Totino-Grace aiming to be relentless

Totino-Grace won its first girls' basketball championship ever last season by getting in opponents' faces and staying there, so do not expect the Eagles to back down this season.

Graduation claimed four starters and a couple key reserves, losses coach Shannon Hartinger is using for motivation.

The Eagles' one-word team motto this season: relentless.

"They say we're washed up," she said. "But our girls want to make it known they can be just as successful."

Led by senior forward Lizzi Naumann, the Eagles will promote Jackie Meyer and Lauren Soukup to full-time roles while hoping less-proven players can take a step forward.

"The younger girls saw the intensity level at practice by which we set our expectations," Hartinger said.

Columbia Heights forward Chelina Angok averaged 13 rebounds per game last season, a mark coach Chris Buerman considers to be Angok's second-most impressive statistic.

"This year will be only her third year of formal basketball," he said. "As a sophomore she dribbled with two hands."

Angok, a senior, recorded 20 rebounds in three games last season, including back-to-back games against Spring Lake Park and Minneapolis Edison. Though standing 6-feet tall does not hurt, Angok's primary assets are anticipation and elusiveness.

Buerman expects Angok, who averaged six points per game last season, to contribute 10 or more points per game this season. More production could only help the Hylanders, who finished 2-25 last season.

"She saw she could contribute as a rebounder," he said. "But she has put a lot of hours in the gym this summer working on layups and shooting and I think it will pay off."

Cancer plays far too large a role in Jim Miller's life. The Fridley girls' basketball coach lost his former college basketball coach, Sam Milanovich, his wife's father and her stepfather, to cancer.

So Miller is raising money for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Fridley's girls' basketball team is soliciting donations for a free-throw shoot-a-thon for 24 hours Nov. 24-25.

The Tigers have raised more than $5,000 in the past two seasons for the V Foundation, named for Jim Valvano, the coach who led North Carolina State to the 1983 NCAA men's basketball national championship.

Valvano died of cancer 1993. Miller met him once, and honored his memory by naming his son Valvano. For more information, or to make a donation, call Jim Miller at 763-502-5744.

David La Vaque • 612-673-7574