The big news in Class AA was upset, upset, upset. #1 seed Rochester Lourdes defeated unseeded Concordia 71-55. But then #5 Waseca throttled #4 and undefeated Pelican Rapids 38-22. Unseeded Providence shocked #2 Sauk Centre 47-42. And unseeded Duluth Marshall came from behind to defeat #3 (and my pick to win it all) New London-Spicer 60-56.
It was a crazy evening, and it was during the Class AA games that the news came about the NBA suspending its season and the NCAA playing its tournament in empty halls. I asked an MSHSL staffer if they would be playing tomorrow (today) and the answer was, "So far."
Lourdes 71 Concordia 55
Lourdes was never in any danger, leading 39-26 at the half. Concordia made a run in the 2nd half but Lourdes then pulled away again. Lourdes took the early leads of 12-6 and 23-11, as Alyssa Ustby scored the first 5 points and 18 in the first half. Caroline Adamson scored 6 in a row to make it 16-6, and finished with 11 in the half. Concordia got within 48-40 in the second half, but no closer.
The points in the paint were 40-18, and Lourdes shot 50 percent despite making just 3-of-19 3s. They made a crazy 24-of-35 2s. Ustby finished with 25, Adamson 23, and Ivane Tensaie of Concordia 19.
Providence 47 Sauk Centre 42
Sauk Centre led Providence 20-14 at the half as Sauk shot 21 percent, Providence 14. In the second half, Sauk shot 23 while Providence founds it rhythm, shooting 46 percent and pulling away for the win.
Providence had its first lead of the 2nd half at 22-21, while Sauk had its final lead at 23-22. A 16-5 run over the next 5 minutes made it 38-28 Providence at 8:20, as freshman Kyra Miller scored a 3 and a pair of 2s. Sauk got within 39-33 at 6 minutes, but Grace Counts hit 3 buckets to make it 45-35 with 2:26 to go. Still Sauk rallied, but another Miller bucket with 23 ticks left on the clock made it 47-42 to ice it for the Lions.
Miller scored 14, Counts 12 and point guard Hailey Hohenecker provided 11 and lots of glue. These three shot 14-for-42 for Providence, everybody else was 3-of-13. Tori Peschel and Michaela Dammann scored 14 each for Sauk and added 30 rebounds between them. They shot 9-of-24. Everybody else was 4-for-36.
Waseca 38 Pelican Rapids 22
Waseca put on a defensive clinic, holding unbeaten Pelican Rapids to 7-of-35 shooting. Waseca wasn't much better and led 8-7 with 3 minutes left in the 1st half. They pulled away from a 16-15 lead early in the 2nd half, outscoring the Vikings 22-7 the rest of the way. Hannah Potter scored 12 for Waseca on 4-of-11 3s. She did not shoot a 2.
Waseca was playing without their best player, guard Gus Boyer, who appears to be out for the duration.
Duluth Marshall 60 New London-Spicer 56
Like the Sauk-Providence game, both teams shot poorly in the 1st half--NLS 28 percent, Marshall 20 percent--and NLS took a 26-21 lead. Points in the paint were 10-2, 2nd chance points 11-2 NLS as the 3 Wildcats bigs scored just 8 points but also grabbed 15 boards. Mackenzie Rich added a pair of 3s, including one that opened the scoring and set a tone as Marshall never led in the 1st half.
But, Marshall caught up right away at 26 to open the 2nd half. NLS went back up by 9 at 41-32 at 11 minutes. From there, Marshall made 9-of-13 shots (they were 8-of-35 previously). They caught up again at 45-all, went ahead 47-45 and never trailed. It was a one-possession game for all but 21 seconds of the final 3:13 but after leading 41-32 NLS made 3-of-14 shots.
Wing Giana Kneepkens and point guard Grace Kirk combined for 51 points on 15-of-40 shooting for Marshall. They were 5-of-22 in the 1st half and 10-of-18 in the 2nd. Merlea Mrozik added 9, including a big 3 to open the 2nd half. If you want to check your math, you'll see that those 3 accounted for all 60 Marshall points. Everybody else was 0-for-2. Emma Hanson, Mackenzie Rich and Payton Mages scored in double figures for the Wildcats but even they shot 5-of-19 in the 2nd half.
Top Performers in AA
Center--Michaela Dammann, Sauk, 6-1, junior, 14 pst, 17 reb
Forward--Rachel Breck, Waseca, 6-0, senior, 6 points, 9 reb
Wing--Alyssa Ustby, Lourdes, 6-2, senior, 25 points
Point Guard--Grace Kirk, Marshall, 5-5, senior, 25 points
Shooting Guard--Gianna Kneepkens, Marshall, 5-11, junior, 26 points, 15 reb
Looking Ahead
For those who assume that the 3 upsets clear the path for Lourdes, consider that Lourdes lost to Waseca at home 64-59. If anybody can derail Ustby, it is the Bluejays. Still I'll go with Lourdes 52-48.
In the second semi, I'll take Duluth Marshall 58 Providence 57.
In the final Lourdes 63 Marshall 61.
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