MANKATO — St. Peter’s smothering person-to-person defense Monday night at Bresnan Arena spearheaded a 62-42 Section 2AA semifinal girls basketball win over Le Sueur-Henderson.
Junior guard AnnMarie Brown fired through 19 of her game-high 23 points in the second half as the Saints broke open a tight game with a 40-22 burst over the final 18 minutes. Brown, a 6-footer, also tallied four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“We’ve been going in at halftime and making the right adjustments the last half of the year,” St. Peter coach Cyndi Raymond said. “We made it really tough for them to score and then we were smart with our offensive possessions.
“We stepped up more and then made sure they wouldn’t get those open 12-foot jump shots. Once we got the lead we played smart by taking 30 seconds off each possession.”
St. Peter (20-6) grabbed an early 11-7 advantage behind two baskets from 5-10, junior, post Tailor Raymond and Brown’s transition 3-pointer. After the Giants (21-6) took an 12-11 lead on Gretta Schultz’s putback, freshman Alissa Lager’s triple and sophomore Sidney Dirks’ hoop and foul shot ignited a 7-0 Saints’ run.
Trailing 22-17, the Giants got the final three points — a Schultz free throw and Hollie Meyer’s inside hoop — to close within 22-20 at the break. Schultz ended up with 10 points for the Giants, who also received 13 points from senior guard Shelly Blaschko and 11 from junior Kaitlyn Braun.
“We really struggled offensively,” LSH coach Sherri Fritz said. “We didn’t go on any runs like we normally do.
“They did the smart thing with a 10-point lead and started to pull it out. ... It’s tough for our girls to realize now what a great season they had but they have a lot to be proud of.”
After falling behind 26-22 on Lager’s baseline 3-pointer, the Giants used a 7-0 surge to take their final lead of the contest 27-26 on Meyer’s foul shot with 13:38 to go. Brown then nailed a right-side 3-pointer before Raymond’s layup, Katy Kuiper’s three-point play and Brown’s elbow jumper quickly put the Saints in front 36-28.
Brown continued her second-half onslaught by hitting a 3-pointer and two medium-range jumpers as the Saints took command. Her crashing-to-the-floor, three-point play gave St. Peter a 54-35 cushion with 2:24 left.
“We were really dead the first half on offense,” Brown said. “We were cutting more in the second half and we started to take advantage of our size and quickness.
“We were pushing the ball up the court more and that’s what got us the huge lead. We took control of the ball and made them come out to guard us.”
St. Peter, which lost to the Giants 70-67 in Le Sueur on Jan. 12, connected on 19 of 42 from the field for 42 percent compared to LSH’s 15 of 48 for 31 percent. Lager popped in 10 points for the winners while Raymond had nine points and a team-best seven rebounds.
St. Peter faces Blue Earth Area in Friday’s 8 p.m. Section 2AA title game at Bresnan Arena.
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Related Photos
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St. Peter sophomore Katy Kuiper (24) creates a three-point play on this drive, making two while getting a foul called on Le Sueur-Henderson senior Carissa Pfarr (2) during the second half Monday at Bresnan Arena. Kuiper followed up the play by making the free throw. Wright Braudt
Saints surge past Giants
St. Peter outscores LSH 40-22 in final 18 minutes of Section 2AA semifinal game
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