The nightcap at Williams Arena on this Thursday night had the other Class AAAA semifinal featuring the other upstart - Lakeville North - which upset #2 seed Centennial on Tuesday taking on #3 seed Bloomington Kennedy. The Eagles would be a definite favorite in this one but as we've already found out, you'd better not take this Lakeville North team lightly as Centennial found out the hard way on Tuesday.
Tonoia Wade's "3" from the top of the key and a offensive rebound for a putback had Bloomington Kennedy up 5-0 by the 16:51 mark but the Panthers closed the gap to 5-4 by the 15:20 mark and two free throws by junior forward MacKenzie Denk at the 14:48 mark helped keep Lakeville North close trailing 7-6. A 7-0 burst by the Eagles highlighted by another Wade "3"; this one from the right wing at the 13:29 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way by senior guard Kenisha Bell along with a Wade score in the paint had Bloomington Kennedy up 14-6. Lakeville North's sophomore reserve guard Sarah Krynski's "3" from the left corner at the 11:20 mark cut into the deficit but with 9:03 left, Bloomington Kennedy's Wade struck again from behind the arc from the left wing area that had the Eagles up 17-9 and in pretty good shape.
Bloomington Kennedy would get the lead to ten with 7:55 left at 23-13 but the Panthers made some inroads on the Eagle cushion when Denk was able to take an inbounds pass with 5:19 left and score in the paint and get fouled in the process as well and the obligatory free throw had Lakeville North within five trailing 25-20. The Panthers would stay within striking distance over the next four minutes before they were able to make a move. Back-to-back Lakeville North scores with 1:44 and 1:13 left cut the Eagles lead down to 30-27 and then Denk was fouled in the paint with :37 left and her two charity stripe shots drew the Panthers to within a scant point trailing 30-29. Bloomington Kennedy was able to get a late score to nudge their lead back up to 32-29 but Lakeville North Head Coach Shelly Soule had to be encourage that her team was hanging right in there with an arguably bigger, faster, and more athletic Bloomington Kennedy team. Wade's 15 points easily led Bloomington Kennedy in the first half while Denk paced the Lakeville North attack with 11 points. Lakeville North actually had a 19-16 edge in rebounding and despite those three treys from Wade, neither team was outstanding from behind the arc in the games first 18 minutes.
This pesky Lakeville North team had no intentions of going quietly into the night and by the 14:38 mark they were still very much within striking distance; trailing 35-31. The Panthers drew even closer as senior guard Erika Rozell struck twice with scores at the 13:46 and 13:17 mark that sliced the Eagle lead down to 37-35 although Bloomington Kennedy was able to stretch things out to a 41-35 advantage by the 10:15 mark. The Eagles star player Bell also snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up with 9:55 left to stretch it to a 45-35 advantage and it looked like after getting close, Lakeville North was back at Square One.
The Eagles were able to inch the lead upward with 6:32 left on a score in the paint by sophomore reserve forward Lashayla Wright-Ponder and two Bell freebies for a 51-38 advantage. Turnovers were beginning to catch up with Lakeville North as they tried desperately to stay close. A Bell tip-in of an inbounds pass with 5:34 left made it a 53-40 Bloomington Kennedy lead and two Bell free throws with 5:22 left had the Eagles up 55-40. A drive and finish by senior post Izzy Odor with 1:31 left sealed Lakeville North's fate as Bloomington Kennedy advanced to Saturday night's championship game with a hard-fought 61-51 victory over a gamey Lakeville North squad.
A disappointed Lakeville North Head Coach Shelly Soule; still trying to absorb this loss, remained bullish and upbeat about her team despite tonight's setback. Soule remarked that they initially wanted to pack the paint against Bloomington Kennedy but those early Wade "3's" forced Soule to scrap that plan and adjust. She also talked about the young core of players she has coming back for next year including Denk who Soule labeled "the leader of our team". Denk's 17 points on this night led the way for the Panthers in the losing effort while Bloomington Kennedy side had several players in double figures. Wade tallied 19 points while Bell was right behind with 18 points and Wright-Ponder finished with 12 points.
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