The late afternoon game on tap at Mariucci Arena on this Wednesday afternoon featured an intriguing match-up - #5 seed Minnehaha Academy going up against #4 seed Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted. Again, two teams that I did not catch during the regular season so this one would be a tough one to call. Minnehaha Academy came into this contest with the Section 4AA championship under their belt and the Redhawks sported a 20-6 record while Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted was the Section 5AA champ and the Lakers had a fine 27-2 record.
The scoring would come at a premium early on in this one with the two teams deadlocked at 2-all by the 15:30 mark and that may have had something to do with the 2-3 zone that Minnehaha Academy was showing early. That seemed to stifle Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted initially but the Redhawks forgot to tell the Lakers diminutive 5'3" senior point guard Abby Miller that you weren't supposed to shoot OVER the zone. Well, she did just that and two Miller treys at the 12:43 and 12:01 marks helped spur Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted to a 9-2 lead and Minnehaha Academy Head Coach Josh Thurow called a timeout to talk to his squad about that. The break in the action seemed to give the Redhawks a second wind and they eventually closed the gap to three points at 12-9 on a lay-up by junior guard Gracia Gilreath with 9:18 left.
Minnehaha Academy would get the lead at 14-12 on a pretty three-pointer from the top of the key by sophomore guard Sarah Kaminski with 8:21 left and things would be tight over the next six minutes before the Lakers could finally establish a little bit of wiggle room. Two free throws by senior guard Abby Miller and a "3" from the left corner by sophomore reserve guard Cozy Eastman had Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted up 24-20 and they took that lead to the locker room at halftime with them. Kaminski's nine points paced Minnehaha Academy in the first half while Abby Miller led the way for Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted with 11 points. The one area of concern for the Lakers, though, was rebounding and the Redhawks owned a decisive 21-12 advantage in that department so something would have to change there if Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted wanted to retain the edge in this one.
Minnehaha Academy would start the second half strong and forge a 26-all deadlock by the 14:40 mark and take a one-point 28-27 lead a bit later. The Redhawks would extend that lead to 31-27 on a pretty three-point shot from Kaminski from the right wing at the 13:28 mark but Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted would climb right back and get to within two at the 11:20 mark trailing 33-31 after senior post Marissa Reed connected with a lay-up in transition. The Lakers would take a 37-35 lead on Abby Miller's "3" from the left top area at the 10:22 mark and with the lead bobbing back and forth up to this point, you began to wonder if this one might come down to the wire.
The Lakers' other Miller on this squad; Maggie, nailed a "3" from the right corner with 9:03 left that established a bit of breathing room for Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted and a 40-35 lead to boot. The Lakers apparently showed no interest in keeping this game close and opened up more distance between themselves and their opponent. Senior forward Gabby Gruenhagen got into the paint for a score with 8:10 left and then Abby Miller knocked down a "3" from the left wing with 7:22 left. Maggie Miller scored with 6:59 left and another Abby Miller "3" with 5:48 left suddenly had Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted up 50-41 and Minnehaha Academy's Thurow saw the sky falling in this one and had no choice but to call a timeout. With a three-possession lead and the Lakers in the bonus, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted could now be deliberate in their offense which led to trips to the charity stripe to try and salt this one away. A lid effectively went on the Redhawks basket as well until very late in the game and Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted won this one by a comfortable margin of 62-43.
I had an opportunity to speak with Abby Miller afterward who finished this contest with a game-high 23 points. I asked her first if she feels comfortable with being the "go to" person on this team and she excitedly replied that she definitely feels comfortable with this role of being the scorer when she has to be. When I asked her about the seemingly daunting task of having to face New Richland-H-E-G in the semifinals she replied that she's very excited about the challenge that it presents and she added that "I thought we'd have a good shot at getting to the semis once we won our section championship game." Laker Head Coach Josh Kuehn expanded a little on Abby Miller's role on this team and emphasized that her 5'3" height limits her ability to finish around the rim but he's more than happy to have her as the squad's "go to" gal when they need points on the perimeter. And she definitely delivered on this afternoon.
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