Sauk Centre writes a happy ending to its state tournament saga

<p>"Sister Act 2." If they make a movie about Sauk Centre&#39;s 33-0 state championship season, that might be a fitting title. Less than 24 hours after the amazing Borowicz sisters of Roseau delivered one of the most impressive displays of basketball you will ever see, it was the Peschel sisters – Kelsey and Tori – and the Dammann sisters – Julia and Michaela – who walked away with the class AA trophy. They did it with a lot of help from point guard Maesyn Theisen, who led the Mainstreeters to a 63-52 victory over the Rams. In their seventh state tournament appearance, after falling in the finals on three previous occasions, Sauk Centre finally prevailed.</p> <p>"I guess we are slow learners," said coach Scott Bergman following the post-game celebration. "It&#39;s really hard to get to this tournament, and once you are here it&#39;s 10 times harder to win it. You have to put three back-to-back-to-back games together. It feels good."</p> <p>This championship game was a rematch from one year ago when Roseau won the title with an undefeated season of its own, beating Sauk Centre in the final game. If the Mainstreeters were going to avenge that loss, they knew defense would be the difference. After all, junior Kacie Borowicz and freshman Katie Borowicz of Roseau are two of the most dynamic offensive threats around. The pair combined for 60 points on Friday night – 40 from Kacie, 20 from Katie – to advance to the championship game. "They are definitely a challenge on the defensive end," Thiesen acknowledged. "I know we did a better job of trying to slow them down than many other teams did this season. A lot of their other girls made big shots but I&#39;d say we did a decent job on them."</p> <p>Kacie was 5 for 20 on the day and scored 15 points; Katie was 3 for 6 for 10 points. While the headlines will no doubt go to Thiesen and the Peschels, Bergman credited senior guard Kenzie Schmiesing for her play. "Kenzie limited the younger sister to only six shots. That&#39;s phenomenal," said Bergman. "She&#39;s kind of the unsung one of those three because she doesn&#39;t have the name, and she hasn&#39;t been starting for four years, but without her defense we probably don&#39;t win the game. We probably don&#39;t even get to this game."</p> <p><strong>"Our team played really good defense on those sisters"</strong></p> <p>It was close early, with Sauk Centre holding a slight edge. The Mainstreeters went on a bit of a run midway through the first half and were up by 11 at the break. Tori Peschel scored three straight baskets early in the second half as Sauk Centre went on an 11-0 run. Their lead grew to as much as 21, and Roseau could not seem to muster the energy to attack effectively. But you can&#39;t let your guard down against the Rams.</p> <p>Realizing the game was slipping away, Roseau put heavier pressure on Sauk Centre&#39;s ball-handlers, forcing a couple of turnovers and converting those miscues into valuable points. Roseau went on a 15-4 run, and when Emma Waling dropped her third three-pointer of the second half with 2:06 left, the Sauk Centre lead had dwindled to just three. The Mainstreeters kept their composure and won the game at the free throw line, making 7 of 8 in the final 75 seconds. "It&#39;s a great accomplishment," Thiesen said. "Our team works so hard all of the time to achieve this goal. We have been so close before so to finally win it is just amazing."</p> <p>Sauk Centre is a great defensive team that knows how to guard the perimeter as well as anyone. They also spread the wealth on offense, which is exactly what they did on Saturday. Tori Peschel finished with 18 points as did sister Kelsey. Sisters Julia and Michaela Dammann combined for 10 big rebounds and made countless key defensive plays. As for Thiesen, she reminded us once again why she has been a top-10 ranked player throughout her high school career, and why she is a Miss Basketball finalist. The Minnesota-Duluth commit scored 17, grabbed 8 rebounds and had 4 assists.</p> <p>There&#39;s no question that fatigue was a factor for Roseau. They played the late game on Friday night and  needed a monumental second half effort to get the win. On Saturday, the Rams were out of rhythm much of the time in what was likely a combination of Sauk&#39;s defensive pressure and some heavy legs. "It&#39;s tough having to play the late game, then turn around and play again at 2 p.m.," said coach Bergman. "I really don&#39;t know if it impacted them but our two girls played really good defense on those sisters."</p>