Fillmore Central hands BP loss in the Section 1A title game
Published 9:27 pm Thursday, March 5, 2020
Blooming Prairie’s Bobbie Bruns scores off the baseline against Fillmore Central in the first half of the Section 1A championship Thursday night in Rochester’s Mayo Civic Center Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie’s Megan Oswald goes up strong against Fillmore Central in the first half of the Section 1A championship in March. Herald file photo
Blooming Prairie’s Maggie Bruns brings the ball up the court against Fillmore Central’s Emma Breitsprecher in the second half of the Section 1A championship Thursday night in Rochester’s Mayo Civic Center Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie’s Allison Krohnberg drives in the second half against Fillmore Central in the Section 1A championship Thursday night in Rochester’s Mayo Civic Center Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairei’s Maya Lembke has her shot contested in the second half of the Section 1A championship Thursday night in Rochester’s Mayo Civic Center Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie’s Bobbie Bruns, left, consoles Maya Lembke as time runs out in the Section 1A championship. Herald File Photo
Megan Oswald shoots a freethrow in the first half of the Section 1A championship Thursday night in Rochester’s Mayo Civic Center Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
ROCHESTER – The No. 1 seeded Blooming Prairie girls basketball team was chasing history and chasing Fillmore Central and it couldn’t catch either of them as it lost to the No. 2 seeded Falcons 69-56 in the Section 1A title game in Mayo Civic Center Thursday.
The Awesome Blossoms (21-6 overall) missed out on their first state tournament in over two decades as they never held a lead throughout the night. BP committed 21 turnovers and it trailed by as many as 15 in the first half.
Junior Hope Sexton hit a pair of threes to put the Falcons (22-8 overall) up 27-15 and 30-17 in the first half and her final three was a dagger as it put FC up 56-48 with 6:49 left in the game.
“Early in the game we were a little rattled offensively and we took some quick shots. We just didn’t get going against their pressure,” BP head coach John Bruns said. “We made some changes at halftime and I thought we played a really good second half, but every time we got back within five or so, they answered back with a big bucket. They had some back-breaking threes and Sexton hit three big ones. They came back with an answer time and time again. They beat us tonight.”
BP senior Julia Worke finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists in her final game for BP and she brought her team within 56-53 when she knocked down a three-pointer from the wing with 4:41 left. FC had a quick answer when Kassidy Broadwater was fouled just four seconds after that shot. She made both free throws to make it 58-53.
BP never pulled within a possession the rest of the way as it scored just three points in the final four and a half minutes.
Junior Megan Oswald was crucial in BP’s comeback as she finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals.
“We worked on (breaking the press) in practice and we knew if we could break that, we could win,” Oswald said. “You have to give them props. They worked hard and it just didn’t work for us. They would steal a pass and then make a three, it just wasn’t there for us. It was hard.”
BP struggled with ball control early on as it committed five turnovers in the first five minutes of the game. The Falcons took advantage and ran out to a 10-2 lead.
The Blossoms hadn’t allowed either of their first three playoff opponents to surpass the 33-point mark, but the Falcons put up 36 points in the first half alone.
BP played the last 10 minutes of the game without Maggie Bruns, who was injured when Fillmore Central was leading 51-41.
Kandace Sikknik scored 25 points for the Falcons (22-8 overall) and Emma Breitsprecher chipped in 16.
BP’s last state tournament appearance was in 1999 and the second place trophy it will bring home is just the third Section trophy the Blossoms have ever won.
FC 36 33 – 69
BP 24 32 – 56
BP stats: Megan Oswald, 23; Julia Worke, 12; Bobbie Bruns, 9; Maggie Bruns, 5; Allison Krohnberg, 4; Maya Lembke, 3; free throws: 55 percent (10-for-18); rebounds: 30 (Oswald, 10); turnovers: 21
