2019 Minnesota Girl's State Tournament - Class A Semifinal Game Recap - Goodhue vs Menahga 3-5-19

Was running a little late today but did manage to get my rear end in gear to get over to Williams Arena to get settled in for the second Class A semifinal game that pitted Goodhue against Menahga.  Goodhue, of course, had the goods to manage to get by a tough Mountain Iron-Buhl team yesterday while the Braves were something of a mystery to me not having seen them in action before.  With Goodhue, I was curious to see if they could improve some of the things that nearly cost them yesterday - particularly the shaky free throw shooting and some defensive lapses that allowed Mountain Iron-Buhl to have some opportunities late. 

Goodhue would get out to a solid start in this one; bolting out to a 5-0 lead by the 15:15 mark of the first half but the Braves would soon close the gap and by the 12:55 mark Menahga had poked their nose out in front by a 10-9 count and complicating the Wildcats' situation was that senior post Lexie Lodermeier had collected her second foul of the afternoon as well.  The Braves had the upper hand at 14-10 by the 10:07 mark as Goodhue's offense seemed to stall out a bit and Wilcats Head Coach Josh Wieme at least had the luxury of a media timeout to discuss things with this team and hopefully make a few quick fixes as well.  But Menahga would push that lead to 17-10 a short time later and Menahga senior guard Annika Aho would drain a "3" from the top just under 8:00 left to get the lead to 20-12 before the Wildcats could find some semblance of offensive proficiency and cut the gap to four points at 22-18 with 5:44 left.  Goodhue's Lexie Lodermeier, with those two fouls, got the game tied up at 22-all with her lay-up with just over four minutes left and Lexie Lodermeier's short jumper with 2:44 left kept the game knotted at 24 a piece.  Menahga freshman forward Greta Hillukka would get a score in the paint with just under thirty seconds left that allowed the Braves to take a 26-24 lead with them in the locker room but, even worse for Goodhue, Lexie Lodermeier would pick up her third foul of the afternoon with just :11 left so now the Wildcats' Wieme had a huge problem on his hand and he arguably played with house money when he had his star post player in there with those two fouls.  One of the reasons that Menahga seemed to have the upper hand so far is that the Braves had a 17-12 edge on the boards just looking at the first half box score and although Menahga was guilty of nine first half turnovers, it seemed to me like the Wildcats didn't do a good job of closing out on the Braves' three-point shooters as they had numerous open looks and Goodhue was probably pretty fortunate that Menahga was only 3-10 from downtown.

Predictably, things would stay tight in the first three minutes of the second half with the Braves clinging to that two-point lead at 28-26 but the Braves would make a push and have their lead up to six points at 34-28 by the 12:00 mark and a "3" by senior guard Cierra Ahlf from the left wing area at the 11:37 mark suddenly pushed Menahga's lead to 37-28 and now the Wildcats' Wieme had to take a match to a full timeout before the gap got too wide.  But one of the big problems Goodhue was facing - in addition to Lexie Lodermeier's three fouls - was that the Braves were getting way too many second- and third-chance opportunities on the offensive end - and the Wildcats were the bigger team in this matchup as well.  Goodhue still managed to get the gap closed down to five points at 37-32 with just over seven minutes left and a score in the paint by Lexie Lodermeier with 6:47 left had the Wildcats back within a single possession down 37-34 and with 5:00 left, Goodhue made a big move as sophomore Arianna Thomforde played a big role with her steal and lay-up the other way as the Wildcats finally got their nose back out in front by a 38-37 count.  Menahga Head Coach Cody Pulju would immediately take a timeout to try and get his squad calmed down.  The Braves would get a big lift on an Alf "3" a short time later to take the lead and one Alf free throw with 1:15 left pushed the Menahga lead to 43-40 but Goodhue managed to cut that deficit down to one point with 1:03 left on a score by freshman guard Joslyn Carlson.  With :46.8 left, Goodhue's Carlson sank one freebie to get this one tied at 43 and with :21.9 left, Goodhue's Carlson made a move into traffic for a lay-up that drew a foul as well but Carlson couldn't cash in on the "and one" so while the Wildcats now had the lead at 45-43, Menahga still had a chance.  But the Braves would be foiled on their ensuing possession with :04.7 left.  With :03.1 left, Goodhue's Thomforde would be fouled and she sank both free throws as the Wildcats escaped again - into the Class A final - with a 47-43 victory. 

A check of the final box score shows that Menahga indeed controlled the boards on this day by a somewhat startling 35-23 count that, in most cases anyway, would lead to ultimate victory.  But the Braves were shaky down the stretch from the charity stripe and today (unlike Goodhue yesterday), it cost them.  Menahga also was guilty of 19 turnovers on this day as well; another ingredient for disaster.  Goodhue was led by Carlson's 17 points and Lexie Lodermeier was right behind with 16 points and props to her for staying out of foul trouble.  Thomforde would add ten points as well for the Wildcats.  On the Menahga side, junior Tara Hendrickson and Ahlf led the way with their 12 points, respectively in the loss.  Menahga's Pulju didn't waste any time blaming turnovers and some missed free throws down the stretch that ultimately cost his team.  I mentioned to Pulju that I thought his team actually had one advantage in that second half with second- and third- chances with offensive rebounds.  "Yeah, I'll give our girls credit for crashing the boards.....We deserved to win.....We just didn't do a couple of things down the stretch to make the difference....We made enough plays to win the game."  Goodhue's Wieme:  "We've been down before....We never get down on ourselves ; these kids don't get down on each other; they never stop believin'.....We've had some nice comebacks this year....It's not comfortable being down but they can handle it.....We got a couple turnovers that led straight to baskets and that gave us a great emotional boost obviously."  I asked Goodhue's Lexie Lodermeier about her state of mind when she was tagged with that third foul just before the halftime break.  "I know that I don't want to be sitting on the bench whatsoever and that it's fun to be in the game so I knew that I needed to play some better defense and keep my hands straight up and make that extra slide so I don't pick up my fourth right away."  Lexie Lodermeier added that "I was pretty mad at myself....I thought it was kind of dumb what I did.....It's just a foul I shouldn't have had"  I also had an opportunity to ask Wieme about all the second- and third-chance opportunities that Menahga seemed to have in that second half.  "Yeah, it was tough.....They were going at Lexie (Lodermeier); trying to draw that fourth foul....And I thought she did a great job.  She was moving her feet; staying vertical.....The problem was that we got out of rebounding position....We're usually a pretty good rebounding team; we don't dominate the boards but we rebound pretty well.  They (Menahga) were scrappy....They're strong but they were going hard at Lexie (Lodermeier) and we just kind of got out of position.  Finally, I had an opportunity late in the press conference to veer off-subject for a bit and ask Wieme about how important it was to have former Goodhue and GAC standout Mikayla Miller on the coaching staff this season.  "It's been really fun to have her first of all and she's fresh out of college so the kids are able to see someone who's easily had so much success in high school and in college......She had a lot of post ideas for us and we used a lot of those so she just has a great perspective all season long."  Wieme also added that just having Miller on the bench along with the great support of other Goodhue alumni with text messages and videos of well-wishes going into the state tournament was a huge boost for his team.