North Tartan freshmen, Rise juniors win Battle of Hastings

Heading into Sunday's Badgers Division final at the Battle on the Hardwood in Hastings, there was only one certainty: either North Tartan 9th Dickman or Fury 2021 Yellow were going to leave the gym with their first title of the year. The Fury got the early jump, building an impressive double-digit lead in the first half, before North Tartan roared back to take home the trophy by a score of 48-42. "Honestly every single player on the roster won that game for us," said Coach Grace Dickman. "They all came in and turned it around in the second half." Point guard <strong>Gianna Kneepkens</strong> (Duluth Marshall) nailed a couple of big threes down the stretch for North Tartan despite being hounded by the Fury's <strong>Gionna Carr</strong> (Hill-Murray) every step of the way. Forward <strong>Sophia Wood</strong> (Chisago Lakes) had a huge and-1. <strong>Alaina Johnson</strong> (Wayzata) forced a couple of big turnovers. Guard <strong>Peyton Blandin</strong> (Farmington) took a hard charge and a knock to the head in the first half but returned to make big plays and lead all scorers with 13 points. "North Tartan deserves a lot of credit for their perseverance and how hard they played," said Fury coach Sam Ebenreiter. "Every time we made a run they made one right back... I wish we could play them again right away. Those are the kinds of games that challenge kids on both sides and help everyone get better." Things started out right for the Fury freshmen. Ebenreiter's crew dictated tempo and North Tartan was out of sync for a good portion of the first half. The Fury led by as much as 13 before Tartan closed the gap to 8 points at the break. Dickman went on a run early in the second and it was anyone's game the rest of the way. "We forced them into turnovers and capitalized with transition layups," Dickman said. "I love that our defense was our spark plug because I think that's one of our biggest strengths. It's something we can control – our effort, our communication and winning the 50/50 balls." With 30 seconds to go, North Tartan was up 4 when the Fury got a hand on a couple of inbounds attempts but could not manage to complete the steal. NT, which was 11 for 18 at the line, made a pair of free throws to ice the cake. The Fury, who were down to just seven healthy players, were only 4 of 11 at the stripe. "I was really proud of our girls. It was tough playing short-handed and having two high-energy, high-intensity games in a row," said Ebenreiter, whose team went 1-3 at the state tournament after going undefeated in the prelims. "I challenged our kids in practice this week and asked them how bad they wanted to be great... They answered the bell. Now we need to sustain that growth and keep getting better the rest of the summer." <strong>Maggie Czinano</strong> of Watertown-Mayer had 11 points while <strong>Delaney Hoke</strong> of Eagan had 10 for the Fury whose record now stands at 12-6. North Tartan, which finished 7th at state, is 16-3. [caption id="attachment_7498" align="alignleft" width="269"] Liza Wortz of Hutchinson hit a big three and the game winner as Rise 11th Wolfe edged North Tartan 11th Elite to win the junior title in Hastings. (photo courtesy of Crow River Media)[/caption] <strong>The Rise and the rising capture a pair of titles</strong> The Spartans Division was won by Metro Stars 2022, an impressive group led by point guard <strong>Kara Hoag</strong> of Maple Grove and forward <strong>Nia Holloway</strong> of Eden Prairie, who scored a convincing 35-13 win over MN/WI Force 2022. The victory was the Metro Stars' third title in their past four tournaments. They finished 4th in Division 1 at state. As we said when we wrote at length about this team three weeks ago, these 8th graders are a team on the rise. Speaking of the Rise, they won a championship, too. Dan Wolfe's Rise 2019s snuck past North Tartan 11th Elite to win the top Gopher Division in Hastings by a score of 40-39. This was truly a coin flip kind of game as Jon Herbrechtsmeyer's Tartan team gave the Rise everything they could handle and more. It was a rematch of the 7th-place game at the state tournament two weeks ago when the Rise prevailed by 10. "It was a classic tug-of-war of wills," said Wolfe, who is an assistant coach at D3 Gustavus. "Both teams played with great energy, effort and focus." It was a defensive struggle as the Rise pressured hard on the perimeter in an attempt to prevent the ball from reaching the inside where the likes of <strong>Makayla Johnson</strong> (Champlin Park) and <strong>Lindsey Becher</strong> (Mounds View) are dangerous for North Tartan. The difference, as it often is, may have been <strong>Joey Batt</strong> of New Ulm. The crafty point guard, who has committed to Minnesota State-Mankato, is ranked #13 in the class of 2019. Once again on Sunday, she played like an elite point guard. Wolfe was quick to point out the importance of <strong>Caitlin Rorman</strong> (Blue Earth) and <strong>Liza Wortz </strong>(Hutchinson). "Caitlin’s versatility to score on the low block, shoot the three and off the bounce was was a key in her match-up," Wolfe said. "Liza's play down the stretch was critical. Her basketball IQ is as good as I have seen in a young player. She reads and acts on those reads correctly at a very high level." Wortz, who is one of the state's most improved players over the past eyar, hit a late three from the corner to tie the game and then scored the winning basket on a runner with just seconds left. "Most people know what Joey does for us to set the tone on both ends of the floor," Wolfe said. "She was fabulous, but Caitlin and Liza were also exceptional." <span style="font-size: 10pt"><em>Photo top: Grace Dickman's North Tartan 9th graders prevailed over Minnesota Fury 2021 Yellow at the Battle on the Hardwood in Hastings.</em></span> &nbsp;