Another day down in Rochester awaited Saturday morning with the
AA semis. This section had six teams in the top 20 and was the most potent tournament around—a mini-state tournament. I continued Bowlin week (the third charting this week). In the end the Three Rivers Conference (and the old east half of the section) came out on top with two wins. The public vs private battle ended in a split.
Caledonia was the highest team left on the QRF that I had yet to chart. Mission accomplished. I was to see them Monday but Mother Nature and her relentless snow intervened.
WINONA COTTER 53, LAKE CITY 38
#4 seed Cotter, again outsized, toppled a bigger team. This time the victim was #1 seed Lake City. Despite the size disparity Cotter won the battle of the boards by 12. That helped in a 53-38 victory. LC was flat at the start and struggled to get anything rolling on offense. Cotter rolled to a 19-2 start after the first ten minutes of action. The back breaker was three straight 3s by the Ramblers as they punctured holes in the LC zone. Meanwhile the Cotter individual defense caused havoc with 9 of their 22 turnovers in that span. LC was getting the ball down low, but too low. When the posts for LC turned to the rim, they had no angle. That helps explain their 0/3 start on the right blocks. Then the rest of the team, true to Glaeser’s Theorem, caught the collective flu and they missed transition lay ups and point blank follow ups, when they were fortunate to grab a missed shot. Cotter d rebound % was 64.5%; down from the ZM game. But LC was only 58.1% and that spelled trouble. Cotter was much more aggressive to the ball. At the break Cotter had doubled LC 30-15. The Ramblers would only need nine more points to secure the victory. Early in the second half Cotter went to a delay game with double action at the elbow after LC was forced to play man. LC did cut the margin to 30-20 and later to 41-30, but fouls were piling up and both starting freshman guards for LC fouled out with 3:21 and 2:45 left in the game. The game was over by that stage as Cotter enjoyed a 47-30 lead.
| WINONA COTTER | LAKE CITY | |
| Points | 53 | 38 |
| Rebounds/off | 38/18 | 26/11 |
| Turnovers | 23 | 22 |
| FTA/% | 23/69.56 | 14/35.71 |
| 2%/3% | 33.33/38.88 | 44.11/10.00 |
| PP100 | 85.5 | 60.3 |
| Leading Scorer | Jordan Rubie 16 | Lilly Meincke 10 |
TRENCH PLAYER: For the second straight game Cotter’s Megan Morgan gets the nod. The 5-8 freshman guard ignited the Ramblers in the first half with hot shooting outside and pesky defense all over the floor. She ended up with 14 points, a pp100 of 116.7, and thanks to 12 d stops, made the 31 Club with one to spare.
CALEDONIA 74, ROCHESTER LOURDES 64
Caledonia rode the back of torrid Katie Tornstrom five consecutive 3s in five consecutive possessions to top Rochester Lourdes. The Eagles were up early 9-5. Then Mount Tornstrom erupted. The Warriors scored on eight straight possessions in a four minute window—-a 22-2 run and Lourdes was staring at a 27-11 deficit. Tornstrom started the run with a pair of free throws. Then came the five straight 3s. The first started off a missed Lourdes shot in the lane. Then off a steal. Lourdes quickly called time out at the 10 minute mark. But the that didn’t cool off Tornstrom in the least. Another d rebound 3. Tornstrom stole the next ball and launched number four from the right side. A missed 3 led to a rebound and a return back to Tornstrom for five. Next came two more Tornstrom free throws when she drove the lane. It was also Alyssa Ustby’s third foul. She was forced to watch from the bench with 7:52 left in the half. The final capstone 3 came from Heidi Bolduan. The Warriors went into the locker room at half up 43-27.
Lourdes used their own long ball to forge a comeback in the second half. Caroline Adamson knocked down six of them for the game. At 11:56 remaining Lourdes had sliced the 16 point halftime deficit down to five (53-48) after an old fashioned three point play from Adamson. Adamson channeled her inner Tornstrom and connected on two straight 3 to make it 66-61. Tornstrom delivered two free throws to break the spell. Ustby departed the court with her fifth foul with 54 seconds left. Tornstrom was in her way on a drive. The last 3:41 Caledonia “won” 8-3.
Lourdes only found their way to the free throw line for five attempts all game. Caledonia, by virtue of being ahead, had 8 attempts in the last 3:41 of play. The made free throw differential was 12. Both teams relied on the long bomb taking more 3s than 2s. Each converted 12 for a wash. Both teams gathered about 75% of the defensive boards.
| CALEDONIA | ROCHESTER LOURDES | |
| Points | 74 | 64 |
| Rebounds/off | 32/8 | 36/9 |
| Turnovers | 14 | 19 |
| FTA/% | 24/66.67 | 5/80.00 |
| 2%/3% | 45.83/44.44 | 46.15/37.50 |
| PP100 | 108.8 | 92.8 |
| Leading Scorer | Katie Tornstrom 33 | Caroline Adamson 27 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Caledonia’s 5-10 senior forward/guard Katie Tornstrom 33 points, 126.9 pp100 and a member, not of the 31, not of the 41, but a member of the 51 Club with a 56.