The Raptors had previously beaten the Bears (10-10) on Jan. 29 and March 8 by margins of two and four points, respectively, with Bears guard Lauren Eckerle scoring more than 20 points in each of those contests.

Ellis-Milan said the Raptors' entire game plan Tuesday was focused on Eckerle, and the team executed, holding her to nine points. 

“They just make it hard for you to run your offense,” said White Bear Lake coach Jeremy Post. 

The Raptors defense then turned into offense. They were able to convert in transition and facilitating much of the action was freshman guard Sidney Klauer, who led the offense in the second half and finished with a team-high 12 points, to go with five rebounds and four assists. 

Klauer helped fill the void left by sophomore guard Emily Christensen’s foul trouble. Christensen picked up four fouls in the first half, and while she started in the second, and scored five quick points to extend the Raptors’ lead to 31-17, she sat for a lot of the remaining period before fouling out late. Christensen still finished with 11 points and four rebounds.

The Raptors’ effort on the defensive glass extended to the offense. The duo of Britt Carlson and Grace Knupp crashed the glass on both ends of the floor, securing eight and six rebounds, respectively, helping the Raptors secure a 38-27 advantage on the boards. 

“The offensive rebounding killed us,” Post said. “They just outworked us. We’re a pretty hard-working team so that says a lot about them.”  

Forward Nevaeh Hughes did her best to keep the Bears within reach, scoring a game-high 13 points while grabbing seven rebounds, but Hughes and the Bears couldn’t overcome the swarming Raptors’ defense and their effort on the glass. 

With the win, East Ridge will advance to the section championship game, where they’ll play a daunting Stillwater team that dominated Cretin-Derham Hall 96-38 in its section semifinal matchup. The Raptors will continue battling defensively; Ellis-Milan said the key moving forward is execution. 

“At the end of the day, we got to be able to take care of the basketball,” Ellis-Milan said. “It’s just a tough mentality, execution and rebounding. That’s going to be it… Moving forward, we just got to continue to get better and continue to work hard.”