It’s Northfield vs Cooper for the 3A state championship

<p>It was the artist vs the accountant when Grand Rapids and Northfield met Thursday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis for a trip to the 3A state championship game. One one side there was high-flying, acrobatic artist Heaven Hamling of Grand Rapids, a swashbuckling, go-for-broke gunslinger who makes it all go for the Thunderhawks. On the other side it was the cool and calculating, strictly-by-the-book precision of Northfield point guard Grace Touchette. The contrast was striking and it made for great basketball theater. With plenty of back-and-forth, and no shortage of entertainment, the game was there for the taking until the final five minutes. In the end it was Northfield that prevailed, as the accountant ousted the acrobat for a 64-54 win and a trip to the title game.</p> <p>The Raiders were in control early, leading by as much as 11. Hamling was ice cold and so were most of her teammates. Then the Thunderhawks got hot, going on an 11-0 run without Hamling scoring a single point. It was only a matter of time, however, before Heaven announced her arrival, scoring 9 points to close the half while cutting the margin to two. In the second, Hamling started dropping bombs, including a three-for-three stretch of threes than enabled Grand Rapids to pull ahead by as much as six. It was Heaven at her Hollywood best. That&#39;s when Touchette went to work, slowly and methodically running the Northfield offense as the Raiders&#39; defense got down to business, as well. Touchette&#39;s precision paid off and Northfield was back in front by the five-minute mark. Touchette closed the deal with nine points down the stretch.</p> <p>In the end, the numbers tell the story. Hamling was 7 for 31 (6 of 7 from three) for 24 points. Touchette was 7 for 15 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free throw line. She also had 6 rebounds, 6 assists, two steals and 2 blocks. Rapids shot just 27 percent overall, despite 14 points from junior Hannah DeMars and another 10 by senior forward Maggie Miska. Northfield, on the other hand, was 24 of 43. That&#39;s 56 percent by my math, which is usually enough to win.</p> <p>With one more game to go in her high school career, Hamling will go down as one of the most exciting players of all time. Touchette may conclude her career on Saturday as a state champion.</p> <p><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Robbinsdale Cooper 65 Willmar 54</strong></span></p> <p>Winning racehorses are usually quick out of the gates. They start fast, get faster and seldom fade down the stretch. One thing we know for sure about Robbinsdale Cooper: they have more quality thoroughbreds than Canterbury Park, and on this race day they started running right from the get go. Cooper caught Willmar by surprise on Thursday, not once but twice. The Hawks scored the game&#39;s first 8 points to earn a healthy lead before Willmar found its footing. Following the halftime break, Cooper did it again, scoring another 8 to open the second half. Those two spurts, lasting a total of perhaps five minutes, were the difference as Cooper moved on to the state 3A championship game by a score of 65-54.</p> <p>Cooper coach Kiara Buford has done an impressive job of building a high-quality program, harnessing Cooper&#39;s speed and athleticism and molding the Hawks into one of the state&#39;s very best teams. Led by veteran guards Aja Wheeler and TT Longs, who combined for 22 points and 18 rebounds against Willmar, Cooper was flying again on Thursday while freshman post Kierra Wheeler did her thing down low with 12 & 8. Freshman guard Andrea Tribble and senior Jada Buford were equally fast and equally good. It was by no means a cakewalk, however.</p> <p>Willmar is a hard-working physical team led by a pair of seasoned veterans in Cayle Hovland and Hannah Johnson. Hovland can power to the basket with the best of them, scoring 22 on Thursday and adding 15 rebounds. Johnson scores almost all of her points at the rim and had 13 of them against Cooper. When Cooper got running, however, Willmar simply couldn&#39;t keep up. If you are looking for one stat that sums it up best, this is it: Cooper had 14 assists and just 8 turnovers, Willmar had 8 assists and 20 turnovers.</p>