Minnesota Girls High School Basketball Megan Nipe blog

Hello everyone. It has been a very long time since I’ve written last and a lot has happened.
            First of all, like I said before, I started school on August 25th at Anoka Ramsey Community College. I’m taking Sociology, International Literature, Government, and Women’s Biology. All of my classes are going really well so far. I just hit the mid-term mark and I’m still going strong. I hope I can finish the semester the same way with basketball starting in less then three weeks. I will be very busy!!
            On August 31st, the top 25 girls and boys in the state got together at the Target Center for the Breakdown photo shoot, Gameworks, and the Lynx game. That was a fun experience and what was even better was that three of my N.C. Heat teammates were there with me. We took a big group photo and then some other ones with smaller groups of who we play this year or who we played with in the summer. I believe the pictures that were taken will be in the Breakdown book.
            Centennial had a four week long Fall League at Armstrong High School for the last two weekends of September and the first two weekends of October. We had some strong games and came out undefeated! I’m really excited because our team is already showing some great chemistry. Despite the fact that we lost some key players to graduation, the players that didn’t get as many minutes last year have really stepped up. It’s exciting to play with another team that has a lot of potential. Now we’re in the Breakdown fall league at Bloomington Kennedy and Jefferson. We’re 4-0 and this coming weekend (November 2nd) we play Hopkins at 10:30 and Richfield at 11:30 at Bloomington Kennedy. I think that both of these games will be tough and important in seeing what our strengths and weaknesses are.
            This fall was a stressful one to say the least but very exciting and fun at the same time. I took three official visits: Rhode Island, Northwestern, and George Washington. Harvard was one of my top four schools but I didn’t make it for an official. After my visits I had to think long and hard about which place was the best for me. In the end….I chose to commit to George Washington. I fell in love with everything about the school, environment, team, coaches, etc. I can’t wait to get there. First, however, I need to concentrate on this upcoming high school season.
            I’ll close for now since I need to write some thank you cards for birthday gifts I received earlier this month. I won’t let as much time go by before I blog again.

"As we head into the latter part of the summer my focus will switch to the process of selecting a college."

Three months have gone by since my last blog and yet it feels like I was just writing it a week ago. Having this be my last summer with the Heat team and a chance to visit some colleges I’ve been going non stop but enjoying every moment of it.

In late June, Anne Berner and I went out east to do some college visits. First, we went to New York City where we saw our first Broadway musical…Legally Blonde. We both had such a great time! Then we went to Connecticut and on to Rhode Island where we hoped to go to Newport Beach but it was raining…even though we were told it never rains in Rhode Island. (smile) Next we made our way to Massachusetts and enjoyed some time in the Amherst and Boston areas. All in all, I had a really good time visiting the colleges and learned a lot while I was out there. Once I returned home, I concentrated mostly on getting ready for July knowing it was going to be a very important month.

Starting early July it was time to perform and the time to prepare was behind us. Our first destination was Atlanta, Georgia. We played a solid tournament and ended up taking second. The day that tournament ended we flew straight to Orlando, Florida. We played in the AAU National Tournament at the Wide World of Sports at Disney World. Once again, the entire team had a good tournament. Personally this one was harder than the rest. A couple games into the tourney, I pulled my quad and had to sit out for a game and a half and struggled to get back into a rhythm for the rest of the tournament. Thankfully, I had the support of teammates to keep my head up. We got all the way to the championship game but ended up taking second again. After the AAU Nationals ended we headed home for a short break. During that time I was able to see the doctor and have a few ultra sound therapies on my leg. I learned how to wrap it so that I could play in Memphis and not injury my leg further in the process. Since I had to rest my quad I enjoyed some time outdoors in the sun. Tough duty….ha.

Once the dead period ended, we headed to Memphis for the Nike River City Classic. This year was the first time we played in this tournament so we were excited to see who would be there. A few other teammates and I stayed downtown near Beale Street. That was an experience that I probably won’t forget for a long time. One of my favorite memories is the night that Annie, Katya, Mandy and I sang karaoke! No kidding–you should have seen us! Anyway, back to basketball...

Memphis turned out to be my favorite tournament this summer. I think it was the most exciting tourney because we all knew it would be the last time the Heat would play outside Minnesota. We played really well and faced many new teams including a couple teams from the west coast. We took third in this tournament after a tough loss to a California team that won the event. Anne, Tayler, and I were named to the All Tournament Team which was a great honor.

The plan had been to head right back to Minnesota for the North Tartan Meltdown but Anne and I were delayed by flight delays and cancellations. We didn’t arrive home until 4am that Sunday morning so we missed three games due to travel complications. Anne and I then missed the Monday games because we were sitting for placement exams for the college courses we will be taking this fall. (I will write more about this topic later….)

As I think back to the summer I had, I realize it’s pretty hard to beat. The NC Heat remained undefeated in the state of Minnesota and 3rd place was our lowest finish out of state. We played as many games in the month of July as most high school teams play in one season. I don’t know how many teams can say they accomplished so much. In addition, I visited many places that I had never been to before. At one point I counted that I had been to 10 different states in less than two months.

As we head into the latter part of the summer my focus will switch to the process of selecting a college. I have my work cut out for me as I consider my scholarship offers and try to learn enough about the schools and the basketball programs to find the best fit for me. It will probably get stressful at some point but I’m trying to enjoy every step of it knowing that it won’t ever happen again.

"It was a big milestone for us! It was our sixth consecutive state championship."

Since I haven’t blogged in a few months…let me give you an overview of how things have been since our high school season ended.

A couple weeks after our section final loss, my mom and I took a trip with my sister Emily (who lives in LA) to Palm Springs and Santa Monica/Beverly Hills/West Hollywood for a week. It was incredible and I fell in love with Los Angeles. Even though I told myself I was going to take the week off from basketball to relax, I found myself in the gym with my sister’s boyfriend, Michael, playing pick up games with 30 year old men. It was a little different from playing with the boys at the gym. Ha. These men were bigger and stronger. I still had fun. I was teased for playing defense and we won the game by a buzzer beater (not shot by me).

In April, AAU got into full swing. We opened the season in North Carolina finishing third. With half of our team being new, I feel we did pretty well but there was definitely room for improvement. I played on the UNC and Duke main courts which was a great once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was cool to see what it’s like to play on the floors you see all the time on TV. The weekend after we got back we played in the Minnesota State Qualifier. We ended up winning the championship against the Minnesota Stars by two points. That made us the number one seed for the State Tournament which happened two weeks ago. We won the state championship. It was a big milestone for us! It was our sixth consecutive state championship! Tayler, Katya, Anne and I have been the four core players who have been on the team all, or all but one or two, of those years. It was special to share our last state title with them.

Last weekend, Tayler and I attended the Nike Skills Camp in Indianapolis. It was one of the best camps I’ve been to. It taught me so much to bring back and use to get ready for next season and better yet, the next level. The only downside is that I’m still sore. Ha. I have this weekend off, tournament-wise, and then I believe we play in Woodbury at the end of May.

SCHOOL IS ALMOST OVER!!! Don’t get me wrong, most of the time I don’t mind school, but lately I have been more than excited for summer. Another exciting thing I should mention is that I took my ACT Test for the second time in April. My plan was to take the better of the two scores. I scored a 28! Even though my family teases me about taking it again “to get a good score” (smile) I can look forward to other things besides testing in June. Lol.

"The hardest part of this year being over is the loss of 6 unbelievably incredible seniors."

            Well…this is probably the most difficult blog I’ve had to write so far. Last Monday we handed in all of our equipment. It felt much too soon. It’s hard to deal with disappointment but I suppose the best thing to do is to remember the good things about it and move on. So that’s what I’m going to do.
            Thursday, March 6, we played Osseo at Anoka High School for the section championship. It was a hard fought game but in the end Osseo came out on top.   They played a great game. Both fan sections were crazy and I’ve never had more fun playing than in that game even though it ended in an unexpected way. Centennial Cougars ended their season 27-1.
            The hardest part of this year being over is the loss of 6 unbelievably incredible seniors. Right now I still see them every day at school but when that’s over I’m sure it will get much harder.

Kay Kay- even though she transferred from Highland her sophomore year, she came right on the team and had a big impact. I still don’t quite know how she gets the lay ups she gets but it works for her. She’s headed off to George Washington next fall and I know she’ll do just as great with them and she did with us.
Kayla Blom- One of the craziest passers I’ve ever seen. One second you’ll see someone passing to her and the next second somehow you’re holding the ball. She’s definitely going to be hard to replace.
Emily Becken- I’ve played with Emily for four solid years and she’s somehow learned to know where her teammate is headed and knows exactly where to throw it. It’s kind of like a 6th sense. Emily is such a goofball off the court; she always knew how to make me laugh even on those tough days.
Kaylee Buffalo- Defiantly my biggest coffee buddy (always need one of those). Kaylee was so much fun to play with because she was always in such a good mood and we could always just laugh with each other. I’m going to miss her very much.
Emily Dewitt- Probably one of the better three point shooters. I swear I’ve only seen her miss a few of them this year. Em is my gym buddy outside of practice. We go to the YMCA almost every weekend and we’ve made so many memories.

Next season, we will still have a talented bunch of girls back and I’m looking forward to playing with them! It’s kind of weird how there is still a spring, summer, and fall sport that has to take place before we play again, but I’m sure time will fly by and before I know it, it will be tryouts again.
Well, this Tuesday starts the AAU season. I play for the NC Heat. I’m very excited about it because this is our last summer season as a team and I’m going to enjoy every moment possible of it.

Today, I’m going to watch the 3A and 4A State Championship games! It should be exciting!

" Tuesday is also senior night. It will be hard to speak about the seniors because I’ve grown so close to all of them, it’s going to be a sad night."

It’s been awhile…… Well, to start, on February 9th I took my first ACT Test. It was a long four hours but I’m hoping it was the only four hours I’ll have to sit through it. That same day, we were supposed to have a rematch game against Moorhead since the first Breakdown game was canceled. However, because of the snow up in Moorhead, the freeway got shut down up there and the game got canceled a second time. I don’t think we’ll be able to make up the game before the season ends.
            The third quarter of school is well under way. I think next week is mid quarters in fact. My classes aren’t too bad which I’m thankful for with the bball schedule getting more and more busy until mid march. I have Spanish 3, Choir, American Lit/Comp, and Academic Writing (a class that gets you prepared for college writing). I registered for next year and am planning to PSEO at least part time. PSEO is when a high school student goes to a college and takes classes actually at the college. I think it will help me get some required classes done with so when I graduate, I’ll already have some college credits.
            Well, this upcoming week is the last week of conference play. We will play at home against Elk River on Tuesday and at Champlin Park on Thursday. Last Friday, we played Osseo and it was a close game. We ended up winning by about 15 but anyone who was there can tell you that it wasn’t a 15 point game. Tuesday is also senior night. It will be hard to speak about the seniors because I’ve grown so close to all of them, it’s going to be a sad night. We have five seniors and so five non-seniors speak about each one of them. I get to speak about my friend Kaylee Buffalo. I’m excited, it should be fun.
            Anyways, I’m going to get ready to catch some zzzzz’s. Practice at 11.

"This past week at church I heard some great quotes that really reminded me of our Centennial basketball team."

January 8th was a night of celebration for Centennial. With close to 50 signs around the gym, the community came out and cheered me and my teammate Kay Kay on to our 1000th point milestone. It was such a special night for both of us and it’s something I’ll never forget. We played Blaine that night. I needed 7 points and Kay Kay needed 12. Our team did a tremendous job with helping us get to that point. After that was over, however, it was back to business. We went on to win that game, along with the other three that have happened since. We have played Anoka, Elk River and Osseo in the past week and a half. Our win against Osseo last Friday night, put our team at the top of the conference. Tomorrow we face Maple Grove at their house.

            Two weeks ago, on Friday the 11th, the Centennial girl’s basketball team was invited to be on Sports Wrap for being selected team of the week. It was very exciting to be picked team of the week considering there are many great teams in the metro. I got asked to do an interview and I made it through despite my camera shyness.
            Well, if you ask anyone on the Centennial basketball team, they would tell you that our weekends are filled to the top with working camps, coaching our little kid’s teams and refereeing. This past weekend, my in-house team won the 4th grade division championship. We like to say it’s because of our great coaching and not because the other team made 2 baskets on the wrong hoop. Anyways, we had the ceremony last night and during that the varsity boys and girls have a shooting contest that consists of three pointers and elbow shots. The girl’s team won for the first time since I’ve been at the high school.
            Today, I took another practice ACT test in preparation for the February 9th real ACT (the day of our game vs. Moorhead). That day, I’m going to have to switch mindsets from academics to basketball quickly because I’ll have to rush to get on the bus up to Rogers. We’re playing the make-up game from the Breakdown Classic.
            This past week at church I heard some great quotes that really reminded me of our Centennial basketball team. The first one was “What you do today, impacts tomorrow.” I really believe this because I feel that if you don’t work at getting better at things right now, you’re not going to see results later. Even when you don’t feel like it or aren’t in the mood to do anything, even taking a little step towards being more successful or getting just that much better will show. The next quote was “There is no such thing as overnight success.” This one reminds me a lot about Coach Becken because she works us hard day in and day out, physically and mentally. Centennial didn’t just all of the sudden become a good team, we have been working extremely hard and she is right there to keep pushing us to keep getting better. I feel that our team isn’t where we are by accident.

The holidays are already over. It went by too fast like it does every year and school starts back up tomorrow. My favorite part of the break was that all of my sister’s came home for the week and I got to spend time with them. I only see them a few times a year since they live so far away so I love when they come home. Emily (25) headed off late Thursday for a vacation in Thailand. Liz (28) went back to California Saturday night. She had New Years Eve plans with friends there. Laura (18) is still at home until mid January because her classes don’t start back up until then. She attends Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Our team went into the holiday break with a few conference wins under our belt. We played in the Hill-Murray Tournament again this year and were the defending champs from last year. We had to continue to play hard through the tournament facing non-conference teams. Kay Kay had a great game on Saturday night both offensively and defensively and held Chaska’s leading scorer to 13 points. Our team’s record is now 10-0. We play at Park Center on Friday.
After a tough practice we celebrated the holidays and our tournament championship by spending the day at Mall of America and then coming back for a New Years Eve party.
Our team feels like we’re improving on areas like our defense and know we have other things to improve on if we want to go to state. Every day at practice we strive to get better because we know our competition is.
Till next time…..Megs

"Our team felt very honored to be ranked #13 in the USA Today’s Super 25 rankings."

A lot has happened since the big Thanksgiving Hamline Tournament. Much excitement and a few surprises. Our early non-conference games are over and we have won our first two conference games. Our next one is this Tuesday at Andover and then we practice the rest of the week before our Christmas break. Our team was pretty disappointed about the cancellation of our Fergus Falls game against Moorhead but the game has been rescheduled for February 9th. I’m not quite sure where it will be played yet. That day, however, is the same day I plan to take the ACT test. Luckily they don’t interfere with each other.
            After the win against Central we had expected to be one of the top ranked team in the state but no one expected to be nationally ranked. Our team felt very honored to be ranked #13 in the USA Today’s Super 25 rankings for girl’s high school basketball teams throughout the country. Also, we have had a couple of nice articles in the paper and it feels good to have the team get recognized for all the hard work we do day in and day out. The best thing is that everyone is staying humble about it all and we all have our feet firmly on the ground. (I have a feeling that if any of us started to act otherwise, Coach would be quick to change it. Haha)
            We are all excited for Christmas because what comes along with the holiday is our team’s tradition of a Secret Santa gift exchange. I’m also planning on hosting the New Year’s Party. We play in the Hill Murray Tournament a couple days after Christmas and we hope to take it all. If we all play our game, I feel we will be successful.
            This time of year things can start getting very hectic! Today I had to steal away a few hours to do some Christmas shopping since I haven’t really had too most free time lately. Tomorrow we have practice from 5:20p - 7:20p. After practice I will have 20 minutes to clean up and put on a black gown for my Choir Concert. I sing in the Centennial Treble Choir and the Bel Canto Choir. We will see how well that goes. Hopefully I won’t look like I just stepped off the court. At the end of the week my three sisters start arriving back in Minnesota for the holiday week. Liz (28) and Emily (25) both live in California. Laura (18) is a freshman at Marist College in New York. I’m ecstatic that they will be home. I miss them all so much!
            Well, the homework is done so I’m off to get ready for some much needed sleep.

A lot has happened since I last blogged. The first week of practice was three hours a day for six days. Coach was on a mission! I can’t remember running so much at the beginning of a season. Coach has been known to say “we won’t ever lose a game because we’re out of shape.” She means it.
As the beginning of last week rolled around I wasn’t feeling too well but I figured it was because I was just tired. Tuesday the team scrimmaged Eastview and St. Francis. Both of those teams were tough and should have good seasons. Wednesday I found myself in the doctor’s office because I seemed to be getting worse. I could have gone home to rest, but that meant I wouldn’t be able to come to practice and if I didn’t go to practice, I wouldn’t have been able to play all of Friday’s game. So I went back to school and went through practice. Luckily, coach realized the team was tired and she took it easy on us…one of the many things I was thankful for this year. Haha. I rested and ate and rested some more on Thursday and when Friday came I was ready to roll. I tried to put feeling “under the weather” behind me and just focus on the game. We won by 21 points. Rosemount is a good squad and we were happy to come away with our first win of the season.

            Saturday was the “big game” against Central. Last year we lost to them by seven points and we wanted to prove we were even better this year. The game got off to a rough start and I remember looking up at the scoreboard and the score was 4 to 14…we were down. My shots weren’t falling in the first half and I was getting frustrated. Coach Becken kept me in and kept encouraging me. We were down by five points at half time and our whole team knew we could do much better then that.
            We came out of the locker room after half time pumped and ready to get this game going. It was a battle back and forth for the rest of the second half but we pulled away with only a couple minutes left. When the buzzer went off I was so happy! Our whole team did so well and I was so proud of everyone.
            I was fortunate enough to get the MVP of the tournament but in no way do I feel like I was the only reason we won. Kay Kay (Kiara Allums) came into the second half a force to be reckoned with. Our Guards Emily and Kayla handled the ball phenomenally against Central’s tough press, and without our Posts (Bridget Schuneman and Megan Waytashek) their “big’s” would have dominated in the paint.
            We play on Tuesday against White Bear and then we head up to Fergus Falls to play Moorhead on Saturday. I’m so excited to get the season started. I know we can be the best.

            The first day of tryouts is complete. It was hard, rigorous, and everyone was bending over in exhaustion by the end, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Last year we ended our season on a not-so-satisfactory note and I’m more than ready to get back at it. The way I see it, we have some unfinished business.
            Today, our practice mostly consisted of drills working on speed and the overall athletic ability of each person. Plus, coach always throws in a few killers every now and then. With our first game only a week and a half away, we have a lot of work to do in a short period of time. Whenever I think I’m going to keel over from exhaustion, I just think there’s really only a long week of practice and then we have a day off for Thanksgiving!!!
            A new quarter just started. I’ve already had a few tests and a lot of homework so I know I’ll have to stay on top of everything to do well, especially in Honors Pre-Calc. (But I have my math buddy Lauren Bechetti in class with me this quarter so I’ll be good… ) After our intense basketball practices, I’m still on an energy high so I don’t have a problem staying awake to finish homework. Speaking of homework, I have a lot to get done yet tonight.

            The last week of the quarter starts tomorrow! It went by very fast but I’m excited because that means that basketball starts in two weeks. I can hardly believe it! I can’t get ahead of myself though. I have to stay focused in class and finish the last week strong.
            These past couple weeks have been non-stop for me. Over MEA I visited a few schools, which was fun but very tiring. I have discovered many things that I want in a college and also, things that I don’t care for as much. I visited a very large public university; a medium sized one, and a smaller private school. What I found is that there are pros and cons to each environment. I visited with some of the trainers at the schools and found that their training program is much more intense then high school “weights” would be. According to them, a female athlete should be able to bench her body weight and squat one and a half times her body weight, do ten pull ups easily, do twenty five REAL push ups, and be able to run up and down the court twice in 28 seconds….nine times in a row. What’s most important is to find out where I fit the best.
            With tryouts two weeks away from this Monday, I only have a few sessions left of my speed, strength, and agility program. I feel like it has helped me a lot with many things to get me in shape but I know I still have to work out on my own. I usually take my best friend Hannah Steele, who is a 5’2 guard, to the gym with me to work on three-point shooting and dribbling. Also, I’ll take my other best friend Tayler Hill, and we work on everything in the book. I prefer working out with my friends than by myself because there is someone else there pushing you to go harder.
            Last night, my parents and I went to a musical at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater called “Les Miserables”. It was a great musical but it got over at 11:00 and we still had a 45 minute drive home. That would have been fine but I had to be up at 7 this morning because I referee games for our CBA in-house teams. At 8 a.m., Hannah Steele, Megan Waytashek and I coached our fourth grade team to a victory! It was our first game of the season so we were very excited.
            You can see that life has been pretty busy for me. The real fun starts in two weeks.

            Another busy week is under way. This weekend in fall ball our split Centennial teams played each other. The split team I’m on was happy to win the contest. We also played Andover and won that game. The Centennial White team is undefeated so far and we have two games left next Sunday.
            In preparation for the season, we started our open gyms. We had one last Tuesday and another one this Friday. It’s fun to get together with my teammates again to just scrimmage, even though we have to share the gyms with the boys.
            I took my practice ACT test on Saturday. It was a long four hours but I know it was worth it. I go in for my results on Thursday so we’ll see how it went. Right now the current plan is to take the ACT during the winter months.
            Like many juniors and seniors, I will be using my MEA break to go and take some unofficial visits. I’m just starting this process and am looking forward to seeing big schools, small schools, private ones and public ones.
            I love fall because I can go watch other sporting events. Last week I was at the Spring Lake Park homecoming game, and tonight I was at our Cougar volleyball game. Once basketball starts I rarely make it to any other sports like hockey even though when I do go, it’s fun to watch.
            The best thing about fall that I didn’t mention is that IT’S MY 17TH BIRTHDAY SATURDAY!!!!!

           Fall is officially here. I personally love the fall, but there are many things I will miss about the summer. Mostly, I will miss my summer team, the NC Heat. We had an awesome summer winning the Deep South in North Carolina, the Minnesota AAU State Tournament (for the 5th year in a row), and US Junior Nationals in Chicago. Also, we took fourth in the Atlanta tournament.
           With the start of school brings many other responsibilities besides homework. Which, by the way, seem much tougher than sophomore year. I started a workout program called Acceleration. It’s a program that works specifically on the sport you’re in. I work on my speed and quickness mostly and once in a while they throw in a ball for me to dribble while working on agility. On my own, I go to the gym to work on my three pointers and ball handling because those are the two aspects of my game that I think need the most improvement.
            This week will begin Centennial open gyms. I’m excited and ready to play with my school team again. I think if we work hard enough we can be very successful this year so I get excited and pumped thinking about the upcoming season. During the summer, we hang out together and keep the friendships we’ve made with each other and every once in a while we have a team sleepover, usually at my house, just to get together and have fun.
            Well, I’m off to play my fall ball games at Blaine. More later….Megs

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