There’s nothing ordinary about the Battle of Sleepy Eye

I wasn't actually in Sleepy Eye on Monday night. Neither was anyone else. Most of the residents had made the journey an hour to the east to be at the Lund Center in St. Peter for the latest renewal of the battle between the Sleepy Eye Public Indians vs Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Knights, a rivalry as old as anyone can remember, a rival that never really gets old. The occasion was the Section 2A sub-section championship, the second-to-last step that could earn one of the squads a trip to the Class A State Tournament in Minneapolis next week.

The Gustavus Adolphus College gym was teeming with two very distinct hordes of supporters – the orange and white clad devotees of the Indians and the faithful fans wearing dark green who were there to cheer on the Knights. It was raucous like it always is when these teams meet. To say both squads were a little amped up for the opening tip would be an understatement, even compared to their two previous meetings this season.

“I think there was a lot more adrenaline,” said Sleepy Eye's star attraction, junior Kadence Hesse Kadence Hesse 5'10" | PG Sleepy Eye | 2024 State MN . “You could feel a ton more energy coming from both sides. I mean the whole town of Sleepy Eye was basically in this gym tonight. I think we were definitely trying to go a little too quick for ourselves with all the adrenaline but once we got settled in we were fine.”

St. Mary's jumped out to an early lead sparked by the excellence of 8th grader Morgan Mathiowetz Morgan Mathiowetz 5'8" | PG Sleepy Eye St. Mary's | 2027 State MN . Just like that hot new movie, Morgan seemed to be ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,' which is not surprising given her family lineage. Earlier in the day I had watched Morgan's older sister Maddie at the Division 1 Summit League Tournament in Sioux Falls where she was competing as a freshman on behalf of South Dakota State University. After a mad dash to St. Peter – 170 miles travelled somewhat close to the posted speed limits – I arrived in time to see the next generation of the Mathiowetz clan do her thing. And man can she do a lot of things.

Morgan is tiny. Standing about 5'4, she's still really thin which isn't at all unusual for an 8th grader. What she can do with the basketball, however, is not normal at all. It's next-level stuff. She's super quick, really fast in the open floor, and oh so crafty. She can beat you one-on-one in so many different ways and finish in many more. Her court vision is outstanding, her sense of timing and pacing is exceptional for a middle-schooler, and she can flat out score the basketball. In other words, she's a lot like Maddie and Morgan owned the early going on Monday night. “We knew we needed to stay in front of her and respect her,” Hesse said of Mathiowetz. “We knew we had to watch her and Natalie Fischer a little bit more and obviously Liz Schwint inside. We knew they were going to run a lot of inside-out stuff.”

After the Morgan Show it was Sleepy Eye's turn as the Indians went on a mini run to tie it at 16 before stretching their margin to 23-20 at halftime. By the midway point of the second period, the Indians led 39-37. Then SE got going. When Hesse slipped through two defenders to score at the rim at 5:14 that put the Indians up 10 at 47-37. The run would stretch to 15-2 and the Indians pulled away for a 54-39 win. Kadence finished with 26 points. Hesse made it obvious what we already knew: She is a gifted 5'11 guard with skills to spare who can pretty much do what she wants at the Class A level.

“We started off a little slow. I think our adrenaline got the better of us,” said Hesse, a Top 20 prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2024 who has committed to Southwest Minnesota State. “But then we locked down defensively which created turnovers and that helped us get into more of a flow, to get a little more comfortable and settle in. Halftime helped, to get a little extra breather. After that we just got on a roll, had a couple people hit some big shots, and then we just knew it was our game.”

"We want it so bad"

There are a lot of great rivalries in Minnesota girls basketball, but this one is unique. It's not like Hopkins vs Wayzata where the two schools have a combined enrollment in excess of 5,000 and the players come from all over the place. In contrast, Sleepy Eye Public's enrollment, according to the Minnesota State High School League, is 140. At St. Mary's the posted number is just 82. Generations of families have attended one school or the other. Very rarely will kids transfer. You're either orange or green with no in-between.

“We're basically separate all the way so the rivalry starts going from elementary school on up,” Hesse explained. “It obviously strengthens as you move up and you want to win that game specifically. Playing in each other's gyms is difficult because of all the fans that show up, but it's fun and something to look forward to.”

In recent seasons it is the Knights who have had the edge. Last year Maddie Mathiowetz scored 26 points to lead SESM to a 19-point victory. The year before she shot better than 75% in the game, scored 34 points, and led the Knights to a 28-point victory. This time around, with Maddie having graduated and Morgan not quite reaching her older sister's level of excellence just yet, this was the Indians' year. After splitting their two regular-season meetings, Monday night's encounter went to Public.

On Friday the 23-6 Indians will meet 23-5 BOLD which won Monday's second game over Mayer Lutheran thanks largely to a great performance by sophomore Lainey Braulick Lainey Braulick 5'9" | SG B O L D | 2025 State MN . The Warriors went 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to win 53-45. Sleepy Eye and BOLD will face off for the Section 2A title at 6 p.m. at the Taylor Center on the campus of MSU-Mankato. The winner goes to State.

That would be a huge deal for Brea Mertz Brea Mertz 5'10" | PF Sleepy Eye | 2024 State MN , Cadence Okerman Cadence Okerman 5'6" | SG Sleepy Eye | 2025 State MN , Jazzibelle Martinez and company. “It would be so fun. We want it so bad,” said Hesse, who would desperately like to lead her team to the big dance for the first time in five years. “This would be our best chance right now to go. I think we have all the talent and all of the ability right now to do it.”