Girls Basketball Tournament Recap

The winter sports season came one step closer to a conclusion on March 21 as four champions were crowned in classes A through AAAA at the Girls State Basketball Tournament. Minneapolis South raised aloft their first-ever big-school title, while St. Michael-Albertville secured their program's second crown and outstate clubs Ada-Borup and Caledonia took home their respective Class A and AA championships. Class AAAA At last, their win has come along. After two consecutive runner-up finishes to St. Paul Central in 2007 and 2008, South finally took home top honors as the Tigers overcame Centennial, 68-61, in the Class AAAA final. South, making its fourth trip to State after its inaugural appearance in 2005, got a tournament-record tying 47 points from Tayler Hill in the star forward's concluding appearance in the black and orange. The senior played all 36 minutes, also hauling in 12 rebounds and establishing a pair of tournament single-game free throw standards with 23 attempts and 20 conversions. The contest was tied seven times over the first 18 minutes as Centennial, also seeking its first State title in girls basketball, was not about to let matters get out of hand — closing to within a single point twice in the second half, but never quite getting over the hump before finally falling. Senior forward Megan Nipe led Centennial, finishing second in its fourth tournament appearance, with 21 points. The Cougars wrapped up the 2008-09 campaign with a 29-3 record. Centennial's final victory of the year came in a 65-56 win over third-seeded Eden Prairie. South, which finished the season with a 31-2 record, was challenged in the semifinals by Eastview before the Tigers eked out a 58-54 victory to move on to the championship game. The Lightning earned the third-place title with a 50-47 win over Eden Prairie. Blaine, White Bear Lake, Buffalo and Rochester John Marshall rounded out the field of eight state qualifiers, yet all four unseeded clubs were felled with South defeating the Bengals, 73-34; Eastview topping the Bears, 69-52; Centennial easing past the Bison, 62-58; Eden Prairie shot past the Rockets, 67-48. Class AAA St. Michael-Albertville, making its first state appearance since 2006, was not graced with a seed entering its Class AAA tournament run, but the Knights played bulldog defense to take down three seeded squads to add another state championship trophy to the one the program earned in its first trip to State in 2001. Entering the tourney field with the third fewest victories — 22 — of the remaining eight teams, STMA smothered its first round rival, third-seeded Minnehaha Academy, in a 42-29 victory to move on to a semifinal matchup with No. 2 seed and defending Class AAA champion, Totino-Grace. However, the Eagles' hopes of back-to-back championships were ended by the Saints in a 63-60 decision that sent STMA to a title game against another improbable finals opponent: Minneapolis North. The Polars were seeded fourth and easily disposed of Grand Rapids, 61-33, in the opener before facing No. 1 seeded Goliath, New Prague. The Trojans were sporting a 26-4 record entering the game, but could not match the Polars' tenacity on both sides of the court as North came away with a 44-43 title to move on to meet STMA. It looked to be North's game as the Polars took a 12-0 lead, yet the Saints responded in kind by outscoring their opponents 39-22 in the final 18 minutes to come away with a 63-50 triumph and the Class AAA laurels. Senior guard Brittni Wiese led STMA with 19 points, while senior center Briana Edwards led all players with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Class AA, A Caledonia, hailing from the southern portion of Minnesota, completed the lone unbeaten season in the state this year by climaxing a 31-0 campaign with a championship crown earned in a 54-50 win over Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted in the Class AA final. Ada-Borup, hailing from the northwestern border country, won its second-straight Class A crown with a 61-31 finals win over Cedar Mountain-Comfrey. CM-C, making its second State showing, had bested the lone metro-area school in the classification — New Life Academy of Woodbury — in the opening round, 49-40. All-Tournament Teams Class AAAA Minneapolis South Tayler Hill (F) Minneapolis South Ameshia Kearney (G) Minneapolis South Tyisha Smith (G) Centennial Bridget Schuneman (F) Centennial Megan Nipe (F) Centennial Hannah Steele (G) Eastview Sam Mehr (G) Eastview Emily Kaus (F) Eden Prairie Morgan Van-Riper Rose (G) Eden Prairie Michelle Tobin (C) Class AAA St. Mich-Albertville Courtney Barthel (G) St. Mich-Albertville Anna Valerius (G) St. Mich-Albertville Carly Rothstein (F) Minneapolis North Brianna Edwards (C) Minneapolis North Alllina Starr (G) Minneapolis North Tseanna Johnson (F) Minneapolis North Checlsey McGee (G) New Prague Maggie Weiers (C) New Prague Hannah Strop (C) Totino-Grace Lizzi Naumann (C)