Crystal Howard Tears ACL

[HuskerFan86]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=38&u_sid=628684

Crystal Howard, a junior guard at Omaha Central HS, tore her ACL in a game last week. Howard is one of the most highly sought after players in the class of 2004-05. She has already been offered a scholarship from Nebraska, and is receiving interest from many top prgrams including Tennessee.

[ldlbfn]

Saw that article also. Man, sems those ACL's are hitting more often. Saw the article several days ago on Katie Montgomery. sounds like she is recuperating well and playing pretty good. Have you seen her play?? also what do you think about the younger Robinette sisters?

[HuskerFan86]

I have seen Katie play once this season when Pius X took on Norris over the holiday break. She looked very good just like she always has. I think she is still a little unsure of the knee, and maybe a little reluctant to make some of the really aggressive moves.that she was making last year. Regardless of the knee, Katie is still a phenomenal player. Her passing and shooting skills haven't been affected at all, and I still wish she was coming to NU. Her numbers are a little down, but it would be surprising if Montgomery and Pius X don't have a big say in who wins the Class B state championship in Nebraska. Of course they will have to go through South Sioux City, the team to beat in Nebraska and probably the midwest. Which brings me to the Robinette twins...

I personally haven't seen either of them play since last March, but I have heard that Amy has rejoined the team, and Ashley continues to be a starter and solid contributer for the Cardinals. I'm not quite sure what to make of the twins yet. The fact that they are part of the best Nebraska girls team ever and are surrounded by four all-state caliber players, has limited their scoring quite a bit. SSC comes to Lincoln in a few weeks to play in a tournament featuring some of Class A's best teams, and I'll be interested to see how the Robinette's have improved. Next year when S. Sioux graduates Flynn, Horkey, Wiltgen, and Schoepf, the Cardinals will rely heavily on Ashley and Amy to do the bulk of the scoring.

[Row6Seat10]

Crystal Howard attended the K-State NU game last Sunday and was bombarded by the Husker coaches after the game not a good showcase game to woo her to Lincoln. Hope to see her in Red in 2 years. I seriously doubt if we ever see a South Sioux player at Nebraska as long as Yori is the coach. She doesn't think Flynn can teach defense, only offense. She wants players who can defend.

[ChipperF1]

"The fact that they are part of the best Nebraska girls team ever.

I didn't know Ashley and Amy knew Mr. Peabody and Sherman. I never saw those twins at Omaha Central back in '84.

[HuskerFan86]

C'mon Chipper South Sioux City is the best TEAM in Nebraska history. Maurtice Ivey and the Eagles would've given them a run for their money, but who on the '84 Central team would have guarded Horkey inside?

I'm a litle skeptical on Howard because she lacks solid fundamentals. Having said that, I still hope she ends up a Husker because some of the plays this girl can make are just amazing. She is an ultra athletic guard which is exactly what NU needs to compete in the Big 12.

Another player that I am very excited about is Jenna Cole at Lincoln East. She is a 5'11" junior point guard and leads the Spartans in points, assists, steals, and rebounds. The reason she has stayed below the radar screen is that she didn't play club ball this summer while she recovered from knee surgery. Cole is very similar to Katie Montgomery but she is quite a bit quicker. I've seen how difficult it is for an undersized point guard to succeed in the Big 12, and Nebraska needs a point guard that creates match up problems with either her size or her speed. Amy Stephens was at the Lincoln East-Lincoln Northeast basketball game last week, and you can bet Cole was the player she was watching.

By the Way,

Mizzou 65 Nebraska 53

[This message has been edited by HuskerFan86 (edited 01-22-2003).]

[ChipperF1]

"who on the '84 Central team would have guarded Horkey inside?

6'3" Jessica Haynes, that's who. Nearly as tall and clearly the better athlete by a wide margin. Jessica in the air is straight nasty. That was athleticism 20 years ahead of its time in a schoolgirl.

And since you mentioned Maurtice, who on SSC '03 guards her? The only person who I think could have a tinker's chance of guarding her graduated from South Sioux City a few year back. Some kid named Katie Robinette. Now SSC 2000 or 1998? A better game for sure. But SSC 2003 over Central '84? If you believe that one, that you probably believe that there's intelligence in the Unicameral.

Oh, and Jenni Flynn vs. Jonnetta Haynes? All I can say, you better give Jenni an M-16, because that is only chance she has of guarding her. I have not seen a point guard in HS with the aggressiveness, temperment or the all out disdain for an opponent Jonnetta had.

I hope Crystal Howard gets back into fighting trim. She needs work, but she can get nasty. I hope Connie maintains contact and holds the scholarship for her. This kid has Maurtice-style potential.

Oh by the way

'84 Omaha Central 68, '00 South Sioux City 65
'84 Omaha Central 75, '03 South Sioux City 60



[This message has been edited by ChipperF1 (edited 01-22-2003).]

[ldlbfn]

Thanks for info. Reason I asked about Robinettes is because I had heard something somewhere on the net that one of them is interested in New Mexico now because of Katie coming here and the other Nebraska girls that have visited recently. Sioux City does seem loaded-maybe the twins will be able to show more in the summer and next season.

[HuskerFan86]

The girls game has changed so much in the past 10-15 years, I just don't think Maurtice and the Eagles would be as dominate now as they were back then. You're right about SSC '03 lacking a player to guard Ivey, it would have to be a team effort. All the 00' Cardinal team would've had to do was put Nicole Oliver on her.

I wonder how players like Ivey and Karen Jennings would do today against the Big 12. A lot has changed since the late 80's and early 90's.

It would be fun to see the best teams in Nebraska's history play against each other. The Carla Bennet-led Omaha Westside team from a few years ago is another great team in Cornhusker State history. The inside-outside duo of Bennet and Raeven King was fun to watch.

[This message has been edited by HuskerFan86 (edited 01-23-2003).]

[ChipperF1]

"All the 00' Cardinal team would've had to do was put Nicole Oliver on her.

Nicole Oliver vs. Maurtice Ivy? Maurtice would beat Nicole like she stole something. You wanna give Maurtice 35 points for free, because that is what you are doing when you put Nicole on her. Nicole was a fair defensive player, but fair doesn't cut it against an attack dog like Ivy.

I would think Ivy would still be a serious player in the Big 12 now, because the girl was ahead of her time then. You didn't see kids with her focus, intensity and her heart in such a talented package. I'll will admit to bias because she was my hero growing up. But no, two way about it she was something special, and still is. She's past 40 now and can still outplay people half her age.

Karen Jennings I feel would still be formidable in the right situation. Post play has really evolved in the game in the last 8-10 years in my view.

The common denominator for both was their attitudes. Each believed that when they were on the floor. They were the masters of the domain. Ivy, especially so. There was an arrogance to Maurtice Ivy when you saw her take the floor. An arrogance that said, "I'm the best kid out here, and if you are coming to take my crown you better pack a lunch."

It was same attitude I saw in Katie Robinette. Hell was in session and every knew it.

My inferences are not to take away from the players now. Since 1995, Nebraska Girls HS Basketball has seen a golden age of talent. The overall talent level statewide has never been better. It great to see. When you see a Carla Bennett go from gangly freshman to now WNBA hopeful, that is awesome. Now you see more players coming out like a Robinette, Bennett, Raeven King (who leads the MVC's current conference leader at Wichita State), Krissie and Laura Spanheimer (old-style toughness, new school ability), Andrea Lightfoot (ditto), Katie Montgomery (a grinder who has a lot of game), Nicole Oliver, Janae Mosley, even stretching back a little to Nicole and Jami Kubik, and Darcy Strake. I could list kid for days, through Cowgill, Hilgenkamp, up to Horkey and Brittney Wilkins now. This is a great time in the growth of the girls game back home, and I think we are no where near the apex. That is the wonderful thing, the talent to come like a Crystal Howard or some kid at a Y in Omaha or Lincoln or working on the jump shot at a barn near Geneva or Lodgepole or wherever. The game's growing.