Made my way over to Williams Arena on this Thursday morning on this Day 3 of the 2016 Minnesota Girl's State Tournament where today the two Class AAA semifinals take place. The first game pitted unseeded and upstart TR Falls going up against fifth seeded Holy Angels which pulled off a mild upset in beating fourth-seeded Marshall Tuesday night.
It would be the Prowlers who would get off to a very good start in this contest; going on a 10-0 run as a "3" from sophomore guard Kylea Praska from the left wing at the 13:33 mark and a lay-up in transition by backcourt mate senior guard Kelsey Krainz at the 12:14 mark fueled the spurt. TR Falls employed a "box and one" defense that caused a multitude of problems early on for the Stars and Holy Angels Head Coach Dan Woods felt compelled to call a thirty-second timeout to stop the bleeding. That stoppage in play worked as the Stars returned the favor and went on a 12-2 run fueled primarily by the three-point shooting ability of junior guard Megan Thompson whose treys at the 11:15 and 10:53 mark forged a 12-all deadlock at the 10:20 mark. A "3" from the right wing at the 10:02 mark from freshman reserve guard Katherine Cullen prompted a 15-9 Holy Angels surge as the Stars seemed to finally be able to figure out that Prowler "box and one" defense for a 27-21 advantage. Senior forward Laura Bagwell-Katalinich; who had such a fabulous outing in the quarterfinal game on Tuesday night, knocked down a long jumper from the left corner at the 2:19 mark and a score in the paint by strong freshman Destinee Oberg with :38 left allowed Holy Angels to take a 31-23 lead into the locker room at the half and the energy that TR Falls had early on in this contest seemed to be sucked out of them by the Stars burst.
Needing another positive start to the second half, the Prowlers looked like they might have got that when Praska snuck inside for a score at the 16:45 mark but one trey by Bagwell-Katalinich from the right corner at the 15:49 mark and another three-point bomb by Thompson at the 15:09 mark pushed Holy Angels up even further at 39-25 and TR Falls looked to be in a heap of trouble. To the Prowlers credit, however, they hunkered down and proceeded to go on a 6-0 run that trimmed the Star lead down to single digits at 39-31 before Holy Angels woke up from their mid-day slumber and found some solid footing again. Bagwell-Katalinich connected on a jumper in transition from the free throw line at the 10:07 mark and a short jumper by Oberg at the 9:14 made it a 43-31 ballgame and TR Falls found itself back at Square One again. Down the stretch, the Stars did everything they could to put the Prowlers clearly behind the 8-ball. A Thompson lay-up in transition after a steal with 7:45 left and two Oberg freebies with 6:55 left got the lead out to 47-34. TR Falls still had opportunities to try and draw closer but the Prowlers went ice cold from the perimeter and never could make any meaningful dents in the deficit. Sophomore guard Megan Meyer connected with a lay-up in transition with 5:15 left and one Meyer free throw with 3:26 left got the lead out to 50-34 and Holy Angels cruised into the Class AAA title game on Saturday night with a comfortable 55-42 victory.
I asked TR Falls Head Coach Jeff Loe afterward about how, despite the early 10-0 run and despite how the "box and one" defense seemed to cause a lot of problems early on, Holy Angels was able to make the necessary adjustments and make a run themselves and eventually take control of the game. Loe admitted that the Stars adjusted very well and that he tried tweaking his strategy as well; trying a "triangle and two" on defense but they could never seem to get the necessary stops when they needed them. On the flip side, Holy Angels' Bagwell-Katalinich said "just staying calm"was the key to absorbing that early TR Falls run and once they were able to get on a bit of a run themselves, their confidence grew from there. Meyer led Holy Angels on this day with her 21 points while Thompson followed up with 14 points and Bagwell-Katalinich had nine points. For TR Falls, a balanced scoring attack in the losing effort; Praska led the way with 14 points and the Twin Towers combo of senior post Jenna Tadych and Tiahna Nicholson had ten points a piece.
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