Canby went into the break with a 21-20 halftime lead following a back-and-forth defensive battle in the opening half, where the Lancers led a majority of the time. But, Minneota turned things around offensively in the second half to take the lead and continued to chip away down the stretch.

“We knew we had to come in and be strong, and we just couldn’t let them [Canby] get under our skin,” Minneota junior Natalie DeCock said. “We knew we had to get kind of the first punch if we wanted a chance out there.”

“I thought we, the whole team, we were ready. We were practicing all week and were getting ready,” Canby senior Brynn Kockelman said. “I felt like we came into the game prepared, and I thought we did what we needed to do. We just came out with the loss.”

Minneota began to swing the momentum its way almost midway through the second half after the Vikings and Lancers traded baskets to open the half, following an Eden Meagher putback and a Jaylyn Coequyt midrange for a 34-33 edge with 10:15 left to play.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota Libby Sussner grabs a defensive rebound in the first half against Canby on Saturday in the Section 3A North Subsection quarterfinals at Montevideo High School.

“The biggest thing was we just needed to stay composed. We made a slight adjustment at halftime. We put Jaylyn [Coequyt] inside, and took Eden [Meagher] and put her outside,” Minneota head coach Al Panka said. “So, we flip flopped those two and that helped a little bit and got us a couple buckets. We did a better job communicating on defense, and we just kind of held them down a little bit better.”

The Vikings never lost sight of their lead from there. They also were able to make a difference maker by outrebounding Canby 37-24 to earn back some extra possessions.

“We got told that we played not a great first half,” DeCock said regarding the message at halftime. “[We needed to fix] a lot of the small things, and the turnovers needed to be not as much. We just needed to slow down, work better as a team and communicate.”

Ava Rost caught fire and scored a quick 5 points within seconds with a 3-pointer, followed by a steal and fastbreak layup to put Minneota ahead 39-33.

Addison Driessen stopped the Vikings from putting together a larger run with a field goal, yet Rost came up big again with a corner 3 for a Vikings’ 42-35 edge with nine minutes to play.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Canby senior Brynn Kockelman (13) dribbles the ball up the court on offense against Minneota in the Section 3A North Subsection quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Montevideo High School.

Minneota found some rhythm from the perimeter throughout the second half, with Autum Anderson hitting two, along with one from Sarah Gruenes to help take a 47-39 lead with 6:30 to play.

A pump fake and drive to the basket from Meagher then gave the Vikings a little breathing room with about four minutes to play with a 10-point lead, 49-39, while the Lancers remained scoreless for a string of consecutive possessions.

“I think everyone gained some confidence and just realized that anyone’s allowed to shoot,” DeCock said. “We were able to trust each other a little bit more, and know that our defense was doing their job, so our offense could handle it, too.”

But, Canby wasn’t done fighting and scored 4 quick points with just over two minutes to go with a bucket from Ava Danielson, and Jordyn Jostock immediately after with a steal and basket off Minneota’s inbound to cut into a 49-43 deficit.

The Lancers also did a good job in flustering Minneota at points throughout the game with their defense in forcing turnovers, particularly with travel calls.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota senior Sarah Gruenes analyzes the offense in the first half against Canby on Saturday in the Section 3A North subsection quarterfinals at Montevideo High School.

Minneota, however, hung on for the victory at the foul line in the final minute with two free throws each from Coequyt and Rost.

“We always know we’re getting their [Canby’s] number-one game every single time, and it was not any different today that it was the first two times we played them this year,” Panka said. “They come to give us the best game they can. That’s what gets you to be a better team, too … We’re at that point where it’s, you don’t win, you go home for good. Survive and advance, and we survived.”

“When the coaches told us to [step] up, we were like we have nothing to lose,” Canby senior Emily Nelson added. “I feel like we all had passion to win the game. We never gave up at any point.”

Canby head coach Jeff Thovson subbed out each of his seniors in the final minute, as they hugged the coaching staff and each teammate down the line.

“It’s been a lot of fun with these girls and the coaches. The coaches, sometimes we get a little off track, but they know how to deal with it, so they let us kind of goof off,” Kockelman said, laughing. “It’s been a pleasure playing with these girls and being coached by my coaches.”

Photo by Samantha Davis: Canby senior Addison Driessen begins to drive toward the basket in the first half against Minneota in the Section 3A North subsection quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Montevideo High School.

Coequyt finished with a game-high 18 points of 6 of 13 shooting, along with eight rebounds. Rost’s 3 of 5 shooting from deep helped her finish with 13 points, along with a team-high four steals. Meagher led the Vikings with 10 rebounds to her 8 points as well.

Kockelman led the Lancers with 15 points and went a perfect 8 of 8 at the foul line, along with five assists and four steals. Danielson followed with a near double-double of a team-high nine boards with 12 points, while Jostock added in another 10 points and led the team with five steals.

The Lancers were able to hang onto a slight lead throughout most of the first half, sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers from Rachel Jelen and Jostock to take a 6-4 edge after the Vikings scored the first 4 points of the game and forced two defensive stops on Canby’s first possessions.

“We just kept cool [in the first half],” Kockelman said. “We weren’t getting too worked up on when they were scoring. We just kept it calm, and tried to stop the chaos.”

Coequyt got some Vikings’ spark going in the final minute of the half with a fastbreak layup and a post-up for a 20-19 Minneota lead, the first lead since its 4-0 start, before Danielson put the Lancers right back on top to end the half with a pair of free throws.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota sophomore Brynn Rost (22) passes the ball out on offense against Canby in the Section 3A North subsection quarterfinals on Saturday at Montevideo High School.

Minneota finished the night shooting 35% from the field, 6 of 16 from the perimeter and 10 of 15 at the charity strip. Canby went 24% in field-goal shooting, 4 of 24 from deep and performed well in free throws going 13 of 14.

Both teams each grabbed 10 steals.

Minneota and Canby opened the 2025-26 basketball season with one another, where the Vikings ultimately came away with a 1-point victory, 61-60, in the final seconds. Minneota also took the second matchup on Jan. 27 53-49, where the two fed off one another once again.

Several of the players on each squad also play on their respective volleyball teams, which has continued to build the competiveness between the Vikings and Lancers, who have been two of the top Section 3A teams over the past years.

Canby’s graduating group includes in Nelson, Driessen, Kockelman and Ella Thovson.

“It’s definitely been a lot of fun,” Nelson said. “Our B-Squad and assistant coaches, we have had them since we were in like sixth grade. It’s just been a lot of fun, and we’ve all been with each other for so long.”

Minneota moves to 19-8 on the season, and will next take on top-seeded Central Minnesota Christian (24-3) in the subsection semifinals today, back at Montevideo High School with a 5:45 p.m. tip off.

The Bluejays were ranked sixth in Class A in the state in the final regular-season coaches poll, and defeated No. 8 Wabasso 74-32 in Saturday’s quarterfinals.