Made my back over to Williams Arena on this bright and sunny but cold Saturday for the championship games of the Minnesota Girls State Tournament. The first game on tap today would be the Class A Championship Game featuring defending state champ Minneota going up against Win-E-Mac. The Vikings got back to the championship game by virtue of their incredibly exciting semifinal win over Goodhue and the heroics of junior forward Taylor Reiss while the Patriots held of Mankato Loyola to advance. On paper anyway, Minneota would be heavily favored to win and repeat as state champs but the way this state tournament is gone, all I can do is paraphrase ESPN's Chris Berman and say "THAT'S why the play the games."
The fireworks started early in this championship game as both sides tried to make a splash early on. A lay-up by sophomore point guard Madison McKeever of Win-E-Mac had the Patriots up 4-2 by the 16:25 mark but that was negated when Minneota junior guard Payton Boerboom drained a "3" from the left wing at the 16:05 mark for a 5-4 Viking lead which was the start of a 9-0 Minneota run that made it an 11-4 game by the 14:11 mark and Win-E-Mac Head Coach Ian Hanson; apprehensive of getting into a hole early on, called a timeout to get his squad settled down. The Patriots seemed to come out of that break in the action with a better focus and intensity as McKeever promptly drilled a "3" from the top of the key at the 13:52 mark to cut the Minneota lead down to 11-7. By the 11:55 mark, the score was suddenly knotted up at 11-all thanks to two free throws by McKeever who seemed to be taking over the game for the Patriots. By the 10:07 mark, the Vikings had re-established a bit of a cushion with a 15-11 lead but this was far sight better for Win-E-Mac compared to what they were staring at early on in this contest.
The Patriots would make things very interesting over the next three minutes as a McKeever free throw with 8:14 left and a lay-up senior forward Shelby Kaster drew Win-E-Mac to within two trailing 17-15. Senior guard Korbyn Ross then gave Win-E-Mac its first lead at 18-17 since the opening moments when she uncorked a "3" from the right corner with 7:02 left that had the Patriots fans screaming with delight. But there would be reason for even more joy among the Win-E-Mac contingent as the Patriots proceeded to go on a 9-2 run over the next three minutes; highlighted by a pretty lay-up by McKeever that now had Win-E-Mac ahead 27-19 with 4:35 left and had Minneota coach Chad Johnston calling for a timeout to search for answers. The Patriots extended the lead to 29-19 before the Vikings were able to make a bit of an inroad on that cushion. Win-E-Mac, however, would get the lead back to a ten-point lead at 31-21 before Minneota's three-point sharpshooter, junior Emily Stienessen, was able to uncork a trey from the right wing with :43 left to help the Vikings get back to within seven trailing 31-24. Two free throws by Win-E-Mac's Ross with :40.7 left had the Patriot lead back up to nine at 33-24 but a Stienessen lay-up allowed Minneota to get back to within seven again trailing 33-26. That should have had the Minneota contingent feeling a bit better but then just before the halftime buzzer, the Patriots' Ross struck again; this time snaring an offensive rebound for a putback that re-established that nine-point lead at 35-26 and Minneota's Johnson somehow had to find a way to get his team breathing fire during the halftime break to avoid the upset that underdog Win-E-Mac was threatening to pull off. McKeever set William Arena ablaze with her 17 first half points while Ross followed up the Patriot effort with her ten points. Minneota junior forward Taylor Reiss led the Viking attack with her ten first half points while Stienessen added nine points. Minneota did have the rebounding edge at 21-18 but also committed 12 first half turnovers to only four for Win-E-Mac and that had to change for the Vikings if they were going to repeat as state champs.
The Patriots were able to retain that nine-point edge in the opening three minutes of the first half and Win-E-Mac's Ross played an integral role in helping her team keep that advantage. A drive and finish by Ross at the 17:17 mark plus two Ross free throws had the Patriots up 41-32 by the 14:52 mark. Minneota's problems mounted when Win-E-Mac's McKeever got a hot hand as she connected on a lay-up in transition at the 12:55 mark and then uncorked a jumper just inside the arc from the top of the key at the 12:24 mark for a 47-32 Patriot lead. By this point, Win-E-Mac was content to take some air out of the ball and, by the midway point, it definitely looked like Minneota was in deep, deep doo-doo.
But the defending state champs would not be ready to throw in the towel on this one and they slowly fought their way back. They got on a 7-0 burst to cut the deficit back into single digits and then extended that to a 12-0 run when senior forward Megan Larson snared an offensive rebound for a putback and got fouled in the process and her ensuing free throw suddenly had the Vikings to within five trailing 47-42. Then a score in the paint by Stienessen with 7:03 cut Win-E-Mac's lead down to 47-44 and the Minneota students and fans were going nuts. The Patriots would get their lead back up to 52-44 with 4:32 left but this Minneota team was far from finished. A Stienessen "3" with 4:22 left and a rare "3" from senior forward Molly Hennen from the left wing with 3:35 left suddenly had the Vikings to within two trailing 52-50. But two scores by Win-E-Mac - a lay-up by Ross with 2:00 left that had players from both teams falling all over the place it seemed like; and a lay-up by freshman Alayna Espeseth with 1:27 left - had the Patriots up 56-50 and Minneota's dreams of a repeat state championship died right there. Win-E-Mac's Ross knocked down one charity stripe shot with 1:02 left and then Win-E-Mac's McKeever came up with a game-clinching steal with :57 left that got her fouled as well. Her ensuing freebies now had the Patriots up 59-50 which, for all intents and purposes, was the ballgame. Two more McKeever free throws with :39.7 left were insurance and this upstart Win-E-Mac team; unseeded in this state tournament, pulled off a shocker; claiming the Class A state title with a 61-53 victory.
A very happy Head Coach Ian Hanson later spoke about what this win means for him but for the Win-E-Mac program in general. "It's a lot of fun!" he said "It's special as I never got here as a player but to do it as a coach is great." I asked Hanson about how his team stayed calm in the late stages when Minneota drew close. "I told them to take a breath" he replied. They kept their cool and held off a late Minneota charge. As far as the team itself, Hanson couldn't help but gush with pride. "They hang out together; they're best friends" as this group has been together for a long time and has always had this goal. Ross concurred those sentiments as well. "We've been together since third grade and have worked so hard for this she said. Ross admitted that "I had a first couple of rough games" in this state tournament but today, with this being her last game in a Win-E-Mac uniform, she decided to step up and be bold. "I put my trust in my teammates" she added and said that that one early three she hit from the corner in this game seemed to really help her and her teammates settle down and get their teeth into the match. McKeever's 27 points led the way for Win-E-Mac in this state championship game and her along with Ross and Kaster were named to the All-Tournament team as well. Minneota was led by Reiss' 18 points while Stienessen had 17 points to pace the Vikings who saw their dreams of a repeat come to a halt.
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