Wednesday, March 26, 2014

EASTVIEW TOOK ON BLOOMINGTON KENNEDY IN THE CLASS 4A STATE TITLE GAME

Eastview and Bloomington Kennedy went up against each other in the class 4A state championship game.
 
Eastview looked to set up their offense in the half-court.
 
There was a media timeout with 14:48 left in the first half. The score was Bloomington Kennedy 9 Eastview 4.
 
Kennedy was able to get the ball into the hands of Za’Keea Sa’Eed-El.
 
Kennedy called a timeout with 11:16 left in the first half. The score was Bloomington Kennedy 18, Eastview 9.
 
There was a media timeout with 10:35. The score remained Bloomington Kennedy 18, Eastview 9.
 
Bloomington Kennedy looked to feed Sa’Eed-El the ball and she was able to knock down mid-range jump shots.
 
There was a media timeout with 3:30 left in the first half. The score was tied at 28.
 
Sa’Eed-El came up some big layups late in the first half.
 
The score at halftime was Kennedy 37, Eastview 32.
 
As the second half got underway Bell came up with some huge layups. The defense was not able to slow her down.
 
There was a media timeout with 14:41 left in regulation. The score was Bloomington Kennedy 45, Eastview 36.
 
Eastview’s Madison Guebert came up with mid-range jump shots in the second half. Her teammates did a good job of getting her the ball in spots where she could shoot it.
 
There was a media timeout with 9:52 left in regulation. The score was Bloomington Kennedy 49, Eastview 43.
 
Bell came up with some steals. She was also able to get layups off the steals.
 
Kennedy didn’t let Eastview get any open shots. The defensive pressure that Kennedy applied made it difficult for Eastview to hit shots.
 
Eastview made a run at Bloomington Kennedy late in regulation. They took the lead with under 20 seconds to go on a Madison Guebert layup.
 
Eastview came away with the 64-61 victory over Bloomington Kennedy to win the Class 4A state title.
 
The leading scorer for Bloomington Kennedy was Bell with 24 points.
 
The leading scorer for Eastview was Guebert with 29 points.
 
After the game I was able to talk to Metoxen, Guebert and Karri Opatz about the game. I was also able to talk to Eastview’s head coach Melissa Guebert about winning the Class 4A state title.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

MARSHALL WENT UP AGAINST PARK CENTER IN THE CLASS 3A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

Park Center went up against Marshall in the class 3A state basketball championship game.
 
Marshall looked to push the ball down the court and score baskets in transition.
 
The score went back and forth in the early part of the game.
 
There was a media timeout with 12:39 left in the first half. The score was Marshall 11, Park Center 10.
 
Park Center’s Megahn DuBois came up with shots in the first half. Her teammates did a good job of getting her the ball in the pain where she was able to hit her shots.
 
Neither team went on a run in the first half. There were several ties and lead changes throughout the first half.
 
There was a media timeout with 6:51 left in the first half the score was Park Center 19, Marshall 18.
 
Park Center’s Ann Simonet and Cayla McMorris came up with nice mid-range jump shots to keep their team in the game. Their teammates did a good job of getting them the ball in spots where they could shoot it.
 
The score at halftime was Marshall 29, Park Center 24.
 
As the second half got underway Marshall looked to push the ball down the floor and score baskets in transition.
 
Marshall’s Hannah Bennett came up with deep three-point shots midway through the second half.
 
Her teammates did a good job getting her the ball in spots where she could shoot it.
 
There was a media timeout with 9:52 left in regulation. The score was Marshall 46, Park Center 41.
 
Park Center kept on attacking the basket, but their shots couldn’t fall.
 
There was a media timeout with seven minutes left in regulation. The score was Marshall 48, Park Center 43.
 
Park Center’s Samantha Berg got into a shooting rhythm in the second half. She was able to come up with mid-range jump shots in the second half.
 
Park Center was able to come up with baskets in transition in the last 4:30 of regulation.
 
Marshall called a timeout with 45.3 seconds left in regulation. The score was Marshall 60, Park Center 56.
 
Park Center’s Cayla McMorris came up with some big layups down the stretch. Her teammates did a good job of getting her the ball in spots where she could shoot it all night long. She really shot mid-range jump shots well.
 
Park Center’s Danielle Schaub hit a jump shot from the free throw line at the buzzer to tie the game at 60. The game went into overtime.
 
At the end of regulation the score was tied at 60.
 
Both teams hit two shots during the first overtime period.
 
The score was tied at 64 after the first overtime period.
 
Both teams attacked the basket and looked for fast break baskets in the overtime period.
 
McMorris continued to come up with big plays in both of the overtime periods.
 
The game was tied at 67 after the second overtime period.
 
In the third overtime Park Center came up with some shots and Marshall came up with shots late in the third overtime period.  
 
With under 20 seconds left and a tie game Marshall fouled Schaub and Simonet on back to back plays. They each were able to hit free throws as Park Center came away with the 73-71 triple overtime victory.
 
After the game I was able to talk to Park Center's Head Coach Chris Vander Hyde. I was also able to talk to players Simonet, McMorris and Hayes about winning the championship.

NEW RICHLAND WENT UP AGAINST KENYON-WANAMINGO IN THE CLASS 2A STATE TITLE GAME

New Richland took on Kenyon-Wanamingo in the Class 2A state championship game. The score went back and forth early in the contest.
 
There was a media timeout with 14:16 left in the first half. The score was New Richland 9, Kenyon-Wanamingo 7.
 
New Richland pushed the ball down the floor as they were able to get the ball into the hands of Carlie Wagner.
 
There was a media timeout with 6:46 left in the first half. The score was New Richland 20, Kenyon-Wanamingo 13.
 
New Richland was able to hit baskets in transition. Carlie Wagner came up with some big lay-ups.
 
The defense had a hard time slowing her down.
 
There was a media timeout with 3:59 left in the first half. The score was New Richland 28, Kenyon-Wanamingo 13.
 
The defense that New Richland applied really pestered the Kenyon-Wanamingo players on offense.
 
The score at halftime was New Richland 37, Kenyon Wanamingo 19.
 
New Richland kept the defensive pressure on Kenyon Wanamingo throughout the second half.
 
Kenyon continued to struggle to shoot the ball in the second half. Kenyon’s Megan Quam came up with some jump shots in the second half. Even though they struggled to hit shots Quam hit her shots.
 
There was a media timeout with 9:59 left in regulation. The score was New Richland 56, Kenyon-Wanamingo 37.
 
New Richland continued to get the ball into the hands of Carlie Wagner. She kept on attacking the basket and came up with layups.
 
There was a media timeout with 3:34 left in regulation. The score was New Richland 64, Kenyon-Wanamingo 52.
 
New Richland shut down the Kenyon-Wanamingo offense. Carlie Wagner put on another offensive showing as she was all over the floor on both ends of the floor.
 
New Richland came away with the 71-61 victory over Kenyon-Wanamingo.
 
The leading scorer for Kenyon Wanamingo was Quam with 22 points.
 
The leading scorers for New Richland was Carlie Wagner with 36 points.
 
After the game I was able to catch up with New Richland head coach John Schultz. Schultz also talked to the media after the game as well. Carlie Wagner also spoke to the media about the game.
 

Monday, March 24, 2014

MINNEOTA TOOK ON WIN-E-MAC IN THE CLASS A GIRLS BASKETBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

On March 22 it was championship Saturday as Minneota went up against Win-E-Mac in the Class 1A state girls basketball championship game.
 
Minneota started the game in a zone defense. They played zone for most of the tournament. Win-E-Mac switched between man-to-man and zone defenses.
 
Minneota was able to get their offense going early as they got everyone involved in the offense.
 
There was a media timeout with 14:11 left in the first half. The score was Minneota 11, Win-E-Mac 4.
 
Win-E-Mac was able to get fast break baskets. They got the ball into the hands of Alayna Espeseth. Espeseth stepped up and made her mid-range jump shots.
 
There was a media timeout with 10:07 left in the first half. The score was Minneota 15, Win-E-Mac 11.
 
Win-E-Mac was able to score baskets in transition.  
 
There was a media timeout with 5:59 left in the first half. The score was Win-E-Mac 21, Minneota 19.
 
Win-E-Mac’s Madison McKeever came up with some big layups after the media timeout.
 
Minneota called a timeout with 4:51 left in regulation. The score was Win-E-Mac 27, Minneota 19.
 
The defense had a tough time slowing McKeever down late in the first half.
 
There was a media timeout with 3:03 left in the first half. The score was Win-E-Mac 29, Minneota 19.
 
Win-E-Mac continued to push the ball down the floor getting transition layups.
 
At halftime the score was Win-E-Mac 35, Minneota 26.
 
As the second half got underway Win-E-Mac continued to look to get the ball into the hands of
McKeever and Korbyn Ross. Ross came up with mid-range jump shots in the second half. Her teammates got her the ball in spots where she could shoot it.
 
There was media timeout with 14:52 left in regulation. The score was Win-E-Mac 41, Minneota 32.
 
Win-E-Mac was able to make three-point shots in the second half.
 
Minneota called a timeout with 12:21 left in regulation. The score was Win-E-Mac 47, Minneota 32.
 
Minneota kept on looking to score layups in the second half.
 
There was a media timeout with 10:34 left in regulation. The score was Win-E-Mac 47, Minneota 37.
 
Both teams continued to swing the ball around the three-point line as they took time off the clock.
 
There was a media timeout with 6:39 left in regulation. The score was Win-E-Mac 47, Minneota 44.
 
Both teams kept up the defensive pressure late in the contest. Minneota looked to trap out of the zone and force Win-E-Mac to turn it over.  
 
Minneota came up with some big baskets late in the contest. Stienessen and Reiss did a good job of getting to the basket and coming up with shots. They got within two points late in the contest.
 
There was a media timeout with 3:06 left in regulation. The score was Win-E-Mac 52, Minneota 50.
 
Win-E-Mac took a lot of time off the clock as they swung the ball around the three-point line. They were able to attack the zone defense.
 
Minneota called a timeout with 1:18 left in regulation. The score was Win-E-Mac 56, Minneota 50.
 
Win-E-Mac did a good job of running their offense late and they came up with some huge shots in the second half.
 
Win-E-Mac came up with the 61-53 victory over Minneota.
 
With that win Win-E-Mac won the Class 1A state tournament title.
 
The leading scorers for Minneota were Reiss with 18 points and Emily Stienessen with 17 points.
 
Win-E-Mac was lead in scoring by McKeever with 27 points and Ross with 17 points.
 
After the game I was able to talk to Win-E-Mac’s McKeever, Ross and head coach Ian Hanson about the game.

KENYON-WANAMINGO WENT UP AGAINST ESKO IN THE CLASS 2A STATE SEMIFINALS IN GIRLS BASKETBALL

Kenyon-Wanamingo and Esko went up against each other in a Class 2A state semifinals.
 
Kenyon-Wanamingo looked to get the ball into the hands of Siri Sviggum. Sviggum was able to knock down mid-range jump shots
 
There was a media timeout with 14:33 left in the first half. The score was Kenyon-Wanamingo 13, Esko 6.
 
Kenyon-Wanamingo was able to score on fast break chances in the first half. They were quicker than Esko on the offensive end.
 
There was a media timeout with 10:54 left in the first half. The score was Kenyon-Wanamingo 15, Esko 9.
 
Both teams went into a scoring lull as each team was not able to score a basket for over three minutes.
 
Esko’s Megan Quam was all over the floor on the offensive end. She was able to hit mid-range jump shots throughout the first half.
 
Both teams played mostly zone defense which made the other team take lots of time off the clock.
 
There was a media timeout with 6:54 left in the first half. The score was Kenyon-Wanamingo 19, Esko 13.
 
Kenyon-Wanamingo was a little quicker than Esko in the first half. Kenyon-Wanamingo was not able to score off the fast break chances that they had.
 
Esko went into a scoring drought late in the first half. Kenyon-Wanamingo used that to their advantage as they were able to score uncontested baskets.
 
At halftime the score was Kenyon-Wanamingo 32, Esko 14.
 
The second half got off to a quick start as Kenyon-Wanamingo continued to push the ball down the floor look to score baskets in transition.
 
Esko couldn’t get their offense going in the second half.
 
Kenyon-Wanamingo was too much for Esko. Esko couldn’t get their offense going and they got steamrolled late in the contest.
 
Esko had trouble shooting the ball throughout the contest.
 
In a game that was over quite early on Kenyon-Wanamingo trounced Esko by the final of 60-36.
 
The leading scorer for Esko was Wagemaker with 15 points.
 
The leading scorer for Kenyon-Wanamingo was Sviggum with 18 points.
 
After the game I was able to talk to Kenyon-Wanamingo’s head coach Brent Lurken and Sviggum about the game.

NEW RICHLAND TOOK ON HOWARD LAKE IN THE SEMIFINALS OF THE GIRLS STATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

New Richland and Howard Lake squared off in the semifinals of the Class 2A state tournament.

Howard Lake looked to get the ball down the floor quickly as they looked to score baskets in transition.

New Richland’s Maddie Wagner came up with some nice mid-range jump shots early in the first half.

Her sister Carlie Wagner came up with some nice layups herself.


Howard Lake continued to look for the fast break chances.

There was a timeout on the floor with 3:53 left in the first half. The score was New Richland 28, Howard Lake 21.

New Richland continued to attack the basket late in the first half.

At halftime the score was New Richland 40, Howard Lake 28

As the second half got underway New Richland was able to set the tempo. They kept on looking to get the ball into the hands of Carlie Wagner.

There was a media timeout with 14:37 left in regulation. The score was New Richland 48, Howard Lake 38.

New Richland’s Marnie Wagner came up with some nice mid-range jump shots in the second half.

There were a lot of fouls called as the pace really slowed in the second half.

Howard Lake couldn’t get their offense going in the second half. New Richland’s Carlie Wagner broke the all-time tournament scoring record with her 36th point of the game with 6:07 left in regulation.

Howard Lake didn’t have an answer for Carlie Wagner.

New Richland came away with the 87-58 victory over Howard Lake.


MANKATO LOYOLA TOOK ON WIN-E-MAC IN THE SEMIFINALS IN CLASS A

Mankato Loyola went up against Win-E-Mac in the semifinals of girls Class 1A state tournament.
 
Win-E-Mac got the ball into the hands of Shelby Kaster. Kaster came up with jump shots in the paint. She was also able to hit layups as well on the offensive end.
 
Mankato Loyola’s Megan Schroeder came out on fire as she was able to knock down mid-range jump shots early. Her teammates did a good job of getting her the ball in spots that she felt comfortable shooting the ball.
 
There was a media timeout with 10:50 left in the first half. The score was Mankato Loyola 15, Win-E-Mac 13.
 
There were several ties and lead changes throughout the first half.
 
There was a media timeout with 6:42 left in the first half. The score was Win-E-Mac 19, Mankato Loyola 16.
 
Mankato Loyola was able to score baskets in transition. Schroeder continued to come up with some big baskets late in the first half.
 
Win-E-Mac’s Madison McKeever took the ball hard to the rack as she made layups. She also shot mid-range jump shots. The defense had a hard time of getting slowing her down.
 
There was a media timeout with 2:00 left in the first half. The score was Win-E-Mac 26, Mankato Loyola 22.
 
Win-E-Mac used a lot of time off the clock as they swung the ball around the three-point line.
 
The score at halftime was Win-E-Mac 28, Mankato Loyola 22.
 
Win-E-Mac to push the ball down the floor to start the second half. They set good screens and were able to get everyone involved in the offense.
 
There was a media timeout with 14:27 left in regulation. The score was Win-E-Mac 32, Mankato Loyola 28.
 
McKeever had success shooting the ball from the paint throughout the contest. The defense had trouble defending her in the paint.
 
There was a media timeout with 10:48 left in regulation. The score was Win-E-Mac 39, Mankato Loyola 33.
 
Mankato Loyola’s Aunikah Bastian made jump shots from the paint midway through the second half. Her teammates did a good job of getting her the ball in the paint.
 
There was a media timeout with 6:34 left in regulation. The score was Win-E-Mac 45, Mankato Loyola 39.  
 
Kaster’s defense made it hard for the person she was guarding to make uncontested shots.
 
Win-E-Mac was able to control the tempo of the game late in the contest.
 
There was a media timeout with 3:33 left in regulation. The score was Win-E-Mac 52, Mankato Loyola 45.
 
Mankato Loyola came up with some big shots late in regulation. They looked to get the ball into the hands of Schroder and Bastian. They both shot the ball well late.
 
Win-E-Mac came away with the 62-61 victory over Mankato Loyola.
 
The leading scorers for Mankato Loyola was Schroeder with 21 points.
 
The leading scorer for Win-E-Mac was McKeever with 32 points.
 
After the game I was able to talk to Kaster, and head coach Ian Hanson about the game.