Records fall and so do some favorites on opening day at State

[player_tooltip player_id="252381" first="Maddyn" last="Greenway"] made a giant splash to mark her arrival at the Minnesota high school basketball state tournament on Tuesday night as the 7th grader scored 32 points to lead Providence Academy to a 94-91 victory over Duluth Marshall on opening day. Amazingly enough, Greenway’s grand entrance was overshadowed by a stunning [player_tooltip player_id="2126" first="Gianna" last="Kneepkens"] swan song performance as the Duluth Marshall senior scored a state-record 67 points in her final high school appearance. Kneepkens has shredded the record books all season long, so it’s only fitting that she would steal the show one last time. The University of Utah commit had 10 three-point baskets, 10 two-point field goals and was 17-for-19 at the free throw line. Unfortunately even that was not quite enough as Greenway led the Lions to an impressive victory in their class AA quarterfinal. Although Kneepkens will draw all the headlines, the performance of Providence Academy’s two big post players – sisters [player_tooltip player_id="57963" first="Maria" last="Counts"] and [player_tooltip player_id="148338" first="Grace" last="Counts"] – was the real story here. Grace had 25 points for PA while Maria added 16. Both owned the boards. As a result, the Lions were one of 12 squads to advance as the big tournament opened at various locations across the state. <strong>Not the only nail-biter</strong> While the Providence win was certainly dramatic, it wasn’t the only close encounter in class AA on day one. The Monahan sisters from Glencoe-Silver Lake made sure of that. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="109752" first="Miah" last="Monahan"], an Eastern Illinois commit, and her 8th grade sister <strong>Mylea Monahan</strong> combined for 43 points to lead GSL to a stunning comeback win over Minnehaha Academy. The Panthers trailed by as much as 18 points in the first half, but they parlayed their scrappy defense and never-say-die attitude into an excellent second half that limited the Redhawks to just 14 points. Junior [player_tooltip player_id="109128" first="Telia" last="Graham"] was Minnehaha’s leading scorer with 21. Meanwhile Mountain Iron-Buhl pulled off some heroics of its own against Cass Lake-Bena. The favored Rangers trailed throughout the game as [player_tooltip player_id="223913" first="Taryn" last="Frazer"], <strong>Krisalyn Seelye</strong> and the Fineday girls brought their A game to the gym for CLB. The experienced Rangers kept chipping away at the Panthers' lead, however, and pulled ahead in the final minute to capture a 50-49 victory, their third win of the season against Cass Lake-Bena. <strong>Hali Savela</strong> led the Rangers with 18 points while <strong>Sage Ganyo</strong>, <strong>Ava Butler</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id="109152" first="Lauren" last="Maki"] collected 8 points apiece. Seelye had 18 for the Panthers. <strong>Farmington falls to the Irish</strong> Farmington’s state tournament did not go they way the Tigers wanted in 2020 when the event was shut down by the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic thereby scuttling their shot at Hopkins for a state title. Their 2021 appearance will likely be even harder to swallow. Nobody can put together a more effective defensive game plan than Rosemount coach Chris Orr and the Irish proved it on opening night with a 52-44 upset of the Tigers. After falling twice to Farmington in conference play, Rosemount rose to the big occasion at state led by junior [player_tooltip player_id="109123" first="Alexa" last="Ratzlaff"] with 18 points, senior [player_tooltip player_id="29547" first="Ivory" last="Finley"] (UMass-Lowell) with 13, and 8 points each by senior [player_tooltip player_id="109744" first="Helen" last="Staley"] (Oakland) and sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="186142" first="Nicole" last="O’Neil"]. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="109756" first="Peyton" last="Blandin"] (SMSU) had 26 for Farmington while [player_tooltip player_id="13045" first="Sophie" last="Hart"] (North Carolina State) scored 14. Rosemount will play Centennial in round 2. <strong>Chaska, Hopkins &amp; Centennial advance</strong> The meeting between Chaska and Stillwater in class AAAA was considered by most to be the biggest game of the day, but it didn’t turn out to be quite the battle folks expected. Thanks to a 31-point performance by sophomore point guard [player_tooltip player_id="108301" first="Kennedy" last="Sanders"], and another strong outing from junior [player_tooltip player_id="12714" first="Mallory" last="Heyer"] with 19, Chaska scored a convincing 75-57 victory over the Ponies. Junior [player_tooltip player_id="57928" first="Amber" last="Scalia"] led Stillwater with 17 points while [player_tooltip player_id="148318" first="Lexi" last="Karlen"] had 12 and [player_tooltip player_id="109738" first="Alexis" last="Pratt"] (Omaha) had 11 in her final high school game. In the semifinal round Chaska will face Hopkins, which scored a 76-44 win over Forest Lake, its 78th consecutive victory. [player_tooltip player_id="108298" first="Taylor" last="Woodson"] led the Royals with 15 points while [player_tooltip player_id="12712" first="Maya" last="Nnaji"] had 14. Centennial was the other team to advance in class AAAA as the Cougars took care of business in a 63-51 win over Elk River. Centennial was led by North Dakota commit [player_tooltip player_id="6396" first="Jodi" last="Anderson"], who scored 24 points. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="29521" first="Jenna" last="Guyer"] and freshman [player_tooltip player_id="215953" first="Marisa" last="Frost"] had 11 points each while junior [player_tooltip player_id="109182" first="Camille" last="Cummings"] posted 10. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="109794" first="Elly" last="Bahr"] (UW-River Falls) led the Elks with 14 while senior [player_tooltip player_id="109751" first="Johanna" last="Langbehn"] (St. Thomas) and her sophomore sister [player_tooltip player_id="186115" first="Jordan" last="Langbehn"] had 11 apiece. <strong>No big surprises in class AAA</strong> We knew the Tigers of Marshall were good, but they went above and beyond to prove just how good on opening night in a 63-32 beatdown of St. Croix Lutheran. Marshall’s defensive pressure was dominant from the get-go as they managed to pretty much stifle the Crusaders’ four 1,000-point scorers, holding 2024 standout [player_tooltip player_id="178263" first="Laura" last="Hauge"] to just 12 points. <strong>Emily Meier</strong> led Marshall’s offensive output with 19 points, three more than senior [player_tooltip player_id="109746" first="Jordyn" last="Hilgemann"] (Northern State). Hill-Murray wasn’t quite so emphatic in its 60-47 defeat of Austin on opening night, but senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="2134" first="Lilli" last="Mackley"] of the Pioneers certainly made a statement. The Dakota State commit scored 27 points for Hill-Murray, which also had 14 from senior [player_tooltip player_id="109763" first="Bella" last="Hartzel"]. Junior [player_tooltip player_id="57959" first="Hope" last="Dudycha"] topped the Packers scoring charts with 14 points while [player_tooltip player_id="186139" first="Cassidy" last="Shute"] had 9, [player_tooltip player_id="109793" first="Elyse" last="Hebrink"] had 8 and <strong>Reana Schmitt</strong> scored 7. Meanwhile, Holy Angels asserted its dominance in a 93-69 win over Grand Rapids. Junior [player_tooltip player_id="109141" first="Kassie" last="Caron"], a Missouri Western commit, scored 30 points for the Stars to lead an impressive Holy Angels attack. Seniors [player_tooltip player_id="2117" first="Frankie" last="Vascellaro"] and [player_tooltip player_id="109792" first="Rachel" last="Kawiecki"] scored 19 and 12 respectively while [player_tooltip player_id="147450" first="Grace" last="Massaquoi"] and <strong>Jenna Buer</strong> had 12 each. The Stars will play Marshall in the second round. <strong>Elsewhere on opening day.</strong> <ul> <li><strong>Mackenzie Rich</strong> and <strong>Emma Hanson</strong> led an all-out aerial assault as New London-Spicer combined suffocating defense with hot shooting to spoil Lake City’s first trip to the state class AA tournament in 37 years. Rich and Hanson combined for 49 points in a 78-49 win for NLS in the Wildcats’ 19th time at state under coach Mike Drier, who now has 984 career victories. NLS will play Providence Academy in the semifinals.</li> <li>Albany’s senior point guard [player_tooltip player_id="109739" first="Paige" last="Meyer"] is an offensive juggernaut who has earned herself a next-level opportunity at South Dakota State. On this night Meyer and her Huskies’ teammates were near flawless defensively, as well, as they scored a 41-12 win over Pelican Rapids. They’ll face Glencoe-Silver Lake next week.</li> <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id="109764" first="Abby" last="Hennen"] and junior [player_tooltip player_id="109147" first="Natalie" last="Rolbiecki"] scored 21 points each to lead heavily favored Minneota to a 67-34 triumph over Houston in class A. They’ll meet Mountain Iron-Buhl in the semifinals next week.</li> <li>Elsewhere in class A, sophomore guard <strong>Abby Berge</strong> scored 27 points to lead Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa to a 76-71 win over West Central Area in a game that was probably closer than most people expected. The Jaguars had 13 points from senior <strong>Josie Knutson</strong> and 11 by MSU-Moorhead commit [player_tooltip player_id="222568" first="Alissa" last="Knight"]. BBE will play the winner of Wednesdays game between Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s and Mayer Lutheran.</li> </ul> The state tournament continues on Wednesday with two more quarterfinal contests. In class AAA, Becker will face Alexandria at 8 p.m. in Perham. In class A, Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s will meet up with Mayer Lutheran at 5 p.m. at Mankato East.