Photo by Jake Przytarski Minneota’s Jeren Rost drives through a pair of Central Minnesota Christian defenders during Monday’s Camden Conference championship game. The Vikings defeated the Bluejays 62-27 to capture their second straight conference title.

MINNEOTA –For a second straight year, the No. 1-ranked Minneota girls basketball team capped off a dominant regular season with a Camden Conference championship after defeating north division-leader Central Minnesota Christian on Monday in a 62-27 rout.

The Vikings never trailed on their way to capturing their second straight conference title, but a slow start riddled with turnovers opened the door for the visiting Bluejays to remain step for step in the early goings of the first half, with Minneota clinging to a one-point lead at 8-7.

The tide began to turn when leading-scorer Abby Hennen–who went on to finish with 17 points and five 3-pointers–provided some sorely-needed separation on the scoreboard with a pair of made shots from beyond the arc that forced the Bluejays to take a timeout trailing 14-7.

While its high-powered offense has become the team’s calling card down the stretch of the regular season, it was Minneota’s defense that provided the biggest boost down the stretch of the first half as steals by Natalee Rolbiecki and Jeren Rost led to baskets in bunches as the Vikings took their largest lead to that point at 24-9 following consecutive baskets by Morgan Hennen. The momentum remained squarely in Minneota’s favor into the break as the Vikings held a 14-point advantage at 28-14.

Minutes into the second half, the Bluejays showed their resilience by cutting the deficit to 10 points at 30-20. The offensive success for CMCS quickly evaporated in the face of Minneota’s stymying defense, however, as the Vikings climbed back into control by going on a 16-0 run to take a commanding 26-point lead.

The game-breaking run for Minneota was highlighted by a pair of made 3-pointers by Abby Hennen and consecutive baskets by Abby Rost. Rolbiecki and McKenna Yost also knocked down a pair timely 3-pointers to make it 46-20. The Vikings went on to outscore the Bluejays 16-7 the rest of the way to seal their Camden Conference championship victory in a 62-27 final.

Holding the top seed in the north subsection of the Section 3A Tournament, Minneota (26-1) will play the winner of tonight’s game between No. 9 seed Dawson-Boyd and No. 8 seed MACCRAY on Saturday in Montevideo at 11 a.m.

Minneota 62, Central Minnesota Christian 27

CMCS 14 13 — 27

Minneota 28 34 — 62

Overall FG percentage: Minneota 41.7% (25-60); CMCS 26.8% (11-41)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

SCORING: Minneota (A. Hennen 6-14 0-0 17, M. Hennen 2-9 0-0 4, Jurrens 2-6 2-2 6, Rolbiecki 7-12 1-1 16, A. Rost 2-5 0-0 4, J. Rost 1-4 0-0 2, Stassen 1-5 0-0 2, Yost 4-5 0-0 11)

REBOUNDING: Minneota 33 (A. Hennen 7, M. Hennen, J. Rost 6, A. Rost 5, Jurrens 4, Stassen 3, Rolbiecki, Yost 1)

ASSISTS: Minneota 15 (Stassen 4, A. Rost, M. Hennen 3, A. Hennen, J. Rost 2, Rolbiecki 1)

BLOCKS: Minneota 1 (Rolbiecki 1)

STEALS: Minneota 13 (J. Rost 4, Rolbiecki 3, A. Rost, M. Hennen 2, Stassen, A. Hennen 1)