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Girls' basketball state tournament preview: Class 3A story lines

By Star Tribune, 03/13/17, 8:54PM CDT

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Players who shined on the state tournament stage a year ago lead the way for defending champion Holy Angels.


Holy Angels sophomore Destinee Oberg is already in her fourth varsity season. The Stars’ leading scorer will lead the team’s Class 3A title defense.

Players who shined on the state tournament stage lead the way for defending champion Holy Angels. Guard Megan Meyer and forward Destinee Oberg each made the all-tournament team last year. Just a sophomore, Oberg is in her fourth varsity season. She led the Stars in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game. Meyers’ 9.2 points per game was good for third. Both started in last year’s title game, along with guard Megan Thompson (10.6). Their experience should be an advantage against quarterfinal opponent Waseca, a state tournament newcomer.

Orono gets even

Ranked No. 1 last season, Orono stumbled in the Section 6 final against Hutchinson. The Spartans got even this time, knocking out the top-ranked Tigers in the section final. As a reward, Orono got the No. 1 seed in the state tournament. Senior guard Tori Andrew, one of 10 players in consideration for the Miss Basketball Award, led the Spartans with 21.3 points per game in the regular season. Andrew, who has committe to Yale, ranks among the state’s top three-point shooters. Orono opens with Willmar, winner of 11 of its past 12 games.

Grand milestones

Coaches reported several players who eclipsed 1,000 career points: Oberg, Andrew, Winona teammates Eden Nibbelink (who has committed to Fairfield) and Danneka Voegeli, and Alexandria’s Macy Hatlestad and Kendall Kohler. The Cardinals’ dynamic duo faces a quarterfinal showdown with Grand Rapids’ Heaven Hamling, a junior guard who has passed 2,000 career points. Not that scoring is everything. Natalie Smaron’s 13 rebounds per game makes her the Orono program’s single-season leader (363).

DAVID LA VAQUE

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