Decided to break the normal routine of getting in a practice indoors at Lifetime Fitness on a Friday night (about the ONLY time on a weeknight when you can get a court indoors anymore ever since Lifetime mothballed and bulldozed down the Highway 100 facility not far from my pad - thanks A LOT, Lifetime Fitness management a**holes) and accept an invitation from my good buddy Jon Sands to take in the game between the team he covers, the Holy Family Fire against the host Tigers of Belle Plaine. This would prove to be quite an interesting clash between the two Minnesota River Conference teams.
Holy Family is a VERY young team; only one senior (starting guard Erin Steiner) while juniors and sophomores dominate the roster. Belle Plaine is a bit more experienced but a bit shy on size. Nevertheless, it was the home team that got the hometown fans going early as they were able to open up a 7-2 lead on the visiting Fire. Slowly but surely, Holy Family worked themselves back into the game. At the 13:40 mark, lanky freshman Michaela Rasmussen (already 6'0" tall) scored on a drive to cut the Tigers lead to 7-5. After junior Erin Ryan-Mosley tied things up at 9-all with her score, Holy Family then took a 12-9 lead when sophomore Emily Bauer drained a "3"at the 11:45 mark. Holy Family would up the lead to 15-11 when junior Ashley Hanson pick-pocketed a Belle Plaine player from her grasp of the rock and finished with a lay-up at the 10:17 mark. The Tigers did manage to cut into the Fire lead and twice had it down to a single possession game when sophomore Haley Fogarty connected from behind the arc at both the 7:56 and 7:25 marks. Then senior forward Alex Hartman showed up and helped propel her Tiger team to a 24-19 lead that had the home crowd going.
Belle Plaine continued to hold the advantage coming down the stretch in the first half. After switching to a 2-3 zone on defense that had Holy Family a bit stifled on offense, the Tigers took advantage. Senior forward Kate Bigaouette helped Belle Plaine maintain a five-point advantage when she scored inside at the 4:28 mark. Then Bigaouette stepped up to do even more damage to the Fire as she finished inside at the 2:06 mark and then connected with a lay-up at the 1:29 mark to give Belle Plaine a 30-21 lead. Even more alarming for Holy Family was when head coach Mike Friestleben was whisteld for a "T" after arguing a bit too vociferously with the game officials over a call with just :35 seconds left in the first half. Trailing 33-23 at the half, Holy Family, looking out of synch on offense, clearly had work ahead of itself in the second half.
Whatever Friestleben said to his team in the locker room during halftime - it worked. Holy Family simply looked like a different team as the second half got underway. Talented 6'0" junior Hannah Schonhardt connected with a "3" at the 17:11 mark and then she connected with a lay-up at the 16:54 mark that clearly got the attention of the host Tigers. Then, Hanson connected with a lay-up of her own that trimmed the Belle Plaine lead to 34-32 at the 14:42 mark. After Schonhardt tied things up at 34-all at the 14:00 mark with her shot off the glass, she gave her Fire team the lead for good at the 13:49 mark. Holy Family would then gradually take control of the game and extend their lead to as many as 11 points at the 10:08 mark when Bauer canned a "3" and a 47-36 lead. Holy Family would maintain the cushion for a few minutes but you somehow knew the host Tigers would have at least one more run in them. Both Hartman and Bigaouette made single free-throws that cut Holy Family's lead down to 50-44 by the 3:54 mark. After Bigaouette scored inside at the 1:45 mark, Fogarty made the hometown fans roar with her steal and finish on the other end that further cut the Holy Family lead to 52-49 at the 1:24 mark. But this young Holy Family team would not buckle under the pressure on the road. Schonhardt and sophomore Aly Anton both got single FTs that upped the Fire lead to 54-49 with just under a minute remaining. Belle Plaine could never get it closer than three points and Holy Family was able to escape town with a hard-earned 59-51 win.
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