2A NORTH SEMIFINALS
Section 2 in A and AA was busy today with four games in each. Since I have not seen any of the A side of the ledger throughout much of the state, it was a choice between four teams I haven’t seen both north and south in 2A. I landed in St. Peter to see the north end. The Tomahawk conference prevailed twice with the #1 and #3 seeds coming away with wins. Youth was served. The leading scorer on the night was a sophomore. And single digit grades scored 38 of the 52 points in the final game of the night (73%).
There were some familiar faces in the crowd tonight. Former BLHS coach Josh Tjosaas, who led the Mustangs to a section 2A title in 2010, was on hand. For CMC former coach Bob Stoel, had a senior daughter Elli who scored 13 points. Stoel led CMC to the state in 2001. Stoel also was a player at Edgerton when I was coaching the boys at Ellsworth, MN.
SLEEPY EYE ST. MARY’S 58, BOLD 44
#1 Seed Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s broke open a tight first half game (27-26) with the first 13 points of the second half (40-26). After missing on their first second half possession, SESM scored their next six chances. At its apex SESM led by 19 (48-29) with eleven minutes left in the contest. After BOLD cut into that lead thanks to scoring five of six possessions (50-40) on an 11-2 bump, SESM decided to be a little bit more deliberate on offense and take some time off the clock. This put the brakes on a BOLD potential comeback and the momentum safely returned to the Knight’s camp.
SESM was helped by their sharpshooting outside. They delivered eight 3s to three for BOLD. The Knights also was slightly more efficient, though neither team shined, at the free throw line. Madison Mathiowetz powered the Knights with 25 points. She had four in the quick start to the second half along with assists on two others. Mathiowetz led her team with nine boards.
| SLEEPY EYE ST. MARY’S | BOLD | |
| POINTS | 58 | 44 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 36/8 | 41/12 |
| TURNOVERS | 9 | 13 |
| 2FGA/% | 34/41.17 | 34/47.05 |
| 3FGA/% | 20/40.00 | 23/13.04 |
| FTA/% | 11/54.54 | 10/30.00 |
| PP100 | 92.1 | 68.8 |
| TOP SCORER | Madison Mathiowetz 25 | Brenna Weis 13 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Madison Mathiowetz with 25 points, 108.7 pp100 and a 40 score in the 31 Club.
BUFFALO LAKE-HECTOR-STEWART 52, CENTRAL MN CHRISTIAN 49
#3 BLHS saw their twelve point (33-21) first half lead drop to seven (33-26) when it was quitting time after eighteen minutes. The hurry up pace of the first half, which played into the wheelhouse of the Mustangs shifted over to a more grind it out style favored by the Bluejays in the second half. This could have thrown the BLHS youngsters (they feature a rotation of two sophomores, two freshman, and two eighth graders. Keeping the whole thing cohesive is senior Sara Kottke. The two eighth graders are twin sisters Kristi and Rachel. All three combined for 39 of the Mustang points. The sisters combined for eight of the nine 3s for BLHS. This was a tale of two halves. BLHS felt the need for speed—they were on pace for 66 possessions in the first half. CMC preferred a 50 possession game and they dictated that pace in the second half with 25 possessions. However, if you look at the touches per play you can see the script was flipped. CMC had 35 three touch possessions, BLHS only 21. BLHS had 27 seven touch plays, to only 16 for the Bluejays. BLHS had 100 more touches on the night. CMC took their first lead in the second half with 5:12 left on a Reegan Duininck basket. Colette Duininck gave them a three point lead with a steal and lay up. That forced a BLHS time out. The Mustangs regrouped. Senior Sara Kottke found her way inside the paint and stopped a seven possession scoring drought with a drive up the middle. Another Collette Duininck steal lay up pushed the lead back to three for CMC. Kristi Kottke hit a triple to tie it. Sara then put BLHS up for good with a twelve touch 3 from up top (49-46) with 1:18 left in the game. With BLHS nursing a two point lead and CMC applying pressure in the hopes of a turnover, Maddy Wulkan broke free from a side line out of bounds play for her only points of the night. That was the final score of the night, but CMC had a chance to at least tie it with 15.3 seconds remaining. They never got a real clean look and had to settle for a desperation heave.
This will set up a rubber game between SESM and BLHS. Both teams split on the season. BLHS took the first match up by four points. SESM had the better of it the second go around by eight.
| BUFFALO LAKE-HECTOR-STEWART | CENTRAL MN CHRISTIAN | |
| POINTS | 52 | 49 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 41/11 | 38/11 |
| TURNOVERS | 12 | 11 |
| 2FGA/% | 24/45.83 | 42/40.47 |
| 3FGA/% | 32/28.12 | 15/20.00 |
| FTA/% | 4/75.00 | 10/60.00 |
| PP100 | 83.9 | 77.8 |
| TOP SCORER | Kristi Kottke 18 | Colette Duininck 18 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Kristi Kottke with 18 points, 120.0 pp100 and a 37 score in the 31 Club. Going 6/11 on 3s helps.