Vikings hold off late BP run to escape with a win
Published 10:20 pm Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Chelsea Christopherson controls a rebound for Hayfield. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Hayfield’s Jo Tempel fires up a jump shot. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Shawntee Snyder advances the ball for BP. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairire’s Claire Schwarz attempts a jump shot against Hayfield in BP Tuesday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Hayfield’s Natalie Beaver reaches out to save a loose ball in Blooming Prairie Tuesday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Hayfield’s Kristen Watson eludes Blooming Prairie’s Shawntee Snyder in BP Tuesday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie’s Macy Lembke is swarmed by the Hayfield defense in 2023. Herald file photo
Anna Pauly muscles up a shot for Blooming Prairie. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
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BLOOMING PRAIRIE – The Blooming Prairie girls basketball team finished with a flurry, but it came up one shot short as Hayfield prevailed with a 50-48 win Tuesday night.
BP senior Shawntee Snyder hit two threes in the final 49 seconds – including one that made pulled BP within 49-48 with four seconds left, but her final shot was a half courter that fell short as the final buzzer sounded. In all, BP scored 10 points in the final 49 seconds of the game after trailing by as many as 15 in the second half.
“It was crazy. The support from my team was amazing,” said Snyder, who finished with 11 points. “Everybody was in it for us. It was nice to see how we could play and I hope we keep that going for the rest of the season.”
Hayfield (16-2 overall) had led by double digits for much of the second half before the late push. The Vikings were able to hold on thanks to the shooting of Kristen Watson, who made three out of four free throws down the stretch to ice the win.
Watson, who finished with 17 points, four steals and four assists, said Hayfield needs to learn how to close games out stronger.
“You’ve just got to play to how they’re playing,” Watson said. “They hit some threes at the end and we’ve got to guard out on the threes instead of on the lay-ups. We’ve just got to keep going the whole way. We had a big lead, we’ve just got to keep scoring.”
BP (6-6 overall) scored just five points in the first 11 minutes of the second half, but it was able to stay in the game by keeping the Vikings out of transition. BP head coach John Bruns credited his squad for sticking with it.
“I think the biggest thing is that our girls handled their pressure,” Bruns said. “We had a few too many turnovers, but they weren’t the type of turnovers that gave them easy lay-ups. I’m proud of the girls for not giving up tonight.”
Hayfield has won seven games in a row, but head coach Kasey Krekling said he is concerned with how the team has been playing down the stretch. He wants the Vikings to go hard until the final whistle.
“I really liked our defense to begin the second half. We built up a lead and luckily we did, because they made every shot in the last two minutes,” Krekling said. “You’ve got to find ways to score at the end of games. We stopped looking at the rim and we can’t do that.”
Natalie Beaver had 14 points and eight rebounds for Hayfield and Maya Lembke had 14 points for BP.
Hayfield 30 20 – 50
BP 21 27 – 48
Hayfield scoring: Kristen Watson, 17; Natalie Beaver, 14; Josanne Tempel, 9; Emily Hansen, 4; Chelsea Christopherson, 3; Ava Carney, 3
BP scoring: Maya Lembke, 14; Shawntee Snyder, 11; Anna Pauly, 9; Haven Carlson, 6; Sienna Fyksen, 4; Chloe McCarthy, 2; Addison Doocy, 2
