Class B State Tournament: Day 2 Recap/Championship Preview
Day No. 2 of the Class B State Tournament is in the books. The top teams advanced with relative ease and there were a whole lot of great performances. Here were the standouts from Friday: Callie Ronningen, Langdon/Edmore/Munich Ronningen stepped…
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Continue ReadingDay No. 2 of the Class B State Tournament is in the books. The top teams advanced with relative ease and there were a whole lot of great performances.
Here were the standouts from Friday:
Callie Ronningen, Langdon/Edmore/Munich
Ronningen stepped up in a big way once again, powering the Cardinals to a dominant win over Central Cass. The 5-foot-9 senior forward shot 8-for-9 from the field (the rest of LEM’s players shot 15-for-41), finishing with 18 points and her impact on the defensive end was even greater as she had seven steals and helped fluster the Squirrels guards all day.
Cassie Sieben, Grafton
Sieben had a quiet quarterfinal game but picked things up to help the Spoilers advance against Trenton Friday. The junior guard scored 16 points, knocking down three 3-pointers while grabbing four rebounds. Her defense was a big key as the Spoilers held a high-powered Trenton squad to more than 20 points below its season average.
Ellie Holen, LaMoure/Litchville-Marion
Holen struggled in LLM’s opening round loss Thursday, but was dominant in the Loboes’ win over Hettinger/Scranton Friday. The senior guard scored 21 points and dished out seven assists. She grabbed four rebounds and was awesome on the defensive end of the floor, helping neutralize Samantha Pierce and Alyssa Andress. She’s got one more game to cap off a fine senior season and career.
Walker Demers, Grafton
Demers has been a big-time difference-maker in the first two games of the tournament. With the pace being slowed down and some of the Spoilers guards having a hard time separating and scoring, defense is at a premium and Demers has delivered it in a big way. The freshman center hauled in 14 rebounds and blocked five shots, helping minimize a high-powered Trenton offense as the Spoilers advanced to the state title game.
Sam Oase, Hettinger/Scranton
Oase had another double-double, scoring 20 points and hauling in 14 rebounds in a loss to LLM. Oase will get one more game to add to her statistical monster season – and much to the chagrin of the competition out in Region 7, she’ll have one more year to continue terrorizing forwards across the state.
Brooke Blessum, Rugby
Blessum helped Rugby get back on the winning side of things Friday, scoring 18 points and grabbing six rebounds in the win over Shiloh Christian. She got the better of the Shiloh frontcourt, playing a key role in minimizing the Skyhawks forward duo of Jacie Hall and Grace Kelly to 26 points on 24 shot attempts.
Championship Game Set
The tournament has essentially gone completely to chalk and the top two seeds have cruised in the first two games on the way to the championship. These two teams have been two of the five best all year in Class B and on paper, it looks like teams that can deliver a solid final game of the Class B season.
For LEM, it’s an opportunity to finish off an undefeated season. The Cardinals went into this season with state title aspirations and they are a game away from realizing that dream. Nobody has been better over the course of the first two days than senior guard Callie Ronningen. When the rest of the Cardinals were struggling, she came through in a big way, scoring 18 points on nine shot attempts while grabbing four rebounds and finishing with seven steals. She’s so impactful on both ends of the floor and can defend just about anybody. Morgan Freije and Jaya Henderson both had solid games in the Cardinals’ win over Central Cass.
Grafton wasn’t great on the offensive end of the floor in its win over Trenton, but limited the high-powered Tigers to just 46 points. Cassie Sieben had a much better semifinal game, scoring 16 points and Walker Demers was terrific again, scoring nine points while grabbing 14 rebounds and blocking five shots. Julia Dusek had an uncharacteristically off game.
LEM beat Grafton by seven a month ago in a game that both teams can certainly take something from. Both teams have very few weaknesses and an abundance of size, skill, athleticism and versatility on both ends of the floor.
Ronningen, Sieben and Dusek will probably all find themselves on all-state lists in a week or so, so this matchup isn’t lacking big names. The Cardinals have a roster stocked with long, athletic wings who can defend multiple positions and make plays. Can Dusek and the Sieben sisters come through and generate offense against the LEM defenders who are as big and athletic as they are? Can the Cardinals get something from someone aside from Ronningen? These two teams aren’t separated by much.