Alissa Retterath of Hutchinson (in white) was fouled by Tessa Cichy of Hill-Murray. Cichy had a rough afternoon, scoring just 11 points — 11 below her average — on 4-for-17 shooting. Jerry Holt, Star Tribune
There are plenty of individual stars in the Class 3A girls' basketball tournament. Hutchinson prefers to do everything 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.
"Our goal at the start of the season was to get to state," Hutchinson leading scorer Nichole Wittman said. She finished with 20 points, pacing three players in double figures. "Now that we are here, it's to win it. And, we believe we can do that."
Hutchinson (26-3) went on a 7-2 run late in the first half to open up a nine-point cushion. It led 31-24 at halftime, and four players were between five and nine points.
"We can score from all five spots on the floor," Hutchinson coach Bill Carlson said. "That's a big key for us because teams can't key on anybody."
Wittman opened the second half with a three-pointer, stretching the margin to 10. Hill-Murray (22-8) never got closer than six the rest of the way.
The Tigers' tandem of senior Molly Monahan and sophomore Taylor Jurgenson held Cichy to 11 points on 4-for-17 shooting. She had been averaging 22.4 points per game.
"We never put a number on it, but I would have been happy with 20," Carlson said. "Our kids really buy into playing man-to-man defense. They love it."
It showed.
-- Ron Haggstrom, Star Tribune
-- Ron Haggstrom, Star Tribune
"That chemistry started in eighth grade," said DeLaSalle coach Faith Johnson Patterson. "They have found a natural niche together. They always seem to know where the other is."
-- Jim Paulsen, Star Tribune
-- Ron Haggstrom, Star Tribune