Kristen Killoran- Maple Valley

[BballFan1307]

just wondering what you guys think? could she possibly be a miss bball candidate? i just looked on ndhsaa.com and saw in her first game she put down 42 points. she's just an amazing athlete.

[rep]

just wondering what you guys think? could she possibly be a miss bball candidate? i just looked on ndhsaa.com and saw in her first game she put down 42 points. she's just an amazing athlete.

i think she has as good of chance at being a candidate as anyone in class b with the exception of neubauer who is basically a given barring some kind of injury. she plays good defense, has been playing varsity for years, is basically a game-changer all the way around. now the trick is to make sure everyone is pronouncng her last name right...

[the mask]

i think that she can do it she is a great athlete all round and state champ in track even. i think that if she keeps up those kind of numbers all season long then she will be a no doubt ms. bball canidate.

[ICU]

On the bubble is my vote right now

[hoop_fan1]

42 is very impressive, anytime an athlete puts up numbers like that, you know they have scoring talent.
I'll play the skeptic, even though I think she should be a candidate, why is her team picked 3rd in her district? If her team can do better than that, then I'd say she is definitely deserving, because it would show her strengths other than just scoring.

[pbhoopsters]

If we were talking about the top athlete in ND I think she would be my pick. However, we are talking about Miss Basketball. She certainly will be in the running but I think she will have to overcome some voting politics. I think voters typically have a Class A bias when it comes to this award. I think part of this is because these athletes get more pre-voting publicity.

Two Class A players that have received alot of publicity and have college offers are Ashley Privatsky (Devils Lake) and Alex Feeney (Bismarck). I suspect voters will recognize this and they will be candidates. There will probably other Class A players who will get some consideration as well. Now we are down to 3 more candidates. Just in Region 1 Kristen will be competing with Sammi Schmidt (FCT) who will be playing with the University of Mary and Mandi Bindas from Kindred who has led her team to the state tournament the past two years. Yes, all three could be candidates could be nominated but will voters select 3 players from the same Class B Region? Plus Haase from Lidgerwood could be considered a dark horse in Region 1.

Christine Miller from New Town and Sammi Baldwin from Grafton could be candidates. I believe both New Town and Grafton stand good chances of going to State giving both of these young ladies a lot of good publicity. I think Kristen is a long shot but certainly would not have any problem is she was nominated. Us talking about her does not hurt her chances either.

[Baller]

\I think voters typically have a Class A bias when it comes to this award. I think part of this is because these athletes get more pre-voting publicity

I think this is true in Boys...but histroy indicated that this is not true in girls...there have been many more class B girls than Class A girls winning miss basketball

[EDC]

If we were talking about the top athlete in ND I think she would be my pick. However, we are talking about Miss Basketball. She certainly will be in the running but I think she will have to overcome some voting politics. I think voters typically have a Class A bias when it comes to this award. I think part of this is because these athletes get more pre-voting publicity.

Two Class A players that have received alot of publicity and have college offers are Ashley Privatsky (Devils Lake) and Alex Feeney (Bismarck). I suspect voters will recognize this and they will be candidates. There will probably other Class A players who will get some consideration as well. Now we are down to 3 more candidates. Just in Region 1 Kristen will be competing with Sammi Schmidt (FCT) who will be playing with the University of Mary and Mandi Bindas from Kindred who has led her team to the state tournament the past two years. Yes, all three could be candidates could be nominated but will voters select 3 players from the same Class B Region? Plus Haase from Lidgerwood could be considered a dark horse in Region 1.

Christine Miller from New Town and Sammi Baldwin from Grafton could be candidates. I believe both New Town and Grafton stand good chances of going to State giving both of these young ladies a lot of good publicity. I think Kristen is a long shot but certainly would not have any problem is she was nominated. Us talking about her does not hurt her chances either.

I have seen all of these players play except Miller. The short of it is I would pick the two Class A players listed (as well as some other Class A players not listed) ahead of the Class B players you listed. It is not that way every year but I believe this years’ Class A senior class is above average - better than the Class B candidates. This is not a put down on Class B. If I were to pick a team I would pick the Class A players this year.

[rep]

i forgot about miller...i thought she graduated. watching her at state last year, she was a wrecking ball...i think she might be one of the better 'just give her the ball and let her go to work on possession after possesion' kind of players i've seen in the last couple of years. great player.

[pbhoopsters]

I'm not saying I would not pick other Class A players either. I simply am not familar enough with some of them to talk about them. The point I am making is that though Kristen is a great athlete it will be tough to break into the Candidates List. My early season pick however would be that Ashley Privratsky will be this year's Miss Basketball.

[EDC]

I'm not saying I would not pick other Class A players either. I simply am not familar enough with some of them to talk about them. The point I am making is that though Kristen is a great athlete it will be tough to break into the Candidates List. My early season pick however would be that Ashley Privratsky will be this year's Miss Basketball.

You have certainly seen a lot of ND basketball and ND basketball players so your opinion is respected. Class B has all the normal age old problems of statistics accumulated against day in day out inferior competition compared to "A". Some of the big "B" scoring averages would be shut down in "A" Didn't Devils Lake JV stay with DP?

[cubsfan]

It's too early to tell, but I'd say she's "on the bubble."

scc is never wrong so I'd say she is on the bubble too.

[pbhoopsters]

DL JV did stay with Dakota Prairie - they lost by 10. However, I do not consider DP a class B powerhouse this year. In my opinion they have two "go to" players in Jenna Gillett and Madi Lamb. I do not think they have enough balance to compete with a team like Grafton. I think Madi Lamb (Junior)is one of the most under rated players in Class B however. She can hanlde the ball and score. She is an extremely quick defender too. I look for her to be a good club ball player next summer.

[vballfan06]

The thing about Killoran---I think overall her skills could be alot better. BUT, I believe she's the most athletic HS kid in ND. When you watched her in vball, some of her fundamental skills made you just cringe, but her ability to see the court---her competitiveness--her jumping ability/quickness--second to none. She'd put up a ton against alot of Class A teams too, because she a nightmare to match-up against.

[hoop_fan1]

I didn't even ask who they played when she got the 42, that would also be significant, most coaches pull a top player before they have a chance to score that much against a team they are dominating. Nonetheless, it is an accomplishment.

changing the subject a little, it doesn't really matter who the candidates are, I think privatsky could just as well be given the award already, i'm sure someone will disagree with me.

[The stokker]

does anyone have her stats from last nights game against GCC im pretty sure they played GCC when i saw the score on the news it was a close game

[BballFan1307]

I didn't even ask who they played when she got the 42, that would also be significant, most coaches pull a top player before they have a chance to score that much against a team they are dominating. Nonetheless, it is an accomplishment.

changing the subject a little, it doesn't really matter who the candidates are, I think privatsky could just as well be given the award already, i'm sure someone will disagree with me.

the game that she had 42, she scored 30 points in the FIRST half. thats a pretty amazing accomplishment if you ask me

[EDC]

Scoring 42 against anybody is a big accomplishment.

To me it makes a difference HOW points are scored. A team full court presses and you score a lot of points in short order off of the press is one way. Comes down to what skills do people consider defines a "good" basketball player.

Here is a list of possibilites: Good shooter (set shooter and can go to the basket and finish), Good creator (for yourself and creates opportunities for others and actually passes to the open person), Good athlete, Leader, Smart player, Quick player, Good defensive player (actually plays defense), Strong player, Intense player, Good post moves (Can you score down low against taller or stronger players or do you get shut down and only can score against players you are taller and stronger), good rebounder (Is someone who averages 12 rebounds and 6points a game a good bb player) and on.

By the way, is a good player selfish or unselfish with the ball?

[morethanagame]

I will admit that she is an amazing athlete. Killoran is definitely a defensive player. I bet that over half of her 42 points came off of steals, which is definitely and amazing number. Not to take anything away from her, but play a zone and dont send anyone out on her and lets see what kind of numbers she puts up. I bet that she scores less than 10 points. I see her mid/long range shooting as her weakness. There isnt anyone in the state who can match up with her 1-on-1 though, so the more power to her. If this vote was for best female athlete I would vote 100% yes, but if we are talking about best female basketball player, I'm not so sure I could give that one to her.

[BballFan1307]

she had 28 poiints against GCC. and last night went for 42 AGAIN against Valley city.

[EDC]

From the Valley City Time-Record "Killoran lead the Raider resurge in the third quarter with getting steals and swooping to the basket for layups. She later hit a three to put the Raiders up by 18. Killoran rolled up 42 points with 26 in the second half"

Two things that caught my eye. I've said it matters how you get your points. If Killoran gets most of her points on layups it means she is fast and can steal the ball. Making layups, in my mind, doesn't make you a great ball player. To be fair, it does say she made a three. MV won by 34 and Killoran scored 26 points in the 2nd half. I wasn't there, but it begs the question if she could have been pulled earlier. I remember that Privatsky had her big night against VC and DL was accused of running up the score. No doubt Killoran is a good player, but some of her stats are suspect in my eyes taken in the context being compared to some of the better Class A players.

[daherd]

Killoran would be a standout player on any team in the state no matter what class. Her athleticism and work ethic are 2nd to none on the court. Ya she does get a lot of layups off of steals. How can you hold that against her? All good players find a way to score easy points. I have seen teams play a soft zone on her and let her shoot outside and she still gets to the basket at will. She is not a good 3 point shooter but if you leave her open from 15ft she is pretty good. I wasn't at the Valley City game last night but I heard that they played a little zone. So much for holding her to under 10 by playing a zone. Her two 42 pt explosions this year have came against weaker competition but last year she always seemed to score over 20 against good teams. The only way I can think of to lock her down is don't turn the ball over against their press. I would have to say if she keeps this up all year she will have EARNED a shot at being a Miss basketball candidate.

[BballFan1307]

yea. fast break lay ups may be easy, but is it easy getting the steal for the lay ups. Not many players in the state could score that many points of just their defense alone. She is an amazing athlete. Good luck to her the rest of the year.

[EDC]

She is a great athlete even though her stats might be inflated against inferior competition and maybe staying in games longer than needed which is not her fault and there is nothing she can do about it. Instead of an average of 27 pts a game she would probably get 15 a game in Class A which is still good. Any class A team would love to have her. Is she being recruited for college basketball and if so which colleges? Congratulations to Kristen on all your hard work. You are an amazing athlete!

[BballFan1307]

i'm not sure whos recruiting her, i dont even know what sport it would be for. She's a standout in VB, BB, and track. she could play at the college level in either one. congrats.