State Tournament: The Best of Class 3A

Many of the top players at this year’s State Tournament will go on to accomplish a plethora of great things in their lifetime, but the experience they’ve had over the last two weeks to make it to and participate in the event may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and one they’ll treasure forever. For the few that are lucky enough to win it all, the memories are that much greater. The following players stepped up on the biggest stage with the brightest lights and answered the call. <strong>Tournament MVP</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="109145" first="Hannah" last="Herzig"] – 2022, guard Totino-Grace (MSU-Mankato) After her performance against St. Paul Como Park in the 3A semifinal we were all primed and ready to see what she would do for an encore in the biggest game of her life. I’ll tell you, the 1st half she had against Becker was one for the ages. Herzig poured in 21 first-half points, grabbed 4 rebounds, controlled the tempo and thwarted every rally Becker made throughout the game. She played all 36 minutes and just when you thought fatigue was setting in, Herzig would come up with a big-time bucket, rebound, blocked shot, assist, etc. Herzig would end the game with 31 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assist to lead her Totino Grace squad to a 60-51 victory over the favorite Becker Bulldogs. Herzig certainly had a tournament run to remember! <strong>Top Post Player</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="109122" first="Lexi" last="Karge"] – 2022, Mankato East (UM-Duluth) When the opposing fans cheer when you foul out, that tells you all you need to know about the impact a player had on the court. Karge was absolutely dominant from the tipoff until the end. You don’t see very many true post players in today's game, so it was refreshing to watch Karge go to work from the free throw line down. She crashed the offensive boards with reckless abandon, blocked shots and finished consistently around the rim. She finished with 23 point, 11 rebounds and a handful of blocked shots and assists. Mankato East battled to the end and the 22-point deficit doesn’t reflect how close the game was until the last 5 minutes and Karge had a ton do with it. <strong>Top Playmaker</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="57908" first="Kaylynn" last="Asberry"] – 2022, guard, St. Paul Como Park (St. Peters) The 2nd half show Asberry put on in the 3rd place game against Mankato East was as fun to watch as anything I saw this week in the tournament. Crossover step back 3’s, floaters in the lane, lockdown defense on the perimeter; you name it, she did it. She did it all within the flow of the game and her teammates were all encouraging her to keep shooting, and that she did. She ended up with a team-high 24 points and a few highlight reel type plays. Her infectious energy and smile got the crowd going and capped off a great season for the Cougars hoisting the 3rd place trophy and making sure her last game in that uniform ended with a win. <strong>X Factor</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="30163" first="Adeline" last="Kent"] – 2022, guard, Becker (Tampa) It was clear that Totino’s game plan was to chase the Bulldogs off the 3-point line and force them to take deep, contested 3’s. While Kent couldn’t find the stroke from deep, she was able to find her way into the lane to take and make tough contested shots all game long. Several times I was getting ready to say, "that’s not a good shot", only to stop myself and say, "wow, that was a tough shot". She did all she could to keep her squad in the game before fouling out in the end. She ended up with a team-high 18 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Without her ability to get into the lane and make things happen, the deficit could have been a lot bigger. <strong>Top Defender</strong> <strong>Totino-Grace Eagles</strong> The entire team needs to be recognized for their defensive effort in slowing down the Becker Bulldogs 5-guard attack. Totino-Grace did a great job chasing the Bulldogs off the 3-point line and cutting off driving lanes to prevent the drive-and-kick looks that Becker had become accustomed to. Spearheaded by [player_tooltip player_id="109145" first="Hannah" last="Herzig"], the Eagles players clearly knew it would take a full team effort on the defensive end for 36 minutes to defeat the #1 ranked defending 3A champions. If you wondered why some of the shots from the Eagles shooters like [player_tooltip player_id="109138" first="Leah" last="Dengerud"], <strong>Grace Spevacek</strong> and <strong>Chloe Nuss</strong> were not falling, I’m attributing it to the effort and energy they put in on the defensive end to slow down the potent offensive players in [player_tooltip player_id="108338" first="Dani" last="Nuest"], [player_tooltip player_id="108304" first="Maren" last="Westin"], [player_tooltip player_id="186119" first="Ayla" last="Brown"] and [player_tooltip player_id="304938" first="Alexis" last="Rose"]. The Eagles outrebounded the Bulldogs 33-26 with [player_tooltip player_id="109138" first="Leah" last="Dengerud"] snatching 10 of them. Hats off to the Eagles as they executed their defensive game plan to perfection. <strong>The Best of the Rest:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="57914" first="Ronnie" last="Porter"] – 2022 guard, St. Paul Como Park (undecided) I got the impression in the 1st half of the game against Mankato East that Porter was intentional in getting her teammates involved. While she didn’t turn down shots, she wasn’t as aggressive as we’ve seen her in games past. In transition you could see her pointing to the ball handler to where the pass should go getting the pseudo hockey assist on more than one occasion. In the 2nd half she decided to join the party and hit dagger after dagger from behind the arc and in the lane stopping Mankato East every time it seemed like they were poised to make a run. Porter ended the game with 20 points and 7 assists to help her team place 3rd in the Class 3A tournament. We can’t wait to see where she ends up to continue her basketball career. [player_tooltip player_id="109138" first="Leah" last="Dengerud"] – 2022 guard, Totino-Grace (Concordia-St. Paul) Dengerud had her hands full every which way she looked having to check one of the 5 guards Becker trots onto the court at any given time. She didn’t shoot the ball as well as she usually does, but with all the attention her teammate [player_tooltip player_id="109145" first="Hannah" last="Herzig"] garnered in the 2nd half, she helped lighten the load with her ball-handling ability and rebounding and only had 1 turnover. She also knocked down 7 of 9 free throws to help hold off a furious Becker run late in the 2nd half. Her veteran leadership helped keep her team calm and poised as you could see the pressure starting to mount as the Eagles missed a few layups and free throws down the stretch leaving the door open, but she helped slam it shut to secure their 1st state championship since 2008.