The last Class AAAA quarterfinal of the day featured a familiar face - #3 seed Eastview against unseeded Rochester Mayo which made a big splash upsetting heavily-favored Lakeville North in the Section 1AAAA final. But this Eastview team, sporting a sparkling 27-2 record has been a dark-horse favorite among many girls high school basketball observers and they have been on the cusp of hoisting the trophy more than once in the recent past.
The Spartans of Rochester Mayo gave their large student contingent at Target Center a lot to cheer about in the early going as they bolted to a quick 4-0 lead. But the Lightning would eventually close in on the Spartans and knot the issue at 10-all by the 10:30 mark thanks to a "3" by sophomore Madison Guebert and a steal and transition opportunity that got her fouled and resulted in a trip to the charity stripe. Eastview would then go on a three-point shooting barrage that enabled them to open up a 19-13 lead with 8:00 left and by the 5:15 mark the Lightning expanded that lead to 23-13 with aggressive offensive rebounding and a transition opportunity and had Rochester Mayo Head Coach Rich Decker calling a thirty-second timeout to fan the flames a bit. Another problem for Rochester Mayo was that lanky 6'1 senior post Rachel Doll picked up her second foul with just under four minutes left and she would have to be careful the rest of the first half. Meanwhile, Eastview kept lighting things up from behind the arc whenever they got good looks (particularly Guebert) as the Lightning took a cozy 32-14 lead into the locker room at the half and appeared to be in firm control of things. Sophomore sharpshooter Hana Metoxen led all scorers with 13 first half points while Guebert was right behind with 12 points. Doll led the way for Rochester Mayo with seven points. Rebounds were the big telling point in the first half as Eastview had a total of 21 while Rochester Mayo could only snare 12. Unfortunately for Rochester Mayo, the only category they did lead in was turnovers with 13 in the first half. That HAD to change if the Spartans were to get back into this thing.
But Eastview had absolutely no intentions of letting Rochester Mayo get close again as Guebert simply went on a tear for the Lightning; putting on a clinic from three-point land and cashing in on several transition opportunities that had Eastview up 40-22 with 13:25 left. Making matters worse for Rochester Mayo, Doll, freshman Anna Winter, and senior Katrina Ruedinger all had three fouls tagged on them by the midway point and the Spartans would need a miracle of 1969 New York Mets proportions to climb back into this one. With 8:08 left, Eastview expanded their already comfortable double-digit lead to 48-24 after Guebert drained yet another one from behind the arc. The Spartans, to their credit, did make a late push that cut into the Eastview lead somewhat but the Lightning had things in cruise control as they claimed a convincing 54-40 victory that sends them into tomorrow night's semifinal against Bloomington Kennedy which should be a great one.
Afterward, Eastview Head Coach Melissa Guebert; sporting a somewhat hoarse voice, stressed that aggressive defense was one of the keys coming into this match-up with Rochester Mayo and that aggressive defense obviously paid huge dividends in the second half. Although she does feel that ner squad needs to execute better offensively, she was pleased with her team's focus on the floor. "We need to keep the focus" she said; "whether it's on the perimeter or on the free throw line". Certainly if they can do that, they will be an incredibly tough team to knock off. It was Madison Guebert leading all scorers with 27 points in this one while Hana Metoxen chipped in with 14. Doll led the way for Rochester Mayo with her 15 points in a losing effort.
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