2023 GIRLS BASKETBALL STATE TOURNAMENT - March 16-18
In a game in which neither team could buy a basket in the first half, Underwood poured in 41 points in the second half and went on to a 60-43 victory over Minneota in the consolation semifinals at Concordia University Friday morning.
"I think a morning game factored into the slow start for both teams," said Minneota coach Al Panka. "Also, not playing in the game you had hoped for, two very good defensive teams, and Day 2 on a longer (college) court all factored in."
The Vikings finished the season 21-10 with just two seniors on the team, Ireland Stassen and Megan Krog.
"I think coming off the (quarterfinal) game against MIB and having to play that early (10 a.m.) was tough because we played so hard that last game that our legs were kind of tired and sore," Stassen said. "It also didn’t end up feeling like a state game playing at Concordia and I know the atmosphere changes a lot and being there just made it feel not as important."
Minneota missed its first six shots but was able to stay close to Underwood (27-4) with a relentless zone defense. The Vikings started out in a man defense but switched to a zone with the game tied 2-2.
"We had watched them the day before and saw that they didn't shoot often from the outside," explained Panka. "We thought it might work for a while to give them a different look."
With Mo Bugbee scoring nine of her game-high 22 points in the first half, the Rockets went into the locker room at halftime clinging to a 19-17 lead. Dakoda Hennen had a pair of three-pointers in the first half to keep the Vikings close.
The Rockets then rode the three-prong scoring of Bugbee, who 13 second-half points; Liz Lukken, who scored all 11 of her points in the second half; and Zoey Swanson, who all seven of her points in the second half.
Underwood started the second half on a 16-6 run to build a 35-23 lead that they would not relinquish.
"Coming into this game we had a game plan and we knew what they were capable of and we shut those things down, and we stopped them from fastbreak layups," Stassen noted. "In the second half they shot well and they had a bunch of fastbreak layups and we kinda let that get to our heads a little bit. They shut us down inside for most of the game and we just got into some foul trouble so when they drove, it was hard for us to play defense."
A big difference in the game was that the Rockets made 20 of 23 free throws in the second half, while Minneota made just 1 of 2.
(Underwood) attacked a lot more (in the second half) and we ended up fouling a lot," said Panka. "They were very aggressive and we just seemed a step slower. They’re a good team with a lot of lengthy athletes. We were outsized at most positions, and their length caused us some problems."
Stassen scored all 12 of her points in the second half for the Vikings and also had 11 rebounds and three assists. The All-State forward had a double-double in both tournament games. Grace Hennen led the Vikings in scoring with 13 points to go along with seven rebounds. Nine of her points came in the second half. Dakoda Hennen had eight points, Kenadi Arndt seven and Faith Myhre three.
"I am very confident about the future of this program," Myhre said. "This team is definitely hungry for another trip back to the state tournament and we are already ready to bet back on the court. I can see us going very far as a team just based on the amount of work that we as a team are willing to put into our game in the off-season."
Underwood 60, Minneota 43
Underwood.............................................19 41 - 60
Minneota..................................................17 26 - 43
Team Statistics
Field-goal shooting (good-attempt-pct.): Underwood 17-for-54, 32 percent; Minneota 17-for-56, 30 percent ... 3-point shooting (good-attempts-pct.): Underwood 3-for-14, 21 percent; Minneota 5-for-22, 23 percent ... Free-throw shooting: Underwood 23-for-29, 79 percent; Minneota 4-for-10, 40 percent ... Rebounds: Underwood 34, Minneota 30 ... Turnovers: Underwood 10, Minneota 17 ..... Fouls: Underwood 11, Minneota 20.
Underwood Individual Statistics
Scoring (fg-att, ft-att, pts): Trinity Baker 0-0 0-0 0, Amelia Blaskowski 2-8 2-2 6, Mo Bugbee 7-17 7-7 22, Emma Dirkman 0-0 0-0 0, Alayna Evavold 0-1 4-6 4, Kallyn Grove 3-7 2-2 10, Rebecca Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Esme Larsen 0-0 0-0 0, Liz Lukken 3-16 5-9 11, Sophie Ravenscraft 0-0 0-0 0, Zoey Swanson 2-4 3-3 7 ... 3-pointers: Grove 2, Bugbee 1 ... Rebounds: Bugbee 15, Swanson 6, Blaskowski 5, Lukken 5, Evavold 2, Grove 1 ... Assists: not available .... Steals: Bugbee 3, Blaskowski 1, Grove 1, Swanson 1 ... Blocks: Bugbee 1
Minneota Individual Statistics
Scoring (fg-att, ft-att, pts): Kenadi Arndt 3-11 1-4 7, Dakoda Hennen 3-7 0-0 8, Grace Hennen 5-13 2-2 13, Ireland Stassen 5-15 0-2 12, Faith Myhre 1-9 1-2 3, Megan Krog 0-0 0-0 0, Neveah Hennen 0-0 0-0 0, Kiersyn Hulzebos 0-1 0-0 0, Emma Bottelberghe 0-0 0-0 0, Claire Rost 0-0 0-0 0, Hadli Krog 0-0 0-0 0, Dakota Pesch 0-0 0-0 0, Ella Johnson 0-0 0-0 0 ... 3-pointers: D.Hennen 2, Stassen 2, G.Hennen 1 ... Rebounds: Stassen 11, G.Hennen 7, Arndt 6, D.Hennen 3, Myhre 2, Hulzebos 1 ... Assists: D.Hennen 2, Hulzebos 1, Stassen 1... Steals: Stassen 3, Arndt 1 ... Blocks: Stassen 1