St. Michael-Albertville and Chaska clashed on Friday night, for what was a highly talked about game between two top Class 4A teams.
St. Michael-Albertville (5-0) went into the game ranked second in Class 4A while Chaska (5-1) was ranked fourth. The players of both teams felt the occasion too, as benches roared at every chance to celebrate. But the Knights bench eventually had more to celebrate, especially in the second half. They handled business with their offense, eventually taking the game over the Hawks 97-70.
“We’ve all gotten super close and it carries onto the court. I mean, you can really see that and we’re all just excited for each other’s success,” said senior forward Piper Carlson. “No one is jealous at all.”
It was a back-and-forth game early on between St. Michael-Albertville (5-0) and Chaska (5-1). The experienced teams both made electric defensive plays and neither team saw a chance to pull away. But then senior guard Tessa Johnson took over for the Knights.
Her 51 points on the night are a new school record for St. Michael-Albertville, as well as her nine made threes. Her scoring was part of a surge of points from the Knights in the second half. Their continuous scoring was enough to hold off the Hawks for much of the second half. The Knights ended the game on top 97-70.
For Chaska, senior guard Kennedy Sanders continued her high-scoring season with a team-high 23 points while the Hawk’s other guard Ashley Schuelke chipped in with 13. Chaska spread the ball around well too, with four players scoring eight or more points. But it wasn’t enough to spot the one-woman show that was Johnson tonight.
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