The second game at Carleton College on this Saturday afternoon lined up like this:
Home Team
Tia Elbert - Tartan
Taylor Thunstedt - New London-Spicer
Anna Monke - Fergus Falls
Madison Lee - Maranatha Christian Academy
Anna Pfefferle - Northfield
Michaela Rasmussen - Holy Family
Chase Coley - Minneapolis Washburn
Carly Sigurdson - BOLD
Vanessa Lane - Pequot Lakes
Kayla Nickles - Braham
Head Coach - Tylor Coley - Minneapolis Washburn
Asst Coach - Keith Wilson - Minneapolis Washburn
Player Rep - Tammy Filzen
Away Team
Carlie Wagner - New Richland-H-E-G
Hannah Grim - Rosemount
Bailey Strand - Fergus Falls
Bryanna Fernstrom - Chisago Lakes
Mackenzie Uter - Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted
Abby Miller - Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted
Annalise Savageau - Osakis
Allie Knuti - Mountain Iron-Buhl
Siri Sviggum - Kenyon-Wanamingo
Head Coach - Jason Kuehn - Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted
Asst Coach - Patrick Kaplin - Osakis
Player Rep - Jane Runzhiemer
The home team would get off to a great start in this one; bolting out to a quick 6-0 lead in the first two minutes thanks to scores by hometown favorite Anna Pfefferle's score in the paint at the 17:00 mark and a lay-up in transition just thirty seconds later. The lead would soon balloon to 12-3 on a drive and finish by Tartan's Tia Elbert at the 15:54 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way by New London-Spicer's Taylor Thunstedt at the 15:21 mark. An offensive rebound and putback by Maranatha Christian's Madison Lee that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory charity stripe shot sent the lead to 15-3 by the 13:37 mark before the away team was finally able to make some inroads on the deficit. A drive and one-handed shot by Rosemount's Hannah Grim at the 13:10 mark and a jumper along the left baseline by Minneapolis Washburn's Chase Coley at the 12:58 mark helped to ignite a bit of a spark. Grim was able to uncork a "3" from the left wing area at the 11:36 mark and a "3" by Kenyon-Wanamingo's Siri Sviggum suddenly had the away team within six trailing 19-13 at the 11:02 mark.
And, of course, you had to figure that ANY team that has a certain player with the name of Carlie Wagner on it would have a chance to open things up offensively as well and she finally made her presence felt for the away team as she nailed a "3" from the left top area at the 10:20 mark that sliced the home team's lead down to 21-16. A drive and finish along the left baseline by Grim with 9:57 left and an offensive rebound and putback by Chisago Lake's Bryanna Fernstrom with 9:15 left pulled the away team to within three trailing 23-20. The away team would stay within striking distance over the next minute and a half but could never seem to quite get over the hump. With the home team clinging to a one-point 23-22 lead, Fergus Falls' Anna Monke made a pretty move along the right baseline for a finish with 7:59 left that upped the lead to 25-22 and free throws by Elbert with 7:35 left along with a Coley jumper with 7:10 left pushed the lead back up to 29-23. Elbert's drive and finish with 6:49 left not only wowed the crowd but also drew a foul as well and she sank the ensuing freebie that expanded the lead to nine at 32-23. Elbert would strike again with 5:45 left on a lay-up in transition and then a "3" by Monke from the top of the key with 4:30 left had the home team up by ten at 37-27. Grim's lay-up in transition with 3:37 left helped the away team keep things reasonably close but an offensive rebound and putback by Coley of her own miss with 2:44 left along with a Thunstedt "3" from the left wing area with 2:09 left had the home team up 44-30. The away team would counter with two scores by Wagner who seemed to have her very own cheering contingent on hand at West Gym on this day - a jumper with 1:51 left and a "3" from the left top area with 1:30 left but the home team would maintain its double-digit advantage down the stretch with freebies from Thunstedt and a lay-up in transition by BOLD's Carly Sigurdson. Elbert's "3" from the right wing with just :36 left allowed the home team to hold a comfortable 53-39 lead by the time the buzzer ended this high-scoring first half.
The home team picked up right where they left off once the second half got underway as points in the paint by Pfefferle and Coley had the lead at 60-46 by the 16:22 mark. Then Elbert, who simply had a tremendous game on this day, connected on a lay-up in transition at the 15:25 mark to up the margin to sixteen at 62-46. A jumper in the lane by Coley at the 14:56 mark and a "3" by Thunstedt from the right top area at the 14:33 mark now had the home team up 67-49 and things looked grim for the away team by this point. But a Wagner jumper at the 13:52 mark along with a "3" from Fergus Falls' Bailey Strand from the right wing area at the 13:25 mark plus a pull-up jumper by Wagner at the 12:40 mark had the away team back to within fifteen trailing 71-56. Back-to-back scores by the hometown favorite Pfefferle helped the home team increase their lead back to nineteen at 75-56 at the 11:43 mark but Fernstrom's heroics over the next minute - a score in the paint at the 11:25 mark and an offensive rebound for a putback at the 10:01 mark that sandwiched a charity stripe shot - at least kept some hope alive for the away team trailing 78-61.
But the problem for the away team in this situation was that, in all-star games, defense is something that tends to be overlooked unlike regular-season games. As such, there was no quick cure to stop the home team's multi-faceted scoring machine as scores by Pfefferle and Coley had the lead at twenty at 84-64 with 7:34 left. The away team, however, with nothing to lose on this day, was having too much fun and a "3" from Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted's diminutive Abby Miller from the right wing area with 6:14 left along with a "3" from Wagner from the left wing area with 5:44 left whittled the home team's lead to 87-73. A pull-up jumper from Coley, however, got the home team a 91-73 lead and a shot at breaking the century mark as well. The away team would try to pad their scoring total on this day and help do their part to light up the scoreboard as well as Wagner connected with a lay-up in transition with 4:20 left and a pretty reverse lay-up by Osakis' Annalise Savageau pulled the away team to within twelve trailing 91-79 with 3:47 left. Coley's score in the paint with 2:58 left upped the lead to 93-79 with 2:58 left but then Wagner uncorked a "3" from the left top area with 2:31 left to help the away team to pull within eleven trailing 93-82. But the home team would inch closer and closer to that century mark in the last two minutes. Monke snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:18 left and an Elbert lay-up with 1:11 left made the home team's lead 97-85. Finally, a Thunstedt "3" from the right wing area with :38 left put triple digits on the scoreboard and an offensive rebound and putback by Pfefferle with :14 left put the finishing touches on a 102-85 victory for the home team.
The post-game ceremonies afterward included the introduction of the finalists for the 2014 Miss Basketball Award and those finalists included:
Kenisha Bell - Bloomington Kennedy
Chase Coley - Minneapolis Washburn
Cayla McMorris - Park Center
Brianna Rasmusson - Fergus Falls
Carlie Wagner - New Richland-H-E-G
To the delight of the many New Richland-H-E-G fans in attendance on this day, Wagner got the nod for the award which, for all she has done in her high school career, seemed fitting. But I think you can also look at the big picture and reflect what a great season this has been on the high school front with so many great players out there and the unpredictability that was prevalent during the state tournament. This was a fun year to be sure and I hope that the coming years will provide more of the same.
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