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Posts Tagged ‘Basketball’

Stone sizzles, Baerum bows out

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , , , on April 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone would like it if you got out of her way. (Photo property Marianne Maja Stenerud)

She exited like a champ.

Coupeville’s Makana Stone capped her second season of professional basketball with a dynamic performance in Sunday’s championship game of Norway’s Kvinneligaen postseason tourney.

Leading Baerum with a team-best 14 points and 11 rebounds, the former Wolf ace did everything possible to carry the league’s #2 team to the upset.

Unfortunately for Stone and her teammates, their foe, #1 Ulriken, went 26-1 this season for a reason.

Holding off Baerum 66-46 in the finale of a three-day, double-elimination tourney, the league’s regular season champs added the playoff title to their accomplishments.

Stone and Co., the only team to upend Ulriken during the regular season, finished 20-7, claiming 2nd place in both the regular season and postseason.

Baerum opened the playoffs with wins over #7 Storm Ungdom and #3 Asker Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Ulriken controlled Sunday’s showdown, though the game was close after one quarter of play, with the top seed clinging to a 15-13 lead.

The champs pushed the lead out after that, going up 34-25 at the half and 52-35 coming out of the third quarter.

Stone netted her 14 points on strong 7-11 shooting from the floor, while adding three assists and two steals to her stat line.

Baerum’s Julie McCarthy chipped in with 12 points and nine boards, while Ulriken got 19 points apiece from Stine Austgulen and Aurora Sørbye.

This was Stone’s first season in Norway, after she played her rookie season in England.

Playing in 26 of her team’s 27 games — the flu sent her to the sideline on one game day — Coupeville’s progeny finished with 468 points, 292 rebounds, 66 assists, 65 steals, and 11 blocked shots.

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Winner, winner, play for that championship dinner

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , , , on April 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone lines up a shot. (Photo property Marianne Maja Stenerud)

Revenge, delivered with cold precision.

Earning some payback for a loss in the regular-season finale, Coupeville’s Makana Stone and her Norwegian pro basketball teammates rolled to a big playoff win Saturday.

Baerum, the #2 seed from the Kvinneligaen, bounced #3 Asker 84-68 in the semifinals of the eight-team, double-elimination postseason tourney.

That sends Stone and Co. to the championship game Sunday, where they will face top-seeded Ulriken.

Baerum sits at 20-6 heading into the finale, while their foes are 24-1, with their only loss coming in the regular season’s next-to-last game.

The team which beat Ulriken that day?

The one which wears light blue uniforms and features the #3 scorer in Coupeville High School hoops history.

Baerum, powered by a game-high 31 points from Abbey Hoff, jumped on Asker quickly, roaring out to a 25-7 advantage by the first break.

From there, Stone and her associates kept the lead at 45-30 at the half, then stretched it out to 65-46 heading into the final frame.

The former Wolf, who leads Baerum in scoring this season, battled through foul trouble Saturday while still putting together a solid stat line in limited minutes.

Stone finished with seven points, seven rebounds, six assists, and two steals against Asker.

On the season she has racked up 454 points, 281 rebounds, 63 assists, 63 steals, and 11 blocked shots.

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Stone an ace in playoff opener

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , , , on April 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone rumbles. (Photo property Marianne Maja Stenerud)

Win and move on.

Back on the court for the first time in almost three weeks, Makana Stone and the Baerum women’s professional basketball team survived their playoff opener Friday in Norway.

The #2 seed in the eight-team, single-elimination tourney, Baerum edged #7 Storm Ungdom 54-43 to advance to the semifinals.

That game, against #3 Asker, goes down Saturday, while #1 Ulriken and #4 Ullern vie in the day’s other game.

The winners meet in the championship bout, which will be played Sunday.

The quarterfinals victory lifts Baerum to 19-6 and was sparked, as usual, by its Coupeville ace.

Stone knocked down a game-high 16 points, including drilling a pair of three-balls, while snatching five rebounds and making off with two steals.

Storm Ungdom finished the regular season with a record of just 2-21, but came out primed for an upset, jumping to a razor-thin 12-11 lead after one quarter of play.

Baerum righted the ship after that, using a 15-7 run to pull ahead 26-19 at the half, before pushing the advantage to 41-33 heading into the fourth.

Abbey Hoff and Julie McCarthy each snatched 13 rebounds, with Hoff tickling the twines for 10 points to give Baerum two players in double digits.

Stone, who is wrapping up her first season in Norway, and her second as a pro hoops star after debuting in England, continues to pile up the stats.

On the season, the former Wolf has 447 points, 274 rebounds, 57 assists, 61 steals, and 11 blocked shots.

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Stone steady, team stumbles

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , , on March 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolf grad Makana Stone looks for a crack in the Norwegian defense. (Photo property Marianne Maja Stenerud)

Regroup and get ready for the playoffs.

That’s the mission for the Baerum women’s basketball squad, which saw its eight-game winning streak busted Sunday in the regular-season finale.

Despite a 19-point, 11-rebound performance from Coupeville grad Makana Stone, the Norwegian pro hoopers fell 74-60 to always-tough Asker.

With the loss, Baerum finishes the regular season at 18-6 and in second place in the seven-team Kvinneligaen.

Asker is 17-7, while Ulriken, sitting at 23-1 — with its only loss coming to Stone and Co. — claims the regular season title.

Baerum jumped out to a 20-16 lead Sunday, but struggled in the second quarter and fell behind after its rivals went on a 21-8 run.

Stone and her associates narrowed the gap back to 55-51 heading into the fourth quarter, but Asker hit its shots down the stretch to hold on for the win.

Coupeville’s progeny, who is in her second season of pro ball after playing in England as a rookie, tops Baerum with 431 points.

Stone has also collected 269 rebounds, 57 assists, 59 steals, and 11 blocked shots while playing in 23 of her team’s 24 games.

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Perfection, denied!

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , , on March 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone looks for room to rumble. (Photo property Marianne Maja Stenerud)

No undefeated season for you!

Sparked by their Coupeville hoops prodigy, Baerum shocked previously flawless Ulriken Sunday in Norwegian professional basketball action.

With former Wolf ace Makana Stone going off for 16 points and 11 rebounds, she and her teammates held on for a 58-48 win.

The victory, the eighth-straight for Baerum, lifts it to 18-5 with one regular season game left to play, while Ulriken falls to 21-1.

Stone and Co. face off with Asker (16-7) Sunday, Mar. 26, then head to the playoffs.

While Ulriken had already clinched the best regular season record of any of the seven teams playing in the Kvinneligaen, Sunday’s win was a huge shot across the bow with the postseason fast approaching.

Baerum, which had pushed the league leaders hard in previous meetings this season, led from start to finish, outscoring its foe in every frame.

Stone and her running mates jumped out to a narrow 10-8 lead at the first break, then stretched the lead to 23-19 by the half.

The third quarter was the highest-scoring frame of the game, with Baerum using a 19-16 run to carry a 42-35 advantage into the fourth.

Stone doled out four assists and made off with a steal to go with her 16 and 11 double-double, while fellow American assassin Abbey Hoff topped all scorers with 21 points.

The pride of Coupeville has racked up 412 points, 258 rebounds, 56 assists, 58 steals, and 11 blocked shots in her second season of playing professional basketball.

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