The nightcap from Williams Arena on this Friday night featured the other Class A semifinal pitting Kenyon-Wanamingo against upstart Esko which found a way to knock off highly-favored New London-Spicer back on Wednesday night. The Knights; with their 29-1 record, would be heavily favored in this one and the Eskomos would have to find the same magic they found two nights earlier.
Kenyon-Wanamingo had Esko on their heels early; bolting to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes unleashing a whirlwind attack and the Eskomos had only made an incremental dent by the 14:33 mark; cutting into the cushion to trail 13-6. It appeared the Esko was in a heap of trouble early on in this one given the Knight's obvious advantage in speed and athleticism but this resilient and resourceful Eskomo squad hung tough and gradually fought their way back into the thick of things. Trailing 15-9, senior forward Kailee Kat snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 8:05 left and then two free throws by freshman reserve forward Karlie Kulas kept the deficit at four trailing 17-13 with 7:11 left. But the dam broke after that stand as Kenyon-Wanamingo proceeded to go on a 12-1 run over the next five minutes. Freshman reserve guard Mara Quam connected on a lay-up in transition with 5:48 left and a rebound and putback by junior forward Brittney Flom with 5:04 left along with two Flom free throws with 4:30 left suddenly had the Knights up double digits at 25-14. With 3:02 left, Megan Quam knocked down a jumper from the left elbow and two free throws by senior guard Siri Sviggum made it a 29-14 game. At halftime, Kenyon-Wanamingo extended the run to take a 32-14 lead into the locker room and you had to think that it would take a miracle of gigantic proportions for Esko to get back into this one. Sviggum's 12 points paced Kenyon-Wanamingo in the first half while Esko had a very balanced scoring attack in the first half: three players with three points a piece and two players with two points. The Knights did hold a 16-11 edge in rebounds and the Eskos also were guilty of nine turnovers which factored into things at this point.
Esko needed to get off to a great start in the second half and a "3" from Kat from the left top area at the 17:45 mark was certainly a spark that could ignite something like that. But the Knights extended the lead to 42-19 by the 14:15 mark and Esko could at best trade buckets with Kenyon-Wanamingo which simply was not going to get the job done. By the 13:40 mark and trailing 44-19, Esko Head Coach Scott Antonutti saw this one clearly slipping into the abyss and called a timeout to try and get his squad reorganized.
This Esko squad certainly didn't give up however and a "3" from the top of the key by freshman reserve forward Judy Wagemaker with 9:18 left and a Wagemaker free throw with 8:10 left helped slice a little fat off of the Kenyon-Wanamingo cushion but they would not catch the Knights on this night. With the Knights up 49-25, Mara Quam knocked down a "3" with 6:46 left for a 52-25 Kenyon-Wanamingo lead. Both Esko's Antonutti and Kenyon-Wanamingo Head Coach Brent Lurken were able to gradually insert their reserves into this game and it gave them a chance to get their names in the books. The Knights would roll to a 60-36 victory on this night to cement their place into Saturday's championship game opposite New Richland-H-E-G. Kenyon-Wanamingo's Sviggum led all scorers with 18 points while Esko's Wagemaker was a surprise leader in the scoring department for the Eskomos with 15 points.
I asked Kenyon-Wanamingo's Lurken about how important this core group that the Knights have Sviggum, the Clark twins, Flom, and Megan Quam and what it's meant for them to get to this point. "We knew we had a good group" Lurken replied and "our goal was getting to state". He also added that "Our core group is so crucial....there's so much chemistry there." He pointed out that these players have played together for many years now and they know each other so well and they know what each other is going to do on both ends of the floor. Flom concurred to the chemistry the squad has saying that "We know each other so well." About matching up against powerhouse New Richland-H-E-G on Saturday afternoon, Flom was bullish on her team's chances. "It's a great challenge and we're ready for it." The short turnaround time could be a factor for both squads but Flom pointed out that "we have to be ready and focused." Indeed, the Knights gave New Richland-H-E-G a tough game on the Panthers home floor back in January and it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility that they could do so again - and then some - Saturday afternoon.
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