State Tournament Semis: The Final Fours are all set

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 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. <strong>TUESDAY, APRIL 6</strong> <strong>CLASS A</strong> <strong>10 a.m. – 22-1 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa vs 23-0 Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s</strong> Is there a more talented, more productive player in class A basketball than junior [player_tooltip player_id="109131" first="Madison" last="Mathiowetz"] 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 <strong>Sydney Windschitl</strong> 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 <strong>Abby Berge</strong> 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 [player_tooltip player_id="222568" first="Alissa" last="Knight"] (MSU-Moorhead) and <strong>Karissa Jones</strong> will likely make life difficult for SESM. <strong>12 p.m. – 23-0 Minneota vs 19-4 Mountain Iron-Buhl</strong> 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 [player_tooltip player_id="109764" first="Abby" last="Hennen"] and junior guard [player_tooltip player_id="109147" first="Natalie" last="Rolbiecki"], 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 [player_tooltip player_id="178277" first="Jordan" last="Zubich"], who has proven all season that she can do it all. The Rangers’ supporting cast is strong, too, and <strong>Sage Ganyo</strong>, [player_tooltip player_id="109152" first="Lauren" last="Maki"], <strong>Ava Butler</strong> and <strong>Hali Savela</strong> proved that on opening night. <strong>CLASS AA</strong> <strong>2 p.m. – 21-2 Albany vs 19-4 Glencoe-Silver Lake</strong> Albany senior [player_tooltip player_id="109739" first="Paige" last="Meyer"] and Glencoe-Silver Lake senior [player_tooltip player_id="109752" first="Miah" last="Monahan"] 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 <strong>Mylea Monahan</strong> had the game of her life in the Panthers come-from-behind win over Minnehaha Academy and <strong>Kendall Guerrero</strong> is capable of launching an aerial attack at any time. Albany boasts a significant post presence in junior [player_tooltip player_id="109193" first="Madi" last="Herkenhoff"] and senior leadership in <strong>Abbie Christen</strong> plus a pair of intriguing young freshmen in <strong>Kylan Gerads</strong> and <strong>Alyssa Sand</strong>. <strong>5 p.m. – 22-0 New London-Spicer vs 21-1 Providence Academy</strong> 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 [player_tooltip player_id="57963" first="Maria" last="Counts"] and her sophomore sister [player_tooltip player_id="148338" first="Grace" last="Counts"] 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 <strong>Grace DeSchepper</strong> is sidelined with a torn ACL, the Wildcats still have 6’0 senior [player_tooltip player_id="109820" first="Ava" last="Kraemer"] 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 [player_tooltip player_id="252381" first="Maddyn" last="Greenway"] who put up 32 for PA in the quarterfinals. <strong>CLASS AAA</strong> <strong>7 p.m. – 21-0 Marshall vs 21-2 Academy of Holy Angels</strong> 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 [player_tooltip player_id="109746" first="Jordyn" last="Hilgemann"] (Northern State) and Holy Angels’ [player_tooltip player_id="2117" first="Frankie" last="Vascellaro"] 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. <strong>9 p.m. – 20-1 Hill-Murray vs 17-3 Becker</strong> 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 [player_tooltip player_id="30163" first="Adeline" last="Kent"], [player_tooltip player_id="109774" first="Courtney" last="Nuest"], and [player_tooltip player_id="186119" first="Ayla" last="Brown"] 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. [player_tooltip player_id="2134" first="Lilli" last="Mackley"] scored 27 points for the Pioneers in the victory and [player_tooltip player_id="109763" first="Bella" last="Hartzel"] 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. <strong>WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7</strong> <strong>CLASS AAAA</strong> <strong>7 p.m. – 16-0 Hopkins vs 16-0 Chaska</strong> 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 [player_tooltip player_id="12712" first="Maya" last="Nnaji"], [player_tooltip player_id="12713" first="Amaya" last="Battle"], [player_tooltip player_id="108298" first="Taylor" last="Woodson"] and [player_tooltip player_id="178269" first="Liv" last="McGill"] of Hopkins along with [player_tooltip player_id="12714" first="Mallory" last="Heyer"], [player_tooltip player_id="57077" first="Kaylee" last="Van Eps"], [player_tooltip player_id="108301" first="Kennedy" last="Sanders"] and more from Chaska. <strong>9 p.m. – 21-1 Centennial vs 19-3 Rosemount</strong> 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 [player_tooltip player_id="6396" first="Jodi" last="Anderson"] and Green Bay recruit [player_tooltip player_id="29521" first="Jenna" last="Guyer"]. Junior guard [player_tooltip player_id="109182" first="Camille" last="Cummings"] has had a breakout season and freshman guard [player_tooltip player_id="215953" first="Marisa" last="Frost"] has earned her way into a starting role. As for the Irish? Well they just suffocated heavily favored Farmington into submission. Seniors [player_tooltip player_id="29547" first="Ivory" last="Finley"] (UMass-Lowell) and [player_tooltip player_id="109744" first="Helen" last="Staley"] (Oakland), juniors [player_tooltip player_id="109123" first="Alexa" last="Ratzlaff"] and [player_tooltip player_id="109132" first="Tayah" last="Leenderts"], and sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="186142" first="Nicole" last="O’Neil"] 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?