Throughout the course of the season, Houston, FC, and Kingsland had good campaigns in girls basketball. Yet, Brian Baum’s young Chatfield Gophers were near equivalently capable. The Gophers beat Kingsland but lost to FC. A Class AA team (with just one senior) playing tougher like-class opponents, Chatfield’s season wasn’t as impressive record-wise as the other three. But the playoffs offered up some nice vindication. Team maroon used its balance to post the biggest 1AA Round of 16 upset. Chatfield (11-seed, 9-17) trekked to Z-M (6-seed, 16-9) and pulled the eleven over six what-woh. The Gophers fell behind 7-2, but used their defense to curtail the Z-M attack. Cougar leading scorer Ali Hunstad was held to 13 points. She had 27 to lead the Cougars to a 65-53 win earlier in the season. With Hunstad held in check, Chatfield was able to subdue Z-M by a 46-38 final. The Gophers did so without regulars Peyton Berg and Paige Erickson. Sophomore guard Jaiden Zimmerman (16 pts, 9 rebs, 4 stls) led the way offensively. Silja Erickson (10 pts, 6 rebs) also hit double figures. Zayda Priebe (9 pts, 11 rebs) neared a double-double while Tessa McMahon (7 pts, 6 asts) ran the offense. The Gophers was the only upset of the 1AA Round of 16. Chatfield (10-17) moves on to face Goodhue (3-seed, 24-3) in the quarterfinals.
Gophers Score 11-6 Upset
