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SECTION GIRLS BASKETBALL: Top-seeded Vikings roll past Lancers, 72-48

Photo by Sam Thiel Minneota’s Natalee Rolbiecki blocks a shot attempt by Canby’s RyAnn Hansen during their Section 3A tournament game on Monday. The Vikings defeated the Lancers 72-48.

MARSHALL — After opening their Section 3A tournament quests with a pair of hard-fought victories over the weekend, the No. 1 Minneota and No. 5 Canby girls basketball teams squared off in the next round. A solid first half by the Vikings put the Lancers in a quick deficit and Minneota kept applying the pressure to earn a 72-48 victory.

Minneota coach Chad Johnston said he was pleased with their defensive effort as a group, especially in the first half, but credited Canby for continuing to fight and make things difficult for them throughout the entire game.

“I think Canby did a nice job early in the game of taking away dribble penetration and the things we wanted to do. They did a good job of getting back in transition and not letting us have some easy layups, but the thing I was probably the most happy with in the first half was our defense,” Johnston said. “We kept them low-scoring so even though we weren’t really rolling on offense, it kept the game low-scoring and once we got rolling, we created some distance but credit to Canby, they didn’t give up and kept fighting.”

Key runs provide

early spark

The Vikings got out to a strong start, going up 8-2 before a 3-point play from RyAnn Hansen made it a three-point game with 14 minutes left in the first half. Minneota responded with a key run, as a layup and a 3-point play from Abby Hennen helped highlight a 13-4 burst to give the Vikings a 21-9 advantage with 8:17 to go.

Canby would battle back, drawing to within single digits again on a layup from Kayelee Johnson, but Morgan Hennen connected on a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to put Minneota back up 12. The Vikings then used another timely run to close the first half, outscoring the Lancers 11-4 in the final five minutes of the frame to make it 41-22 in favor of the Vikings heading into the locker rooms.

Controlling the pace

Looking to keep its momentum going, Minneota quickly built a 20-point lead before a 3-pointer from Abby Hennen made it 56-29 midway through the second half. Canby continued to fight, though, as the Lancers got a 3-pointer of their own from McKenzie Reuther before a layup from Aidyn Bruns cut the deficit to 19 at 60-41 with 6:27 left. But every time it seemed like Canby was able to get some momentum, the Vikings were right there with a strong answer. Minneota did just that down the stretch, using a 7-2 run to extend its lead to 67-43 with 4:28 left before trading points the rest of the way to bring it to the 72-48 final.

Abby Hennen led the way for the Vikings with 31 points while Morgan Hennen added 17 and Natalee Rolbiecki had 13. Morgan Hennen led in rebounds with 12 and in assists with three.

Hansen led the way for the Lancers with 11 points while Hannah Jelen added nine and Bruns had eight. Maya Wente led in rebounds with seven while Johnson led in assists with three.

Canby coach Jeff Thovson said they were able to do some good things early on in the game but lost focus on the defensive end of the floor and Minneota was able to capitalize.

“Early on, we hung around but then kind of lost focus on the defensive end and gave up some easy looks,” Thovson said. “Minneota’s a good team and they take advantage of everything you give them, but this group of kids always gave an all-out effort, so I’m extremely proud of this group of kids.”

Saluting the seniors

With the loss, Canby ends its season with an 11-14 record and graduates four seniors, including Johnson, Brooke Nelson, Charlotte Wright and Kortni Arndt. Thovson said all of them were great leaders and role models to the younger players and he’s proud of what they were able to accomplish as a group.

“These seniors this year have provided a great leadership role for our underclassmen. These seniors always came to work hard and they were always supportive of the underclassmen that played and never wavered from that,” Thovson said. “They helped get this program moving to where we need to get to; they’re a great group and I’m very proud of them.”

Up next

Minneota (28-1) will face No. 2 Lakeview on Friday in the Section 3A North Championship game at 8 p.m. at SMSU. Johnston said their biggest takeaway will be to improve on their offensive efficiency.

“I think we need to work a little bit on offensive efficiency; as you play some teams, Lakeview we’ve seen twice already, teams kind of catch on to what you want to do so you have to become a little more efficient,” Johnston said. “We’re going to work on our spacing but around this time of the year, you don’t get a whole lot of things that recreate the wheel, it’s just fine-tuning what we’ve been doing and making sure that we’re focused on doing things.”

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