Girls' basketball: Silverstreak girls are Sub-section 6AA-West champions

• Rachael Grundman

Photo by Bill Butcher New London-Spicer's Kelsey Cors (left0 tried to drive round Osakis' Rachael Grundman in the Section 6AA championship Friday night.
• Kelsie Larson

Photo by Bill Butcher Osakis' Kelsie Larson (center) was held away from the basket by a New London-Spicer player.

Talk about it

It did not take long for the Osakis girls’ basketball team to take the suspense out of the Section 6AA-West championship game last Wednesday night.

The Silverstreaks jumped out to a 13-0 lead over Minnewaska and never looked back from there on their way to a 54-35 win. They did it behind three players in double figures and a stingy defensive effort that contested almost every Minnewaska shot.

“Our girls played one heck of a game tonight,” head coach Pat Kalpin said. “I thought from the start, the girls played focused and played hard. It started with us hitting our first few shots. Defensively, we worked hard all night and tried to limit them to one shot on the offensive end.”

They did just that, outrebounding a bigger Lakers team 33-29 in the game. Kelsie Larson had nine of those rebounds to go along with 13 points. Whitney Lee led the Silverstreaks with 17 points, and Kelsey Proell added 13.

“Going into the game, I told the girls that we need to have our best rebounding night of the year,” Kalpin said. “Minnewaska has real good size. That was a concern going in. I can’t really pinpoint any individual for us. I felt every girl contributed in a positive way for us tonight.”

Osakis never let up in the first half. The Silverstreaks built their lead to 22 points before Emily Roering cut it to 19 at the break by nailing a long three from the left wing as time expired on the first half.

The second half saw Osakis come out and slow down the tempo. The Silverstreaks extended their possessions by passing the ball around the perimeter and not settling for anything but a good look. That made it all but impossible for the Lakers to get any momentum in an attempted comeback.

The frustration began to show for the Lakers as they began to foul in an attempt to take the ball away on the perimeter. The Silverstreaks were in the one-and-one with 11:51 remaining in the second half.

They took advantage of that by converting 24 of 35 free throws in the game. Lee went 10 of 12 from the stripe, and Proell finished 6 of 8.

Roering tried to keep Minnewaska in the game with 18 points. The senior fouled out with more than five minutes remaining in her last game in a Lakers’ uniform. No other player scored more than four points for Minnewaska.

The Lakers were able to cut the Osakis lead to 14 points at one point in the second half. But the damage had been done as the Silverstreaks upended the second higher seed of their tournament run.

Minnewaska ended the season with a 19-8 record and champions of the West Central South Conference at 14-2. One of those wins came against Osakis on January 23 when the Lakers beat the Silverstreaks 51-43. Osakis proved that regular-season match-ups mean nothing come tournament time last Wednesday night.

GAME STATISTICS

OSAKIS 34 20 – 54

MINNEWASKA 15 20 – 35

OSAKIS LEADERS – Rachael Grundman – 5 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals; Kelsey Proell – 13 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block; Whitney Lee – 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals; Jacque Quistorff – 4 rebounds, 4 assists; Kelsie Larson – 13 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks; Sabrina Zimmel – 1 point; Alicia Wagner – 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal; Katie Didier – 1 rebound, 1 assist

MINNEWASKA LEADERS – Emily Roering – 18 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block; Brittany Mensing – 5 assists; Alicia Pfeninger – 3 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals; Cassie Jacobs – 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 2 steals; Sarah Roering – 4 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks; Robyn Mithun – 2 points; Allie Ostrander – 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block; Aundrea Johnson – 1 rebound; Sarah Faehnrich – 4 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals; Kaylee Jacobs – 1 assist

TEAM STATISTICS – Field Goals – Osakis – 13-36, Minnewaska – 13-42; Three-Point Field Goals – Osakis – 4-11, Minnewaska – 1-9; Free Throws – Osakis – 24-35, Minnewaska – 8-12; Rebounds – Osakis – 33, Minnewaska – 29; Fouls – Osakis – 9, Minnewaska – 28; Assists – Osakis – 13, Minnewaska – 8; Steals – Osakis – 5, Minnewaska – 6; Turnovers – Osakis – 10, Minnewaska – 13

Tags: girls, basketball, osakis, silverstreaks, minnewaska, lakers, section, 6aa, west, championship