Girls basketball roundup: Montevideo’s ‘D’ makes a difference

WILLMAR — Montevideo’s defense came up large in the latter half of the second half to help the Thunder Hawks earn a comeback victory and advance to the Section 3AA-North final on Tuesday.

Second-seeded Montevideo fought off the sixth-seeded West Central Knights in a 57-49 win at Willmar High School’s Big Red Gym. The Thunder Hawks face New London-Spicer at 8 p.m. Thursday at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.

“It would’ve been easy to lose control of the court, our momentum, and let this one slip away,” Montevideo head coach Anthony Jackson said. “We got our second life as a basketball team. West Central played a great game. I’m really proud of our team for overcoming the adversity and for regaining the lead after we had lost it.”

Montevideo trailed West Central 44-39 with over 11 minutes to play. It marked the Knights’ biggest lead of the contest after they opened up the second half on a 20-12 run.

Then the Thunder Hawks’ defense turned the dial, holding the Knights to five points the rest of the way. That defensive effort propelled Montevideo to victory. It outscored West Central 18-5 with less than nine minutes to play.

“The biggest difference was really forcing a few turnovers, getting a few easy runouts and controlling the glass better,” Jackson said. “We stopped looking for the easy way out. We had to grind it out and it was a dogfight.”

Avery Koenen helped light a spark in Montevideo’s comeback. The senior post secured a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup and foul to tie the contest at 44-44 with 8:24 remaining.

Koenen was everywhere for the Thunder Hawks. She scored a game-best 26 points and helped Montevideo control the glass, adding 14 rebounds and notching three blocks.

“She’s a special player. It takes a lot of talent to be able to stop her and not many people can do that,” Montevideo senior wing Tenley Epema said. “Avery’s someone we rely on a lot.”

West Central cut the Thunder Hawks’ lead to 51-49 with 2:04 remaining. Montevideo closed out the contest on a six-point run.

“We just wanted it so bad. We have so many seniors,” Koenen said. “We were scrappy, aggressive, and that’s what it takes to play good defense — being determined.”

The Thunder Hawks, who are on an eight-game winning streak, are headed to Marshall to play NLS.

“Breaking their press and stopping their fast-break layups will be crucial,” Montevideo senior wing Hailey Dirksen said.

West Central (10-13)      24   25 — 49
Montevideo (21-3)          27   30 — 57

WEST CENTRAL - Scoring: Addison Staples 13, Macy Grosz, 12, Mya Foslien 11, Sydney Ulrich 3, Jayden Styba 5, Claire Stark 5 … 3-point shots: Staples 2, Stark 1, Ulrich 1, Foslien 1, Grosz 1 … Rebound leader: n/a … Assist leader: n/a … Steal leader: n/a ... Block leader: n/a

MONTEVIDEO - Scoring: Teagan Epema 8, Taylor Viessman 2, Tenley Epema 3, Avery Koenen 26, Kiera Foley 10, Haley Dirksen 8 … 3-point shots: Tea. Epema 2, Ten. Epema 1, Koenen 1, Foley 1 … Rebound leader: Koenen 14 … Assist leaders: Tea. Epema 2, Dirksen 2, Koenen 2 … Steal leader: Koenen 4 ... Block leader: Koenen 3, Dirksen 1

Top-seeded Lac qui Parle Valley advanced to the Section 3A-North final with a win over No. 4 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton at Montevideo.

Winners of 13 straight, the Eagles were paced by Camryn Lee’s 21 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks. Taylor Shelstad had 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.

LQPV plays Minneota in the Section 3A-North finals at 6 p.m. Friday at the R/A Facility at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.

RTR (16-12)         14   24 — 38
LQPV (25-3)        30   26 — 56

RTR - Scoring: Allyson Nelson 8, Alexis Schruers 6, Madison Burns 5, Madison Lawrence 5, Camry Swanson 5, Gabrielle Borresen 4, Shae O’Leary 3, Tatum Hess 2  … 3-point shots: n/a … Rebound leader: n/a … Assist leader: n/a … Steal leader: n/a ... Block leader: n/a

LQPV - Scoring: Rylee Lund 10, Ayanna Gipson 1, Taylor Shelstad 12, Camryn Lee 21, Jayln Lee 7, Kayla Jahn 5 … 3-point shots: Lund 3, J. Lee 1, Jahn 1 … Rebound leader: C. Lee 14, J. Lee 10, Shelstad 8 … Assist leader: Shelstad 5 … Steal leader: Shelstad 4 ... Block leader: C. Lee 6 

Four Minneota players scored in double figures as the No. 2-seeded Vikings beat No. 3 MACCRAY at Montevideo.

Grace Hennen led Minneota with 14 points, followed by Ireland Stassen (11), Dakoda Hennen (10) and Kenadi Arndt (10).

Emma Thein finished with 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Wolverines. Annie Bourne provided 10 points. Brielle Janssen also scored 10 in the loss.

MACCRAY (15-11)      20   26 — 46
Minneota (19-8)          26   30 — 56

MACCRAY - Scoring: Emma Thein 13, Annie Bourne 10, Brielle Janssen 10, Ella Kienitz 8, Sydney Thein 5 … 3-point shots: Kienitz 2, Bourne 2, S. Thein 1, E. Thein 1, Janssen 1 … Rebound leader: E. Thein 16 … Assist leader: Janssen 5, S. Thein 5 … Steal leader: Janssen 5, S. Thein 4 ... Block leader: none 

MINNEOTA - Stats not available

Fourth-seeded Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop cruised past fifth-seeded Central Minnesota Christian at Winthrop.

Carrie Mulder led the Bluejays with 15 points. Lauren Taatjes had nine rebounds and CC Roiseland contributed three assists.

G-F-W plays top-seeded Mayer Lutheran in the Section 2A quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Thursday at Sibley East in Arlington. Mayer Lutheran beat No. 8 Cedar Mountain 77-62.

CMCS (13-14)       18   18 — 36
G-F-W (16-11)       27   29 — 56

CMCS - Scoring: Sophia Vogel 4, Natasha Erickson 2, Carrie Mulder 15, Lauren Taatjes 7, Sienna Duininck 4, Peighton Mulder 4  … 3-point shots: Mulder 2 … Rebound leader: Taatjes 9 … Assist leader: CC Roiseland 3 … Steal leader: Duininck 1 ... Block leader: C. Mulder 1 

G-F-W - Stats not available

Lainey Braulick had 24 points and Mari Ryberg scored 18 as third-seeded BOLD beat sixth-seeded Lester Prairie at Olivia.

Kenzie Visser had 12 rebounds and two blocked shots for the Warriors.

Jessa Heimeerl had 22 points and Addison Hoof added 12 for the Bulldogs.

BOLD plays second-seeded Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart in the Section 2A quarterfinals at 7:45 p.m. at Sibley East in Arlington. BLHS beat Cleveland 83-26.

Lester Prairie (12-15)      19   23 — 42
BOLD (21-5)                     38   29 — 67

LESTER PRAIRIE - Scoring: Jessa Heimerl 22, Miranda Mollak 2, Austin Walstrom 4, Addison Hoof 12, Brooke Heimerl 2  … 3-point shots: J. Heimerl 2 … Rebound leader: n/a … Assist leader: n/a … Steal leader: n/a ... Block leader: n/a

BOLD - Scoring: Lainey Braulick 24, Rylee Boen 3, Peyton Sander 2, Mari Ryberg 18, Anna Moorse 2, Kenzie Visser 4, Lily Dean 6, Layla Pfarr 8 … 3-point shots: Braulick 5, Boen 1, Ryberg 1, Dean 2, Pfarr 2 … Rebound leader: Visser 12, Ryberg 8 … Assist leader: Moorse 5 … Steal leader: Braulick 6 ... Block leader: Visser 2