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Class 3A championship preview: Holy Angels vs. Winona

By Star Tribune, 03/19/16, 12:10AM CDT

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Class 3A championship Holy Angels (24-5) vs. Winona (25-6), 6 p.m

Class 3A championship Holy Angels (24-5) vs. Winona (25-6), 6 p.m.

Why Holy Angels will win: Laura Bagwell-Katalinich, Megan Meyer and the rest of the fifth-seeded Holy Angels’ scorers will simply overwhelm Winona. ­Bagwell-Katalinich in particular is as talented as they come. She has more than 1,700 career points, and she rebounds as well as she scores. Bagwell-Katalinich averages 24.7 points per game and finds points in a variety of ways.

Why Winona will win: The No. 2 seed Winhawks’ 2-3 zone will keep Bagwell-Katalinich out of the paint, and length on the perimeter will make it hard for shooters. In Holy Angels’ semifinal victory over Thief River Falls, a box-and-one defense limited Bagwell-Katalinich to nine points, but her teammates shot well from the outside. In the semifinals, Winona held Becker to 25.9 percent shooting.

Keys to watch: Winona’s wounded players. Guard Eden Nibbelink is playing with a broken pinkie finger on her guide hand, and point guard Jayne Emerson left Thursday’s game with an apparent knee injury.

One thing to know: Holy Angels post Destinee Oberg, only a freshman, is in her third season on varsity. She already has offers from at least five Division I programs, including the Gophers.

CODY STAVENHAGEN

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