The second semifinal on this Friday night featured yet another highly anticipated match-up: the Millers from Minneapolis Washburn going up against the Panthers of New Richland-H-E-G. Both teams featured star players - Washburn's 6'3" junior post Chase Coley and New Richland-H-E-G's scoring machine junior Carlie Wagner. Both student sections were in full bore for this one and it was already raucous by the time I got settled in my chair for this one.
The Millers built up a 10-4 lead in the early going as they had things going their way for the most part. Trailing 15-8 by the 11:34 mark, New Richland-H-E-G's situation was made even more difficult when Carlie Wagner picked up foul numero dos. But two quick baskets by Wagner narrowed the deficit by the midway point of the first half. A jumper by Carlie Wagner at the 4:56 mark tied the score at 21-all then a "3" by senior Katie Cole gave the Panthers their first lead of the game at 24-22 with 3:35 left. Coming down the stretch of the first half, it seemed as if things were slowly falling apart for the Millers and New Richland-H-E-G was doing all the things such as getting steals and rebounds. Even more striking was the fact that Coley was scoreless with 2:00 left in the first half and you just had to think that that HAD to change if the Millers were going to reverse their fortunes in this one. With Coley rendered ineffective from a scoring standpoint, New Richland-H-E-G took a 32-29 lead into the locker room at the half - only three points - but they clearly had momentum in their corner. Wagner had an astounding first half with 21 of the Panthers 32 points along with 8 rebounds. Minneapolis Washburn was led by Megan Lucas' 11 points.
The Panthers picked up right where they left off at the end of the first half as Carlie Wagner was making her presence felt all over the court and making the Millers collective playing lives miserable. A steal here, a forced bad pass there, and then a "3" by Carlie Wagner from the left wing at the 14:56 mark pushed New Richland-H-E-G's lead to 38-33. With 14:01 left, Coley FINALLY got into the scoring books and then another score by senior Megan Lucas cut the Panther lead down to 40-38. At the 12:24 mark, Coley took an inadvertent shot to the face and had to sit for a spell. Just before the midway point of the second half, the Panthers embarked on a run; highlighted by a Carlie Wagner rebound of Paige Overgaard's missed free throw where she made an incredible reverse shot under the basket that helped extend their lead to 48-39 with 10:04 left. The Panthers would retain their advantage but Coley finally started getting untracked for the Millers as they slowly crept their way back into the thick of things. With 6:31 left, New Richland-H-E-G's lead had been cut to 54-49 and the Millers weren't through yet. A basket by Natalie Holdahl with 3:36 left further cut into the New Richland-H-E-G advantage as it was now a single-possession game at 55-53 and, as you can imagine, things were getting wild and wooly inside Target Center. But just when it looked like the Panthers might crack, Carlie Wagner remained calm and cool and just put on a display that saved New Richland-H-E-G's title hopes. I have to say that, in some ways, I was so captivated by it all that I simply had to sit back and watch in amazement. Whether it was at the free throw line, hitting a key jumper, grabbing an offensive rebound, forcing a turnover or getting a steal, she simply did it all on this night. Even more amazing on this night is that she was just two points shy of matching her individual game scoring record of 50 points in one game (she finished with 48); nobody else was even in double-digits for the Panthers. New Richland-H-E-G would win this one 69-60 to force the Saturday afternoon showdown against Braham in the Class AA title game. Natalie Holdahl led Minneapolis Washburn with 17 points and Chase Coley, who came alive in the second half, finished with 16.
Afterward, a very humble Carlie Wagner was quick to point out that, while it's great to be able to score like this, it's a team thing and she wants to help make her team and teammates better more than anything. Head Coach John Schultz shook his head in amazement afterward as well; marveling at what Carlie Wagner did for his squad tonight. "She just has a knack for stepping up when she has to" he stated. So now this sets up the huge showdown tomorrow afternoon in the Class AA title game. At this point, I'm not sure who to give an edge to but if Carlie Wagner has a repeat performance tomorrow, New Richland-H-E-G is going to be awfully tough to beat.
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