Head over to The Barn for Championship Saturday in the 2017 Minnesota State High School Girls Basketball Tournament and there's plenty of exciting action that includes three unbeaten teams. Here's a preview of the four championship games that take place today at Williams Arena.
Opening up the day's festivities at noon is the Class A title game between the Mountain Iron-Buhl Rangers and the defending Class A champion Goodhue Wildcats. The Rangers beat SW MN Christian in the quarterfinals and beat the team they lost to in the 2012 championship, the Maranatha Christian Academy Mustangs. Mountain Iron-Buhl's only loss this season was to the Roseau Rams. Several veterans for the Rangers, including Mya Buffetta and Chelsea Mason will finally get a shot becoming the first team from the Iron Range since Chisholm in 1984 to win a state title. They will face the Wildcats who are loaded with Lodermeiers. They are Madeline, Sydney and Lexie. Along with Megan Ryan, Maddy Miller and Emily Bensrud, they are a very talented team that can bring another championship trophy down Highway 57.
The Class AA title game at 2 PM features the unbeaten Roseau Rams and the Sauk Centre Mainstreeters. In six postseason games, the Rams have had a winning average margin of 33 points. The keys to the green and white's success in an area known for hockey have been The Borowicz Sisters, Kasey, Katie and Kylie. Kylie has been the headliner for Roseau in the tournament, scoring perhaps the first quadruple double in state tournament history with 28 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals in a win against NRHEG. She followed it up with a 41 point performance in the semifinals against New London-Spicer. The Mainstreeters bounced back from a halftime deficit to beat Minnehaha Academy and used a strong second half to beat Watertown-Mayer in the semifinals. Head coach Scott Bergman has built an outstanding program in central Minnesota and if they can play strong defense as well as solid shooting from Jill Klaphake and Kelsey and Tori Peschel, they could be a threat to the Rams unbeaten season.
After taking a dinner break, head back to Williams Arena for the Class AAA final at 6 PM as the Orono Spartans take on the Winona Winhawks. The Spartans beat two teams with the nickname Cardinals, Willmar and Alexandria to advance to their first Class AAA championship. In two state tournament games, Orono's average win margin of 17 points. The Spartans are led by a future Ivy Leaguer, Tori Andrew, who will head to Yale next season. The Winona Winhawks advanced with a win over the DeLaSalle Islanders in the quarterfinals and dethroned the defending champion Holy Angels Stars in the semifinals. Since the current four class format began in 1997, no school from Section 1 has taken home the championship trophy. Will there be a happy bus ride down Highway 61 for the Winhawks?
And finally, the 8 PM game will pair a battle of unbeaten teams, the Hopkins Royals and the Elk River Elks in the Class AAAA championship. The Royals return to the AAAA final and hope to bring home another state title for head coach Brian Cosgriff. Hopkins has one of the best freshman players in Minnesota in Paige Bueckers, who scored 31 points in a rematch of last year's championship game against the Minnetonka Skippers in the quarterfinals and duplicated that total in the semifinals against the Eastview Lightning. The Royals got Dee Dee Winston back after missing the Minnetonka game with a temperature of 103. The Elks are having a stellar season under first year head coach Jeremy DiGiovanni and are led by Ms. Basketball candidate Gabi Haack, who will be headed to Bradley next season and Sidney Wentland, who will play next season at the University of Denver. The Elks routed the Andover Huskies in the quarterfinals and came from behind to beat the Lakeville North Panthers. Take a break from watching the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments and turn on 45TV or come out to The Barn. It should be a great game.
There you have it. Four outstanding championship match ups in this year's state girls basketball finals. Get ready for an action packed day.
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