The Spring Grove girls, with the No. 2 seed, enjoyed their best 3-point shooting night of the season while hosting and eliminating No. 13 seed Southland, 67-40, as both teams entered 2024 Section 1A Tournament action. It was the third time this season that the Lions ripped the Rebels by double-digit margins. Southland closes at 8-18 while Spring Grove at 22-5 is one of eight squads to advance into the quarterfinals at Rochester.
Photo by Lee Epps
Kinley Soiney hit 5 of 6 trey attempts while scoring a game-high 22 points. Lion teammate Kylie Hammel added 16 points, Siri Konkel 12 and Emerson Ingvalson 9. Konkel and Ingvalson each passed out 5 assists with only a single turnover. Freshman Brinley Middendorf had a Lion-best 7 rebounds while Rebel sophomore Katelyn McCabe collected a game-high 12 caroms. Sophomore Breeley Galle led Southland scorers with 14 points.
Spring Grove led throughout, including a 31-24 halftime margin, but did not pull away until an 18-point run that began halfway through the second half and ended with a 62-36 lead with 5:20 remaining.
That late surge ended with four straight 3-pointers. And after a Rebel free throw, a Hammel trey made it five consecutive triples on five consecutive shots – three from Hammel, two from Soiney. The Lions matched a season-high 11 treys while shooting a season-best 48% beyond the arc (11 for 23).
The Lion attack had 21 assists on 24 made free throws, and the defense lifted 16 steals. Spring Grove had 15 turnovers to 24 for Southland. The Rebels’ only statistical advantage came with only 9 fouls to the Lions’ 20. Both teams had 33 rebounds.
From the field overall, SG attempted 57 official shots, Southland 56. The Rebels attempted 11 free throws (2 for 11), the Lions 10 (8 for 10). But Spring Grove shot better from every location, including 42% to 30% from the field overall.
Spring Grove leads the all-time series, 14 to 9, after winning the last seven, including 63-48 and 73-41 decisions earlier this season.
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SG 67, Southland 40
SCORE by HALVES
SG 31+36=67
Sou 24+16=40
TEAM TOTALS:
all FG: SG 42% (24-57), Sou 30% (17-56)
2-pt FG: SG 38% (13-34), Sou 33% (13-39)
3-pt FG: SG 48% (11-23), Sou 24% (4-17)
Free throws: SG 80% (8-10, Sou 18% (2-11)
Rebounds: SG 33, Sou 33
Turnovers: SG 15, Sou 24
2nd Chance pts: SG 15, Sou 19
Fast break pts: SG 9, Sou 9
Pts. in paint: SG 30, Sou 16
Greatest lead: SG 27, Sou 0
Fouls: SG 20, Sou 9
SG INDIVIDUALS: * starter, P-points, R rebounds, A-assists, S-steals, B-blocked shots. Listed in order of jersey number
*Siri Konkel 12P, 4R, 5A, 4S
Elle Berns – played, no stats
Layla Kittleson 1R
Addison Halverson 1R
Jada Strinmoen – played, no stats
*Kendal VanMinsel 3R, 2A
Katie Klug – played, no stats
Brinley Middendorf 2P, 7R
Izabel Kaufmann 2P, 3R, 2A
Carlie Halverson 4P, 2R, 2A, 4S, 1B
*Kylie Hammel 16P, 4R, 4A, 2S
Addison Kessler – played, no stats
*Emerson Ingvalson 9P, 4R, 5A, 2S
*Kinley Soiney 22P, 4R, 1A, 4S, 2B
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Spring Grove Varsity Girls (22-5, 15-1 SEC)
W at Lanesboro 67-34
L at Waukon 63-66
W vs. Kingsland 52-44
W vs. Postville 63-18
W at Schaeffer Academy 42-38
W vs. LeRoy-Ostrander 70-51
W vs. Wabasha-Kellogg 63-43
W at St. Charles 63-27
W vs. Kenyon-Wanamingo 60-40
L at Hayfield 52-60
W vs. Lyle/Pacelli 64-18
W at Southland 63-48
W vs. Houston 65-44
W vs. Grand Meadow 51-47
W vs. Lanesboro 62-46
W at Kingsland 59-43
W at Turkey Valley 48-40
W vs. Schaeffer Academy 55-33
W vs. Fillmore Central 47-46
W at LeRoy-Ostrander 67-45
L vs. Lansing Kee 44-50
W at Lyle/Pacelli 50-39
W at Southland 73-41
L at Grand Meadow 56-59
L at Rushford-Peterson 39-53
W at Houston 66-54
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B-team Lions
W at Lanesboro 42-14
L at Waukon 23-37
W vs. Kingsland 36-22
W vs. LeRoy-Ostrander 40-9
W at St. Charles 39-32
W vs. Lyle/Pacelli 45-17
W at Southland
W vs. Houston 45-25
W vs. Grand Meadow 44-21
W vs. Lanesboro 53-34
___ at Kingsland
___ at Turkey Valley
___ vs. Fillmore Central
L vs. Kee 14-16 (played only one half)
W vs. Lyle/Pacelli 46-29
W at Southland 35-27
W at Grand Meadow 36-22
L at Rushford-Peterson 20-43
W at Houston 48-14