Wednesday reports
D1 HIGH FIVE
Teresa Kiewiet, Lafayette, Mankato West 17
Somah Kamara, Tennessee State, Cooper 17
Paige Kindseth, Presbyterian, Farmington 14
Mallory Heyer, Minnesota, Chaska 11
Liv McGill, Florida, Hopkins 11
Totals: 70
No Northern Sun action means no D2 comparisons. Three of the five are AAAA players, two AAA—-including the top two.
POINT PARADE
Parade starts at 25. If there is a player missing email kja8067@gmail.com
AAA-0
AA–1
Tori Oehrlein, Crosby-Ironton 32
TOP OF THE CLASS (GRAD)
2026: Tori Oehrlein, Crosby-Ironton 32
RANKED RESULTS
Winner High 82 Marshall
Winner Low 46 Proctor
Loser High 69 New Ulm
Loser Low 44 Duluth Marshall
Biggest Margin 28 Crosby-Ironton v Pequot Lakes
Smallest Margin 2 Proctor v Duluth Marshall
Most Combined: 151 Marshall v New Ulm
Least combined: 90 Proctor v Duluth Marshall
Margins 30 or more 0
Margins 5 or less 1
Average 61.17
Winner Average 68.33
Loser Average 54.00
Ranked Average 62.25
Nonranked Average 59.00
Average margin 14.33
Average combined: 122.30
Ranked Upsets: #9AA Proctor squeezed by #8AA Duluth Marshall 46-44.
AAA Ave 75.50
AA Ave 54.00
It was a good day and bad day for Marshall. The city in southwest MN (#2 in AAA) had the better day as they defeated the New Ulm Eagles for the third time this season 82-69. This is the 14th time the Tigers have made state. They have been in the title game six times with back to back titles in 2002-03. Their last championship appearance was in 2021.
It was less than ideal for the private school in Duluth (#8AA) as they fell to conference foe #9AA Proctor 46-44 on a last second shot (see below).
AAA
2
#1 Marshall 82, #2 New Ulm 69
AA
7
#1 Crosby-Ironton 77, #4 Pequot Lakes 49
#2 Proctor 46, #3 Duluth Marshall 44
ABOUT LAST NIGHT….7AA Semis with Crosby-Ironton & Proctor victorious
There was a common theme Wednesday at Romano Gym on the campus of UM Duluth. The favorites were trailing at half before bouncing back in the second half.
CROSBY-IRONTON 77, PEQUOT LAKES 49
The Rangers are still undefeated. According to Glaeser’s Theorem a team has to survive a bad half (or stretch of a half) in order to win a tournament. And every team will be tested on that equation. My guess is that during the course of the season, CI has not trailed too many times. With 3:03 to go in the first half #4 seed Pequot Lakes enjoyed a 27-20 lead requiring a Ranger timeout. This was the proverbial bad half for CI. The Patriot 3s were dropping (they made five in the course of the first half) but the starters were only getting contributions from freshman guard Chelby Wothe and junior forward Alexa Pietig. CI junior Tori Oehrlein, Gopher bound, was held to four points at this point. After that break CI scored their last four possessions of the half initiated by two deep triples from Oehrlein. That ignited a 57-22 finish for CI. Oehrlein herself had 28 of those points outscoring PL. Oehrlein had 32 for the night.
It took until the seventh PL possession in the second half for them to break the ice. By that time CI already had added 13 unanswered points. Defensively CI ramped it up too, holding Wothe scoreless in the second half. The CI pp100 for the game ended up being a healthy 124.2. The first half total for them stood at 93.8. After that first half time out it was a stratospheric 167.6. For Oehrlein it was even higher—-215.4. She was scorching hot from both 2s and 3s with 73% and 71% respectively. She obviously made the 31 Club but took it two levels higher with a 52.
All CI starters were at or over 100 pp100 for the game. One huge difference in the game came on the boards. CI dominated 43-24. The Rangers’ offensive rebound rate was an elevated 61% whereas PL had a 36% rate. That led to 18 second chance opportunities for CI. One factor PL won came at the free throw line with 8/11 compared to only six attempts for the whole of CI.
PROCTOR 46, DULUTH MARSHALL 44
Earlier this season the Rails lost to the conference rival Hilltoppers in a high scoring affair 69-65. And things looked pretty bleak at the start of the second semifinal as the train hadn’t left the station with DM up 17-4 with about seven minutes remaining in the first half. Things improved somewhat after that but DM still led at the break 22-15. The Proctor starters struggled the first half trailing 20-4. It was the bench to the rescue with an 11-2 mark. But DM really did not seize advantage of the Proctor down time. At the break their pp100 was only 68.8. Proctor’s pp100 was not healthy either at 48.4, but the tempo and pace were clearly in the Rails favor.
The second half the Rails shook off the rust to score 31 points while holding DM to 22. Post season touch counts generally go up because teams have better ball handling and they value the ball. With longer possessions come lower scores. Proctor had an astronomical 64 plays involving seven or more touches. They scored on15 of those plays, a rate of only 23.4%. DM, in contrast, was better at 33% but only on twelve plays. The rhythm of the game was set by the Rails. The first Proctor lead came at 34-32 with under 7:10 left. With 5:19 left it grew to 36-32 after two free throws by Chloe Carlson. Morgan Lucero tightened it up for DM with a left corner 3. Chloe Johnson put DM back in front 39-38 with 4:23 left. It was Proctor Sophomore Peyton Walker that first tied it with one free throw at the 4:08 mark and then a 3 up top at the 2:54 mark 42-39. DM junior Cairin Berger tied it with a left corner 3. Proctor junior Gianna Hansen hit a long two from the left side to put the Rails back in front 44-42.
Crunch time belonged to Proctor as they outscored DM 8-5 the last four minutes. Each side had ten possessions. Chloe Johnson was the defensive focal point for Proctor and they successfully worked their plan holding the high scoring frosh to 12 points, 17 under her average. It seemed there were three Proctor players anytime she neared the rim. Johnson had the best 31 club score for either team with 30, but offensively her pp100 was an abnormally low 46.2 for the game. The best production for the Hilltoppers belonged to Morgan Lucero with a 220 with 11 points. Johnson down the stretch had five possessions, all of them empty. That is one reason why her pp100 was under 50. Lily Smith scored the game winner for Proctor on a floater drive on the left side with 3 seconds left on clock. The best 31 Club score for Proctor was 25 and that belonged to another Chloe—-Carlson. She finished with nine points. Smith led Proctor with ten.
One “shut the door” factor for Proctor was the offensive board mark. Proctor had a 43-32 rebound advantage but it magnified on offense. Proctor only allowed 13.5% offensive rebounds for DM. The Hilltoppers only had two second chance opportunities all night. Proctor, on the other hand, had a 28.9% offensive rebound rate and doubled their chances with four second chance opportunities. Another huge advantage for Proctor was the bench. The Rails topped the Hilltoppers 21-3 in that category. Starters alone belonged to DM 41-25. The team pp100 tipped to Proctor 71.9 to 67.7. The touch count was high at 7.54 for every Proctor point compared to 6.41 for DM. But Smith and the Rails delivered in Crunch time.
DAY AHEAD
18 teams are one game away from state. Three of those contests have ranked v ranked opponents. The field will be set minus one in AAAA and AAA (sections 1 in both will be decided Friday). Three sections in A will be decided tonight (1, 3 & 7) two in AA (1 & 3). Three #1s play tonight (all except AA Providence). Three defending champs play tonight (all except Providence again).
RANKED v RANKED
#4AAAA Hopkins at #3AAAA Wayzata
#4AAA Benilde-St. Margaret’s at #3AAA Orono
#7AAA Hill-Murray at #6AAA DeLaSalle
OTHER RANKED
AAAA: #1 Maple Grove; #2 Eastview; #7 Minnetonka; #8 St. Michael-Albertville
AAA: #1 Monticello; #5 Alexandria; #10 Rock Ridge
AA: #5 Caledonia; #6 Minnewaska
A: #1 Goodhue; #2 Mountain Iron-Buhl