Nothing cures a hangover quite like winning for the Ko-Mets

<p>Welcome to "The Hangover Part IV." As if the first three versions weren&#39;t awful enough, the hooping girls of Kasson-Mantorville and Orono are living through a nightmarish fourth. That&#39;s how it must feel when the core of your championship-caliber team heads off to college, including an all-everything leader who was the go-to girl for several seasons. Well that&#39;s the unenviable spot where both K-M and Orono find themselves now as the Spartans&#39; <strong>Tori Andrew</strong> now plies her trade at Yale and the Ko-Mets&#39; <strong>Kristin Scott</strong> lights it up at Iowa State. Orono&#39;s 3A state championship is but a distant memory, and all you can do is make do. The two teams entered the contest with a combined win-loss record of 2-7. When it was over, the Ko-Mets had win number two by a score of 69-63.</p> <p>Kasson led by 14 at the half, but Orono found something in the second period thanks largely to the play of D1-bound <strong>Madeline Loder</strong>. By the mid-way point, the game was tied at 52. Down the stretch, the Ko-Mets won it at the line, making 10 straight by my count. That enabled them to rebuild the lead as large as seven before fending off any last-minute heroics.</p> <p>A work of art it was not. Point guard <strong>Bailey Berge</strong> did what she could to orchestrate the offense for Kasson-Mantorville, and at times they did some nice work in combination with big freshman post <strong>Mya Suess</strong>, who had 21 points. Their more polished performance, however, was on the other side of the ball. It&#39;s not easy to stop Loder, the one big holdover from the title-winning team. She has accounted for the vast majority of the Spartans offense so far this season, and it was true again on this night. But K-M did just enough to keep things in check. By game&#39;s end, Loder had 24 points but K-M had a W. When you&#39;re trying to shake off the cobwebs of the night before, that&#39;s always the best medicine.</p> <p><strong>Player of the game:</strong> Mya Suess, Kasson-Mantorville</p> <p><strong>Individual Scoring</strong></p> <p><strong>Orono</strong> <strong>–</strong> Madeline Loder 24, Kristin Van Buren 8, Amelia Singleton 8, Anna Hughes 6, Gabby Germanson 6, Natalie Brekken 4, Alayna Eichstadt 3, Elle Johnson 2, Julie Rorendahl 2</p> <p><strong>K-M </strong>– Mya Suess 21, Meredith Wright 15, Bailey Berge 11, Devyn Borgstrom 10, Lexie Worden 10, Lexi Husebeck 2</p> <p><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>EDINA 50 ROSEMOUNT 47</strong></span></p> <p>When it comes to the luck of the Irish, there simply hasn&#39;t been much of it thus far in the season – at least not for the Irish of Rosemount, who entered Saturday night&#39;s encounter at the Breakdown Invitational winless in five attempts. This shouldn&#39;t be surprising, given the departure of long-bomber <strong>Maddy Olson</strong> to the college ranks, and a lineup pock-marked with youth. When the game was on the line, Rosemount had two 8th-graders, one freshman, and two sophomores on the floor hanging on for dear life. They survived all the way into overtime before the cloverleaf wilted and the Irish were done. Matt Nilsen&#39;s Edina Hornets, who seem to specialize in low-scoring nail-biters, did it once again, this time escaping with a 50-47 win in overtime.</p> <p>Rosemount got out of the gate quickly before the Hornets found their footing about halfway through the opening period. By halftime it was a two-point lead for Edina. In the second, the teams traded baskets throughout as 8th graders <strong>Anna Tauer</strong> and <strong>Alexa Ratzlaff</strong> came off the bench in an impactful way for Rosemount. The Irish were ahead by 2 with under two minutes remaining when Edina&#39;s <strong>Jane Korsh</strong>, who had a terrific game for the Hornets, drained a pair of timely free throws to tie it at 44. Rosemount had the ball at the end with an opportunity to score when Edina&#39;s <strong>Molly McHugh</strong> (that wouldn&#39;t be an Irish name, would it?) forced a turnover that led to overtime. In the extra period, <strong>Macy Nilsen</strong> and <strong>Lauren Oyalo</strong> each hit a pair of free throws in the final 40 seconds to give Edina the lead before <strong>Taylor Janssen</strong>&#39;s last gasp three-point attempt bounced off the rim and out. Point guard <strong>Olivia Coughlin</strong> (that wouldn&#39;t be an Irish name, would it?) was the player of the game as Edina extended the Irish losing streak to six.</p> <p><strong>Player of the game:</strong> Olivia Coughlin, Edina</p> <p><strong>Individual Scoring</strong></p> <p><strong>Edina</strong> <strong>–</strong> Macy Nilsen 14, Olivia Coughlin 14, Lauren Oyalo 11, Jane Korth 5, Molly McHugh 4, Josie Kamara 2</p> <p><strong>Rosemount – </strong>Larisa O&#39;Neil 13, Taylor Janssen 13, Helen Staley 11, Grace Willmott 5, Alexa Ratzlaff 5</p>