“Panka [Minneota head coach Al Panka] told us before the game, that their fans stand was like 5-to-1. They [CMC] had so many fans, and we kind of felt it. Their fans were like right in our ears, so it was definitely a high-intense pressured environmnet,” Gruenes said. “But, I think as a team, we played off of that, and we rose up to that.”

Following a strongly aggressive and fierce first half that went back-and-forth, to which CMC led by just 2 points at the break, the second half continued with much of the same tempo and physicality.

Fighting back from a once 8-point deficit in the earlier part of the half, Autum Anderson came up clutch, with a handful of big shots throughout the night, and drilled in a 3-pointer to bring Minneota back within a possession, 49-47 with 19 seconds on the clock.

Minneota intentionally fouled, and CMC made a free throw for a 50-47 edge with 10.6 seconds left when the Vikings called a timeout.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota senior Sarah Gruenes analyzes the offense in the first half against Central Minnesota Christian Tuesday night in the Section 3A North subsection semifinals at Montevideo High School.

Out of the reset, Ava Rost ignited the crowd with a deep 2 just inside the right wing of the 3-point line to bring the Vikings within a point, down 50-49 and 4.7 seconds remaining.

The officials initially counted Rost’s basket as a 3, which would tie the score at 50 with just over a second left to potentially force overtime, but after a review, it was confirmed as a regular field goal and added about three seconds to the clock.

“At first, Panka thought that it was 50-50, so he initially subbed Leah [Coequyt] in [to add more height for defense], but then we kind of had to switch right away, because then we realized it was actually a 2. So, we were a little bit on the fly,” Gruenes said of the reversal.

The Bluejays from there were intentionally fouled once more and made both clinching free throws to seal the win, as the Vikings last deep heave didn’t fall.

“We knew that CMC was definitely physical, so we were trying to match that,” Gruenes said of the physicality. “Like getting those loose balls, that helps us build momentum.”

Photo by Samantha Davis: The Minneota girls basketball team huddles for a final timeout against Central Minnesota Christian Tuesday night in the Section 3A North subsection semifinals at Montevideo High School.

Both teams shot nearly identical, with Minneota finishing the night shooting 31% from the field going 21 of 67, and CMC at 32% making 20 of 62 attempts. Both shot 21% from deep.

Minneota’s defense shined in the latter part of the second half, with several players getting their hands in passing lanes for steals and tips. The Vikings’ rebounding effort in particular, earned them back a string of crucial possessions, and outrebounded CMC 40-34.

“We were definitely more aggressive on the boards,” Gruenes said. “They are bigger than us, so we definitely had to be more aggressive coming into the game by a lot.”

CMC was able to pull ahead about midway through the half, but Rost caught the hot hand and scored 8 straight points for Minneota with back-to-back 3-pointers followed up with a 2-on-1 fastbreak layup beside Anderson after a steal to tie the score back up 32-32 with 13 minutes to play.

The Bluejays responded on a 10-2 run to take a 42-34 lead, their largest of the night, following two consecutive steals and layups from junior Sienna Duininck and a CMC 3 with 10:30 left.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota's Autum Anderson begins to drive the baseline in the first half against Central Minnesota Christian Tuesday night in the Section 3A North subsection semifinals at Montevideo High School.

Yet, the Vikings never let up on their fight as they eventually brought it back within striking reach as the final minutes came around.

“Panka told us that all the pressure is on them,” Gruenes said of the halftime message. “They are the one-seed … So it was like, the closer that we can keep it, the more pressure that we could be putting on them, and that would maybe help us breathe a little bit.”

Anderson led Minneota with 16 points, six assists and five steals, along with eight rebounds. Libby Sussner had a team-high nine rebounds, while Jaylyn Coequyt and Ava Rost both finished with 10 points.

The Vikings and Bluejays went basket for basket the entire first half, neither able to break away to larger than a possession lead.

Anderson particularly had the spark in the first half, including 9 of Minneota’s first 13 points along with facilitating the offense and scored a majority of her first points by driving to the basket. She initially opened the Vikings’ scoring with a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota's Jayla Jerzak lifts up above defenders for a shot in the first half against Central Minnesota Christian Tuesday night in the Section 3A North subsection semifinals at Montevideo High School.

Jayla Jerzak also had a string of hustle plays, continuing to dive for the ball and put her body on the line on several occasions, as did the entirety of the team.

Minneota also collectively had a handful of possession-saving smart plays throughout the night, including one from Rost in the waning moments of the first half where she bounced the ball off of CMC as she was falling out of bounds with the ball.

The first half went on to see a few different lead changes and a 20-20 tie, and the Bluejays went into the break with a 22-20 edge after scoring once more before the buzzer.

CMC also spent the season ranked in the top-10 coaches poll in Class A, and ended the regular season tabbed No. 6 in the state. The Bluejays had a 23-3 record heading into Tuesday and were on a 14-game win streak prior to their final regular-season game.

A valiant Viking effort

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota's Leah Coequyt (left) reaches in to try to track down a rebound in the first half against Central Minnesota Christian Tuesday night in the Section 3A North subsection semifinals at Montevideo High School.

Minneota finishes with another successful 2025-26 season campaign, despite Tuesday’s loss. The Vikings maintained a winning record throughout the year, and also had four different stretches of winning three or more games consecutively.

The Vikings got eliminated in the same spot last season, to MACCRAY by 1 point in the subsection semifinals, but finished with an improved record this time around. Minneota went 17-12 overall last year, and picked up two more wins this season.

Notably, Minneota will be returning nearly its entire lineup of talent next season after graduating just one senior in Gruenes. The Vikings will be older with more experience, as their core group of five current juniors in Jaylyn Coequyt, Leah Coequyt, Sussner, Natalie DeCock and Clare Swedzinkski will be coming back for a final season.

“I kind of feel like the mom of the group, I kind of feel my age once in a while,” Gruenes said, laughing, of being this year’s only senior. “But, it is cool to see all the younger girls fill into their roles. I am excited to see what they are going to do, because I am the only senior, so they are going to have all that experience coming back.”