In a Class 3A tournament with plenty of individual stars, Hutchinson prefers to do things the old fashioned way: sharing the basketball and playing defense.

The Tigers used their typical balanced attack and managed to control Hill-Murray’s prolific scorer Tessa Cichy, eliminating the fourth-seeded Pioneers 68-51 Wednesday afternoon at Williams Arena.

Hutchinson (26-3) went on a 7-2 run late in the first half to open up a nine-point cushion. It took a 31-24 advantage into the locker room at halftime, and four players were between five and nine points.

Tigers leading-scorer Nichole Wittman opened the second half with a three-pointer, stretching the margin to 10 points. Wittman man finished with a game-high 20 points, pacing three players in double figures. Hill-Murray (22-8) never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

Cichy finished with 11 points, only making four shots from the floor. She fouled out with 3 minutes, 39 seconds remaining, and the Pioneers down 15. She came into the game averaging 22.4 points per game.

Ron Haggstrom, Star Tribune

Nichole Wittman, Hutchinson
The Tigers center controlled the paint in both offensively and defensively. She contributed 20 points on 7-9 shooting.

Morgan Julius, Hutchinson
Julius had a solid overall game, netting 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. She was very activel and contributed on numerous defensive stops that turned into points for the Tigers.

Kaitlin Langer, Hill-Murray
Langer had 18 points and 9 rebounds for the Pioneers, doing most of her damage in the paint.  She shot a solid 6-10 from the field and give of her rebounds were offensive.

 -Alec Kinsky, MN Girls Basketball Hub Staff