3/3/2008 3:36:00 PM Royals move on; Trojans stay home
By Matt Thomas
Before the girls' basketball season started this year it appeared that Hopkins and Minneapolis South were far and away the best two teams in Section 6-4A. On Saturday, March 1 that hypothesis was confirmed as the Royals and Tigers toyed with their opponents and cruised to blowout victories in the section semifinal round.
Top-seeded Hopkins beat fourth-seeded Armstrong for the third time this season, 64-37. Second-seeded Minneapolis South beat third-seeded Wayzata 85-54.
The Royals took control of their game against Armstrong early with back-to-back three pointers by junior Jenna Lillemoe and senior Hanna Muegge on their first two possessions.
They then used that momentum to build a 23-3 lead midway through the first half. At that point the Royals had more field goals made - nine - than the Falcons had attempted - seven.
"It brought a lot of momentum to us and we had a lot of fun," senior forward Stephanie Sension said. "Our team really came together and worked hard. It was a lot of fun to be on that court."
By halftime the Royals had stretched the lead out to 30 at 44-14 and never looked back. The Royals defense smothered the Falcons and seemed to anticipate every pass and every shot the Falcons attempted.
"Our defense is the cornerstone of our program," Lillemoe said. "We've wanted to play good defense all year. Our full court press worked pretty well for us today."
The Falcons were indeed frustrated on offense throughout the game as they shot just 33 percent from the field (15-45) and didn't have one player score in double figures.
The Royals, meanwhile, defined balance on offense as they had four players score in double figures and fifth player score nine points.
Sension led the way with 13, senior Caitlin Rowland scored 12, junior Kara Elofson added 11, Lillemoe tallied 10 and freshman Brianna Williams added nine.
"I think that's the greatest aspect of our team - just how many weapons we have," Lillemoe said. "On any night it can be anybody's game. I think we've had about five or six different high scorers this year. It's great that we can share the ball like that."
The Royals opponent in this Thursday's section final will be the Minneapolis South Tigers, who turned a competitive game early in the second half with Wayzata into a rout.
The Trojans hung tough for most of the first half before falling behind 40-26 at halftime.
Several minutes into the second half the Trojans cut the lead to 10 after seven points from junior Kate Thompson and a three pointer by junior Alexa Clausen, but things fell apart after that.
The Tigers responded with a 23-3 run led by highly touted junior Tayler Hill to take a 72-42 lead.
Hill was literally unstoppable in the second half when she scored 24 of her game-high 37 points. Hill finished the game 11-21 from the field and got plenty of help from senior guard Ephesia Holmes who added 19 points on 7-11 from the field.
One bright spot for the Trojans was that Thompson scored the 1,000th point of her career early in the second half with a free throw.
Thompson led the Trojans in the season-ending loss with 16 points on 7-15 from the field. Junior Teresa Thour added 10 points on 3-9 from the field. Seniors Abby Doran, Caitlyn Book and Callie Stark all scored in the final game of their high school careers.
The Royals and Tigers will meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 6 at Osseo High School with a state tournament berth on the line.
The game will be a rematch of a game played earlier this season during Hopkins' holiday tournament. The Royals protected their home court that night with a 68-62 victory.
A win this time for the Royals would mean their sixth state tournament appearance in the last seven years.
"We have to come out and think of it as a normal game," Sension said. "We have to do our thing and play hard like we always do."
"We just have to stop their three big guns - Ephesia Holmes, Tyisha Smith and of course Tayler Hill," Lillemoe said. "They are excellent players so we'll have to bring out the defense."
