Korngable shines as Mayo drops John Marshall

A long, difficult year for Mayo's Liv Korngable appears destined to end on a high note. In just her second start of the season, the University of South Dakota recruit dominated John Marshall in a crosstown rivalry game to open the postseason. With the minutes restriction finally lifted as she recovered from an ACL injury, the senior point guard scored 22 points on 6 treys to go along with 5 assists, 4 steals, 3 boards and a block. JM simply had no answer for the 5-9 senior, who has finally found her groove, but Korngable was hardly alone. Sophomore forward Foney Marcellino posts 18-9 and Siennah Stamness scored 10 points, including two big treys in Mayo's 13-0 run that broke the game open. Mayo has somehow won 13 straight games to improve to 21-6 on the year. It shared the Big 9 Conference title with Winona, despite having its full lineup available for just 11 games during the regular season. Korngable missed the first 12 games of the year and another game last week due to illness. Marcellino, who leads them in scoring and rebounding, missed a handful of games for a concussion and junior sharpshooter Hallie Olson just returned from a concussion of her own. Is the return of Korngable enough to handle the Lakeville schools in back-to-back games, after South knocked off #3 New Prague last night? She could have easily finished with 22-12 last night if teammates had knocked down interior shots, so it's not out of the question. She's that good. However, North throttled Mayo by 20 on Dec. 30...so it'd still be a big upset. As for JM, the Rockets failed to land a single player in double figures last night and really struggled after a strong first 10 minutes. However, I suspect this might be the last time Mayo comes out on top in the foreseeable future. The Rockets graduate just one and are unbelievably loaded in the younger grades. Jessie Ruden and Taylor Fautsch are still just sophomores, freshmen Tori Gateno and Megan Jensen are already key bench players, and everything I've heard about 5-10 7th graders Lilly Meister and Katie Hurt suggests they could force their way into PT next year after playing JV this winter. Player of the Game — Korngable Well, duh. She started the game with a triple and never really cooled off. JM tried to put size on her with Fautsch and the crafty guard consistently lost her on screens, on and off the ball. This was my third time watching her play in the last 3 weeks and easily the most aggressive I've seen her play. Her quickness was there, along with her elevation. If that continues, Mayo will be dangerous. Play of the Game I'll pick two, one for each team. JM's lone senior, 6-1 Akoy Marial, isn't exactly an offensive dynamo, but she made a play that opened my eyes. Mayo plays a morphing 2-3 zone that many teams struggle to attack, including JM last night. However, Marial caught the ball on the wing and Euro-stepped her way to an and-1 layup. She only finished with 5 points, but there's some talent their in her long, skinny frame. Mayo's top play was an accidental thing of beauty. Korngable attempted to hit Marcellino for a quick lob, but it went long. The lanky lefty was able to catch it one-handed and flip it to a teammate under the hoop, who kicked it out to a teammate on the arc as she, too, fell out of bounds. After a skip pass further scrambled the defense, Olson's post entry found Marcellino for a layup. Zero dribbles, five passes, layup. Beautiful. Best shooter — Siennah Stamness Korngable aside, Stamness played a key role in putting JM away. She scored 8 of her 10 points in the 13-0 run to end the half, including knocking down a couple treys. She's headed to Dordt in Iowa next season. Best post — Rachel Ojeikhodion Her name is a mouthful and she can be a handful in the paint, too. Her physicality was evident to start the game and she scored a twisting layup and earned two trips to the line. She posted hard and sealed well, but then began floating a little as things slipped away. She's a 5-10 forward with a wide frame that she uses to her advantage, but I wish she'd stuck with it more. A smooth triple in the second half was her only basket after the opening flurry. Top underclassmen — Megan Jensen The Rockets really struggled to score after its opening flurry. Jensen could be one who turns into a scorer down the road. The 5-10 frosh showed a nice stroke out to the arc en route to 6 points off the bench. I wouldn't be surprised if she leads JM in scoring a few games next season. Next generation — Ruden and Fautsch Jamie Ruden and Nicole Fautsch — two high level Division I prospects — often struggled to deal with Mayo's trademark matchup zone. Their younger sisters found even less success Wednesday night. The talented sophomores managed just one field goal between them, though Jessie did knock down 4 free throws. Despite going scoreless and being unable to handle Korngable on the other end, Fautsch remains intriguing. Not many 6-1 girls move like her. Still, it'd be nice to see her production start to match her potential. What's next Mayo advances to face Lakeville South on Saturday night in Rochester after the Cougars upset #3 New Prague. Katie Guentzel, who scored 25 against the Trojans, against Korngable should be fun. Lakeville North will face Farmington in the other Section 1AAAA semifinal.