The nightcap at Target Center featured unbeaten Braham (30-0) against a new face at the State Tournament - BOLD, Olivia. The Warriors sported a very good 26-3 record and they breezed through the Section 3AA enroute to Minneapolis. Now, though, they would have the dubious task of taking on a Braham squad led by one of the best players ever to play this game, Rebekah Dahlman.
The Bombers, after being rudely bounced in the first round at Target Center last year by New Richland-H-E-G, stumbled a bit initially but eventually put distance between themselves and BOLD, Olivia as they built a 12-5 lead by the 11:20 mark without Dahlman having to shoulder much of the load. Making matters worse for the Warriors was that junior Baylie Kubesh picked up her third foul by the 10:00 mark. The Warriors, however, had reason for hope when junior Carly Sigurdson was able to connect on consecutive lay-ups (one being after she picked Dahlman's pocket) that cut the Braham lead down to 17-10. It appeared that Braham had once again found themselves as a drive and finish by Dahlman with 5:39 left and then another foray into the paint by the lanky senior who is Vanderbilt-bound off of an inbounds pass had the Bombers up by double digits again. However, a late flurry by BOLD, Olivia; highlighted by a "3" from Sigurdson with :40 seconds left cut the Braham lead down to 27-21 and only a jumper before the buzzer by senior forward Dani Braund allowed Braham to take a 29-21 lead into the locker room. From a BOLD, Olivia standpoint, there was a lot to be positive about at this point.
Braham still wasn't able to completely shake the Warriors in the opening minutes of the second half as they clung to a relatively unsafe 39-30 lead by the 13:36 mark. Slowly but surely, the Bombers began to put the necessary distance between themselves and their opponent as they embarked on a 12-0 run in a stretch of two minutes that changed the whole complexion of the game. And Dahlman was simply breathtaking during this stretch - a "3" at the 12:20 mark followed by a jumper at the 11:46 mark and then a brilliant reverse lay-up at the 11:10 mark - made it 52-30 and had BOLD, Olivia Head Coach Brian Kingery calling a halt to the action with a timeout. Moreover, Dahlman was quickly closing in on the 5,000-point scoring benchmark as Braham stepped on the gas to go on another run of 12-8 that expanded the Bomber lead to 64-38. At the 5:35 mark, Dahlman got that ubiquitous mark on a transition lay-up to a standing ovation from the Target Center crowd. Braham eventualled rolled to an easy 79-42 win that saw Dahlman score an astounding 40 points after a relatively quiet first half. Sigurdson led BOLD, Olivia with 16 points.
Afterward, Dahlman was humble about her accomplishment; stating that the most important aspect of tonight's win was that "We played like a team" as she rattled off the names of several players who had an impact tonight for Braham. The most important thing now, she stated, is that they have to be completely focused and ready for Providence Academy. It's a match-up that she's personally looking forward to as these two teams have quite a history already; not to mention the vastly contrasting styles these two teams have as well.
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