After catching my breath over the exhilarating finish of the second Class A semifinal (AND heaving a HUGE sigh of relief over Iowa's 72-70 win over Temple in the NCAA Tournament), I readied myself for the Friday night session at Williams Arena that featured the two Class AA semifinal games - the first that pitted fourth-seeded Roseau going up against top-seed Plainview-Elgin-Millville which rolled past Holy Family on Wednesday. I was anxious to be able to get another glimpse of the trio of Borowicz sisters for the Rams - junior Kylie, freshman Kacie and seventh-grader Katie - and to see if they could help their team take things one step further than last year.
After two scores by junior post Emmaline Polson put the Bulldogs out in front 4-2 by the 16:34 mark, Roseau was able to respond with, who else, the Borowicz sisters. Kylie Borowicz drained one trey from the left corner at the 16:15 mark and then younger sister Kacie drilled a "3" from the right wing area off of an inbounds pass at the 15:20 mark and Kacie would strike again less than twenty seconds later on a lay-up in transition at the 15:02 mark that got the Rams out to a 10-6 lead. Plainview-Elgin-Millville would respond with a 10-2 run over the next three minutes; fueled by a Polson lay-up that had the Bulldogs back up 16-12 by the 12:34 mark. Roseau would close the gap to one point at 18-17 by the 11:24 mark and the Rams would stay within one point over the next three minutes. With Plainview-Elgin-Millville hanging on to a 25-24 advantage, the Bulldogs went on 7-0 run fueled by a "3" from the left wing area by senior guard Sarah Hart to take a 32-24 lead with 6:31 left. Right back came those pesky green-clad Rams on a 6-0 push with Kylie Borowicz connecting with a short shot with 5:39 left and one Kylie Borowicz free throw with 5:17 left that closed the gap to two points at 32-30. Plainview-Elgin-Millville looked to be off and running again when it built a 34-30 lead on a lay-up in transition by senior guard Chloe Holtz with 3:30 left but the Roseau tied the score at 34 on a 4-0 push highlighted by a lay-up in transition with 2:52 left by Kacie Borowicz. With the score tied at 35-all with over a minute and a half left, sophomore reserve post Hayley Dessner gave the Bulldogs a 37-35 lead with her short turnaround jumper with 1:01 left which is what Plainview-Elgin-Millville took in with them into the locker room at the half in an eighteen minute stanza that could only be described as a game of runs.
The Bulldogs set out to get more separation between themselves and their opponent once the second half got underway. A "3" from the top of the key at the 17:33 mark by Hart and a coast-to-coast lay-up by junior guard Morgan Shindelar at the 16:44 mark had Plainview-Elgin-Millville up 42-35 and a Holtz score in the paint at the 15:46 mark increased the margin to nine at 15:46 and an offensive rebound and putback by junior reserve guard Baighley Standinger maintained the nine-point edge at 50-41 and Roseau finally started showing the first signs of wearing down; particularly in trying to keep the Bulldogs out of the paint. By the 12:45 mark, Plainview-Elgin-Millville had increased the lead to double-digits at 57-45 and the Bulldogs managed to maintain the double-digit cushion over the next four minutes. Roseau could have easily decided to pack up their bags and go home at that point but this fun, run-and-gun, never-say-die Rams squad caught a second wind down the stretch and put a scare in the number one-seeded Bulldogs; thanks largely in part to the trio of Borowicz sisters. A jumper in the lane by junior guard Ivy Braaten cut Plainview-Elgin-Millville's lead down to seven at 70-63 with 7:19 left and a Kylie Borowicz freebie with 6:28 left and a lay-up in transition with 5:29 left got the deficit down to six points at 74-68. Free throws by Kacie Borowicz with 4:27 left and sophomore reserve forward McKayla Christianson with 3:45 left had the Bulldog lead down to four at 76-72 and an attacking Kylie Borowicz drew a foul with 3:16 left that sent her to the line for two more freebies that got Roseau back to within a single possession trailing 76-74 before Plainview-Elgin-Miller was finally able to dig in and stop the valiant Ram comeback attempt. Shindelar connected with a pretty reverse lay-up with 3:02 left that got the lead back to four at 78-74 and two scores by sophomore reserve post Hayley Dessner got the lead back up to eight at 82-74 that effectively ended Roseau's hope for a comeback. A Shindelar lay-up off of a long baseball pass downcourt sealed the deal and the Bulldogs punched their ticket to Saturday's championship game with a tough 87-78 victory.
In the press conference afterward, Roseau Head Coach Kelsey Didrikson felt that "we played good 'team basketball', we boxed out hard....we were going to put ourselves in position to win this game....It's not supposed to be easy this this time of the year....We forced shots in the paint in the first half.....I felt that early in the first half, our 'help side' defense wasn't there." On the other side, Plainview-Elgin-Millville's said that "We haven't seen a team like that this year....44 (Kylie Borowicz) is unstoppable....We tried three different players on her....and we still couldn't stop her." I got to ask Dessner about how her rebounding down the stretch really played a big part of her team's victory on this night. "They really needed me to contribute to the team by playing my role...getting a lot of rebounds, putbacks, finishing really well." The Bulldogs had a very balanced scoring attack on this night. Dessner's 23 points led the way while Holtz had 20 points, Hart had 14 points and Polson had 12 points. For Roseau, it was the Kylie Borowicz show who finished the night with an amazing 35 points and 12 boards which Kacie Borowicz had 23 points and sophomore forward Victoria Johnson finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
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