not a big fan of Noonan and his jumping up & down screaming to try to intimidate the opponents. Can’t believe a Catholic school allows that nonsense. I’ve witnessed his antics 4-5 times this season and its completely ridiculous. Refs should have given him technical in each game. Constantly out of his coaching box. Then his bench players looked ridiculously foolish with there antics trying to imitate what they see in TV. I really thought that Noonan and Ursuline had more class. Connelly can’t be the main player. She struggles majorly being the top dog. She played better the past years sitting in the corner and not carrying the load. Julie Kulesza proved she should be the player of the year once again. I thought Kulesza pulled the ball out way too soon and it almost cost them. They also didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball late but making your free throws are key and they were 13-14 for the game.

Wow....Really. Connolly had a fantastic year all considering (i.e. young teammates, injuries, etc). No one has more help than Julie K. She has had a good year and is a candidate for POY but don’t forget she has Steffanie K. amongst others. Steffanie K is probably a slightly better player overall than her sister.