Hill-Murray is right back where it was last season. Without the typical firepower from star Tessa Cichy, Bethany Doolittle and the rest of the team stepped up and the Pioneers rolled past Alexandria 68-41 in the other Class 3A semifinal.

“I think that’s been the goal since we left this locker room that Saturday night after the championship game,” Pioneers coach Erin Herman said. “I think the kids have worked their tails off to get here.”

Both teams came out with lots of energy and kept each other’s pace in scoring for a while. But after each team made defensive adjustments, while the game slowed considerably — Alexandria scored 15 of its 20 first-half points in the first seven minutes — Hill-Murray was able to find a rhythm and build a 28-20 lead going into halftime.

“I kept telling my kids, ‘We got to get moving, we’ve got to get moving,’” Herman said of the half-court trap that kept Hill-Murray muted for the first several minutes. “We were doing what they wanted us to. But we switched completely [to man-to-man defense], and I think that really pushed us.”

In the second half, with Cichy getting double-teamed, and many of her shots not falling, Claire Van Dyk (12 points) and Corrine McCallum (18, including three three-pointers) stepped up, and Doolittle (19 points) put the Pioneers on her back for a second consecutive game.

“When one doesn’t do well, someone else picks it up,” Herman said. “I think you can see that from the way we played today. That’s how we’ve gotten where we are — the balance.”

Said McCallum: “During a game I kind of try to blank everything out and just focus on what’s going on. But it’s amazing. Hopefully we’ll get it all this year.”
 

Alexandria stats not available