Ron Haggstrom, David La Vaque, Jim Paulsen, Joe Gunther and Theo Franz will see 28 games over four days at two sites, and they’ll interview players and coaches, fans and administrators for stories beyond the games. Find out what they learn here, and come back often to see their latest.
. . .
12:26 p.m.
Teddies pride remains after opening loss
Olivia Wren was all smiles as she strolled onto the floor Wednesday at the Maturi Pavilion. She was walking in new shoes, figuratively.
The senior guard led Minneapolis Roosevelt to the first state tournament appearance in program history. It was a destination Teddies coach Tyesha Wright had hoped to reach as a player.
“The girls were walking in the shoes I’ve always wanted to be in, but I was able to walk in the shoes as a coach in the state tournament,” Wright said.
The Teddies (23-8) fell 75-40 to defending state champion Benilde-St. Margaret’s (25-5) in the opening Class 3A quarterfinal game.
The Teddies lost in the section championship two years in a row in Wright’s playing days. They lost to Jordan in 2009 and Minnehaha Academy the following year. They didn’t return to the section final again until this season, a 50-49 victory over St. Paul Como Park in the Section 3 championship.
Wren and Cady Davis have been with the program the past five years, and Jaida Walker is in her sixth season. They are among eight seniors on the roster.
“We have come very, very far [as a program],” said Wren, who finished with a team-high 17 points before fouling out. “We didn’t get as far as we wanted.”
Wright called that nothing to fret about.
“I am very proud of this team,” she said. “A lot of people always told them they will make it to state their senior year. They believed, they conquered, and they did it.”
RON HAGGSTROM
. . .
10:29 p.m.
Redhawks now have a second 2,000-point scorer
Minnehaha Academy’s Angel Hill joined the 2,000-point club during the Redhawks’ 75-39 win over Waterville-Elysian-Morristown in the Class 2A quarterfinals. After making a basket early in the second half, Hill was mobbed on the court by her teammates, causing coach Damien Lolar to call a timeout amid the chaos.
“That felt really good,” Hill said. “My teammates [were] celebrating, so I was happy.”
Hill finished with 26 points and joined teammate Addi Mack in the prestigious club. They form a potent pair.
“The biggest thing is they know they can score any time,” Lolar said. “It’s more about controlling that urge to score and making sure we get the best shot that we want, not the best shot they are giving us. They are very smart, intelligent, high-IQ basketball players that know how to play the game.”
Just a couple of weeks ago the Redhawks celebrated Mack breaking the school scoring record. She surpassed Mia Curtis for the girls record early in the season and put Jalen Suggs’ boys record behind her March 2.
“It’s pretty cool,” Mack said. “I just remember as a seventh-grader looking up to [Suggs]. Just to see how my hard work has paid off is really cool for me.”
JOE GUNTHER
. . .
5:45 p.m.
About Hopkins: ‘They played faster’
Her Hopkins basketball teammates refer to senior point guard Liv McGill as “L.A.,” which stands for Live Action.
In the first half of Wednesday’s Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal, however, McGill was still-life. Two fouls early sent her to the Williams Arena bench, and she logged only 7 minutes, 48 seconds of first-half action.
McGill, the Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year, sat down with her team leading 4-0 against White Bear Lake. By the time she checked back in, Hopkins had bumped its advantage to 18-6 on its way to a 66-39 rout. And therein lies the problem with facing the Royals. An opponent’s best still isn’t good enough.
“The speed at which things happen is not something we’re used to,” Bears coach Jeremy Post said. “It takes time to adjust to that speed. If you can survive the first 10 minutes, you have a chance. But we just didn’t survive the first 10 minutes.
“You try to do too many things that require precision — we should have just let our kids go a little more,” Post said. “It’s hard to be who you normally are. It’s just different. You have no margin for error. Everybody on their team is better than everyone on this team, physically, for the most part. We’ve done that to teams. In the pecking order, we’re above some teams, but we’re not above them.”
Senior forward Heidi Barber said: “Those first 10 minutes it was like, ‘How do we even get our offense started?’ Then you will make a good play, and they were better.”
Senior forward Jordyn Schmittdiel added: “In our conference, we’re the faster-paced team. We thought we played fast, but they played faster.”
DAVID LA VAQUE
. . .
4:10 p.m.
Top seed’s coach isn’t falling for anything
Minnetonka coach Brian Cosgriff has been around long enough that he refuses to take anything for granted.
On paper, Minnetonka, with just two losses and steeled by a schedule riddled with challenges, looked to be a decided favorite in the Skippers’ Class 4A quarterfinal matchup with Andover. Minnetonka was seeded No. 2, Andover was one of three teams that were not seeded and were placed randomly. The Skippers proved themselves with a 74-48 rout.
But Cosgriff saw danger.
“You’re playing a No. 1 seed from a section, and they were 24-4 and play in a good conference,” Cosgriff said. “You don’t take anything for granted. I’ve been a part of these things for 23 years now. Anybody can beat anybody on any given night. You don’t know what can happen.”
While his players looked calm and confident, Cosgriff, a state tournament fixture when he coached Hopkins, was wide-eyed and thrilled at the Skippers’ sendoff, counteracting his pregame nerves.
“We had a sendoff today that brought me to tears,” he said. “We had the cops, and our bus was decorated with our names and all that sort of thing. They took us from down Highway 7 to 494, and all these cars were pulling over. The ambulance is going, the siren’s going. At Hopkins, I’d never had any of that. It was so cool to see a community wrap around a team like that.”
JIM PAULSEN
. . .
2:28 p.m.
Cosgriff: ‘Caitlin is good, but I still think Paige is better’
Minnetonka coach Brian Cosgriff spent part of his afternoon Sunday in a meeting at the high school. He was also keeping an eye on the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament final, in which Caitlin Clark led Iowa to a 94-89 overtime victory over Nebraska.
Clark scored 34 points — 30 after halftime, leading Iowa, which had trailed by as much as 13 points, to an overtime victory.
Cosgriff acknowledged with admiration everything Clark has accomplished, but he said he feels that Paige Bueckers, whom he coached at Hopkins, is the better player.
“Caitlin is good, but I still think Paige is better,” Cosgriff said. “She can do so many things. I mean, she was the College Player of the Year as a freshman. Not Freshman of the Year, Player of the Year. But she’s had the injuries.”
Bueckers underwent ankle surgery following her freshman season at UConn, then tore the meniscus in her left knee, causing her to miss most of her sophomore season. She tore the ACL in her left knee before her junior year, forcing her to take it as a redshirt season.
Bueckers has come back strong this season, averaging 21.3 points per game. She was named Big East Player of the Year.
She has already announced that she will return to UConn next season. That didn’t surprise Cosgriff.
“She wants to play with Azzi,” Cosgriff said, referring to Azzi Fudd, the UConn guard who is one of Bueckers’ closest friends dating to their high school years playing with the U.S. national team. Like Bueckers, Fudd has missed most of two seasons because of injuries.
JIM PAULSEN
. . .
2:20 p.m.
Rematch of Class 3A title game is set
Stewartville coach Tanner Teige keeps everything simple before a game at this point of the season.
“Our only goal is to go 1-0 for the day,” Teige said.
His Tigers (22-8) avenged a 31-point loss to No. 6 St. Peter the first week of February with a 47-46 victory over the Saints in the Class 3A quarterfinals Wednesday.
“We want to be playing our best basketball the last week of February and beginning of March,” Teige said. “We are playing our best basketball right now.”
Next up, defending state champion and top-seeded Benilde-St. Margaret’s on Thursday. Stewartville lost 74-48 to the Red Knights (25-5) in mid-January. It is also a rematch of last year’s championship, a 66-60 victory by the Red Knights.
“We are ready for another shot at them,” Tigers senior guard Savannah Hedin said.
RON HAGGSTROM
. . .
9:40 a.m.
It’s game time, and it’s Teddies time, too
The doors are open, fans are starting to make their way into Williams Arena and the Maturi Pavilion for the girls basketball tournament.
Surprisingly, the majority aren’t coming to root on the top seeds, Hopkins in Class 4A and Benilde-St. Margaret’s in Class 3A. A solid contingent is rolling in from Minneapolis.
They are hopeful the Teddies from Roosevelt in their initial state tournament appearance can pull off a colossal upset of defending state champion Benilde-St. Margaret’s. The Red Knights (24-5) are on a 21-game winning streak, and their average margin of victory is 20.9 points per game. It will be a tall order for the Teddies (23-7).
“It’s an unbelievable and remarkable memory that these girls will always have a spot with their names here at Minneapolis Roosevelt,” Teddies coach Tyesha Wright said before the tournament.
Wright’s squad isn’t alone in facing a tough task on a day when 12 teams — the Class 2A quarterfinals will follow in the night session — will have their bubble burst and another 12 will begin preparing for the semifinals.
There are two very intriguing 4-5 matchups today, Maple Grove (24-4) vs. Lakeville North (24-5) in Class 4A and New London-Spicer (28-2) vs. Crosby-Ironton (24-6) in Class 2A.
Maple Grove has an excellent Division I tandem in senior Claire Stern (North Dakota State) and junior Jordan Ode (Michigan State) going against Lakeville North coaching great Andy Berkvam and 6-4 senior center Trinity Wilson (Vanderbilt).
The 2A matchup has similarities. New London-Spicer’s legendary coach, Mike Dreier, is going against one of best sophomores in the state in Crosby-Ironton’s Tori Oehrlein. Dreier is the state’s all-time winningest coach (boys or girls) with a career record of 1,067-191 over 46 seasons at the helm of the Wildcats. He is making his state-record 21st appearance in the state tournament.
Teams are getting ready to take to the courts for warmups. Tipoff is about 30 minutes away. Enjoy the ride!
RON HAGGSTROM
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