SIX QUARTERS, FOUR AAAA; TWO AA

The state tournament is back on Target, or back at Target Center. What is lost in the translation is the Tuesday games. Now there are two sites with AAA and the second half of the AA schedule at Williams Arena. At Target Center there were two upsets, one unseeded team advancing, an overtime and a half time scare for a #1. The same can be said at Williams.

EASTVIEW 78, PRIOR LAKE 44

In the first of the conference battles today it was undefeated Eastview blitzing South Suburban rival Prior Lake 78-44. A sluggish first half (comparatively) gave way to a “Lightning” attack in which Eastview would have outscored the Lakers in only 18 minutes of action with 50 second half points. Megan Walstad had a double double with 21 points and 13 d stops. The 6-1 senior delivered a 210 pp100. Eastview, in the first half had an 87.5 pp100. They exploded for a 161.3 mark in the second half. Prior Lake, one of the two #3 seeds to survive the section, did not have the length, or experience to keep up with their conference foes.

LAKEVILLE NORTH 68, MAPLE GROVE 66 OT

The Panthers snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. LN rallied from a five-point deficit to grab a six point lead with 6:34 left (54-48) thanks to second effort points. The Panthers had 20 offensive rebounds alone and Ke James helped put LN back in front with 20 points. But James fouled out with 1:58 on a back-court reach and LN up 3 (58-55). After that foul freshman Jordyn Lamker converted both free throws to cut the deficit to one. Momentum had shifted. A turnover led to a jumper by Autumn Mlinar and MG had their first lead in seven minutes. That lead went to two for the Crimson after Katrina Theis made her second free throw. Lauren Jensen gave the Panthers another four minutes with a basket with ten seconds left. MG had a last second shot miss. Still the trend favored MG with James on the bench.

HOPKINS 74, FOREST LAKE 38

The Royals put running time on the Rangers at the 8:36 mark. Hopkins never trailed in this game and held FL to the lowest field goal percentage of any of the AAAA quarters. Turnovers played a big part in the win as the Rangers coughed the ball up 21 times by half time. The Royals led 36-21 at the break, two less points than FL would score all game. Hopkins showcased their balance with four players in double digits.

ROSEVILLE  56, CRETIN-DERHAM-HALL 48

There were a couple things clear from the start of this game, even prior to the game: A Suburban East Raider team would move on. It happened that it was unseeded Roseville knocking off Cretin-Derham Hall in their third attempt this year. The first time the two teams met Roseville lost by 22; the second time it was one. Roseville owed their victory Jada or is it Jayda. Point guard Jada Hood led the team with 18 points. Right behind her was Jayda Johnston with 16. Roseville was strong off the right block going 8/10 on the day. The differential with scores inside tipped to Roseville by four baskets (or eight points), better known as the final margin.

This was the third time that an unseeded team won in the AAAA quarters, the first time since 2012.

 

SAUK CENTRE 67, BYRON 61

Undefeated #1 seed Sauk Centre can still claim both labels as they survived Byron. The Mainstreeters trailed the Bears by nine (34-25) at half as 6-5 Ayoka Lee of Byron cast a big shadow erasing potential ‘Streeter baskets with seven blocks. SC must have re-emphasized their running game, because the Streeters revved up their motor at the start of the second half and soon Byron and Lee were out of gas. SC scored the first six times they had the ball in the second half, which tied the game at 36. At the widest SC led 51-38, a 26-4 accelerator induced rally. Maesyn Thiesen, who led SC with 25 points on the night, knocked down five 3s. But the Bears awoke from their slumber to stage a counter rally to the tune of 21-10. Byron too can knock down shots from long distance. Hailey Braaten’s triple cut the margin to 62-59 with 1:28 left. The woods can be scary with Lions, and Tigers and Bears (Oh my!). After a SC time out, Tori Peschel added a pair of insurance free throws. She and sister Kelsey each converted seven free throws out of the 20 SC made (13 more than Byron).

 

 

NORWOOD-YOUNG AMERICA 67, MINNEHAHA 58

This was the second upset of the day at Target Center as #5 Norwood-Young America kept Minnehaha from the television game on Friday night. Both teams were locked in a battle at half at 23 all. But Minnehaha’s bench is thin. If fouls pile up with any starter, the impact would be severe. Avery New, who did not get a foul until the middle of the second half on Friday, was in constant foul trouble which put some restraints on the RedHawks. It also gave opportunities for NYA. MA led by as many as five in the second half. New, picked up her fourth on an and one from Abby Mackenthun with 12:42 left in the game. New was essential for the health of the lead. When she left the game with another Mackenthun drawn foul at 6:38, MA, even after the two free throws, led 50-49. The key play of the night may have been the missed free throw by NYA that was picked up by Samantha Miller with 2:44 left and the Raiders clinging to a three point lead. NYA made use of the extra chance by converting two more free throws. The lead soon mushroomed to 10 and despite Mia Curtis’ long distance sniping, NYA was strong with the ball and converted free throws at the end. The free throw differential is telling: NYA cashed in 22 times. Minnehaha attempted only nine.

There was monkey on the backs of these two teams. This group of seniors for NYA had been to the state three times in four years. They have lost in the quarters the first two times. Last year they were edged out in the sections. The same fate has befallen MA. As eighth graders they won their quarter final game against Annandale (2015). Now they have exited three straight quarters.

COMPARISON STATS

 

Category	Eastview	Prior Lake	Lakeville North	Maple Grove	Hopkins	Forest Lake
Points	78	44	68	66	74	38
Rebounds	21	38	41	31	25	28
Turnovers	11	13	10	13	13	28
2FG%	69.2	36.7	44.4	50.0	57.8	34.6
3FG%	23.5	17.6	21.4	35.3	42.9	31.3
FT%	75.0	81.3	91.7	66.7	81.3	62.5
Paint	46	12	38	36	42	10
Bench	17	7	0	5	6	6
Fast break	6	0	2	2	14	6
2nd chance	15	2	25	4	8	6

 

Category	Roseville	Cretin-Derham Hall	Sauk Centre	Byron	Norwood-Young America	Minnehaha
Points	56	48	67	61	67	58
Rebounds	33	34	36	34	34	34
Turnovers	17	17	11	16	17	22
2FG%	50.0	33.3	37.5	56.7	37.5	39.5
3FG%	23.1	33.3	33.3	29.2	36.8	36.8
FT%	65.2	47.6	80.0	70.0	78.6	77.8
Paint	26	22	20	32	16	28
Bench	5	6	0	12	15	0
Fast break	0	2	8	0	4	0
2nd chance	14	9	15	8	15	20

 

Team	PP100	scorer	Distributor	D stops
Eastview	123.8	Megan Walstad 21	Emma Carpenter 10	Megan Walstad 13
Prior Lake	71.0	McKenna Hofschild 25	Kate Trachsel 6	Two with 5
Lakeville North	109.7	Lauren Jensen 31	Lauren Jensen 9	Lauren Jensen 9
Centennial	103.1	Autumn Mlinar 19	Abby Schulte 7	Katrina Thies 9
Hopkins	112.1	Raena Suggs 25	Paige Bueckers 8	Paige Bueckers 12
Forest Lake	59.4	Abigail Groeneweg 8	Lindsey Johnson 6	Two with 4
Roseville	84.8	Jada Hood 18	Jada Hood 6	Jayda Johnston 7
Cretin-Derham Hall	75.0	Frannie Hottinger 21	Chanel Anderson-Manning 5	Autam Mendez 13
Sauk Centre	100.0	Maesyn Thiesen 25	Maesyn Thiesen 8	Tori Peschel 9
Byron	91.2	Ayoka Lee 26	Erika Smith 10	Ayoka Lee 16
Norwood-Young America	98.5	Abby Mackenthun 25	Abby Mackenthun 7	Abby Mackenthun 14
Minnehaha	85.3	Mia Curtis 23	Terra Rhoades 10	Two with 9

 

TRENCH PLAYERS

GAME 1: Megan Walstad, Eastview

GAME 2: Lauren Jensen, Lakeville North

GAME 3: Paige Bueckers, Hopkins

GAME 4: Jada Hood, Roseville

GAME 5: Maesyn Thiesen, Sauk Centre

GAME 6: Abby Mackenthun, Norwood-Young America

TRENCH PLAYER OF THE DAY: Lauren Jensen, Lakeville North