Pewamo-Westphalia at Portland St. Patrick – – CMAC Girls Game of the Week – – The Bleacher Denizen – – December 10, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, your Bleacher Denizen is off to Portland Junior High where the Shamrocks from Portland St. Patrick will host the Pirates from Pewamo-Westphalia in a Girls Basketball game between two teams with great histories in girls’ basketball. Pewamo-Westphalia has played one game; it was an impressive win over Division 1 Power East Lansing. St. Patrick lost to the Capital Home School Athletic Program in its only game so far.

Of course, this is the first Bleacher Denizen CMAC Girls Game of the Week for this season!!

Pewamo-Westphalia Coach Steve Eklund gave me this information about some of his players. Elly Bengel had a 32 point game against the powerful East Lansing team in their first game. She is a fine shooter and ball handler who can run the point and has a sweet three point shot. Logan Drake provides tough defense and strong rebounding in the middle. Alonna Thelen is a fine defensive player who can cover players either on the perimeter or near the baseket.

Adrianna Eklund is another Pirate who is tall and quick; she also defends well either in the post or on the perimeter. Renell Eklund is a good defender in the post and rebounds well. She also has a good three point shot. Peyton Eklund has a nice three point shot as well.

St. Patrick Coach Michelle Smith provided this information about her players. One of their best players, Mattie Honsowitz, who is a tall, athletic player who scores well in the midrange or in the post is recovering from an injury suffered in last year’s district final and will not play until next week. Grace Rockey has been playing varsity basketball since she was in eighth grade. She is an athletic and versatile player who can defend anywhere on the floor and is a tough rebounder. On offense, she frequently is able to dominate and score inside; she also has three point range on her shot.

Macie Smith is a fine mid-range shooter who defends well either on the perimeter or in the post. Megan Myers scores well in the post. Naomi Hass is a quick, determined perimeter defender. Bella Russman is a fine post defender and rebounder. Lily Sandborn is a point guard who runs the offense and provides good perimeter defense.

It is now time to review the results of this game through the occasionally clear eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league in the days of yore when he attempted to play basketball. He was showing some promise as a shot blocker until the Basketball Powers That Be ruled that he was no longer able to use his pogo stick during games. The blocked shots ended, the other team’s successful layups soared in volume and the Bleacher Denizen’s playing time drastically declined. Alas, some things just aren’t meant to be – – –

Pewamo-Westphalia (hereafter referred to as P-W to avoid wear and tear on your Bleacher Denizen’s aging, frail typing fingers) wins the opening tap. The Pirates miss a three point shot from the side. Alonna Thelen and Elly Bengel tie up the ball. The Possession Arrow has been watching old movies on You Tube and misses the play. The ball is awarded to St. Patrick.

Logan Drake intercepts a Shamrock pass. Naomi Hass gets a hand on the ball and knocks it out of bounds. P-W retains possession. P-W misfires on a triple try from the wing; the rebound goes out of bounds and St. Patrick takes possession. Peyton Eklund gets a hand on the ball, but the Shamrocks are able to recover. Alonna Thelen and Elly Bengel double team a Shamrock ball handler and knocks the ball out of bounds; St. Patrick retains possession. Bella Russman drives and hits a layup to give the Shamrocks the first two points of the game.

The Pirates miss a three ball from the wing. Adrianna Eklund gets the offensive rebound for the Pirates. P-W misses a layup. Adrianna Eklund is fouled on a putback and hits one of her two free throws to trim the Shamrock lead to 2-1 with 6:15 to go in the quarter.

Adrianna Eklund knocks the ball out of bounds; St. Patrick gets the ball back. Adrianna Eklund and Elly Bengel double team a Shamrock ball handler and St. Patrick loses the ball out of bounds. P-W misses a three pointer from the side. Logan Drake knocks the ball out of bounds; St. Patrick retains possession. The Shamrocks commit an offensive foul. Grace Rockey steals the ball for the Shamrocks.

Emerie Smith gets her hand on the ball and causes a tie up. The movie was in a commercial and the Possession Arrow got a great view of the play. The ball is awarded to the Pirates. P-W misses a threeball from the side. Emerie Smith grabs the offensive rebound for the Pirates. P-W misses a three pointer from the side. Emerie Smith gets the offensive rebound for the Pirates. Noami Hass steals the ball for the Shamrocks. St. Patrick misses a driving layup. Grace Rockey hits a putback to give St. Patrick a 4-1 lead.

P-W misses a ten foot shot from the baseline. Elly Bengel gets the offensive rebound for the Pirates. P-W misses a three point shot from the side. Lily Sandborn passes to Naomi Hass, who is fouled as she shoots a layup. She hits one of her two free throws to boost the Shamrocks to a 5-1 lead with 2:44 to play in the quarter.

Renell Eklund passes to Peyton Eklund, who hits a long three point shot from the top of the key for P-W. St. Patrick turns the ball over. The Pirates misfire on a three ball from the top of the key. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow puts the remote on pause and awards the ball to St. Patrick. The Shamrocks miss a twelve foot shot from the baseline. The rebound goes out of bounds and St. Patrick gets another possession.

Adrianna Eklund blocks a Shamrock layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and St. Patrick gets it back. The Shamrocks miss a sixteen foot shot from the wing. P-W misses a driving six foot shot from the baseline. St. Patrick misses a layup. P-W misses a threeball from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and P-W gets the ball back. P-W misses a threeball from the side. St. Patrick is fouled, but misses two free throws. With 35.2 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, St. Patrick has a 5-4 lead.

Grace Rockey knocks the ball out of bounds; P-W retains possession. Brenna Thelen is fouled and hits one of her two free throws to tie the game with 5.1 seconds left in the quarter. Grace Rockey is fouled on the rebound and hits two free throws to give St. Patrick a 7-5 lead with 2.1 seconds to go.

P-W misses a long fifty foot heave at the buzzer. (Basketball cliches can be interesting. In reality, the ball was actually aimed at the basket, not the buzzer.)

P-W inbounds the ball to open the second quarter. Peyton Eklund passes to Elly Bengel, who hits a three point shot from the side to give the Pirates a one point lead. Logan Drake forces a held ball; the Possession Arrow was crying during a sad scene and missed the play; St. Patrick is awarded the ball. Naomi Hass passes to Grace Rockey, who is fouled on a layup. Grace Rockey hits one of her two free throws to tie the game. Grace Rockey steals the ball and is fouled on a fast break layup. She hits one of her two free throws to give St. Patrick a 9-8 lead with 6:58 remaining in the half.

P-W misses a ten foot shot off the dribble and fouls on the rebound. Grace Rockey alertly saves the ball to prevent a Shamrock turnover. St. Ptrick loses the ball out of bounds. Brenna Thelen passes to Renell Eklund, who hits a layup to give P-W a 10-9 lead.

Maddy Weber knocks the ball away from St. Patrick and a teammate picks it up for P-W. The Pirates miss a fast break layup. Macie Smith drives and hits a layup to give St. Patrick a one point lead. Renell Eklund passes to Peyton Eklund, who hits a three point shot from the side to put P-W on top by the score of 13-11.

Adrianna Eklund blocks a Shamrock layup. P-W misses a three point shot from the wing. St. Patrick travels on a drive to the basket for a layup. P-W misses a threeball from the side. Renell Eklund blocks a Shamrock layup. Peyton Eklund passes to Elley Bengel, who hits a three point shot from the side to boost the Pirate lead to 16-11.

St. Patrick misses a twelve foot shot from the baseline. Grace Rockey pulls down the offensive rebound for the Shamrocks. St. Patrick misses a ten foot shot from the wing. Macie Smith gets the offensive rebound for the Shamrocks. St. Patrick is fouled on an eight foot shot from the side of the lane, but misses two free throws. With 1:27 left in the half, the P-W lead remains at 16-11.

Marian Davlin gets a hand on the ball and knocks it out of bounds. St. Patrick takes possession. Grace Rockey is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws for St. Patrick. Adrianna Eklund passes to Elly Bengel, who throws in a long threeball from the top of the key to give P-W a 19-12 lead.

Alonna Thelen steals the ball for P-W. The Pirates miss a three point shot from the side. Brenna Thelen draws an offensive foul from the Shamrocks. P-W misses a three pointer from the side. St. Patrick has no time to shoot before the halftime buzzer lets us know it’s here.

Pewamo-Westphalia has a 19-12 halftime lead.

Grace Rockey has 7 points to lead St. Patrick.

Elly Bengel has 9 points for Pewamo-Westphalia and Peyton Eklund has 6 points.

P-W inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. Lily Sandborn steals the ball for St. Patrick. St. Patrick misses a layup. P-W misses a fast break layup. St. Patrick misses a layup. P-W misses a threeball from the side. Peyton Eklund grabs the offensive rebound for the Pirates. P-W misses a three point shot from the side. Adrianna Eklund gets her hand on a pass; the ball goes out of bounds and St. Patrick retains possession. Peyton Eklund blocks a Shamrock driving layup. Elly Bengel hits a fast break layup to push the Pirate lead to 21-12.

Elly Bengel steals the ball for P-W. The Pirates miss a three pointer from the side and foul on the rebound. Alonna Thelen steals a Shamrock pass and hits a fast break layup for P-W. Alonna Thelen steals a Shamrocks pass and is fouled. Alonna Thelen passes to Logan Drake, who hits a layup to boost the P-W lead to 25-12.

Lily Sandborn passes to Naomi Hass, who hits a long two point shot from the side for the Shamrocks. (Your aging Bleacher Denizen put “3” in his notes, but noted that only two points were added.) P-W misses a three point shot from the side. St. Patrick misses a shot. Peyton Eklund passes to Trinity Pohl, who is fouled on a layup and hits one of her two free throws to give the Pirates a 26-14 lead with 3:00 left in the quarter.

Elly Bengel knocks the ball away from the Shamrocks and Trinity Pohl picks it up for the Pirates. P-W misses a three point shot from the side. Adrianna Eklund gets the offensive rebound for P-W. Macie Smith plays tough defense on the baseline and forces a Pirate dribbler to step out of bounds. St. Patrick loses a pass out of bounds. P-W commits and over and back violation.

Logan Drake steals the ball for the Pirates. P-W misses a three point shot from the side and fouls on the rebound. Maddy Weber knocks the ball away from St. Patrick, but the Shamrocks are able to recover. Alonna Thelen steals the ball for P-W. The Pirates misfire on a threeball from the side. Elly Bengel grabs the offensive rebound. P-W misses a layup as the third quarter buzzer sounds off.

After three quarters, Pewamo-Westphalia has a 26-14 lead.

St. Patrick inbounds the ball to start the final quarter. Adrianna Eklund gets her hand on the ball and knocks it out of bounds. P-W takes possession. P-W misses a three pointer from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and St. Patrick gets the ball. The Shamrocks miss a sixteen foot shot from the side. Bella Russman pulls down the offensive rebound for the Shamrocks. St. Patrick misses a layup.

P-W misses a layup. Logan Drake grabs the offensive rebound for the Pirates. P-W misses a three point shot from the side. St. Patrick misses a three point shot from the wing. Macie Smith gets the offensive rebound for the Shamrocks. St. Patrick misses a layup. P-W misses a three point shot from the wing. St. Patrick misses a three point shot from the side. Logan Drake passes to Alonna Thelen, who hits a layup to give P-W a 28-14 lead.

Elyse Thelen knocks the away from St. Patrick and Peyton Eklund picks it up for the Pirates. P-W is fouled on a fast break layup, but misses two free throws. Marian Davlin hits a layup for St. Patrick. Elly Bengel hits a three point shot from the top of the key to boost the Pirate lead to 31-16.

Alonna Thelen knocks the ball out of bounds; St. Patrick gets the ball back. St. Patrick misses a reverse layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Pirates take possession. P-W misfires on a threeball from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Pirates get the ball back. P-W misses a threeball from the side. St. Patrick misses a three point shot from the side. The ball gets wedged between the backboard and the rim.

Your Bleacher Denizen tries to volunteer to show off his hops by leaping and knocking the ball back to the floor. Alas, he is ignored and someone finds another ball and gets the ball down by throwing it. I would have been glad to help!! Put me in, coach!!!!

The Possession Arrow looks away from a love scene in the movie and awards the ball to P-W. The Pirates miss a three point shot from the side. Renell Eklund gets the offensive rebound for P-W. The Pirates miss a layup. Grace Rockey drives and hits a layup for St. Patrick. Grace Rockey steals a Pirate pass. St. Patrick misfires on a triple try from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Shamrocks get the ball back. The Shamrocks miss a layup. Megan Myers grabs the offensive rebound for St. Patrick and passes to Grace Rockey, who is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws to trim the P-W lead to 31-20 with 1:37 left on the clock.

P-W misses a ten foot shot off the dribble in the lane. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow is annoyed that the climactic chase scene from the movie is interrupted; it hurriedly awards the ball to St. Patrick. The Pirate defense refuses to allow St. Patrick to inbound the ball in the required five seconds; P-W takes possession.

P-W loses a pass out of bounds. Peyton Eklund steals the ball for the Pirates. Alonna Thelen hits a layup for P-W. Megan Myers drives and hits a layup for St. Patrick. P-W dribbles out the clock.

Pewamo-Westphalia wins this game 33-22.

Grace Rockey led the St. Patrick scoring with 11 points. Naomi Hass added 3 points. Macie Smith, Megan Myers, Bella Russman and Marian Davlin each tallied 2 points.

The Pirates’ Elly Bengel led all scorers with 14 points. Peyton Eklund and Alonna Thelen each supported her with 6 points. Renell Eklund and Logan Drake each pitched in with 2 points. Trinity Pohl, Brenna Thelen and Adrianna Eklund each scored 1 point.