ELK RIVER 69, BUFFALO 34
The only AAAA section not in action on Wednesday saw the court Thursday. In section 8AAAA #3 seed Elk River, the most potent #3 seed in any section if you believe the QRF, put running time at the nine minute mark on #6 seed Buffalo in the quarters. ER would be the second seed in four sections and would be the #1 seed in 7AAAA.
ER led throughout with leads moving from 4-0 to 16-5 on the first Buffalo time out at 12:50 in the first half. On the second time out ER was up 24-7. At half it was already pointing to running time at 42-12. At the widest it was 58-16 at about the twelve minute mark of the second half.
When you shoot good, you look good. ER shot a blistering 67.64% from 2s and a strong 42.85 from 3s. The Bison could not and did not match that sniping. The Elks also controlled the boards with plus 13 advantage. Part of the shooting success for ER can be tied to their court spacing, awareness and execution. The entire squad was 33/53 or 63.46% on their set up passes. Lydia Haack was the beacon in this regard with an almost perfect 16/18 (88.89%) on her passes. It wasn’t quite an assist every four touches, but it was close. She wasn’t bad from 3s either knocking down two of her three attempts. ER cashed in behind the arc six times tonight.
ER moves on to face #2 seed Maple Grove on Saturday in the 8AAAA semis.
Buffalo, who migrated to the Lake Conference this year, finished the year 8-19. The loss halted a late season two game win streak. Outside the Lake the Bison were a healthy 7-7.
With Buffalo charted I have wrapped up all 62 AAAA teams this year. There is about four top 100 teams still to be charted. The chances are remote right now that it gets done. Saturday will be fraught with landmines.
| ELK RIVER | BUFFALO | |
| POINTS | 69 | 34 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 34/12 | 21/10 |
| TURNOVERS | 17 | 21 |
| 2FGA/% | 34/67.64 | 20/35.00 |
| 3FGA/% | 14/42.85 | 20/20.00 |
| FTA/% | 9/55.56 | 16/50.00 |
| PP100 | 119.0 | 60.7 |
| TOP SCORER | Johanna Langbehn 18 | Brooke Gunderson 7 |
TRENCH PLAYER: This is probably counterintuitive, but it goes to Lydia Haack with 6 points, 100 pp100; and the only member of the 31 Club with exactly 31. That means her value added (31 Club score-points) was a whopping 25. The Upper Iowa bound guard had 9 d stops and was an outstanding 16/18 on set up passes. She had 68 touches on the night. Her favorite target on the night was Ellie Maass with a perfect 7/7. She was also perfect with Langbehn 4/4.