State Tournament Semis: 5 Takeaways from Tuesday

You can see a lot of great stuff in 12 hours of basketball, even without leaving the living room. That’s where I spent my day on Tuesday (other than a brief stint on the front porch for a breath of fresh air) while some of the best athletes in Minnesota conducted business at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, some 4.7 miles up Lyndale Avenue from my place. It was definitely different. No high school bands. No nutty student sections in Hawaiian shirts and bucket hats. Too many snacks. Way too many! But there was still plenty of terrific basketball. It’s the first time I have watched the tournament broadcasts, which was essentially a full day’s worth of talking heads pretending to know something about girls basketball. The only saving grace was Rachel Banham’s always entertaining commentary, but then the Gopher legend and current Minnesota Lynx guard had the notes I had given her the night before, so she actually did know what she was talking about. All in all it was a great day. These are my 5 takeaways from Tuesday at the State Tournament. <strong>1: It’s Close in Class A</strong> It couldn’t have been any closer, could it? Tuesday’s first two games – the Class A semifinals – were each decided by one point. You have to feel for Sleepy Eye-St. Mary’s and Mountain Iron-Buhl, don’t you? I mean, they played their hearts out and performed really, really well. When it was all over, though, they were shedding tears and Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa and Minneota were celebrating like there’s no tomorrow. Except there is. The Jaguars and Vikings will meet in Friday’s Class A championship game, but it just as easily could have been the other way around. BBE used its superior size and length to give SESM fits all night long, especially inside. Six-foot senior forward [player_tooltip player_id="222568" first="Alissa" last="Knight"], an MSU-Moorhead commit, was a force in the paint. She finished the game with a double-double on 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Knights of Sleepy Eye did not go easily, however, and junior guard [player_tooltip player_id="109131" first="Madison" last="Mathiowetz"] turned in a memorable second-half performance. She finished the game with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists but BBE snuck out with a 51-50 win. In the other semifinal. the momentum swing back and forth all afternoon long. As anticipated, [player_tooltip player_id="109147" first="Natalie" last="Rolbiecki"] and [player_tooltip player_id="109764" first="Abby" last="Hennen"] were dominant for Minneota. [player_tooltip player_id="178277" first="Jordan" last="Zubich"] and <strong>Sage Ganyo</strong> were the best for Mountain Iron-Buhl. It all came down to a single free throw with two seconds left on the clock as Hennen slipped the ball into the cylinder to cement a 54-53 win. Hennen and Rolbiecki combined for 37 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists and 6 steals. In reality there are really only about a dozen teams in Class A out of the 140 or so that compete in the small-school division that are capable of winning it all. The rest are in it for the recreation. Four of them made it to Minneapolis for the semifinals and any of the four would be worthy champions. <strong>2: The Kids are Alright</strong> I can’t imagine Pete Townshend had ever watched a girls basketball game back in 1965 when he wrote The Who’s famous anthem ‘The Kids Are Alright,’ a catchy tune that morphed into a documentary film of the same name. It was certainly apropos, though, for what we saw on semifinal Tuesday at the State Tournament. Young stars put their names all over the proceedings in the first four games of the day. <ul> <li>Freshman [player_tooltip player_id="178277" first="Jordan" last="Zubich"] of Mountain Iron-Buhl has been the Rangers’ leader all year and she was running the show again on Tuesday. Jordan, ranked #33 in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2024, had 14 points and 6 rebounds against Minneota.</li> <li>We told you about freshmen <strong>Kylan Gerads</strong> and <strong>Alyssa Sand</strong> of Albany in our feature on the five freshmen who were poised for a breakout at the State Tournament. Well Kylan and Alyssa certainly made us look good on Tuesday as the rookies played a combined 35 minutes and grabbed a total of 16 crucial rebounds in Albany’s 72-49 win over Glencoe-Silver Lake.</li> <li><strong>Brooke Hohenecker</strong> of Providence Academy, as she often does, came out firing for the Lions on Tuesday. The first-year guard buried a pair of long threes early in the game and really set the tone for what was to follow. She finished 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and had 16 points in total while playing all 36 minutes. Her production was crucial in PA’s 58-54 win over New London-Spicer.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="252381" first="Maddyn" last="Greenway"] took a little longer than usual to get rolling on Tuesday, but once she got warmed up the sensational 7th grader from Providence Academy demonstrated clearly that she is a player to be reckoned with already. The lid was on for Maddyn for most of the first half, but about a third of the way into the second half Greenway caught fire. She scored on three consecutive possessions – a long three, a pull-up jumper and a sweet floater – that changed the course of the contest. Greenway played all 36 minutes and scored 16 points.</li> </ul> <strong>3: Experience still counts</strong> Although we certainly saw some quality stuff from the youngsters, at the end of the day it was the veterans who made the biggest impact for their teams in the semifinals. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa rode their seven seniors to a win over Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s. Minneota’s veterans prevailed over Mountain Iron-Buhl’s fresh faces. Albany’s [player_tooltip player_id="109739" first="Paige" last="Meyer"] showed us that a half-decade of varsity basketball prepares you for the big moment. Marshall used its long history of success at State to dominate down the stretch in their win over Holy Angels. Then the night ended with Becker’s four seniors putting on a show. Score one for the old girls. They won the day. <strong>4: Star Power is special</strong> Basketball is a team game. Coaches love to talk about how collective effort is what wins, and it’s true. In the end, however, you aren’t going to see a team have success at State without that one player or two who stands above the others. We specialize here at identifying, ranking and telling you about Minnesota’s special players so it was no surprise to see who grabbed the headlines on Tuesday. <ul> <li>First there was the aforementioned excellence of Minneota’s [player_tooltip player_id="109764" first="Abby" last="Hennen"] and [player_tooltip player_id="109147" first="Natalie" last="Rolbiecki"], from whom we have come to expect such exploits at the Class A State Tournament.</li> <li>Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="148338" first="Grace" last="Counts"] is big (literally!) but never bigger than she was on Tuesday. The sophomore forward has been stellar all season. It was her monster block with less than two seconds remaining that sealed the deal for the Lions. She also had a double-double.</li> <li>The state’s largest newspaper tweeted on Tuesday that [player_tooltip player_id="109739" first="Paige" last="Meyer"] of Albany is one of the “best-kept secrets in girls basketball.” Not sure where they have been for the past five years but Meyer’s game has been front and center here since 2016. Paige was Paige again on Tuesday, recording 27 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists to lead her team into the Class AA finals.</li> <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id="109746" first="Jordyn" last="Hilgemann"] of Marshall has been the engine pulling the Tigers’ train since 8th grade, and if Marshall was going to advance she was going to have to be at her best. Well, the Northern State commit scored 25 second-half points against Holy Angels and 30 in total, enabling Marshall to move on. Hilgemann was 14-for-16 at the free throw line and had 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals.</li> <li>Senior point guard [player_tooltip player_id="2122" first="Julia" last="Bengtson"] is a Division 1 commit (Eastern Illinois), a Miss Basketball finalist and the forever leader for the Becker Bulldogs. She has been big for Becker for the past five years and on Tuesday Bengtson was the catalyst for her team in an 84-51 dismantling of Hill-Murray. Julia does so much that doesn’t show up on the scoreboard and a whole lot that does. The star attraction recorded 19 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds in the most important game of her career to date.</li> </ul> <strong style="font-size: 1rem;">5: Minnesota basketball is magnificent</strong> We are spoiled. In watching 12 hours of special performances Tuesday I was again reminded by how lucky we are to see this type of excellence night after night in Minnesota. During the evening I was texting with a national scout who has been an ‘expert’ on the girls basketball scene across the country since Ronald Reagan was in the White House. Trust me when I tell you that this guy knows his stuff. The scout was also watching the tournament from his living room over 1,200 miles away from here. After describing [player_tooltip player_id="252381" first="Maddyn" last="Greenway"] as “another gem,” he wrote this: “When I tell people about the strength in Minnesota they cannot comprehend it,” he said. “Last night I had to watch high school games in Massachusetts. Tonight I watched Minnesota. No comparison!,” he said. “I continue to be utterly amazed by what I am seeing in Minnesota!” Me, too.