Hayfield’s Watson Makes Class A All-Tournament Team

Hayfield Vikings sophomore Kristen Watson was selected for the Class A All-Tournament team following the MSHSL State Girls Basketball Tournament.

The Vikings were defeated 65-44 Saturday in the third place game by the Mayer Lutheran Crusaders.

I remember saying at halftime Hayfield would be happy being down 30-24 because things were not going their way.  They committed 9 first half turnovers compared to 2 by the Crusaders

Minneota posed some matchup problems with their size in the semifinals and Mayer Lutheran was even taller.  5'11, 6'1, 5'11 on the starting front line.

Mayer Lutheran senior guard 5'8 Emma Lade had 17 points in the first half on her way to a 24 point performance.  Junior 5'11 Madeline Guetzkow had 10 second half points to finish with 14 and senior 6'1 Julia Carns cleaned the glass en route to 9 points.

Hayfield was led by sophomore 5'10 Natalie Beaver with 15 points.

Like Minneota in the semifinals Mayer Lutheran utilized their height advantage to halt dribble drives by Watson in particular holding her to two field goals and 8 total points.

The 5'4 guard scored 9 points in the first half of the semifinals loss to Minneota.  Foul trouble rendered her less aggressive the rest of that game.  She played about half the second half and did not score.

Saturday Watson was in foul trouble again and senior 5'11 Aine Stasko fouled out for the second straight game after fouling out once all year during the Vikings 31-0 run to the state tournament.

Hayfield Head Coach Kasey Krekling told KDHL he advised his team before coming to the State Tournament the officials would let them play. Not call the game as tight so they needed to be strong with the ball.

In Hayfield's tournament opener Watson exploded for 30 points, 15 rebounds as the Vikings prevailed 67-57 over Cass Lake-Bena. There were 42 fouls called in that game.

With 8 minutes to go in the first half of their contest with Minneota, Hayfield had a 12 point lead.  The Vikings of Minneota shut down their turnover woes, forced more of those from Hayfield and went on to a 53-45 victory.

There were 30 fouls called in that contest (17 against Hayfield).  28 whistles blew for fouls in the third place game at Concordia University in St. Paul (17 against Hayfield).

The Vikings finished the game with 18 turnovers compared to Mayer Lutheran's 9.  Hayfield was 7 of 14 from the free throw line and the Crusaders hit 13 of 25 free throws.

Hayfield finished their season 32-2 shattering the old school record for wins in a season which was 26.  They will have a lot coming back next year but will definitely miss Stasko, McKenna Chick and Mckenna O'connor's leadership.

The seniors were chosen for our Cashwise Foods and Pharmacy of Owatonna Delivery of the Game for their delivery of great leadership during a fun season.

Mayer Lutheran finished their basketball season 28-5 after winning the Class  A State Volleyball Championship.   For achieving third place they received individual medals in addition to a team trophy.

Fourth place is awarded a team trophy.

The Hancock Owls (30-1) ended the Minneota Vikings (28-5) reign atop Class A with a  54-43 win in the title game Saturday at Williams Arena.

Minneota led 19-14 at the half and never trailed in the first half with a 11 point lead at the 11:12 mark.

The Owls got Natalee Robiecki in some foul trouble and held her to 5 points in the game.  She did play 34:34 but was 2 for 11 from the field and 1 for 7 from three point range.

Hancock shot 68.8% from the field in the second half missing just 5 field goals.  After going 1 for 6 from three point range in the first half they hit 5 three point baskets in 12 attempts in the second half.

Minneota was held to 34 percent shooting for the game.

The Owls took the lead about 3:30 into the second half and did not relinquish it.

Freshman 5'7 Kaitlyn Rohloff led the way with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists in 33:04 playing time.  Senior 5'9 Rylee Hanson had 13 points in 21:48 and sophomore 5'10 Misti Zempel chipped in 11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists in 32:33.

The free throw line without a doubt was the difference in the game with Hancock going 17 of 20 and the Vikings 6 of 6 from that location.

The Owls scored 17 points off 12 Minneota turnovers.

Hancock's only loss during the season was against West Central Area (18-6) a Class 2A team the Owls edged out for the Pheasant Conference title.  The first game they played Hancock won in overtime.

Rolbiecki took 4 shots in the second half, all from 3 point range.  Hancock's bench outscored Minneota's 13 to 2.

Mountain Iron-Buhl captured the Consolation Championship running away from Nevis 70-35.

Providence Academy (29-4) was the top seed in Class 2A and did not disappoint defeating Fergus Falls (26-6) 55-53.

The Lions roared in the paint to the tune of 32 points while the Otters had 18 and Providence Academy led the entire game.  They led 26-22 at the half.

Lions Senior Maria Counts led the charge with 19 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists.  Junior Grace Counts had 17 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and eighth grader Maddyn Greenway added 15 points, 4 boards, 4 dimes.

Fergus Falls senior 5'10 Ellie Colbeck took 31 shots in the game while scoring 41 points.  She was 6 of 15 from three point range.

Third place went to Minnehaha Academy (26-6) 53-52 over defending champion Albany (24-7) and Pequot Lakes (31-2) won the Consolation Championship 60-44 over Montevideo (26-5).

Totino-Grace (23-8) defeated defending Class 3A Champion Becker (25-5) 60-51 in The Barn in a double overtime thriller.

The Eagles soared at the free throw line 17 of 27 while the Bulldogs had a tough time getting there going 1 for 3.  Totino-Grace scored 19 points off 17 Becker turnovers.

Senior 6'0 Hannah Herzig played 40 minutes for the Eagles scoring 31 points with 8 rebounds.   Classmate 5'9 Leah Dangerud added 13 points, 10 rebounds in 38 minutes.

Becker was led by senior 5'7 Adeline Kent with 18 points, 6 rebounds in 35:39 and junior 5'8 Maren Westin added 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists in 40 minutes.

Becker shot one free throw in the two overtimes while Totino-Grace was 16 of 24. In the second extra session no free throws for the Bulldogs, 12 of 19 for the Eagles.

Third place was earned by St. Paul Como Park (23-7) with a 91-69 win over Mankato East (25-6).

The Consolation Champions are Austin (26-6) after a 62-52 win over Detroit Lakes (15-14).

Hopkins (26-1) cruised to a 72-56 victory over St. Michael-Albertville (23-8) in the Class 4A title game.

The Royals led the Knights 34-18 at the half. The game was even the rest of the way

Hopkins was paced by sophomore 5'9 Liv McGill with 25 points, 4 assists on 11 of 13 shooting from the field.  Her only two misses were from two point range because she was 3 for 3 from three land.

Junior 6'0 Taylor Woodson added 16 points, 13 rebounds in 29:54.

The Knights had three players with double digits.  Junior 6'0 Tessa Johnson scored 18 points, doled out 7 assists.  Senior 5'2 Emma Miller had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and sophomore 5'8 Ja'kahla Craft added 12 points, 12 rebounds.

White Bear Lake Area (22-10) defeated Roseville Area (22-10) 46-34 in the third place game.

The Rosemount Irish (25-7) edged South Suburban Conference foe Shakopee (27-5) 66-61 for the Consolation title.

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