5AA SEMIS
Some sections took a direct hit on Tuesday with favored teams
bowing out. That was not the case in 5AA with both #1 and #2 seeds advancing to Friday’s final. There was a faster pace in game two, a more deliberate pace in game one. The final will feature two teams that met in the 5AA championship game in 2016 where HF won in overtime 69-60. These two also met in 2017 in the quarters and HF took that contest too 52-47.
At this stage I have seen all 16 of the AAAA and AAA finalists, 15 of the 16 AA finalists*, and only 8 of the 16 A finalists. Guess where I will be on Friday? Somewhere in A land.
*7AA is playing their semis tonight. I have not seen one team. Guess where I will be tonight? If you answered Duluth you win.
HOLY FAMILY 53, PROVIDENCE 44
#1 Holy Family never trailed in this contest. But they were never safely out of the woods either until the end. The Fire would push their margin to double digits only to see the Lions scramble back in the game. A 17-8 advantage melted to a slim 17-16 lead. After a HF time out with 4:38 left in the first half they regained their bearings and went on a 12-3 run to finish the half up 29-19. Leigh Steiner’s 3 gave HF their widest margin at 36-21 with 14 minutes left in the game. Combined with the end of the first half that was a 19-5 surge. Providence whittled away at the lead, cutting it to 47-42 with 1:41 left. HF had issues at the free throw line missing two straight front ends (in the same possession). Providence got the ball back but had an unforced error with 1:22 left. The string of missed free throws stopped on the next HF possession and the crisis passed. HF cashed in at the line six times to finish the game.
| HOLY FAMILY | PROVIDENCE | |
| Points | 53 | 44 |
| Rebounds/off | 26/9 | 27/6 |
| Turnovers | 17 | 22 |
| FTA/% | 16/68.75 | 20/65.0 |
| 2%/3% | 51.42/20.00 | 53.84/8.33 |
| PP100 | 84.1 | 71.0 |
| Leading Scorer | Leigh Steiner 18 | Maggie Murphy 24 |
TRENCH PLAYER: HF’s 5-11 senior guard Leigh Steiner with 18 points, 128.6 pp100, and a 33 score in the 31 Club.
ANNANDALE 69, MARANATHA 65
#2 Annandale used the long ball early and the relentless pursuit of offensive rebounds to stop Maranatha’s state tournament appearance run. The game started with two consecutive 3s by the Cardinals, the first by Taylor Medvec, the second by Kitri Reimer. Abby Lillehaug added to the trifecta parade and the Cards were up 9-4. The Mustangs battled back and pulled ahead 34-30 after a 3 by Chloe Jarnot with under 3 minutes to go in the half. Annandale scored the last nine points of the half for a 39-34 advantage at the break. Already Annandale had 12 points on second chance opportunities. They would only add four points on second chancers in the second half. Maranatha closed a ten point second half deficit to 61-58 with 4:22 left after scoring six unanswered points. Hannah Purcell broke the spell with a free throw. Maranatha was forced to foul. Annandale did enough to keep them at arms distance going 5/10 down the stretch at the line.
The reason for this trip was to see Maranatha, the #96 team in the QRF ratings. That completes my set….at least until the next team bubbles up.
I charted Annandale against Burnsville in December and there was a distinct difference in performance tonight. There was across the board improvement in shooting. From 38% at the line to 65%, 29% at 2s to 42% and 23% from 3s to 33%. Then their pp100 was a paltry 58.8. Tuesday it was a robust 115, an improvement of 56.2. Maranatha, at 108.3 pp100, has the distinction of having the highest pp100 for a losing team this year. The previous high was 105.
| ANNANDALE | MARANATHA | |
| Points | 69 | 65 |
| Rebounds/off | 39/18 | 27/7 |
| Turnovers | 10 | 13 |
| FTA/% | 35/65.71 | 15/80.00 |
| 2%/3% | 42.30/33.33 | 44.44/46.67 |
| PP100 | 115.0 | 108.3 |
| Leading Scorer | Hannah Purcell 23 | Macy Smith 19 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Annandale’s 6-1 senior forward Hannah Purcell with 23 points, 143.8 pp100 and a 35 in the 31 Club. Purcell also was a beast on the offensive boards with 10.