Early surge triggers Vikings' win

Minneota, the top seed in the upcoming Section 3A-North tournament bolted out to a 16-2 lead over No. 2 seeded Lac qui Parle Valley en route to a 63-51 triumph on Thursday night. "We played very good defense at the beginning of the game and didn't give LQPV the good looks they were looking for," said Minneota coach Chad Johnston. "We had built a pretty good lead, but offensively we had a time in the second half were we struggled to score. "That allowed LQPV to slowly work back into the game. As the game progressed, we did look a little tired but LQPV just got a little more effective in their offense and adjusted to our defensive strategy." The Vikings shot well from beyond the three-point arc, hitting 7 of 14 shots. But they made only 13 of 47 shots (28 percent) inside the arc, including several inside attempts. "We did miss some close shots but LQPV was doing a good job of helping on dribble penetration and contended a lot of our close shots," said Johnston. Abby Hennen made a trio of three-pointers and paced the Vikings with 21 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and four blocked shots. McKenna Yost added 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers. Jeren Rost finished with nine points and 10 rebounds, while Natalee Rolbiecki added nine points, four rebounds and three steals. Abby Rost chipped in six points, five rebounds and three assists. Grace Hennen and McKenzie Tolk netted three points apiece and Kennedi Jurrens tossed in two points. The Eagles also shot poorly at 29 percent, including making only 2 of 13 three-point attempts. Taylor Shelstad led the Eagles with 15 points and nine rebounds. Camryn Lee (nine rebounds) and Macie Lund (three steals) had 11 points apiece. The Vikings (16-0) could face the Eagles (13-3) again in the North half final on March 22 if both teams win their quarterfinal and semifinal games. "I don't think there will be any type of change in strategy against LQPV if we see them again," Johnston said. "I do believe that we are still learning how to play without Ireland Stassen (injured) in the rotation. She was doing good things for us and could bring a spark off the bench for us. Right now we have had to do some shuffling of positions when we sub and I think that adjustment does play a part in our productivity on offense at times." Minneota 63, LQPV 51 LAC QUI PARLE VALLEY (total points) - Addy Bonn 4, Tori Bungarden 2, Camryn Lee 11, Macie Lund 11, Rylee Lund 2, Cassadie Olsen 4, Taylor Shelstad 15, Alex Stitt 2. Totals 18-66 13-18 51. MINNEOTA (FG, FT, Pts) - Abby Hennen 6-19 6-8 21, Grace Hennen 1-1 0-0 3, Kennedi Jurrens 1-3 0-0 2, Natalee Rolbiecki 3-14 3-6 9, Abby Rost 3-6 0-0 6, Jeren Rost 3-10 3-6 9, McKenzie Tolk 1-1 0-0 3, McKenna Yost 2-7 4-4 10. Totals 20-61 16-24 63. Halftime: Minneota 37, Lac qui Parle Valley 21. 3-pointers: Lac qui Parle Valley 2-13 (Lund 1, Shelstad 1). Minneota 7-14 (A.Hennen 3, Yost 2, G.Hennen 1, Tolk 1). Rebounds: Lac qui Parle Valley 33 (Lee 9, Shelstad 9). Minneota 36 (A.Hennen 10, J.Rost 10, A.Rost 5, Rolbiecki 4, G.Hennen 3, Jurrens 2, Tolk 2). Assists: Lac qui Parle Valley not available. Minneota 7 (A.Hennen 3, A.Rost 3, Yost 1). Steals: Lac qui Parle Valley 8 (Lund 3). Minneota 6 (Rolbiecki 3, A.Hennen 2, J.Rost 1). Blocked shots: Lac qui Parle Valley 1 (Shelstad 1). Minneota 4 (A.Hennen 4). Turnovers: Lac qui Parle Valley 9, Minneota 11.

McKenna Yost

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