Girls Basketball: CMCS Bluejays come up a little short against Sleepy Eye St. Mary's
· Yahoo Sports
Mar. 13—MINNEAPOLIS — The pall of a difficult loss hung over the Central Minnesota Christian School girls basketball team Friday.
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This one hurt. The press conference afterward reflected that.
"I'd say that we just really wanted it," said CMCS junior guard Sienna Duininck, her voice cracking.
Sleepy Eye St. Mary's beat CMCS 53-47 in the state Class A semifinals at Williams Arena.
"I think it's hard because we beat them before," Bluejays senior forward Carrie Mulder said, taking the spotlight a bit off Duininck, just as she helps do in games.
The sixth-seeded Bluejays beat the second-seeded Knights 74-70 Jan. 31 in Marshall.
This one turned out different because of play down the stretch. CMCS (27-4) didn't make a couple of shots this time like it did the last time in the final minute or so. SESM (31-1) did.
"Last time we played them in January, we didn't play well," said Knights junior guard Morgan Mathiowetz, who finished with 32 points, six rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocked shots. "We stuck to our game plan and gave it everything and it feels really good. Now we got to the championship and that's a lot bigger deal than January."
The Class A state championship game is noon Saturday. It'll be televised on KSTC-TV, Channel 45 in the Twin Cities. (Channel 17 on Spectrum in Willmar).
"It worked out for us," said SESM head coach Bruce Woitas, who in 37 years has a 592-366 record and is playing in the school's first championship game.
SESM plays Mountain-Iron Buhl. The top-seeded Rangers (30-1) beat No. 4 Hillcrest Lutheran Academy (29-3) 78-56.
The third-place game is at 10 a.m. Saturday at Concordia University's Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul. It'll be the final game for CMCS seniors Emmi Braem, Peighton Mulder, Carrie Mulder, Addie Taatjes and Reece Duininck.
"(I'm) very proud of this team," Carrie Mulder said. "In the back of our minds we hoped for it. But I don't think anyone thought we'd be in Williams Arena playing for whatever. So, very proud."
The one was close throughout. The game was tied six times and included 10 lead changes. SESM went on a 10-0 run midway through the second half to take control. CMCS was within three points in the final 1:42 left but couldn't hit a shot. Mathiowetz sank a three with 24.5 seconds left to put the Knights up 53-47.
Woitas credited SESM's defense, which included holding Sienna Duininck to 12 points, including two in the second half. The Knights did it by constantly switching defenses.
"Everyone was everywhere," Duinick said.
It sends the Bluejays to the third-place game against Hillcrest Lutheran.
"Two good teams going at it, battling hard," CMCS head coach Brian Nelson said of the SESM game. "I think both teams played really good defense ...
"It comes down to a couple bounces here, a couple bounces there. A couple made shots and a couple that didn't go in for us."
In the first half, the teams stayed close, mostly trading leads. CMCS led 31-30 at halftime. The Knights got off to a 6-0 start, but CMCS came back, getting a free throw from Duininck to break the ice, then a couple of baskets from Addie Taatjes.
Taatjes, a 6-2 senior center, had six first-half points after being held scoreless in the quarterfinals. She finished with 12.
Mathiowetz, the junior guard and North Dakota State recruit, scored 17 points in the first 18 minutes. Duininck had 10 and Braem 8 for the Bluejays.
CMCS shot 44% in the first half, making 11 of 25 field goal attempts. SESM shot 34.5%, making 10 of 29.
CMCS finished at 37.3%, shooting 30.8% in the second half.
"We didn't get the looks that we normally did," Nelson said. "So that's a credit to their defense."