FOUR SEMIS
It was not a good day to be a #2 seed in the A & AA semis. Unseeded Sleepy Eye pulled their second straight upset, this time with room to spare, in the victory over #2 seed Mountain Iron-Buhl. Defending AA champ (and #3 seed Roseau) will get their chance to defend their title as they rallied from an eight point second half deficit in bumping off #2 Maranatha (who moved up a class). With the Roseau win it sets up a rematch of the AA state title game from a year ago with the Rams victorious 75-64. The two met this year at the Perham tournament and the Streeters won that match up 80-70. SC has been to the title game two of the last three years.
Someone new will win in A. Neither team has been to a final before.
LYLE-PACELLI 53, MINNEOTA 41
#1 ranked and #1 seed Lyle-Pacelli thwarted Minneota in the first semifinal on Friday afternoon. The Vikings were stymied in the inside attack, specifically Lydia Sussner’s offensive production, by the 6-5 shadow of Kristi Fett. Minneota’s shooting percentages suffered as a result. The Athletics were in a battle nevertheless with Minneota hanging around with a back and forth first half. LP had the advantage at the break 22-21. Sussner gave Minneota their last lead right off the bat in the second half 23-22. Olivia Christianson put LP up for good with a lay up at the 16:31 mark. The last time Minneota was close came after a 3 by Morgan Hennen at 11:43 (31-30). Then a fatal drought took place where LP outscored the Vikings 9-0. All told Minneota only scored 3 points in the next eight and a half minutes. LP moved to a delay game and wrapped up the day by making 11 free throws down the last 3:40.
SLEEPY EYE 63, MOUNTAIN IRON-BUHL 48
Back in December I charted Sleepy Eye in the Hopkins Breakdown event. They had a less than stellar performance that day with only a 61.3 pp100. They only made 2/12 from behind the arc, and were only at 28% in front of it. The Indians have improved markedly since that Saturday. They will now try to become the second unseeded A team to win the state title trying to turn the trick Win-E-Mac performed in 2014.
Four different Indians connected from 3 and they converted at 47%. There in was the difference. MIB battled back from a five point deficit in the first half to tie it at 23 with 34 seconds left. Madi Heiderscheidt, who led all scorers with 26, nailed a three with five seconds left in the half for the three point cushion at the break. In the second half Madissen Overbye and then Macy Savela hit from deep for MIB on two consecutive possessions giving the Rangers their only second half lead with 14:55 left (33-30). Heiderscheidt struck right back to tie the game. Sarah Ibarra delivered another long ball at the 13:21 mark. A 12-2 SE run over the course of three minutes put the Rangers at a ten point deficit. The Indians maintained their advantage throughout the rest of the game.
| Category | Lyle-Pacelli | Minneota | Sleepy Eye | Mountain Iron-Buhl |
| Points | 53 | 41 | 63 | 48 |
| Rebounds | 36 | 38 | 26 | 28 |
| Turnovers | 11 | 9 | 11 | 13 |
| 2FG% | 43.8 | 26.2 | 50.0 | 32.3 |
| 3FG% | 33.3 | 16.7 | 47.4 | 31.3 |
| FT% | 72.7 | 83.3 | 78.3 | 76.5 |
| Paint | 28 | 16 | 14 | 18 |
| Bench | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Fast break | 4 | 2 | 7 | 5 |
| 2nd chance | 9 | 14 | 3 | 9 |
SAUK CENTRE 54, NORWOOD-YOUNG AMERICA 45
#1 SC followed the same script that worked for them in the quarters. A rather stagnant first half with a taller rim protector kept the game tied at half. SC then revved up their running game, increased full court pressure and that got their flow to their offense. NYA, with their length, forced SC to start their offense deeper away from the arc then what they would prefer. But in the second half, once the ball started moving, the shots nearer the three point line started to fall. The key segment for SC came starting at the 15 minute mark of the second half with a narrow 28-27 lead. In the next nine minutes SC put the game out of reach with a 22-5 outburst. Five of the seven SC 3s came in that run. The defense did not take a back seat with four of their 11 steals taking place in that sequence.
ROSEAU 78, MARANATHA 66
With 10:45 left in the game AA newcomer and #2 seed Maranatha held a 47-39 lead. That would be their widest. But the Rams battled back behind the Borowicz sisters Kacie and Katie, who combined for 60 points. Kacie had 40 including three 3s. These two high octane offenses did not disappoint the crowd with their accelerations. What was a head scratcher was that Maranatha crashed the boards hard with a +8 advantage. They racked up 31 rebounds alone on the offensive glass. They also won the second chancers 20-9. But therein was the issue. Maranatha did not have the touch inside. They ended up with the lowest field goal percentage in 2s for AA despite their choice shot locations. At the three minute mark the game hung in the balance with Kacie Borowicz delivering two free throws to put Roseau in front for the rest of the night. The game could have tipped either way late, but Maranatha was forced to gamble and foul and the Rams, or Borowicz sisters made them pay dearly. In the last nine Roseau possessions they made 14 of 16 free throws. Roseau was so excited after the game, the entire team went to the post game press conference. As I was leaving via the skyway system, the Roseau players were celebrating still in their uniforms in the skyway with their fans and well wishers, something I had not seen before.
| Category | Sauk Centre | Norwood-Young America | Roseau | Maranatha |
| Points | 54 | 45 | 78 | 66 |
| Rebounds | 35 | 37 | 42 | 50 |
| Turnovers | 14 | 16 | 25 | 20 |
| 2FG% | 32.4 | 37.0 | 44.2 | 30.8 |
| 3FG% | 43.8 | 11.1 | 54.5 | 27.3 |
| FT% | 55.0 | 72.7 | 81.5 | 54.8 |
| Paint | 22 | 24 | 32 | 38 |
| Bench | 2 | 6 | 9 | 5 |
| Fast break | 8 | 0 | 10 | 12 |
| 2nd chance | 4 | 10 | 9 | 20 |
| Team | PP100 | scorer | Distributor | D stops |
| Lyle-Paceli | 91.4 | Kristi Fett 17 | Brooke Walter 11 | Kristi Fett 14 |
| Minneota | 71.9 | Abby Hennen 15 | Lydia Sussner 5 | Abby Hennen 8 |
| Sleepy Eye | 108.6 | Madi Heiderscheidt 26 | Madison Krueger 6 | Mya Ibberson 9 |
| Mountain Iron-Buhl | 82.8 | Mary Burke 15 | Macy Savela 7 | Mary Burke 12 |
| Sauk Centre | 85.7 | Tori Peschel 18 | Maesyn Thiesen 11 | Tori Peschel 14 |
| Norwood-Young America | 70.3 | Bren Fox 18 | Anna Mackenthun 4 | Bren Fox 14 |
| Maranatha | 79.5 | Jaclyn Jarnot 25 | Kylie Post 9 | Jaclyn Jarnot 17 |
| Roseau | 92.9 | Kacie Borowicz 40 | Katie Borowicz 11 | Victoria Johnson 15 |
TRENCH PLAYER:
GAME 1: Kristi Fett, Lyle-Pacelli
GAME 2: Madi Heiderscheidt, Sleepy Eye
GAME 3: Tori Peschel, Sauk Centre
GAME 4: Kacie Borowicz, Roseau
TRENCH PLAYER OF THE DAY: Kacie Borowicz, Roseau