Hancock finishes fourth at state

ST. PAUL - For the second straight day, Hancock's normally reliable free-throw shooting didn't show up and the Owls fell to Mountain Iron-Buhl 61-45 in the third-place game of the Class A state girls basketball tournament at Concordia College.

Hancock shot 73 percent from the charity stripe during the season, but cashed just 19-of-32 (59 percent) against Mt. Iron-Buhl. The Owls also shot 60 percent from the free-throw line in a double overtime loss to Maranatha Christian Academy in the semifinals on Friday.

Illissa Koehl led Hancock with 12 points, three assists and three steals. Kendra Schmidgall added 11 points and seven rebounds and Courtney Greiner had 10 points and 14 rebounds.

The Owls, who won a state title in 1997 and were second in 2007, finish the season with a 27-4 record.

Mt. Iron-Buhl (28-4) was led by Charlotte Overbye with 21 points.