After St. Michael-Albertville’s 66-53 victory over Centennial, Knights coach Kent Hamre stood answering questions outside the Target Center locker rooms, standing straight and tall and beaming the whole time.

With good reason. The Knights had been winless in three previous state tournament appearances as a Class 4A team. Finally getting that opening game victory Tuesday removed the proverbial monkey from their backs.

“More like 1,000 monkeys,” Hamre said. “All we’ve heard about is not winning at the 4A level. It is nice to silence the naysayers.”

No. 3-seeded St. Michael-Albertville (26-3) has a reputation for putting up points in bunches. The team looked jittery early, falling behind 18-12 before rallying late to take a 27-22 halftime lead.

What didn’t suffer was the Knights’ defense. Led by point guard Kitri Zezza, they pressured the ball at every opportunity, forcing 22 Centennial turnovers. Even when the Cougars made a run, the St. Michael-Albertville defense stemmed the tide, scoring 32 of their points off turnovers. 

“We knew in the second half we had to come out and increase the turnovers,” said Zezza, who had 15 points, four steals and would have had far more than the two assists she was credited had the Knights converted more shots. “We work hard on defense. We know that will always be there.”

Guard Sydney Tracy led St. Michael-Albertville with 18 points. Senior guard Jaycie Gerding paced Centennial (21-9) with 15 points.

St. Michael-Albertville shook off a poor shooting performance in the first half and relied on its defense after halftime to provide offensive chances, pulling away for a 66-53 victory over Centennial.

The No. 3-seeded Knights shot just 29 percent in the first half but still led 27-22 at halftime. They turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, forcing 11 turnovers that led to easy baskets.

Sydney Tracy led St. Michael-Albertville (26-3) with 18 points and point guard Kitri Zezza added 15. Jaycie Gerding paced Centennial (21-9) with 15 points.

Check back later for more on the game.