150 schools but only a handful of contenders in Class A

More than 150 schools compete in Class A girls basketball in Minnesota, but every year you can count the number of teams with a legitimate shot at a State Championship on one hand. Two of those teams are clearly a notch or two above the rest and they made it all the way to Saturday's final with a state title hanging in the balance. The Rangers of Mountain Iron-Buhl and the Wildcats of Goodhue made it obvious from the get-go on Thursday that they were ready to rock. On Friday they did it again as #1 Goodhue dispatched #4 Underwood and the defending champs from MIB eliminated a really solid squad from Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart.   We've seen plenty of quality Class A teams here in recent years – Hayfield, Hancock, Mayer Lutheran, Minneota and the like – but this year it has been pretty obvious all season which teams were at the top of the heap. Hayfield lost the Section 1A final to Goodhue by 29 points. Hancock came close at Underwood in the Section 6A title game after barely squeaking past Breckenridge in the subsection championship. Mayer Lutheran posted a regular season win over MIB in February and made it to State out of Section 4A but lost by 27 in Minneapolis. Minneota could not duplicate its past magic this winter and lost the Section 3A title game to Southwest Minnesota Christian by 20.   But here's the thing: All of those section winners, with the exception of Underwood, got throttled on opening day of Class A play at the Maturi Pavilion. Walker-Hackensack-Akeley from Section 5A lost by 35 to MIB. Mayer Lutheran lost by 27 to Goodhue. The Section 8 champions Fosston lost by 37 to BLHS. Southwest Minnesota Christian lost by 12 to Underwood in the closest Class A game.   Like we said, there are only a handful of contenders and that has been known since November. What do Goodhue and Mountain Iron-Buhl have in common?   <ul> <li>Each has a couple of standout players headed for high-level college basketball, athletes like [player_tooltip player_id='178277' first='Jordan' last='Zubich'] and [player_tooltip player_id='461340' first='Hali' last='Savela'] at MIB, and [player_tooltip player_id='302307' first='Elisabeth' last='Gadient'] and [player_tooltip player_id='550025' first='Kendyl' last='Lodermeier'] of Goodhue.</li>   <li>The majority of their rosters compete in AAU basketball at a high level. This includes the seasoned veterans and the up-and-coming youngsters preparing to take their place.</li>   <li>The teams train and compete year-round. Nobody puts more time, training, of focus into their program all year long than coach Jeff Buffetta and his Rangers. They are relentless. Josh Wieme has established a work ethic in his program that spans a generation.</li>   <li>Both programs schedule as much high-level competition as possible throughout the season. They take part in the big Breakdown events, put miles on the bus in search of better opponents, and they take on schools that are bigger, stronger and faster so that they are prepared to face the best.</li> </ul>   It's not surprising, given all of that, to see the Wildcats and Rangers play for all the marbles in the most important game of the year.   A dominant two days for Goodhue   As soon as the ball went up in the air on Thursday morning, [player_tooltip player_id='550025' first='Kendyl' last='Lodermeier'] had “the look” for Goodhue, which returned to Class A this season due to enrollment numbers. We've seen it over the past couple of years as the power forward has built a reputation as one of the hardest-working, most effective rebounders in the state. In the first Class A quarterfinal of the day, it was Lodermeier who established the tone in their matchup with Mayer Lutheran. Thanks to the play of MSU-Mankato commit [player_tooltip player_id='302307' first='Elisabeth' last='Gadient'], sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='862790' first='Natalie' last='Thomforde'] and a cadre of bench players, things quickly fell into place for the Wildcats.   Despite foul trouble as the game went on, Goodhue maintained control and cruised to a convincing 65-38 win. The Wildcats moved the ball, shared the shots and put constant defensive pressure on Mayer Lutheran. “Our pressure eventually frustrated them and that turned into buckets,” said Wieme.   “We knew they are a very aggressive team and they are going to come at us with a lot of pressure,” said Lodermeier. “We were all ready to be aggressive and be strong with our rebounds and be ready for whatever they did to us on offense and defense and continue to work together and adjust to whatever they gave us.“   Even when Gadient and Lodermeier got in foul trouble, the rest of the team played extremely well. Sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='862790' first='Natalie' last='Thomforde'] was particularly good. So, too, were the freshmen twins Lola and [player_tooltip player_id='1078537' first='Aubrey' last='Christianson']. “We've committed to our bench this year and it paid off,” said Wieme. “We have confidence in Aubrey and Lola to handle the ball a lot and be playmakers.”   Thomforde played 28 minutes, went 7-for-12 from the field, and scored 19 points. Lodermeier was a beast inside and finished with an 11-and-11 double-double. Gadient, the MSU-Mankato commit who runs the point for the Wildcats, was stellar as usual. Liz scored 19 points and recorded 15 rebounds.   Friday's semifinal against Underwood followed a similar script. The Rockets got off to a fast start. Their length, athleticism and tenacity were impressive. [player_tooltip player_id='461344' first='Elizabeth' last='Lukken'] (who led her team with 24 points), Kallyn Grove, Ezrah Baker, [player_tooltip player_id='675971' first='Trinity' last='Baker'] and Mily Albjerg played their tails off. But eventually Goodhue went on a big run and took over the game.   Despite a second-half push by the Rockets, Goodhue demonstrated its dominance. The final was 63-53. Gadient finished with 22 points, went 11-for-12 at the free throw line, dished out 7 assists and grabbed 11 rebounds. Liz also tallied her 2,000th career point in the contest. Lodermeier's three consecutive buckets during the first-half spurt were game changers. She finished with 16 points and 11 boards. The Wildcats were just so impressive. They played like a team ready to win a title.   Mountain Iron-Buhl looked ready to repeat   Expectations are high for the Rangers of Mountain Iron-Buhl. After contending for the title for the past decade, MIB broke through last season and took home the hardware. Despite that experience and accomplishment, the Rangers looked a little nervous in Thursday's opening game with Walker-Hackensack-Akeley. “I think we had to settle down. We had a little bit of jitters to start the game and that took a little bit of time,” said Buffetta. “Every year is a new year, but once we calmed down and the girls started pushing the tempo a little bit I think that was the big thing for us.”   Before long the Rangers were doing what the Rangers do: Great ball movement, tenacious defense and shooting from distance. When you have a high-major commit like Zubich in the backcourt (North Carolina), and a veteran leader like Savela (Jamestown), you know they are going to steer the ship in the right direction. By the time freshman [player_tooltip player_id='659121' first='Anna' last='Neyens'] nailed a corner three midway through the first half, MIB was up 22-8. By halftime the margin had grown to 22 points. By the midway point of the second period the gap was 33. The final score was 71-36. It was a performance that made it obvious that MIB is poised for another title.   “This is a whole different year but we have the same goal,” Savela said. “For some reason this year I feel less pressure because we've already won one,” Zubich added.   Buffetta's message to the kids is the same as always: “We take the same approach and we have all year,” he said. “We practice hard. These girls have put a lot of time in, and we want our reps to take over on the court. If that happens, we know we'll play good basketball.”   On Friday it looked for awhile like Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart had a shot at a berth in the final. When you have incredible leaders like twins [player_tooltip player_id='304915' first='Rachel' last='Kottke'] and [player_tooltip player_id='304916' first='Kristi' last='Kottke'] (both St. Cloud State commits) leading the charge, good things are possible. When a sophomore like [player_tooltip player_id='773408' first='Lily' last='Hubin'] goes 18 and 8 in the game, good things are going to happen – just not good enough to take down the Rangers, who prevailed by a count of 69-50. Zubich finished with 31 points, Savela had 13, and Suzy Aubrey scored 12. When it was over there was almost no celebration from MIB. They looked like they'd been here before and they have – every year for a decade. “Obviously we are super excited to win,” Savela said, “but we just know that there is a bigger thing at stake.”

More than 150 schools compete in Class A girls basketball in Minnesota, but every year you can count the number of teams with a legitimate shot at a State Championship on one hand. Two of those teams are clearly a notch or two above the rest and they made it all the way to Saturday's final with a state title hanging in the balance. The Rangers of Mountain Iron-Buhl and the Wildcats of Goodhue made it obvious from the get-go on Thursday that they were ready to rock. On Friday they did it again as #1 Goodhue dispatched #4 Underwood and the defending champs from MIB eliminated a really solid squad from Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart.