He Said, She Said: My Favorite Interviews at the Girls State Tournament

Reporter to Minneota players after the Red Lake game:

Was this the most physical game you’ve played this year?

Lizzie Gillingham, Abby Hennen and Lydia Sussner, in unison: Yeah!

(PAUSE)

Hennen:Well, and Maranatha.

Coach Chad Johnston:We didn’t play Maranatha.

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Hometown reporter to Minneota’s Abby Hennen, who made several clutch free throws down the stretch:

I understand you practice your free throws on the farm. You have a line by the barn.

Hennen:Yeah, I practice in a barn, and now we’re playing in a Barn.

Coach Chad Johnston:Home court advantage.

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Julia Bengston, Courtney Nuest (sophomores), Lexi Masog (senior), Becker

Me: It’s not your style to sit on a lead.

Bengtson:No, definitely not. When they hit something, we push back and try to get an offensive run. And, when we score, we try to get right back on them and get a steal. 

Me:You got the ball with 7-8 seconds, you’re down 2. No time out. How did that play develop?

(Becker coach Dan Baird pointed out later that Becker didn’t have any timeouts left.)

Bengtson:I was trying to get to the hoop, but it wasn’t there, so the girls came up and I just passed it to her.

Me:So you wanted the 3? You parked on the line, you didn’t cut to the rim.

Nuest:I did, I wanted that 3.

Me:So, next time, do you think you’ll sit on that lead?

Bengtson:Definitely not.

Me to Masog, one of just 2 seniors on the Becker roster:So you take care of these kids?

Masog:They take care of me

*   *   *

Apparently a Red Lake fan accosted Minneota coach Chad Johnston after the Minneota-Red Lake game, then tried to apologize to Red Lake coach Randy Holthusen for her actions. 

Reporter:What did you say to her, coach?

Coach Holthusen:“Don’t apologize to me. I don’t want to talk to you.”

*    *    *

Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff after his team defeated Lakeville North 68-46:

Our goal is to win every year, no question about it. But I'm not going to look at 28-4 as a bad year, or 31-1 as a bad year. It’s not in my DNA to do that.

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Eastview coach Molly Kasper after her team’s semifinal loss to Stillwater:

Our whole purpose this year was the make sure that Emma Carpenter felt comfortable and safe.

*    *    *

Marshall coach Dan Westby:

I’m not sure they can’t just mail (Becker) the state tournament trophy for the next couple of years.

Me:It looked like you wanted a timeout there at the end. I thought there was about 1.8 (seconds) when the ball went through the hoop.

Yeah, we had a timeout remaining. Certainly under 2 seconds, but we have some situational plays but who knows if  they’re going to work at that point. So we did (call for a timeout). I had a chance to talk with the rules guy and he was really nice about it but he said, in the quarter(-final)s there’s no replay. There’s a screen but they don’t use the screen. For the semis and finals there is. I thought there was enough time.

*   *   *

Becker coach Dan Baird:

Last year we lost 3 games by 1 point and 3 games in overtime. We would go to a stall, 4 corners. This year, we never even put in a stall offense, no 4 corners, nothing. We just play basketball. Keep attacking.

Julia is a fantastic player. She’s got a motor on her, she keeps going. And what an unbelievable defensive game she had, guarding their best player, Hilgemann, all game, but she still had the energy to score points and keep attacking the rim. 

*    *    *

Taylie Scott, Heritage’s top scorer for the season with 20 ppg, but who scored just 6 in the semi-final loss to Minneota:

Me:Morgan Kockelman really made you work today.

Scott:Number 2? She was a pest.

*    *    *

Centennial coach Jill Becken

Centennial beat Maple Grove and 6-2 forward Sara Lavell stepped out to hit 3 1^sthalf 3s.

Me:Was that the game plan?

Coach Becken (deadpan):That Sarah would step out and hit the 3? Yeah. And, nothing but net, too. Yeah, that was the plan.

*   *   *

Mountain Iron-Buhl coach Jeff Buffetta, after his team’s 2-point loss to Goodhue:

It was very evident early that we’re not used to facing that kind of size. 

Goodhue coach Josh Wieme:

They started dribbling through our press in the 2^ndhalf, and suddenly they were dictating the tempo. We were really playing up and down. That was in their favor and they were getting really good looks. 

*    *    *

Lauren Jensen, Lakeville North star

I’m excited for next year. We lose Ana Tschida and Taylor McNulty but we played a lot of underclassmen his year just for them to get that experience and it was good. (Lakeville North will play St. Michael-Albertville next year on Saturday, January 18, at Anoka-Ramsey in the 1^stAnnual Hall of Fame Winter Classic. Hopkins will also face Stillwater, and Mountain Iron-Buhl will play Sauk Centre.)