By Chad Courrier
Free Press Staff Writer
MINNEAPOLIS —
Rochester Lourdes’ best players were a 6-foot-2 center and 6-0 forward, but it was a pair of guards nearly a foot shorter that gave St. Peter a lot of problems.
“They’re ranked No. 1 in the state for a reason,” St. Peter coach Cyndi Raymond said. “We stayed even with them. In the second half, they were aggressive and had the intensity that we hadn’t seen much before. They picked it up a notch and picked our pockets for about a five-minute stretch and pulled it out.”
Center Laura Melquist and forward Shelby Hanssen combined for 36 points and 28 rebounds, and guards Stephanie Helt and Hannah Anderson created a lot of St. Peter’s 19 turnovers as Lourdes won 49-42 in the quarterfinals of the Class AA girls basketball tournament Wednesday at Target Center in Minneapolis.
“Nobody expected us to be in the game, and we came out strong, which was so amazing,” sophomore guard Katy Kuiper said. “We all got excited.”
St. Peter (21-7), which trailed 13-0 in the section championship game, scored the first 12 points, with Kuiper hitting a driving basket and consecutive 3-pointers, and the lead grew to 18-4 on Tailor Raymond’s two free throws at the 10-minute mark.
But Lourdes, which shot several air balls early, found its offense, especially top scorer Melquist, to run off nine straight points over the next six minutes.
“We thought it was important to get the lead,” coach Raymond said. “Rochester wasn’t playing their game the first five minutes.”
Lourdes (28-2), playing in its 17th state tournament with eight previous championships, continued to cut the margin, scoring on Shelby Hanssen’s layup at the buzzer to trail only 22-21.
“We’ve been close at halftime in all our section games,” Kuiper said. “The second half is usually our best half so we just wanted to keep playing.”
St. Peter opened the margin to six with a layup from Sidney Dirks and another 3-pointer by Kuiper with 11:44 remaining, but Lourdes scored the next nine points, taking its first lead at 35-32 with 7 minutes to play.
The lead changed a couple of times until Lourdes finished the game on a 9-2 run.
“They made AnnMarie (Brown) work for everything,” coach Raymond said. “We had to use her at point guard probably too much, and that took away from her offense.”
Kuiper finished with 15 points, and Tailor Raymond added nine points and seven boards.
Brown scored eight points, and Alissa Lager grabbed 12 rebounds.
The Saints shot just 30.2 percent, making 3 of 11 from 3-point range. However, St. Peter outrebounded the taller Lourdes team by four.
Lourdes advances to the Class AA semifinals Friday as the Saints’ tournament ends. However, St. Peter has only one senior so there is optimism for the future.
“Any time you get to this level, you learn from every game,” coach Raymond said. “The environment, the intensity of the game. I think the girls whined too much about the officials, but it’s the state tournament and it’s going to be physical. We weren’t getting the calls that we usually get.”
ROCHESTER LOURDES 49
Neumann 0-2 0-0 , Wilcken 1-3 0-0 2, Helt 0-8 2-5 2, Hanssen 5-10 5-8 15, Melquist 8-23 5-7 21, Muyres 0-4 0-0 0, Anderson 3-7 1-2 7, Daly 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 18-58 13-22 49.
ST. PETER 42
Dirks 2-9 0-2 4, Brown 3-17 2-2 8, Kuiper 6-10 0-0 15, Lager 3-7 0-0 6, Raymond 2-8 5-6 9, Larson 0-2 0-0 0, Wilking 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-53 7-10 42.
Halftime: St. Peter 22, Rochester Lourdes 21. 3-point shooting: Rochester Lourdes 0-10 (Neumann 0-2, Wilcken 0-2, Helt 0-1, Melquist 0-2, Muyres 0-1, Anderson 0-2), St. Peter 3-11 (Brown 0-5, Kuiper 3-5, Lager 0-1). Rebounds: Rochester Lourdes 41 (Hanssen 16), St. Peter 45 (Lager 12). Assists: Rochester Lourdes 12 (Anderson 3), St. Peter 4 (Brown, Kuiper, Raymond, Larson). Steals: Rochester Lourdes 7 (Anderson 3), St. Peter 3 (Kuiper, Lager, Larson). Turnovers: Rochester Lourdes 11, St. Peter 19. Total fouls: Rochester Lourdes 11, St. Peter 20. Fouled out: none.
Attendance: Not available.
