Photo by Jake McNeill Minneota’s Ireland Stassen (30), Kenadi Arndt (10) and Grace Hennen (2) lift up the Section 3A girls basketball championship trophy alongside Minneota head coach Alan Panka (right) after the Vikings defeated Southwest Minneosta Christian in the 3A title game at Southwest Minnesota State University Friday night.

MARSHALL — The Minneota girls basketball team’s tenacious defense was too much for Southwest Minnesota Christian to handle Friday night, leading the Vikings to a 60-51 win in the Section 3A championship game at Southwest Minnesota State University.

Southwest Christian had won 10 consecutive games coming into the 3A finals–and 22 of its last 23–but couldn’t keep their streak alive to reach the Class A playoffs.

“Our biggest thing was that we’ve kind of been underdogs in the playoffs this time,” Minneota head coach Alan Panka said. “Normally we’ve been the one seed and had success that way all year long. This year, we had a few more hiccups in the road playing good competition. We talked to the girls like we’re technically not supposed to be in this game, so we’re playing on house money. We need to take advantage of that because normally we’re the ones with the bullseye on us.”

Faith Myhre and Grace Hennen were the team’s two leading scorers at halftime, heading into the break with 10 points apiece, but the rest of the Minneota roster was unable to get going. Kenadi Arndt and Ireland Stassen were the team’s only other scorers through the first 18 minutes, contributing 4 points apiece, and Southwest Christian went into the locker room with a 32-28 lead.

“We had to win the first five minutes,” Panka said on the team strategy coming out of halftime, adding an emphasis on the team being confident in its shots. “When you’re open, you’ve got to shoot the ball. Whoever’s open, take the shot. But don’t force things, don’t leave open shots not shot. That was kind of the idea, that and just to keep playing good defense.”

Myhre paced the Vikings’ offense early, scoring 8 points to give Minneota an early 16-8 lead. Yet, after she subbed out, Southwest Christian started a 10-0 run to take the lead and seize all momentum.

Myhre finished as the team’s second-leading scorer with 15 points on 5-13 shooting, trailing only Grace Hennen’s 17 on 6-12 from the field. Hennen also shot 5-5 from the charity stripe.

“They were taking good looks,” Panka said of Hennen and Myhre. “They weren’t forcing things in the second half. In the first half, we had a few forces because we got mentally tired and then we got physically tired, but in the second half it seemed like we didn’t force things as much as we took what was there and if they were open, they shot the ball.”

Not to be outdone, Dakoda Hennen also added another 14 points while shooting 5-7 from the field, including 2-2 from long range.

Trailing 48-46 in the final minutes, Minneota went on an 8-1 run to take control of the game. They began playing the keep-away game with two minutes remaining and a 5-point lead, forcing the Eagles to foul. Still, the Vikings made their free throws and held on for the win.

Ireland Stassen and Kenadi Arndt led the charge for Minneota on the boards, grabbing 10 and nine rebounds respectively to lead the Vikings to a 28-22 advantage on the glass. Arndt also finished with five blocks and four assists, both team-highs.

Both Stassen and Arndt stole the ball twice, tying them with Dakoda Hennen for second-most on the team behind Grace Hennen’s three.

Minneota and SWC struggled to knock down 3-point shots, shooting 27% and 28% respectively, but the Vikings’ advantage on 2-point field goals (50% to 41%) and from the free-throw line (63% to 57%) paved their way to the 3A title.

Southwest Christian won the teams’ regular-season matchup in Edgerton, 62-49, but couldn’t replicate their success in the tournament.

Minneota (21-8) will try to keep its momentum rolling when the Class A tournament gets underway Thursday. They will find out their first-round opponent later today.

“Once we see who we’re playing, we’ll start preparing and get a gameplan together,” Panka said. “We’ll have practice Monday and Tuesday, there’s a banquet Tuesday night and Ireland being All-State on top of it, so before that Tuesday night we’ll find somewhere to practice in the cities and try to give them as much time off their legs as we can for a little bit and then go after them. Whoever we get, we get.”