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Seasons change, and so does Woodbury

By Aaron Paitich, Special to the Star Tribune, 01/21/11, 2:53PM CST

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The Royals have made huge strides since the summer


Kristina White has given Woodbury a spark. /Star Tribune photo by Jeff Wheeler

The Woodbury girls’ basketball team has taken some big strides since the offseason — which is a good thing, since it seemed to be driving head coach Dave Preller crazy.

“We were terrible in the summer league and we were terrible in the fall league because it was just a free-for-all,” Preller said. “There was no discipline. There were no good choices being made.”

Some coaching, maturation and good-old fashioned game experience turned all that around.

“We’re so far ahead of where we were. That’s why we’ve enjoyed the success,” Preller said.

That success has placed the Royals in the thick of the Suburban East Conference race with a 7-1 record (10-3 overall) through Tuesday’s games.

The players have been handed many learning experiences this season, several coming through one-point games decided in the closing seconds.

On the one hand, they’ve reigned supreme during crunch time, such as beating conference rival Roseville 67-66 last month. And on the other, Woodbury suffered a final-possession one-point loss to conference leader White Bear Lake because of failed execution.

Senior Michelle Young saw the loss as a way to step forward.

“When you win, it’s great to win,” said Young, a Bradley University recruit averaging 24.5 points per game. “But when you lose you really can learn something from that and so you step back and you really look at what you did right, what you did wrong and the next day that’s when you really come out and work hard and step it up.”

A potent one-two guard threat creates nightmares for opposing defenses. Leading the way is Young, who has doubled her scoring average from a year ago and ranks among the state’s best. She matched a season high with 36 points in Tuesday’s 70-41 victory at Forest Lake. An uptick in three-point shooting gave Young another dimension with which to hurt defenses.

“She’s just blossomed into a much better player,” Preller said. “She can knock down shots with a hand in her face. You have to come out and guard her. And then once you come out and guard her, she’ll blow right by you.”

And once the defense challenges her, many of them are left looking up.

“Her ability to elevate is what makes it fun to watch really because you don’t see many players that can do that, so that’s an excitement factor,” Preller said. “Threes are nice, but when somebody can really attack the basket, and they’re attacking it at a level most girls can’t play at, that’s exciting.”

Several other Royals have been contributing outside the arc as well, including sophomore Kristina White, who is one of the state’s best guards in her class. She’s averaging 13.5 points per game.

But that tandem will not be the sole factor in determining whether Woodbury attains its state tournament goal. The Suburban East and Class 4A, Section 3 are both full of strong teams. It won’t come down to skill, but to overall team play and execution — areas in which Woodbury has greatly improved.

Or as Young says: “It’s playing for the person next to you.”

The Royals are getting there.
 

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