Four champions were crowned during the 2017 girls basketball state tournament that was held March at four sites in the Twin Cities.

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1 MINNESOTA STATE HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE 2017 GIRLS BASKETBALL STATE TOURNAMENT GOODHUE, ROSEAU, ORONO, ELK RIVER WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS Four champions were crowned during the 2017 girls basketball state tournament that was held March at four sites in the Twin Cities. Goodhue was a repeat champion in Class A while Roseau won its first title in program history by finishing undefeated in the Class AA field. Orono and Elk River also captured the first championships for their programs in Class AAA and Class AAAA, respectively. The 2017 state tournament also featured the return of consolation play. Here is a look at the 2017 state tournament: CLASS A Goodhue completed the first successful title defense in Class A since 2012 with a victory over Mountain Iron-Buhl in the championship game on Saturday, March 18 at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus. Senior forward Maddy Miller scored 10 of her 21 points in the first half to help send the No. 2- seeded Wildcats (28-4) to their second consecutive Class A championship. Goodhue is the second No. 2 seed to win a Class A champion. The other was Ada-Borup in The victory also erased memories of Goodhue s loss to Mountain Iron-Buhl on Dec 3 in the Breakdown Classic in the fourth game of the season. Mountain Iron-Buhl, the top seed entering the tournament, finished as the runner-up for the second time. The previous secondplace finish against Maranatha Christian Academy in Junior forward Sydney Lodemeier, Goodhue s floor leader, had 14 points and 14 rebounds, including 13 on the defensive end. Senior guard Mckenzie Ryan also had 14 points, including making 10 of 10 from the free throw line. Goodhue built a lead at the break behind 10 points from senior forward Maddy Miller. Ryan scored six points, all of the points coming off powerful drives where she made the layup, drew the fouls, and made the ensuing free throws. Lodermeier also had six points, to go with seven rebounds in the first half. Mountain Iron-Buhl (31-2), which trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, was paced by senior guard Chelsea Mason with 16 points. Sophomore guard Macy Savela had 14 points. In the third-place game, Cromwell-Wright zipped to a victory over Maranatha Christian Academy at the Gangelhoff Center on the Concordia (St. Paul) campus.

2 Senior forward Bailey Gronner scored 25 points to pace the Cardinals (27-5). During the threegame state tournament, Cromwell-Wright tied a record with 29 made three-pointers. That equals the mark set by New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva in The Cardinals had a single-game record 13 three-pointers in a victory over Red Lake in the quarterfinals and then had six in a semifinal loss to Goodhue. In the third-place game, Cromwell- Wright was 10 of 19 from three-point range. NHREG set the single-game record of 13 against Pequot Lakes in the Class AA quarterfinals in Junior forward Jaclyn Jarnot and senior forward Elise Moore had 13 points each for the Mustangs (25-8). Mountain Iron-Buhl raced into the Class A championship game for the first time since 2012 with a victory over Maranatha Christian Academy in the semifinals. Senior guards Chelsea Mason and Mya Buffetta scored 18 points each for the top-seeded Rangers (31-1) and sophomore guards Macy Savela and Allie Negen chipped in 14 apiece. It was Mountain Iron-Buhl s second victory over Maranatha Christian Academy this season. On Dec. 10, the teams were off to the races again with the Rangers outlasting the Mustangs for a victory. Interestingly, it was Maranatha Christian Academy that defeated Mountain Iron-Buhl in that 2012 Class A championship game. Mountain Iron-Buhl, which held a 10-point lead at the half, pushed the lead to as many as 15 points in the second half before the Mustangs (24-8) trimmed the deficit to with 8:53 remaining in regulation time. From there, though, the Rangers answered with a surge that pushed their lead to double digits in the final minute. Senior forward Sami Payne led the Mustangs with 31 points. She was 12 of 22 from the field, including 6 of 11 from three-point range. Junior guard Kylie Post added 13 points for Maranatha Christian. In the other championship semifinal, Goodhue s high-pressure defense was in championship form during a victory over Cromwell-Wright. The No. 2-seeded Wildcats (27-4) forced Cromwell-Wright into 18 turnovers and 35 percent shooting from the field on the way to earning a return berth to the Class A championship game where they will face No. 1 Mountain Iron-Buhl. Since seeding began in Class A 2014, Goodhue has the chance to become the first repeat champion in the Class A field. Class A has not had a repeat champion since 2012 when Maranatha Christian Academy won the second of two crowns.

3 Senior guard Maddy Miller led the Wildcats with 21 points and junior guard Emily Benrud had 15 points and 12 rebounds in powering Goodhue into the Class A championship game for the third time. In 2010, the Wildcats were runner-up to Barnum. Senior Chelsea Swatek led the Cardinals (26-5) with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Cromwell- Wright takes on Maranatha Christian Academy for the third-place trophy on Saturday. In the consolation final, Southwest Minnesota Christian recorded a victory over GHEC/Truman/Martin Luther at the Gangelhoff Center on the Concordia (St. Paul) campus. Senior forward Chantel Groen scored 15 of her 23 points in the first half for Southwest Minnesota Christian (27-4), which trailed at the half. Junior forward Brooklyn DeKam also had 23 points for the Eagles. Senior guard Hannah Johanson scored 25 points, including the 1,000 th point of her career early in the game. Senior center Kenlie Pytleski had seven rebounds, including the 1,000 th of her career. Senior forward Hanna Geistfeld added 20 points for the Jaguars (27-6). CLASS AA Roseau joined rare company by becoming just the third undefeated champion in Class AA in the four-class era following its victory over Sauk Centre in the title game at Williams Arena. Senior guard Kiley Borowicz powered the Rams (32-0) to their first championship in program history with 20 points, and younger sister, Kacie, a sophomore guard, added 19 in Roseau s first appearance in a title game. Since the four-class era began in 1997, only Caledonia (2009) and New Richland-Hartland- Ellendale-Geneva (2014) have had undefeated championship seasons in Class AA. Roseau is the third No. 1 seed to win a state championship in the four years of seeding the tournament. Kiley Borowicz, who earlier this season surpassed 3,000 points for her career, moved into fourth place all-time on the career scoring list in state tournament history. With her 20 points in the championship game, she finished her prep career with 268 points during state tournament play. Ahead of her are Carlie Wagner of NRHEG (371 points), Janet Karvonen of New York Mills (329) and Braham s Rebekah Dahlman (276). When Borowicz came out of the game for the final time in her prep career with 32.5 seconds left in regulation time, the fans on each side of Williams Arena gave her a rousing standing ovation. It was the third runner-up finish for Sauk Centre (31-2). The Mainstreeters were also second in the Class AA field in 2012 and 2015.

4 Senior guard Jill Klaphake led four teammates in double figures with 19 points. Freshman guard Tori Peschel and junior guard Maesyn Thiesen had 15 points each and junior guard Kelsey Peschel contributed 11. In the third-place game, Watertown-Mayer edged New London-Spicer at the Gangelhoff Center on the Concordia (St. Paul) campus. Senior guard Claire Killian scored 17 of her 24 points in the first half and junior forward Monika Czinano chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds for the game to power the Royals (28-4). Junior point guard Shea Oman was the only player in double figures for New London-Spicer (27-5). She had 29 points and was 4 of 6 from three-point range. To get to the championship game, Roseau, the most prolific scoring team in the Class AA field, used a game-defining surge in the early minutes of the second half to race past New London- Spicer for a victory in the semifinals at Williams Arena. Senior guard Kiley Borowicz scored 19 of her 41 points in the second half when the top-seeded Rams (31-0) bolted from a two-point halftime advantage. She was 6 of 7 from three-point range, grabbed 11 rebounds and had five assists. Younger sister Kacie, a sophomore guard, chipped in 14 points and three assists to send the Rams into a championship game for the first time in program history. This is the first time since Crookston in 2006 that a school from Section 8 has reached the championship game in Class AA. That season, Crookston was runner-up to Cannon Falls. Senior forward Erin Tebben scored 20 points for New London-Spicer (27-4), which gave the Rams fits with a defense that slowed them down. In the other semifinal, Sauk Centre found its way to a familiar place. Sauk Centre is no stranger to playing in a Class AA championship game. In 2012, the Mainstreeters lost to Providence Academy in the title game, and then three seasons later, lost to Dover-Eyota with the crown at stake. The Mainstreeters earned a third crack at winning a championship following a victory over Watertown-Mayer in the second Class AA semifinal at Williams Arena. Freshman guard Tori Peschel paced Sauk Centre s attack with 20 points and 13 rebounds, including 11 on the defensive end. Senior guard Jill Klaphake had 14 assists and junior guard Maesyn Theisen added 11, including a three-pointer with 8:13 left in regulation time that gave the Mainstreeters (31-1) a lead. Sauk Centre s only loss this season was a setback to Anoka of Class AAAA on Dec. 3 at the Breakdown Classic in the second game of the season.

5 Watertown-Mayer (27-4), which led by as many as five points in the first half, got 13 points from senior guard Claire Killian, who has scored more than 2,000 points. She will play collegiately at Nebraska-Omaha. In the consolation final, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva recorded a victory over Rochester Lourdes at the Gangelhoff Center on the Concordia (St. Paul) campus. Junior center Betsy Schoenrock led the Panthers (27-6) with 20 points, and senior twin sisters Maddie and Marnie, both guards, chipped in 15 points each. Freshman guard Alyssa Ustby paced the Eagles (22-11) with 18 points and senior center Megan Hobday added 14. CLASS AAA In each of the past three seasons, Orono has been either a top-ranked or top-seeded team in Class AAA. In 2015, the Spartans were the top seed in the state tournament, but were upset in the semifinals by No. 4 Marshall. In 2016, Orono was top-ranked, but lost to Hutchinson in the section final and didn t qualify for the state tournament. In 2017, the Spartans hit no such roadblocks. With only one returning starter and a new coach, Orono completed its journey as a top-ranked and top-seeded team with a championship following a victory over No. 2 Winona in the Class AAA title game at Williams Arena. Senior guard Tori Andrew led the Spartans (27-4) to their historic milestone with 22 points and senior forward Mattea Rice was a dominant force in the paint with 19 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Natalie Smaron had eight points and 12 rebounds. Orono is the third No. 1 seed in the 11 years of seeding in the four-class era to win a Class AAA championship. The other two are Becker in 2007 and Park Center in 2014 in a triple overtime win over Marshall. Winona (26-5), which finished runner-up for the second consecutive season, was paced by senior forward Abby Winter s 14 points and 12 from senior guard Eden Nibbelink. Andew, a Yale recruit, scored 15 points in the first half, including 4 of 7 from three-point range, to stake the Spartans to a lead at the break. Rice had a banner first half, making all seven of her shots and grabbing seven rebounds. In the third-place game, Holy Angels posted a victory over Alexandria at the Gangelhoff Center on the Concordia (St. Paul) campus. Senior guard Megan Thompson and sophomore forward Destinee Oberg powered the Stars (27-4) with 23 points each. Freshman forward Kaylie Van Der Werf added 15 points and a team-best nine rebounds. Senior guard Kendall Kohler led the Cardinals (26-6) with 25 points and nine assists.

6 In earning a spot in the championship game for the first time, top-seeded Orono used definitive mini-runs in the second half to pull away from Alexandria for a victory in the Class AAA semifinals. Senior guard Tori Andrew powered the Spartans, who are in the state tournament for the third time, with 18 points and senior guard Natalie Smaron added 14. Orono broke from a halftime lead with a 6-0 run to open the second half. More would follow when the lead swelled to as many as 21 points. Alexandria, which made just 3 of 19 shots in the second half, was paced by senior guard Kara Thomson and senior center Kayla Feldhake, both of whom had nine points. Orono held a advantage at the half behind 14 points from Andrew and 10 from Smaron. After a slow offensive start for each team, shots began falling in the final half of the first half. Orono was 9 of 23 in the first half from the field, including 3 of 6 from three-point range. Andrew made and attempted all of the Spartans three-pointers in the first half. Smaron had seven rebounds to go with her 10 points in the first half. Alexandria was 8 of 20 from the field in the first half, including 4 of 10 from three-point range. Senior guard Kara Thomson paced the Cardinals (26-5) with nine points in the first half. She was 3 of 3 from three-point range for all of her scoring. In the other semifinal, Winona jumped to an 8-2 lead in the first six minutes of play and never looked back to defeat Holy Angels, Senior guard Justine Schultz led the Winhawks offense with 14 points. Eden Nibbelink, a senior guard, added 12 points and recorded five blocks. Senior center Danneka Voegeli had 11 rebounds and senior forward Abby Winter had 10. Sophomore forward Destinee Oberg led Holy Angels, the 2016 Class AAA champion, with a game-high 15 points and 13 rebounds. Thanks to a taut defense that held Holy Angels to just five baskets and a edge in rebounds, the Winhawks went to the locker room at halftime with a lead. Winona picked up where it had left off at the start of the second half. A 7-2 run in the first three minutes pushed the lead to 12 at The Stars, seeded second in the tournament, could get no closer than nine points the rest of the way. In the consolation final, junior guard Dacoda Speidel and freshman guard Alexis Cochran-Starr made free throws in the final 23 seconds of the second overtime to lift DeLaSalle to a victory over Grand Rapids at the Ganglehoff Center on the Concordia (St. Paul) campus. Sophomore center Mary Claire Francois led the Islanders (20-11) with 15 points and junior guard Ayanna Gardner chipped in 11. Junior guard Heaven Hamling scored 20 points for the

7 Thunderhawks (24-7) while sophomore forward Meara Beighley had 16 points. Sophomore forward Hannah DeMars had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. CLASS AAAA Elk River entered the state tournament undefeated, but perhaps a bit under-appreciated while being in the long shadow of Hopkins. Hopkins is Minnesota s most dominant high school girls basketball program in the modern era, and they, too, entered the state tournament undefeated, along with a top ranking and a top seed in the Class AAAA field. Both advanced to the Class AAAA championship game to end the season. A victory by Hopkins would extend its dynasty to five state championships since An Elk River victory in the title game would be the first in program history and validation of a perfect season. Elk River, ranked No. 2 behind Hopkins the majority of the season, finally slipped past the Royals following a dramatic victory in the Class AAAA championship game at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus. In the four-class era, which begin in 1997, there has never been a matchup of undefeated teams in the championship game. Elk River is the sixth undefeated Class AAAA champion in the fourclass era. Senior guard Gabi Haack scored 25 points and sophomore forward Sydney Wentland added 16 points, including two free throws in the final minute that gave the Elks (32-0) a lead. Hopkins, which averaged nearly 76 points per game this season, drew to within on a layup by junior Raena Suggs with 21 seconds remaining in regulation. After a missed free throw on Elk River s end, a desperation three-pointer by Hopkins freshman guard Paige Bueckers fell short of hitting the backboard or rim with four seconds left. One free throw later by senior guard Danielle Lachmiller and the Elks began a joyous celebration. She ended up with 17 points. Hopkins, who was led by Bueckers with 19 points, finished runner-up in Class AAAA for the second consecutive season. Sophomore guard Diayla Chakolis had 13 points and junior forward Angie Hammond had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Elk River held a lead after a frenetic-paced first half of play. Haack scored 16 points and was 2 of 2 from three-point range to fuel the Elks who trailed early, but sped past the Royals to

8 lead by as many as nine. Wentland had 11 points in the opening half, including 3 of 3 from threepoint range. Hopkins was crisp and efficient early, scoring on seven of its first eight possessions in building a six-point lead. But the Royals slowed offensively for the remaining minutes of the first half in the face of Elk River s pressure defense. Hammond led the Royals in the first 18 minutes with nine points while Bueckers and Chakolis each had eight points. In the third-place game, Eastview and Lakeville North met for the third time this season. Lakeville North won both meetings during the South Suburban Conference schedule, but couldn t make it a trifecta. This time, Eastview prevailed with a victory at the Gangelhoff Center on the Concordia (St. Paul) campus. Senior guard Rachel Ranke spurred the Lightning 25-7) with 21 points and senior guard Allie Pickrain had 16. Senior guards Temi Carda and Caitlyn Peterson had 12 points each for the Panthers (29-3). Hopkins earned a spot in the Class AAAA championship game for the third consecutive season and sixth time in seven seasons with a victory over Eastview in the semifinals. Freshman guard Paige Bueckers scored 31 and junior guard Raena Suggs added 16 to help the Royals (30-0), who held off a late Eastview rally. The contest started fast with Hopkins scoring the first seven points and Eastview matching that to tie the score. The teams traded baskets and then the Royals scored four in a row to take a lead they would never relinquish. They pushed the margin as high as eight points and went into the intermission with a advantage. The Royals started strong in the second half, outscoring the Lightning 14-4 in the first 6 ½ minutes of the half to grab a lead. Eastview fought back with eight unanswered points to get within nine points at Hopkins stretched the lead to 14 points only to see Eastview roar back to get within three on two occasions in the last minute of the game. That was as close as the Lightning would get. Bueckers, who scored 31 points in the Royals quarterfinal win over Minnetonka, was 12 of 16 from the field, snared six rebounds and had three steals

9 Senior guard Rachel Ranke led Eastview (24-7) with 19 points and a game-high five steals, and senior guard Allie Pickrain added 15 for the Lightning. In the other semifinal, Elk River set up the dream matchup of two undefeated teams vying for a state championship with a victory over Lakeville North at Williams Arena. There were some nail-biting moments, though, before the Elks could celebrate their championship game berth. Senior guard Ava Kramer supplied what would prove to be the winning basket when she scored on a layup with 56 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Elks a lead. Those final 56 seconds took many minutes to play, a span that was filled with steals, turnovers, blocks, timeouts and missed game-winning shots. Lakeville North freshman guard Lauren Jensen appeared to give the Panthers the lead on a short jumper from the wing with four seconds remaining, but the basket was waved off because Lakeville North coach Shelly Clemons had called a timeout. After much discussion on how much time to put on the clock, senior guard Temi Carda missed a jumper attempt and then so did Jensen with one second left. Senior guard Gabi Haack scored 15 of her 20 points in the second half for the Elks. Kramer and senior forward Sidney Wentland had 10 points each. Lakeville North (28-3), the No. 3 seed, was attempting to make its first return trip to the state championship game since winning the Class AAAA crown in Lakeville North held a advantage at the break behind eight points from junior forward Taylor Brown and six from senior guard Olivia Bruce. The Panthers shot 38.5 percent in the first half, including 3 of 8 from three-point range. One of those was from Brown with eight seconds left in the first half that gave the Panthers the lead at the break. Elk River had held a lead in the final minutes of the first half, but the Panthers closed on a 12-0 run to take the one-point lead at the break. In the consolation final, Park Center recorded a victory over Andover at the Gangelhoff Center on the Concordia (St. Paul) campus. Senior guard Danielle Schaub had 12 points for the Pirates (26-6) and junior guard Meghan DuBois had 11. Senior center Mikayla Hayes, who has signed to play at the University of Florida, had eight points and 12 rebounds. Senior guard Amanda Dagostino had 15 points and three assists for the Huskies (21-11), who lost to Park Center for the second time this season. Previously, Park Center recorded a victory on Feb. 24 during the Northwest Suburban Conference finale.