Minneota 48, BBE 45
BBE mounted a valiant comeback that came up shy Friday in the game for No. 1 in Class 'A'. This is what it's all about: playing on one of the "big time" floors in the Twin Cities. It's the home of the Timberwolves: Target Center.
Minneapolis is in the news quite a bit for reasons both depressing and fear-inducing. The verdict in the Chauvin trial could have a greatly upsetting effect in the Twin Cities. Fortunately this did not coincide with the state girls hoops tournament. I will not say one way or the other that rioting would be justified. We all hope there is no further loss of life. Grievances against the police are legitimate.
The scoreboard told a dreary story for the BBE Jaguars with eleven minutes left to play Friday. The Jags trailed Minneota by 16 points. Insurmountable? The Jags would pay no heed to that word. High school sports is full of the "never say die" attitude. Ah, the vigorous nature of youth! So with the score 40-24, BBE went to work to chisel away at the deficit.
The work and focus resulted in an "anybody's ballgame" situation with under ten seconds left! It was a one-point game! Incredible. Minneota was considered the class of Class 'A'.
Ends up a squeaker
Minneota emerged with its third state title, owner of the 48-45 final score.
Olson shows the ideal attitude for keeping the community press relevant in the year 2021. He blogs in addition to turning out his excellent Bonanza Valley print product. He's recovering emotionally now like all the BBE faithful in the wake of such a dramatic final game, and in the wake of such a long and exciting season: perfect antidote for our health circumstances, eh?
Coach Anderson was quoted saying "I've been so proud of this crew."
Minneota's Abby Rost made a layup in transition to create the imposing 40-24 score. The time remaining: 11:30. Let's note that Minneota carted in an unbeaten season record. The Vikings were hitting on all cylinders as the second half unfolded. Their outside shots were connecting. Their head coach: Chad Johnston. Johnston always feels comfortable with his players launching the long-range shots. His players have proven caliber. They would need every last '3'. They had to hang on.
And how did the Jags turn things around? It was with defense largely. The defense asserted itself starting right after the Rost layup. So the Vikings got contained pretty effectively: no field goals in a span of nearly ten minutes.
BBE has a reputation for shining in second half play. Karissa Jones got some "mo" established for BBE with two freethrows. A layup followed, and then a pair of freethrows by Abby Berge. The game was steadily becoming more interesting. The deficit got whittled down to less than ten. The scoreboard showed 1:09 left when Josie Knutson really brought vocal approval from the BBE crowd with a '3'. It was BBE's first successful three-pointer. The score now? 43-41.
Maybe Minneota was caught off guard by the BBE surging, as the top-ranked Vikings are used to putting opponents away, even to have opponents lose some heart. Surely this would not be the scenario with BBE on the other side.
Coach Anderson cited her team's full-court pressure as an important factor. It resulted in Minneota turnovers that the Jags could capitalize on. Minneota righted its ship with a Jeren Rost layup to gain a four-point lead. The teams exchanged freethrows. The score became 46-43. They huddled for a timeout. What followed was a dramatic layup by Knutson that startled the Minneota faithful, as now the score is 46-45! Seven seconds left. My goodness!
Minneota's previous state titles were in 2019 and 2013.
BBE says goodbye to a senior group of seven. BBE finishes with a 23-2 record. Allisa Knight and Josie Knutson each scored eleven points in the final game. Then we see Karissa Jones with eight followed by Jackie Lindsay (6), Liz French (4), Abby Berge (3) and Karlee Kampsen (2).
Knutson had the Jaguars' only three-pointer. Berge and Knight each collected ten rebounds. Knutson provided three assists and also had three steals. Knight blocked four shots.
Let's turn to the Minneota Vikings where we see "the two Abby's" on top of scoring: Hennen and Rost each with 12 points. Natalie Rolbiecki put in ten points, McKenna Yost seven, Kennedi Jurrens four and Jeren Rost three.
Three-pointers probably made the difference for the Vikings. Rolbiecki and Abby Rost each went two-for-three in long-rangers. Hennen and Yost were each one-for-two. Abby Rost led in rebounds with nine. Hennen with her five assists led there. Rolbiecki had two steals, and Hennen blocked two shots.
Hancock plays today (Saturday)
Well, this is news: the Hancock Owls are in today's championship game for boys. A friend says "the pep band can't even go play for the game." That's unfortunate. The friend also noticed the very strange score in the Pelican Rapids vs. North Albany - North Albany? - girls game in state: 41-12. Holy cow, just as strange as some of the weirdly high-scoring games in high school football last fall (the pandemic season, if that was a factor).
Oh, North Albany beat Pelican Rapids. Twelve total points by the loser!
The BBE semis win vs. SESM
My review of BBE's 51-50 win over Sleepy Eye-St. Mary's is on my companion blog, "Morris of Course." This success was in the state semi-finals at Target Center. Please click on permalink:
My podcast for April 10
Well we are in the up-and-down period of early April (with the weather). The oncoming spring means we're thinking of fastpitch softball. Morris has a developing new facility with this. Let's take a look and see just how impressive it is. I invite you to click on the permalink to this "Morris Mojo" podcast recorded from beautiful Northridge Drive:
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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