Athletics upset Wildcats to advance to Section 1A title game
Published 9:48 pm Saturday, March 7, 2015
Lyle-Pacelli’s Brooke Walter drives around Goodhue’s Haley Lexvold during the second half of the Section 1A West championship game Saturday night at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
ROCHESTER — To say the Lyle-Pacelli girls basketball team is peaking at the right time would be an understatement.
For the second straight game, the No. 2 seeded Athletics beat an opponent by double digits after having lost to that same opponent by double digits in the regular season. The Athletics upset top-seeded and No. 5 ranked Goodhue 61-47 in the Section 1A West title game in Mayo Civic Auditorium Saturday.
Lyle-Pacelli’s Sarah Holtz passes around Goodhue’s Sydney Lodermeier in the first half of the Section 1A West championship Saturday night at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
LP is now now one win from the state tournament and it will play Fillmore Central in the Section 1A title game 8 p.m. Friday at Mayo Civic Auditorium.
LP had two starters — Bethany Strouf and Madison Truckenmiller — saddled with foul trouble all night, but they didn’t miss a beat as freshman Kendal Truckenmiller came off the bench to score none points and grab nine rebounds.
“We had a lot of kids step up,” LP head coach Justin Morris said. “Part of the real key to our success has been our balanced attack in the last few weeks. We’ve been a very unselfish basketball team and we’ve reached a point where the team is bigger than the individual.”
LP trailed 9-6 with 11:25 left in the first half, but the Athletics responded with a 10-1 run that saw them take a 16-10 lead and Goodhue was never able to come back and tie or take the lead again. After LP led by 14 early in the second half, Goodhue got as close as 49-42 with 4:27 left in the game, but LP responded when Sarah Holtz converted a 3-point play to make it 52-42 with 3:50 left.
Holtz finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds and five assists as she was able to get to the rim early and often.
“We knew we could play them and we could beat them. I think it’s just experience,” Holtz said. “This win really symbolizes how the program is improving. This game wasn’t just played by the people on the court and the people on the bench. It was played by anyone who’s gone through Lyle-Pacelli basketball and been a part of building the program.”
Lyle-Pacelli’s Courtney Walter drives the lane during the first half of the Section 1A West championship against Goodhue Saturday night at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
LP freshman Brooke Walter added 18 points and three assists in the win. She made two 3-pointers but she was able to go 10-for-12 on free throws by attacking the hoop.
“When we’re on, we want to shoot some threes, but now we’ve realized that 3-pointers can’t be our whole game. We have to different things to go far,” Walter said. “We have confidence in our team to play with their full heart. Nobody wants it to be our last game and everybody has ever bodies back.”
Goodhue 20 27 — 47
LP 30 31 — 61
LP scoring: Sarah Holtz, 20; Brooke Walter, 18; Kendal Truckenmiller, 9; Courtney Walter, 8; Bethany Strouf, 6; turnovers: 19
