The third game of the day also had its share of storylines as well. The Anoka - Bloomington Kennedy quarterfinal match-up featured the Cinderella of two years ago (Anoka) against a proven squad looking to recapture its glory days from back in 2005 and 2006 (Bloomington Kennedy) when players such as Tasha Mrosak, Heather MacPhie and Jenna Smith were wearing the Navy Blue and Yellow for the Eagles. But this Anoka team was not the two-win team that caught lightning in a bottle late - James Fassett's squad fashioned a very good 20-9 regular season and as Fassett told me earlier in the morning, "We're ready and we're not here to go one and done."
And the Tornadoes certainly didn't seemed fazed by the second-seeded Bloomington Kennedy team despite the decided advantage in speed, height, and athleticism that new Head Coach Quintin Johnson's team possessed. Anoka and Bloomington Kennedy would be very tight but two treys by freshman Kiara Russell and a couple of transition opportunities the Eagles made good on enabed Bloomington Kennedy to open up an 18-10 lead midway through the first half and they would hold this cushion going into the late stages of the first half and take a 33-21 lead into the locker room at the half. Still, being down by eleven would not faze this Anoka squad which is an interesting mix of experienced seniors led by Claire Lundberg and transfer senior Abby Torgerson out of Maranatha Christian. Still, they had to close the holes in the 2-3 zone that they had been employing in the first half and shore up on some missed opportunities on the offensive end that kept them from closing the gap. Leading the way for Bloomington Kennedy in the first half was 8th grader Jasmyn Martin with 10 points while Lundberg not surprisingly was leading all Anoka scorers with fourteen points.
Bloomington Kennedy looked to consolidate on the lead they held at the break but Anoka had vastly different ideas. a "3" by senior Hailee Gifford with 16:00 left and then an offensive rebound by junior Kyrah Fredenburg and putback that got her fouled plus a jumper by Torgerson at the 14:25 mark suddenly drew the Tornadoes to within one at 32-31. But key missed finishes by the Tornadoes as well as a steady diet of Jasmyn and older sister, senior Jade Martin, Isieoma Odor and freshman Kiara Russell with her three-point prowess forged another surge by the Eagles as they opened up a 47-36 lead with 7:50 left. With 5:55 left, junior Kenisha Bell put on a move for a lay-up that had the rowdy Bloomington Kennedy student section roaring and had the Eagles up 53-38 as well. In the closing stretch, Bloomington Kennedy was putting on a show for the crowd at Target Center with dazzling transition scoring and Anoka simply did not have the firepower to counter as the Eagles cruised to a 66-48 win.
Afterward, as a sad but proud Anoka team began filing out of the locker room, Fassett emphasized his squad was not overwhelmed at all this time around. When asked about the key stretch where the Tornadoes had drawn to within one at 32-31, Fassett pointed out that they became "undisciplined" and "we lost our poise afterward". A missed shot here and a turnover there helped fuel Bloomington Kennedy's decisive run from his standpoint. Lundberg echoed Fassett's sentiments afterward as well saying that "we simply lost it" from that critical point. /Bloomington Kennedy, to their credit, had incredibly balanced scoring. Jade Martin led the way with 14 points while both Kenisha Bell and Kiara Russel poured in 13 and 8th grader Jasmyn Martin finished with 10. Lundberg led the way for Anoka with 16 points while Kyrah Fredenburg finished with 9 points.
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