After witnessing perhaps the greatest games in the history of Minnesota Girls Basketball (and certainly the longest for sure), I felt like I need either an oxygen mask or a stiff drink (or maybe both) to somehow get myself calmed down and ready for the nightcap at Williams Arena on this Saturday night - the Class AAAA Championship Game that featured #1 seed Eastview in its first-ever championship game going up against #3 seed and last year's state runner-up Bloomington Kennedy. The Lightning got here by holding off Eden Prairie on Thursday night while the Eagles were back in the championship game by beating a gamey Lakeville North squad. Bloomington Kennedy was still trying to recapture the glory it enjoyed nearly ten years ago when the Eagles won their first state championship game while Eastview was looking to finally shed the bridesmaid's role that had been seemingly affixed to it over the disappointments of the last few seasons. They got over one hurdle in winning a state semifinal. Now, could they win it all once being on the grand stage on a Saturday night?
Bloomington Kennedy must have had the doubts racing through the minds of Lightning players, fans and students alike as the Eagles raced out to a 9-1 lead in the games first three minutes; paced by senior guard Kenisha Bell who seemed possessed on this night as she connected with a tip-in off of a missed Eagles shot at the 17:21 mark and connected with a jumper in the lane at the 15:49 mark. Fellow senior forward Tonoia Wade punctuated this early Eagle run with a "3" from the left wing at the 15:20 mark before Eastview was finally able to figure out that it got hit by a Mack truck early on and had to find a way to recover. Junior star guard Madison Guebert was able to hit a "3" from the left top area at the 15:02 mark and a jumper from fellow junior forward Hana Metoxen in the lane helped trim the Eagle lead down to 9-6 by the 14:27 mark but Bloomington Kennedy would proceed to go on another Bell-Wade burst in the form of a 7-0 run highlighted by Wade's "3" from the right top area at the 13:35 mark and a Wade lay-up at the 13:11 mark. Bell was able to snare a steal at the 12:53 mark and she flew the other way down the court like a Union Pacific-Milwaukee Road "Cities" streamliner for an easy lay-up to get the Eagles up 16-6 by the 12:53 mark. Two more scores by Bell - a drive in the lane and finish at the 11:45 mark and a lay-up in transition with 9:50 left - had things looking good for Bloomington Kennedy up 20-9.
But this Eastview squad; arguably not as athletic and fast as Bloomington Kennedy, would still find a way to get itself back into the thick of things. A Guebert "3" from the left top area with 9:30 left and back-to-back treys by senior guard Kari Opatz - one with 8:22 left and the other with 7:48 left - had the Lightning back to within six trailing 24-18. A Metoxen jumper from the right elbow with 7:17 left and a score in the paint by senior reserve guard Megan Boehm with 6:45 left suddenly had Eastview right back in the thick of things trailing 24-22 and Bloomington Kennedy Head Coach Quintin Johnson; not liking how a sizable lead got shrunk in such a short time, called a timeout to discuss things with his team. But things were not going well for the Eagles by this point as Eastview was able to knot things up at 26-all and 28-all shortly thereafter. Even more disconcerting to Bloomington Kennedy's Johnson by this juncture was that the foul situation was in Eastview's favor by a 9-1 count with 3:30 left. But the Eagles were somehow able to push all of this aside in the waning moments of the first half. Senior reserve guard Za'Keea Sa'Eed-El drained a "3" from the left top area with 2:56 left for a 31-28 Bloomington Kennedy lead and a pull-up jumper in transition by Bell with 2:15 left that got her fouled as well made it 33-28. Bell's ensuing freebie missed its intended mark but that miss was negated when Eagle 8th grader reserve forward Mariah Alipate connected with a jumper from the right elbow with 1:35 left that extended Bloomington Kennedy's lead to 35-28. Eastview sophomore guard Erika Schlosser was able to get into the paint for a score with just :01 left but Bloomington Kennedy still held a five-point 37-32 lead at the halftime break. Little wonder that Bell's 18 points led the way for the Eagles in the first half while Guebert's 13 points paced Eastview. Rebounds were fairly even with Eastview holding a slight edge at 15-13 but the Lightning were guilty of five turnovers in the first half.
A jumper from the right top area just inside the arc by Guebert at the 17:48 mark appeared to have Eastview on the right track once the second half got underway but Bloomington Kennedy would step on the gas again and soon extend their lead. A short jumper by Bell at the 16:25 mark along with a short shot off the glass by sophomore reserve forward Lashayla Wright-Ponder at the 15:12 mark and a lay-up in transition by senior post Isie Odor that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory freebie put the Eagles back out by nine at 45-36 by the 14:41 mark. An Odor score in the paint at the 14:03 mark extended the lead to double digits at 47-36 before Eastview could recover somewhat. Opatz unleashed a "3" from the right wing area at the 12:26 mark and a Boehm score in the paint at the 11:03 mark helped get the Lightning back to within single digits trailing 49-41. A Guebert lay-up at the 10:18 mark sliced some more fat off of the deficit to a six point margin at 49-43 but it seemed like Eastview was having to work awfully hard against the speed and athleticism that Bloomington Kennedy has.
An Odor score in the paint with 9:25 left and a lay-up in transition by Bell with 8:39 left once again had Bloomington Kennedy up by double digits at 53-43 and free throws by both Wright-Ponder and Odor helped pad the cushion to twelve points at 57-45 with 7:04 left. It seemed that the Lightning could only at best trade buckets with their opponent which wasn't going to get the job done trailing by double digits with time beginning to become a factor as well. They had to clamp down on defense and somehow be able to get on a run. And that's exactly what happened. A Guebert "3" from the right wing with 5:23 left along with two free throws by senior forward Emee Udo suddenly had Eastview back to within five trailing 57-52. Two free throws by Bloomington Kennedy's Wade with 3:01 left got the lead back up to six at 59-53 and a drive into the lane by Bell for a lay-up that drew "oooh's" and "ahhh's" from the raucous Bloomington Kennedy student section upped the lead back to seven at 61-54 with 2:31 left. But a lay-up by Eastview's Udo with 2:16 left along with two Udo free throws with 1:39 left now drew the Lightning to within three trailing 61-58 and, by this point, you probably couldn't blame Bloomington Kennedy's Johnson if he and the Bloomington Kennedy students and fans and parents weren't looking for the proverbial panic button because this is where the Eagles looked like they were ready to panic. The timeout called by Johnson with 1:58 left arguably broke that panic button out of the box.
Bloomington Kennedy's Bell had a chance to slightly widen the Eagle advantage when she was sent to the charity stripe after getting fouled with 1:13 left but she missed the front end of the on-and-one and the Lightning got the rebound and, on the ensuing possession, Metoxen got fouled and she promptly knocked down both free throws that cut the Bloomington Kennedy lead down to a scant point with 1:00 left. Eastview Head Coach Melissa Guebert called a timeout to set up the defense and with :58.5 left, the Eagles committed a ghastly error when Wade somehow lost control of the inbounds pass which, by replay on the big screen, appeared to be a very, very close call. In any event, the Lightning got the ball back and with :50 left, Guebert went in for a lay-up as the Lightning suddenly assumed their first lead at 62-61. Bloomington Kennedy got the ball back and with Bell at the top with the ball, she patiently waited for an opening; any kind of opening that might allow her to work her magic and get the winning points. With :21 left, Bell saw an apparent crack in the Eastview defense and she raced into the opening and tried to use every move that she and the Good Lord ever knew existed and tried to connect with the winning shot. But this shot failed to go to its intended mark and instead rolled off the side of the rim and into the hands of Eastview's Udo who quickly got the ball to Opatz. Opatz was immediately fouled by Wade with :18.2 left and Opatz was able to sink both free throw attempts for a 64-61 advantage. Still time left for Bloomington Kennedy. The Eagles got the ball up the court and looked to get either Bell or Wade open for the game-tying trey. But the Lightning clamped down on defense and wouldn't allow an opening for either of the Bloomington Kennedy sharpshooters to get squared up for a clean shot (God, how I WISH Iowa mens hoops could do this). With just :02 left, Wade from way behind the arc had to let loose with a shot that was errant and fell harmlessly off the glass and rim and the Eastview players and student section celebrated wildly as the Lightning claimed their first-ever state championship with a 64-61 victory over a stunned Bloomington Kennedy squad.
Eastview's Melissa Guebert; truly one of the class acts in the world of girls high school coaches here in Minnesota, found it difficult to contain her excitement and glee after this great win. "We are all so excited!" she said adding that, even when her team was down double digits and hope appeared bleak, "Our kids have never quit." She also spoke about coaching her daughter Madison; a subject she has been somewhat reluctant to discuss up to now. "I'm just super-proud of her" she said...."It's just so special to experience this with her." About her team in general she said that "You could feel their determination.....It didn't feel like our kids were down....Our kids enjoy the pressure." She also talked about how close this team is and how they always pick each other up and never get on a teammate if they make a mistake. It only underscores how much of a family this squad really is. Personally, I'm very happy for Melissa Guebert and her team (and no offense intended to the Bloomington Kennedy contingent either as their day will surely come again) and it shows that good things DO happen to good people. I also spoke with Metoxen about this win and that frantic, final minute. "It was crazy" she said and "we had to lock-down on defense"....."We worked hard to get here and getting this is special" she added. Madison Guebert echoed those sentiments saying that "We had to lock down on 'D'.....It's amazing to do this and exciting!" And so there you have it. It was without question one of the most exciting nights of basketball I have ever watched or covered and to have this in a championship setting with such great crowds with such storylines and twists and turns made it all that more exciting. I think it's safe to say that, on this night anyway, Minnesota Girls Basketball was the real winner on this night.
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