State Tournament Semis: The Final Fours are all set
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It’s official. As of 9:30 on Wednesday evening the Final Four match-ups have been determined in all four classes at the Minnesota girls State Tournament. Becker turned in a dominant performance over Alexandria to complete the class AAA field; Sleepy…
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Continue ReadingIt’s official. As of 9:30 on Wednesday evening the Final Four match-ups have been determined in all four classes at the Minnesota girls State Tournament. Becker turned in a dominant performance over Alexandria to complete the class AAA field; Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s was equally impressive against Mayer Lutheran to grab the final berth in class A. Here are the semifinal schedules along with a preview of all eight games. Play resumes next Tuesday, April 6 at the Target Center in Minneapolis for classes A, AA and AAA. The AAAA semifinals will take place on Wednesday, April 7. The championship games in all four classes will be on Friday, April 9.
TUESDAY, APRIL 6
CLASS A
10 a.m. – 22-1 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa vs 23-0 Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s
Is there a more talented, more productive player in class A basketball than junior Madison Mathiowetz Madison Mathiowetz 5'10" | CG Sleepy Eye St. Mary's | 2022 State MN of Sleepy Eye-St. Mary’s? The first time I made the trek to Sleepy Eye on a slippery winter night to see her play in person Maddie put up 50 points. It was a remarkable performance, and there have been many more since. On Wednesday night in Mankato she did it again, scoring 44 against Mayer Lutheran to lead her team to a 78-67 win. Mathiowetz is currently ranked #15 in the Prep Girls Hoops class of 2022 and trending upward, and stopping her and fellow 1,000-point scorer Sydney Windschitl is going to be the holy grail for BBE.
BBE has returned to state for the second year in a row, riding a class of seven seniors who have been dominant all season. Their quarterfinal win over West Central Area by a score of 76-71 was perhaps a bit closer than anticipated, but BBE did demonstrate they have some firepower of their own. Sophomore Abby Berge scored 27 in that game and will need similar offensive output against the Knights. The one edge Coach Kristina Anderson’s Jaguars will likely have is length, size and experience up front as seniors Alissa Knight Alissa Knight 5'11" | F Belgrade-Bruton-Elrosa | 2021 MN (MSU-Moorhead) and Karissa Jones will likely make life difficult for SESM.
12 p.m. – 23-0 Minneota vs 19-4 Mountain Iron-Buhl
There are some programs that just seem to return to the State Tournament year after year. You have to admire coaches like Chad Johnston of Minneota and Jeff Buffetta of Mountain Iron-Buhl. These guys are all-in. They invest the necessary amount of time and effort, and do things in the right way for the right reasons. There are 140 schools in class A girls basketball, but only a handful are actually capable of winning the whole thing in any given year. I’d put that number at about a dozen. Minneota has been to State eight times in the last decade; MIB has only missed once. Now they are among the final four teams still standing. The Vikings are led by senior guard Abby Hennen Abby Hennen 5'9" | CG Minneota | 2021 State MN and junior guard Natalie Rolbiecki Natalie Rolbiecki 5'10" | CG Minneota | 2022 State MN , two familiar faces and next-level prospects who can take over a game and take home a title. MIB’s top player is 9th grader Jordan Zubich Jordan Zubich 5'11" | SG Mountain Iron-Buhl | 2024 State MN , who has proven all season that she can do it all. The Rangers’ supporting cast is strong, too, and Sage Ganyo, Lauren Maki Lauren Maki 5'9" | SF MIB | 2022 State MN , Ava Butler and Hali Savela proved that on opening night.
CLASS AA
2 p.m. – 21-2 Albany vs 19-4 Glencoe-Silver Lake
Albany senior Paige Meyer Paige Meyer 5'6" | PG Albany | 2021 State MN and Glencoe-Silver Lake senior Miah Monahan Miah Monahan 5'8" | CG Glencoe-Silver Lake | 2021 State MN have given us so much great basketball over the past five years. The two point guards have been among the state’s very best in the class of 2021. Meyer was the backbone of a very strong Minnesota Comets team in AAU ball and earned herself a scholarship to South Dakota State. Monahan has been a mainstay for the Minnesota Fury forever, and her consistent excellence has catapulted her to the Division 1 level as well. She’ll play at Eastern Illinois. Meyer is physicality; Monahan is finesse. Both are fierce competitors. Both can shoot it. Both can get to the rim. Of course they won’t be out there on the court alone. Miah’s 8th grade sister Mylea Monahan had the game of her life in the Panthers come-from-behind win over Minnehaha Academy and Kendall Guerrero is capable of launching an aerial attack at any time. Albany boasts a significant post presence in junior Madi Herkenhoff Madi Herkenhoff 6'0" | PF Albany | 2022 State MN and senior leadership in Abbie Christen plus a pair of intriguing young freshmen in Kylan Gerads and Alyssa Sand.
5 p.m. – 22-0 New London-Spicer vs 21-1 Providence Academy
Experience matters, and in that department you have to give the edge to New-London Spicer. The Wildcats seem to be at the tournament every spring, don’t they? Nobody in Minnesota has more girls basketball victories than NLS coach Mike Dreier. Nobody brings a more seasoned cast of veterans than the Wildcats. Size matters, too, and that played a big role in Providence Academy’s win over Duluth Marshall as junior forward Maria Counts Maria Counts 5'11" | PF Providence | 2022 State MN and her sophomore sister Grace Counts Grace Counts 6'1" | PF Providence | 2023 State MN shone for the private school from Plymouth. There will be no such edge this time around as NLS boasts plenty of size, too. Although 6’2 forward Grace DeSchepper is sidelined with a torn ACL, the Wildcats still have 6’0 senior Ava Kraemer Ava Kraemer 5'10" | CG New London-Spicer | 2021 MN and 6’2 senior Erin Knisely. NLS also has an experienced guard corps on hand. It will be interesting to see how they match up with sensational 7th grader Maddyn Greenway Maddyn Greenway 5'8" | PG Providence Academy | 2026 State MN who put up 32 for PA in the quarterfinals.
CLASS AAA
7 p.m. – 21-0 Marshall vs 21-2 Academy of Holy Angels
Speaking of experienced squads who show up in Minneapolis every spring, the Tigers of Marshall and Stars from the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield are no strangers to the big stage. Holy Angels won the AAA title in 2016. Marshall was in the championship game twice in recent seasons. This encounter offers up one of the more interesting one-on-one, star-vs-star, senior-vs-senior battles we’re likely to see next week. Marshall’s Jordyn Hilgemann Jordyn Hilgemann 5'10" | SF Marshall | 2021 State MN (Northern State) and Holy Angels’ Frankie Vascellaro Frankie Vascellaro 6'0" | SF Holy Angels | 2021 State MN have been two of the state’s most consistent performers in recent years. Hilgemann scores inside and outside and often. Vascellaro’s turn-around, mid-range jump shot is a deadly weapon, and has long confounded defenders of all shapes and sizes. The two players can match each other shot for shot. The rest of the contest is likely to come down to a battle between Marshall Coach Dan Westby’s punishing, physical defense vs Dan Woods’ high-flying Holy Angels offense. It promises to be interesting, but don’t forget to order up the ice bags. They will no doubt be needed.
9 p.m. – 20-1 Hill-Murray vs 17-3 Becker
There are a few things we know for certain about this match-up. First, Becker understands how to put the ball in the basket. They play fast, move the ball well and can score in any number of different ways. Second, we know that Hill-Murray is really good at keeping their opponents from scoring. They defend hard, are very well-coached, and rarely give less than 100% of their attention to the task at hand. That combination has the makings of an outstanding state tournament class AAA semifinal. After a slow start Wednesday night against Alexandria, the Bulldogs eventually got it rolling with a 22-7 run midway through the first half that broke things open and set the tone for what would turn out to be a 76-52 victory. On this day it was Adeline Kent Adeline Kent 5'8" | CG Becker | 2022 State MN , Courtney Nuest Courtney Nuest 5'8" | CG Becker | 2021 State MN , and Ayla Brown Ayla Brown 5'6" | SG Becker | 2023 State MN who led the way. In its quarterfinal win over Austin, H-M shut down the Packer attack while launching plenty of offensive pressure of its own. Lilli Mackley Lilli Mackley 5'11" | CG Hill-Murray | 2021 State MN scored 27 points for the Pioneers in the victory and Bella Hartzel Bella Hartzel 5'8" | SG Hill-Murray | 2021 State MN was knocking down shots as per usual. These are two experienced squads loaded with college-bound seniors and it’s truly anyone’s game to win.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7
CLASS AAAA
7 p.m. – 16-0 Hopkins vs 16-0 Chaska
Chaska is riding a wave coming into the semifinals. The Hawks have had a long, slow build to their current level of performance which is very, very high. Over the past few years Chaska has gone from mediocre to good to great. Can they pull off an upset of monumental proportions? Hey, Jesse Ventura shocked the world! While Chaska has been building brick by brick Hopkins has been soaring through the stratosphere having not lost in its last 78 games. Hopkins is the #1-ranked team in Minnesota, the #1-ranked team in the country, and a heavy, heavy favorite. But… If you’ll recall the Royals lost out in recent championship games to Eastview and Elk River on days when the opponents shot lights out and Hopkins did not. If an upset is at all possible, that’s the likely scenario. Regardless, we’ll see some of the state’s very best in Maya Nnaji Maya Nnaji 6'4" | PF Hopkins | 2022 State #7 Nation MN , Amaya Battle Amaya Battle 5'10" | PG Hopkins | 2022 State #29 Nation MN , Taylor Woodson Taylor Woodson 6'0" | PF Hopkins | 2023 State #28 Nation MN and Liv McGill Liv McGill 5'7" | CG Hopkins | 2024 State MN of Hopkins along with Mallory Heyer Mallory Heyer 6'1" | PF Chaska | 2022 State #36 Nation MN , Kaylee Van Eps Kaylee Van Eps 5'11" | SF Chaska | 2021 State MN , Kennedy Sanders Kennedy Sanders 5'8" | CG Chaska | 2023 State MN and more from Chaska.
9 p.m. – 21-1 Centennial vs 19-3 Rosemount
While all of the attention on Wednesday night may be focused on the marquee Hopkins vs Chaska match-up, it would be wise not to overlook the nightcap. Chaska may be hot, and Hopkins may be the best, but as the kids like to say out there on social media, ‘don’t sleep on’ Centennial and Rosemount. Both teams have a ton of next-level talent, both teams know how to execute, both teams can defend at a very high level and both teams are capable of taking home a title next week if the stars align correctly. The Cougars are led by a pair of D1 seniors: North Dakota commit Jodi Anderson Jodi Anderson 5'11" | CG Centennial | 2021 State MN and Green Bay recruit Jenna Guyer Jenna Guyer 6'2" | C Centennial | 2021 State MN . Junior guard Camille Cummings Camille Cummings 5'8" | CG Centennial | 2022 State MN has had a breakout season and freshman guard Marisa Frost Marisa Frost 5'8" | PG Centennial | 2024 State MN has earned her way into a starting role. As for the Irish? Well they just suffocated heavily favored Farmington into submission. Seniors Ivory Finley Ivory Finley 5'8" | CG Rosemount | 2021 State MN (UMass-Lowell) and Helen Staley Helen Staley 6'0" | PF Rosemount | 2021 State MN (Oakland), juniors Alexa Ratzlaff Alexa Ratzlaff 5'9" | CG Rosemount | 2022 State MN and Tayah Leenderts Tayah Leenderts 6'0" | PF Rosemount | 2022 State MN , and sophomore Nicole O’Neil Nicole O’Neil 5'10" | SG Rosemount | 2023 State MN were terrific in the first round. Expect more of the same in the semis. Wouldn’t it be something if one of these two teams hoisted the trophy on Friday night?