The first game on Championship Saturday at Williams Arena of the 2016 Minnesota Girl's State Tournament was the Class A Championship Game that featured a finalist from last year's title game - Maranatha Christian Academy - going up against a first-timer in this event - top-seeded Goodhue. The Mustangs advanced to today's final by virtue of its thrilling overtime victory on Friday over second-seeded Mountain Iron-Buhl while the Wildcats advanced by demolishing Wheaton/Herman-Norcross. Going into this contest, I had to wonder what Maranatha Christian Academy had left in the tank; at least emotionally anyway, after the draining win over the Rangers. But, as Head Coach Chris Buerman stated in yesterday's postgame press conference, "We're going to bring defense to this game."
The one thing I was looking for early on in this contest was how well the Mustangs could take care of the rock given the plethora of turnovers that Wheaton/Herman-Norcross suffered at the hands of the suffocating Wildcat defense yesterday. While Maranatha Christian Academy did a better job than Goodhue's previous opponent, the Wildcats still bolted out to an 8-2 lead by the 15:55 mark thanks to a lay-up in transition by junior guard Mckenzie Ryan and a score in the paint by versatile sophomore forward Sydney Lodermeier. The Mustangs would close the gap to two points at 8-6 when junior forward Elise Moore got into the paint for a score at the 15:22 mark. Goodhue would widen the gap to 17-10 by the 13:06 mark when junior forward Maddy Miller made a hard drive into the lane for a finish off the glass at the 13:06 mark. Maranatha Christian Academy; using its run-and-gun style, managed to narrow the margin to three points at 18-15 with 8:59 left on one free throw by senior guard Alaina Jarnot and an Alaina Jarnot lay-up in transition and a pair of lay-ups in transition by Moore kept the Mustangs in the thick of things trailing 22-19 with 6:22 left. The Wildcats, however, went on a 10-2 spurt over the next two minutes; fueled by a Ryan "3" from the right wing area and two scores by Miller - a lay up and a score in the paint - had Goodhue up 32-20. A Sydney Lodermeier score in the paint maintained the cushion at twelve at 34-22 and a lay-up by senior forward Taylor Larson with 1:01 left made it a 37-24 Wildcat lead and Maranatha Christian Academy looked to be in a serious hole by this point. Even worse was that willowy sophomore forward Jacklyn Jarnot had to come off with an apparent ankle injury that had to be taped up. To their credit, the Mustangs managed to get the deficit whacked down to ten points at 39-29 with :12.7 left thanks to a drive and finish off the glass in transition by Alaina Jarnot and two Jacklyn Jarnot freebies but a defensive lapse on Goodhue's last possession before the half allowed Miller to connect with a lay-up to make it a 41-29 ballgame going into the locker room. While Maranatha Christian Academy was still in this one, they were hanging by a thread and they needed to make adjustments to avoid getting beat up in the paint.
The Wildcats wasted little time in creating more separation between themselves and their opponent once the second half began. Sydney Lodermeier drained a "3" from the left top area at the 17:38 mark and a lay-up by the wily Miller at the 16:37 mark pushed Goodhue's lead up to 46-31. Sydney Lodermeier showed her dominance in the paint when she snared an offensive rebound for at putback at the 15:40 mark and a jumper in the lane at the 15:13 mark that made it a 50-34 ballgame and although Maranatha Christian Academy's Alaina Jarnot was able to connect on a lay-up in transition that drew a foul that sent her to the line for the obligatory freebie, the Mustangs did indeed to be buried by this point; down 50-37 at the 14:35 mark. To their credit, Maranatha Christian Academy managed to whittle the deficit down to ten points at 50-40 by the 13:35 mark with that up-tempo run-and-gun style that they thrive on but the Mustangs just could not seem to crack that inside game of Sydney Lodermeier/Miller/Larson and a 9-2 Wildcat spurt over the next two minutes pretty much made the main hatchway give in for Maranatha Christian Academy. Free throws by Sydney Lodermeier and Larson and a lay-up in transition by Miller gave Goodhue a 59-42 advantage. Two Miller free throws at the 9:47 mark and a Miller lay-up after a steal made it a 63-45 ballgame and the Wildcats were now firmly in control. Worse yet for the Mustangs, Jacklyn Jarnot was now carrying four fouls that effectively limited her ability on defense as did both Moore and sophomore guard Kylie Post. Two Larson free throws with 8:06 left gave Goodhue a seemingly insurmountable lead at 67-46 and although the Jarnot sisters were not going to let their team go down without a fight, even the sisterly magic could not save the Mustangs on this day. Too many turnovers and too much domination in the paint by the Wildcats. Alaina Jarnot would get two more score down the stretch - a jumper in the lane with 4:34 left and, fittingly, a three-point bomb from the left top area with 1:28 left before Mustang Head Coach Chris Buerman took her out with :49.7 left to a standing ovation as did Goodhue's Miller a bit later as the Wildcats snared the Class A title with an 89-64 victory.
Maranatha Christian Academy's Buerman summed things up when I brought up the issue of points in the paint and second chance points - both vastly in favor of Goodhue on this day (44-26 and 21-6 respectively). "They did a great job, especially on the offensive boards.....We gave them 3,4,5 shots on some of the possessions which made it really hard for us to get out and run.....They limited us to one shot and often it was a bit of a force where we just weren't moving." Buerman also pooh-poohed the notion that the officiating in this one may have resulted in his team's demise on this day and, as far as foul trouble: "That's on us.....We've always had a 'next person up' mentality." I also asked Alaina Jarnot on what it's been like to be able to play at Maranatha Christian Academy and play alongside her younger sister Jacklyn as well. "I'm so blessed to play here and I've got an amazing coach......It's been amazing as I've been to the state tournament since I've been in the eighth grade....I'm really going to miss playing with her (Jacklyn)." On the Goodhue side, Head Coach Josh Wieme said that "This whole week has literally some of our best basketball the whole season.....I think what we saw today was just a tremendous focus, especially by the gals playing up top, our guards......Those girls just did a fantastic job of executing about what we talked about.....Just the focus of our kids this week has been incredible. Wieme also talked about past players in his program when I brought up the question of what this state title means for his program going forward and how they helped lay the foundation for what happened this season and how they also helped foster a culture that has created a winning program and a winning attitude. He also talked about how the southeast portion of the state is such a hotbed for girls high school basketball and how many good teams there are in the area and how it's all helped strengthened the program at Goodhue. The one-two punch of Miller and Sydney Lodermeier and their 28 and 24 points, respectively, led the Wildcats on this day while junior guard Ryan Mckenzie added 13 points and Larson had 12 points. On the Maranatha Christian side, both Alaina Jarnot and Moore had 18 points a piece junior forward Sami Payne had 10 points.
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