The second game on tap on this Championship Saturday at Williams Arena was the Class AA Championship game that promised to be a good one - unheralded (and unseeded New London-Spicer taking on top-seeded Plainview-Elgin-Millville. The Bulldogs had to hold off a stubborn Roseau team while the Wildcats pulled off a big upset in knocking off Sauk Centre so that set the stage for a good one here in the late afternoon session.
Both teams struggled offensively in the opening minutes but the Bulldogs would forge a 5-0 advantage by the 14:58 mark on the strength of on free throw by senior guard Tessa Hubbard and a jumper in the lane off the glass in transition by fellow senior guard Sarah Hart. What was becoming apparent, however, was that Plainview-Elgin-Millville was ruling the paint and getting rebounds and second chance points not to mention big defensive plays as well that had New London-Spicer on its heels. A block of Wildcat junior forward Kabrie Weber's shot by Bulldog senior forward Chloe Holtz seemed to give Plainview-Elgin-Millville a big shot of confidence and the Bulldogs extended the lead to 10-0 thanks to a score in the paint by sophomore reserve post Hayley Dessner and two Dessner free throws before New London-Spicer finally got on the board at the 12:13 mark when senior guard Alyssa Fredrick drained a "3" from the right wing area. But Plainview-Elgin-Millville was just getting started as a 10-2 run over the next three minutes; capped by a lay-up by Hubbard at the 9:24 mark made it a 20-5 game. The Wildcats appeared to awake from their mid-afternoon slumber at that point as they proceeded to go on a 7-1 run thanks to two scores by junior reserve guard Brooke Beuning - a short jumper from the right side and a score in the paint - that got New London-Spicer back to within single digits trailing 21-12 with 7:51 left. At that point, you would have figured that the Wildcats had finally settled down and were back in the groove to presumably get close again. But New London-Spicer Head Coach Mike Dreier could not have counted on the Bulldogs going on an 18-2 blitz to take full command of this contest. In transition, junior guard Megan Shindelar got a pretty lay-up with 5:54 left. In the paint, junior post Emmaline Polson ruled; getting scores with 5:03, 4:28 and 2:27 left along with a lay-up with 1:09 left. From three-point land, junior reserve guard Baighley Standinger drilled one from the right wing area with :30 left for a 39-14 lead that Plainview-Elgin-Millville took into the locker room at the half and New London-Spicer looked like it had been hit with nuclear weapons.
The Wildcats just needed something positive at the beginning of the second half but the only positive they could likely come up with was just trying to keep the game from going into "Running Time" by the midway point. Two quick Bulldog buckets - a short jumper by Holtz and a "3" from the right wing area by Fredrick got Plainview-Elgin-Millville out to a 41-17 lead by the 16:42 mark and a pretty reverse lay-up in transition by Hart at the 14:31 mark made it a 44-17 ballgame. A "3" from the right wing at the 11:26 mark by Hubbard had the Bulldogs up 47-19 but New London-Spicer managed to avoid the "Running Time" dilemma on timely scores by senior forward Megan Thorson. Still, down 51-29 with 8:30 left, any Wildcat comeback attempt appeared highly unlikely as Plainview-Elgin-Millville continued its complete and utter domination in the paint. A Hart lay-up and a score in the paint by Polson had the Bulldogs safely up 59-36 with 4:51 left and a steal and lay-up the other way by Shindelar made it 61-36 and New London-Spicer's fate was sealed as Plainview-Elgin-Millville completed a fabulous 31-1 season and a Class AA state title with a resounding 72-42 victory.
I was unable to attend the postgame press conference for this game but the box score for this one reveals some very telling numbers. Plainview-Elgin-Millville had a 45-37 advantage in total rebounds and only had nine turnovers compared to 17 for New London-Spicer. Thanks to a great defensive effort by the Bulldogs, New London-Spicer shot only 26.3% from FG range and an even icier 17.6% from three-point land. Polson's 22 points led the way for Plainview-Elgin-Millville on this day while Hart added 13 points. Thorson's 13 points led the way for New London-Spicer in the losing effort while Fredrick had nine points.
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