Caledonia Grabs State Consolation Championship
Caledonia’s girls basketball finished a fantastic season as one of three 1AA teams with at least two wins at state. They were also one of just three AA teams to finish their state run with a win. A quarterfinal loss put a damper on competing for a state title or third place. But Scott Sorenson’s group rallied with two wins in the consolation bracket to take fifth place. They were the AA champions of Concordia University.
In the quarterfinals, the #5 in Class AA Warriors (6-seed, 1AA Champ, 27-3) took on #4 in AA Minnehaha Academy (3-seed, 4AA Champ, 20-9) at Maturi Pavillion. In the second half, Sienna Augedahl and Ashlyn Reinhart combined for an offensive rebound tip put-back off a missed free throw to tie the game 52-52 (7:57). The play brought Caledonia back from down as many as 14 in the first half and 11, 37-26, at halftime. The Warriors, who had 17 first half turnovers, handled Minnehaha’s ball pressure better in the second half, passing for open shots. Junior guard Nicole Banse scored 10 early points, including a couple threes, to help key the Warrior rally. But, after pulling even, Caledonia encountered a tough stretch of basketball. They subsequently went 1 of 8 from the field with four turnovers and two missed free throws over their next 12 possessions. On the other side, Addi Mack, the Redhawks top player, a 34.5 point per game scorer, a 4,000-point career scorer, and University of Maryland commit, did her thing. She scored six straight points including hitting a crazy-tough fade-away jumper in the lane. Minnehaha went ahead 58-52. A Sinae Hill driving layup and a Gigi Coleman three, plus two Mack free throws completed a 13-2 Minnehaha run. They built a 66-54 lead with 1:11 left. Caledonia, still fighting, scored nine points thereafter, but the Redhawks stayed far enough ahead and they posted a 68-63 win. Mack finished with a game-high 34 points including hitting 16 of 19 free throws. Hill (10 pts) and Amina Allen (10 pts) also reached double figures. The latter scored her 1,000th career point, but battled foul trouble. The Warriors were led by Aubrie Klug’s 25 points (6-7 FTs, 3-8 threes) and 8 rebounds. Banse (15 pts) and Josie Foster (10 pts, 11 rebs) helped. Turnovers were a big bugaboo for the Warriors. They finished with 27. Minnehaha had 20. The Redhawks, behind Mack, also won big at the line, making 21 of 25 (84%) to the Warriors 10 of 16 (63%).
Caledonia (6-seed, 27-4) then took their game to St. Paul’s Concordia University for a consolation contest with Barnesville (Section 8AA Champion, 22-7). Like with Minnehaha’s Mack, Caledonia had to contend with another standout individual player in the Trojans’ program scoring-mark holder, 5’8” senior guard Abigail John. Barnesville had 12 first half field goals and she scored or assisted nine of them. John had 16 points and three assists at intermission. But the Warriors got to where they are via a trio of strong scorers, Klug, Foster, and Banse. They got to where they are at because of their lengthy defense. With Foster scoring 16 in the first half too and the defensive helping trigger 11 Trojan turnovers, Caledonia took the lead for good at 10-9 and led by as many as 13 (35-22) in the stanza. It took a late half 13-5 Barnesville run to make it a 40-35 Warrior lead at the break. Team Cal then held Barnesville at arm’s reach the rest of the game. Five points was Caledonia’s slimmest margin of the second stanza. Taking 32 free throws and aiding Barnesville into committing 19 turnovers, the Warriors prevailed 76-64. Foster had a game-high 27 points (8-12 FTs, 3-5 threes). Klug battled foul trouble (fouled out) but scored 16. Banse added 15 points (8-11 FTs). Elsa Blum chipped in 9 (pts) and 6 (rebs) off the bench. All her scoring came in the second half. Jessica Stendel added 6 points (3-3 FGs). John led Barnesville with 25 (pts), 7 (rebs), 5 (asts), and 5 (stls). She was 7 of 8 at the line. Sophie Frederick (4-7 threes) scored 11 of her 14 points in the first half and Ava Follingstad scored 9 of her 10 points in the second half. Half-by-half shooting was divergent. Caledonia hit 14 of 24 first half shots (58%) including 5 of 7 from deep (71%) in the first half. Barnesville was 12 of 23 from the field (52%) including 7 of 10 (70%) from deep. Caledonia then went 10 of 23 (44%) from the field and 2 of 12 from deep (17%) in the second half. Barnesville went 9 of 28 from the field (32%) and 2 of 12 (17%) also from deep! For the game, Caledonia made three more total field goals (24 to 21), but two less threes (7 to 9) but eight more free throws. The Warriors were 21 of 32 at the line (66%), Trojans 13 of 18 (72%).
The Warriors (6-seed, 28-4) then matched up with Sauk Centre (4-seed, 28-3) back at Concordia University for each team’s third game in three days, the consolation championship or fifth place game. The game had a slow start but a fantastic end. It was one of the Warriors’ top battles of the season. It was fascinating on multiple levels. First, Caledonia entered looking up at their opponent for about the first time all year. With 6’1” Sienna Augedahl, 5’11” Josie Foster, 6’1” Kensey King, and 5’10” Aubrie Klug all starting, the Warriors are rarely the shorter team. But the coolly named Mainstreeters boasted a lineup of three future college players including 6’4” center Victoria Jennissen, 6’2” forward Elizabeth Herickhoff, plus school all-time leading scorer Cierra Kortan. The latter had the biggest impact on the game. Caledonia then had the rare start where their two leading scorers took forever to get going. Foster’s first basket was Caledonia’s last of the first half. Klug’s first was the first of the second. But riding reserve Elsa Blum (8 points), Augedahl (6 points), and King (5 points), the Warriors and Sauk Centre were still tied 24-24 at intermission. The game also had no lead greater than six. Blum, who came in averaging low single digits, was the Warriors’ best offense for a while. Off the bench, the sophomore scored 18 points including hitting a pair of second half three-pointers. But after back-to-back Kortan threes, Jennissen gave the Mainstreeters their first second half lead at 45-43. Blum then hit her second three. The exchanges were the first two of six lead changes in the final 9:00. Despite starting slow, the combination of Klug and Foster finished strong, helping the Warriors to the win. They scored the final 22 Caledonia points! After the teams exchanged the lead or brought a tie-game on five straight possessions late, Klug hit her second straight three (and scored her eighth straight point) to put team Cal up for good at 61-58 (2:28). Foster then scored five straight points including a notable driving score to make it 65-60 (1:37). The duo then hit enough free throws late, 4 of 6, to help ice the contest. Despite seeing Sauk Centre score 25 points at the free throw line, Caledonia won its last game of the season, won the state consolation final slash fifth place game by 69-63 tally. Scoring all her points in the second half, Klug (19 pts, 9 rebs, 4 asts) led the Warriors offensively. Blum’s 18 points (6-8 FGs) were a career-high. Foster (14 pts) scored all but three of her points in the second half. Augedahl (9 pts, 3-7 threes, 10 rebs) neared a double-double. King added 7 points. It was one of the Warriors most offensively balanced games of the year. Kortan, who will play her future games on the same court as her last game (Concordia University), led the Mainstreeters with a game-high 30 points. She hit 13 of 16 free throws. Jennissen added 15 (pts) and 9 (reb). They were the only two Sauk Centre players with more than six points. Each team kept the turnovers down (Cal 10, SC 8). Sauk Centre was plus-10 at the free throw line, making 25 of 31 (81%) to Caledonia’s 15 of 22 (68%). But the Warriors made six more field goals overall including 8 of 22 three’s (36%) to SC’s 4 of 18 (22%). They also were quicker to the ball, winning on the glass 41 to 28. Klug made the Class AA All-Tourney team, averaging a team-best 20 points per game over the three contests. Foster was second best at 17 PPG. Blum scored 30 off the bench in the three games, 27 off which came in the last three halves of play. The Warriors fantastic season thus ends at 29-4. Starters Foster and Augedahl are the only seniors.
All-SEC Girls Basketball
Grand Meadow (12-2, 25-3) and Spring Grove/Mabel-Canton (12-2, 22-6) shared the SEC girls basketball title this season with Southland (9-5, 17-9), Houston (9-5, 17-9), Lanesboro (8-6, 16-12), Kingsland (4-10, 5-18), Lyle/Pacelli (2-12, 8-18), and LeRoy-Ostrander (0-14, 1-25) rounding out the full-season standings. Three Larks and three Lions notably make either 1st or 2nd team All-SEC. Heading the cast is the league’s repeat Player of the Year, four-time All-SEC pick, Grand Meadow senior Lauren Queensland (5’11” F). Queensland led the Larks with 18.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game with 12 double-doubles. She scored in double figures in 26 of 28 games, topping 20 on 13 occasions including a season-high 34 versus Lewiston-Altura. Queensland chipped in a team second-best 3.4 assists per plus 1.8 steals. For her career, she finishes with 1,737 career points and 913 rebounds. She is a single-point shy of eldest sister Riley in all-time points (1,738). Lauren thrice played on 1A runner-up teams. Teammate Gracie Foster (5’5” Jr. G) also makes 1st team All-SEC. Foster was second on the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game, first in assists at 3.7, and third in rebounding at 6.9 per game. Foster led the Larks with 91 made threes in 261 attempts (35% clip). Foster was All-SEC 2nd team last year. Making All-SEC 2nd team this year is Aspen Kolling (5’10” Sr. G/F). Kolling averaged 8.4 points and 4.9 rebounds while hitting 49 threes. Making All-SEC honorable mention is Naomi Warmka (5’6” Jr. F/G > 6.3 PPG, team second-best 7.0 RPG). Said girls led the Larks an impressive 25-3 season where they were 1A runner-up. Taylor Elton’s co-championship SG/M-C Lions feature Siri Konkel (5’4” Jr. G) and Kinley Soiney (5’10” Jr. G/F) as 1st Team All-SEC honorees and Kylie Hammel (5’10” Jr. F) as a 2nd Team selection. In conference action, two-time All-SEC point guard Konkel had an impressive 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio while averaging 12.8 points plus team-highs with both 6.6 assists and 3.8 steals per game. She also had team highs with 43% three-point shooting and 78% free throw accuracy. Konkel has 965 career points and 492 career assists. Soiney, a four-time All-SEC selection after receiving All-SEC HM as a seventh grader, averaged 12.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 2.8 assists while hitting 66% of her free throws in league games. With another season of eligibility remaining, Soiney already has 913 career rebounds and a M-C girls-record 1,671 points. Hammel, after two seasons All-SEC HM, is a 2nd Team honoree this year while leading the Lions in both scoring (15.9 PPG) and rebounding (6.7 RPG). Hammel has 946 career points. Receiving All-SEC HM this year is former 2nd Team honoree Emerson Ingvalson (5’7” Sr. G > 9.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 50% FG, 35% 3-PT FG, 971 career points). Lanesboro’s pure All-league pick is third-time 1st All-SEC selection Jensyn Storhoff (5’6” Jr. G). Storhoff was arguably the SEC’s top guard, and she led the Burros in everything yet again; 20.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 4.1 steals per game. She scored in double figures in every game but one, topping 20 or more 18 times. Storhoff also had at least six rebounds in 22 games, at least five assists 19 times, and at least five steals 12 times (including 13 swipes versus Blooming Prairie). She is near 1,600 career points, and all things equal, can push past 2,000 as a senior. Making All-SEC HM for Lanesboro is Hailey Erickson (5’7” Jr. F/C > team second-bests 7.6 PPG and 6.1 RPG). Houston also gets just one pure All-SEC pick in 1st team selection Aubry Boldt (5’10” Jr. G). Boldt led the Hurricanes in scoring at 18.5 points, assists at 2.8, and steals at 2.7 per game while adding 4.8 rebounds per contest. She scored in double figure in all but three games, topped 20-plus 12 times, and 30-plus on three occasions. Boldt should top 1,000 career points next year. Jorja Meyer (5’10” Jr. F/C > 9.8 PPG, team-best 7.0 RPG) made All-SEC HM for Houston. LeRoy-Ostrander’s Benita Nolt (5’11” Sr. F/G) is All-SEC 2nd team. It is her third time making All-SEC 2nd team. Nolt led L-O at 13.9 points per game and was second with 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. She finishes her career with over 1,400 career points (unofficially 1,445) and over 1,200 career rebounds (unofficially 1,207). She is L-O’s second all-time leading scorer and top rebounder. Making All-SEC HM for the Cardinals is Mabel Johnson (5’5” So. G. > 6.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.5 SPG). Kingsland’s pure All-SEC pick is 2nd team selection Chantle Reiland (5’5” Sr. G). Teammate Hailee Warren (5’9” Sr. F/G) made All-SEC HM. Southland has two All-SEC picks; 1st team selection Breeley Galle (5’6” Jr. G) and 2nd team selection Juliette Matheis (5’7” Jr. F). Lyle/Pacelli’s sole selection was 2nd team pick Kirsten Koopal (Sr. F/G).
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