Lakeville North finished up 32-0, and absolutely demolished a highly regarded Chaska team 76-46 in the semi-final of the Minnesota girls state basketball tournament. A more run-of-the-mill 10-point win over White Bear Lake followed in the final. But many people wondered, Is Lakeville North the best girls team ever out of Minnesota?
No.
How quickly people forget. St. Paul Central 2007, that is. At the post, Cassie Rochel of North gets the nod over Georgie Jones of Central, to be sure. At the big forward spot, Apiew Ojulu has a lot of upside, but Megan Howard was a hard-nosed, hard-working, lunch-pail type of player who did more damage than Ojulu has done this year, though she may not have looked as intimidating doing it. Then, on the perimeter, Central's Angel Robinson, Kiara Buford and Theiarra Taylor are all high D1 players. Only Rachel Banham among Lakeville's guards can make that statement, though Hannah Hughes, Jaya Perkins and Taylor Stewart make a nice deep squad. And as great as Banham is, have you really forgotten Angel Robinson already? She was dazzling.
So, suffice it to say that North left no doubt whatsoever who was best in 2010. And, as to posterity, well, #2 ain't bad.
The Best of the Rest
Barnum did to Class A what Lakeville North did to Class AAAA, steam-rolling Nashwauk-Keewatin 55-23 in the 1st round. Parkers Prairie and Gatorade Player of the Year Sari Noga was next to fall 61-52 as the Bombers pulled away from a 40-39 lead over the final 9 minutes. In the final it was again a 2nd half rally that put Goodhue away as a 4-point half-time Barnum lead grew to as many as 17 points. The final was 43-31. Katrina Newman scored 56 points and added 22 boards for the Bombers, and her sister Jessica Newman added 43 points and Sarah Myhre another 37. Noga was the top overall scorer in the tournament with 69 points.
Meanwhile, there were surprises galore in AAA and AA. In AAA, DeLaSalle came in undefeated and ranked and seeded #1, but fell to Hill-Murray 61-48 in a semi-final. In AA, Sauk Centre was favored after easily defeating one of the pre-season favorites, New London-Spicer, 45-32, in the sectional. But the Mainstreeters were dominated in turn by 2007 state champion Pipestone 52-37. Pipestone then lost to Braham 51-47, and Braham lost in turn to unrated Minnehaha 64-46 in the final. Rachel Hansen led the Redhawks with 22 points in the final and 64 for the tournament. 6-4 post Katie Adams added 40 points and a Class AA-best 35 rebounds and 17 blocks.
The Class AAA final made up in drama what the Class AA final may have lacked. The Pioneers led by as many as 9 in the 1st half and by 5 at the half. Benilde took its 1st lead at 25-24, but Hill-Murray was back in front 38-34 at the 1:00 mark. Josie Dillon hit a 3 on a baseline drive and assist by Itisha Alexander, and on the ensuing in-bounds Alexander stole the Pioneers' pass and got the ball to Dillon for the lay-up at 0:38. The Red Knights added 2 more FT while Hill-Murray did not score again. Tessa Cichy scored 34 in the upset win over DeLaSalle and finished as the top AAA scorer for the Pioneers with 67 points.
Minnesota Hoops All-State Tournament
Cassie Rochel, Lakeville North 14 pts/13 reb/5 blk
Tessa Cichy, Hill-Murray 22 pts/8 reb/6 asts/4 stl
Rachel Hansen, Minnehaha 21 pts/3 stl
Rachel Banham, Lakeville North 17 pts/3 asts
Katrina Newman, Barnum 19 pts/7 reb
6th: Alexis Foley, White Bear Lake 15 pts/10 reb
2nd Team
Laura Melquist, Rochester Lourdes 19 pts/13 reb/7 blk
Sari Noga, Parkers Prairie 23 pts/12 reb/3 asts/2 blk/4 stl
Olivia Antilla, Benilde 14 pts/8 reb
Andrea Whitney, Sartell 18 pts/14 reb/4 blk
Itisha Alexander, Benilde 10 pts/5 reb/4 asts/3 stl
6th: Rebekah Dahlman, Braham 18 pts/7 reb/4 stls
3rd Team
Marissa Grossfeld, Wayzata 14 pts/12 reb
Marissa Janning, Watertown-Mayer 27 pts/6 stl (1 game)
Brooke Brown, Chaska 20 pts/2 stl
Liz Hoglo, Northern Freeze 21 pts/7 reb
Onye Osemenam, Maranatha 15 pts/9 reb/7 blk (1 game)
6th: Tyseanna Johnson, DeLaSalle 18 pts/8 reb
Consensus All-State
Rachel Banham, Lakeville North
Kayla Hirt, Bemidji
Sari Noga, Parkers Prairie
Cassie Rochel, Lakeville North
Megan Waytashek, Centennial
2nd Team
Angela Christianson, Alexandria
Tessa Cichy, Hill-Murray
Rebekah Dahlman, Braham
Katrina Newman, Barnum
Taylor Young, Edina
3rd Team
Brooke Brown, Chaska
Alexis Foley, White Bear Lake
Rachel Hansen, Minnehaha
Julie Kruse, Maple Grove
Suriya McGuire, Mpls. Roosevelt
Coach of the Year
1. Andy Berkvam, Lakeville North
2. Josh Thurow, Minnehaha
3. Randy Myhre, Barnum
4. Erin Herman, Hill-Murray
5. Jeremy Post, White Bear Lake
Final Top 50
1. Lakeville North 32-0
2. Edina 26-2
3. White Bear Lake 29-3
4. Maple Grove 27-3
5. Chaska 24-7
6. Benilde-St. Margaret's 30-2 AAA
7. Eden Prairie 21-7
8. DeLaSalle 31-1 AAA
9. Eastview 20-9
10. Mounds View 24-4
11. Prior Lake 21-7
12. Hill-Murray 25-6 AAA
13. St. Michael-Albertville 22-7
14. Hopkins 19-9
15. St. Francis 25-5
16. Minnehaha 24-9 AA
17. Barnum 31-2 A
18. Sartell-St. Stephen 24-7 AAA
19. Wayzata 17-15
20. Bloomington Kennedy 20-7
21. Centennial 21-7
22. Parkers Prairie 28-3 A
23. Minnetonka 18-10
24. Mpls. South 22-7
25. Rochester Lourdes 30-3 AA
26. Bemidji 25-2 AAA
27. Braham 28-5 AA
28. Mpls. North 18-9 AA
29. Mpls. Roosevelt 18-10 AA
30. Mpls. South 22-7
31. St. Croix Lutheran 25-2 A
32. New Prague 20-10 AAA
33. Osseo 19-9
34. Buffalo 20-6
35. Willmar 23-4 AAA
36. Burnsville 16-11
37. Cambridge-Isanti 22-7
38. Orono 20-8 AAA
39. Hawley 28-1 AA
40. Richfield 20-7 AAA
41. Waconia 22-6 AAA
42. Alexandria 22-6 AAA
43. Worthington 19-6 AAA
44. North St. Paul 17-11
45. Northern Freeze 28-2 A
46. Pipestone 23-5 AA
47. Sauk Centre 26-3 AA
48. New London-Spice 25-3 AA
49. Watertown-Mayer 21-7 AA
50. Southwest MN Christian 23-5 A
Get 'Em Next Year
A few teams are still celebrating, but for most it's time for the perennial cry, "We'll get 'em next year." Well, who's gonna get 'em next year?
Among Minnesota's girls high school teams for 2010-2011:
AAAA
1. Lakeville North again
2. Eden Prairie
3. Prior Lake
4. Bloomington Kennedy--Section 2AAAA loaded again
5. Hopkins
6. Edina
7. Centennial
8. Buffalo
9. Eastview
10. Shakopee
AAAA All-Stars--Rachel Banham, Apiew Ojulu, Jackie Johnson, Shayne Mullaney, Morgan Van Riper-Rose, Aubrey Davis, Brianna Williams, Katybeth Biewen, Kahla Becken, Alex Beckman
AAA
1. Mpls. North
2. DeLaSalle
3. Benilde-St. Margaret's
4. Hill-Murray
5. Mankato West
6. Princeton
7. Bemidji
8. Holy Angels
9. Red Wing
10. Big Lake
AAA All-Stars--T. T. Starks, Tyseanna Johnson, Sarina Baker, Khadidjah Schumpert, Tessa Cichy; Mariah Clarin, Kayla Hirt, Tesha Buck, Martha Alwal, Whitney Tinjum
AA
1. Braham
2. Pequot Lakes
3. St. Peter
4. Hawley
5. St. Croix Lutheran
6. Watertown-Mayer
7. Esko
8. Sauk Centre
9. Jackson County Central
10. Rochester Lourdes
AA All-Stars--Rebekah Dahlman, Emily Lueck, Ann-Marie Brown, Kayla Hulsebus, Marissa Janning, Kali Peschel, Shelby Hanssen, Bree Woelber, Alyssa Kerkhoff, Ashley Olson
A
1. Martin Luther
2. Maranatha Christian
3. Northern Freeze
4. Parkers Prairie
5. Barnum
6. Minneota
7. Goodhue
8. Buffalo Lake-Hector
9. New Life
10. New York Mills
A All-Stars--Alexis Long, Onye Osemanam, Liz Hoglo, Micaela Noga, Jessica Newman, Allison Muhl, Courtney Hinsch, Cara Lutes, Rebecca Schmidt, Riley Nordgaard
All-State
Rachel Banham, Lakeville North, Ms. Basketball
Kayla Hirt, Bemidji
Tessa Cichy, Hill Murray, jr.
Apiew Ojulu, Lakeville North
Rebekah Dahlman, Braham, soph.
Second Team
Marissa Janning, Watertown-Mayer, jr.
Jackie Johnson, Eden Prairie, jr.
Kali Peschel, Sauk Centre, jr.
Mariah Clarin, Princeton
Shayne Mullaney, Eden Prairie, jr.
Third Team
Onye Osemenam, Maranatha Christian, soph.
Riley Nordgaard, Canby
Aubrey Davis, Bloomington Kennedy
Cara Lutes, New Life
T. T. Starks, Mpls. North, 8th grade
Coach of the Year
1. Tara Starks, Mpls. North
2. Mike Gidley, Prior Lake
3. Jodi Geistfeld, Martin Luther
4. Jim Hammond, Maranatha
5. Jon Dale, Pequot Lakes
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