Cromwell-Wright snaps Red Lake's 15-game winning streak with 71-41 win in state tournament

Class 1A Quarterfinals

Mountain Iron-Buhl 65, Southwest Minnesota Christian 49: For the second year in a row, #1 Mountain Iron-Buhl (30-1) will play in the Class A semifinals, defeating Southwest Minnesota Christian (25-4) 65-49 on Thursday in the quarterfinals at Mariucci Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota. The Rangers press stifled the Eagles offensive flow throughout, forcing 25 turnovers and a 30.4 percent (7-23) shooting percentage in the second half. MIB had a 29-16 advantage in points off turnovers and with their aggressive play were able to get to the foul line 31 times compared to seven for the Eagles which led to a 22-4 scoring advantage in free shots. Chelsea Mason led the Rangers with 23 points, six steals, four assists and four rebounds. Southwest was led by Emily Nerem's 19 points while Brooklyn DeKam hit three first half three-pointers and had 13 points at the break, finishing with 15. The game featured five lead changes and three ties, but all occurred in the first half as the Eagles were able to hold the upper hand early with a 10-4 lead in the first three-plus minutes of play. A six-point surge by the Rangers midway through the half turned a one point deficit into a five point lead and they didn't relinquish the lead the rest of the game. Mountain Iron-Buhl will face the #5 Maranatha Christian Academy/#4 Ada-Borup winner on Friday at noon at Williams Arena, while the loser of that game will take on Southwest Minnesota Christian on Friday at 10 a.m. at Concordia-St. Paul's Gangelhoff Center.

Maranatha Christian 67, Ada-Borup 65 (overtime): #5 Maranatha Christian Academy (24-7) avenged a 2015 state championship loss by topping #4 Ada-Borup (28-2) 67-65 in overtime in the Class A quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon at Mariucci Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota. The Mustangs finished as Class A state runner-up the previous two seasons and will again advance to the state semifinals against #1 Mountain Iron-Buhl on Friday at noon at Williams Arena. Ada-Borup, who won the state title in 2015 in its last trip to state, will play Southwest Minnesota Christian in the consolation semifinal at Concordia-St. Paul's Gangelhoff Center on Friday at 10 a.m. One of the two schools, Maranatha or Ada-Borup has played for the state championship in seven of the last nine years with Ada-Borup winning three and Maranatha winning a pair of state titles in that time. Maranatha survived in a game that it never led by more than four points, a 33-29 lead near the end of the first half before heading into the break up by one. Ada-Borup led nearly the entire first half, scoring the first nine points of the game with the lead reaching double-digits twice (22-11 & 23-12) before Maranatha went on a 15-2 run late in the half to claim its largest lead. Ada-Borup responded to the Maranatha run with a spurt of its own, a 17-4 surge to take a 46-37 lead with 11:46 to play. Maranatha chipped away at the margin, still trailing by five (57-52) with 2:35 to play. A layup by Kylie Post capped an 8-1 Mustang run to claim a 60-58 lead with just over a minute left and Brooklyn Erickson made one of two at the line for the Cougars for a 61-60 lead with 13 seconds to play. The Mustangs missed a shot with three seconds to win, but Elise Moore rebounded and was fouled on a put-back attempt with 0.3 seconds to go and made one of two to send the game into overtime. Jaclyn Jarnot scored six seconds into overtime and Maranatha never trailed in the extra period, although never led by more than two either. A free throw by Sami Payne gave the Mustangs a 67-65 lead with 19 seconds to play and the Maranatha defense force a pair of Ada-Borup misses in the closing seconds. Post led all players with 24 points for the Mustangs, adding nine rebounds, six assists and five steals. Jarnot had 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Mariah McKeever led Ada-Borup with 16 points and nine rebounds and Elizabeth Birkemeyer had a double-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Maranatha shot just 30 percent (21-70) from the floor while Ada-Borup shot 40.0 percent (20-50) but a 21-10 edge on the offensive glass and 30-14 turnover margin helped the Mustangs attempt 20 more field goals, including a 44-35 free throw margin.

Goodhue 68, Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther 55: Defending Class A state champion #2 Goodhue (26-4) captured a 68-55 win over GHEC/Truman/Martin Luther (26-5) on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals at Mariucci Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota. The Wildcats used a 24-13 turnover margin to create a 33-14 advantage in points off turnovers. GHEC/T/ML, in its first state appearance under the co-op, scored on the opening possession but Goodhue responded with a three-pointer and never relinquished the lead the rest of the way. After the Jaguars trimmed the high single digit lead to one, 23-22 late in the first half, the Wildcats scored 10 in a row to claim a 33-22 halftime lead and led by at least nine the rest of the game. Maddy Miller scored 23 points and had seven rebounds (six offensive) to pace Goodhue. Emily Benrud added 13 points and eight rebounds (five offensive). Goodhue had one more offensive (18) than defensive (17) rebound in the game. Hanna Geistfeld led the Jaguars with 19 points and 12 rebounds (six offensive). Goodhue will advance to the semifinals to face the Red Lake/#3 Cromwell-Wright winner on Friday at 2 p.m. at Williams Arena. The Jaguars will face the losing team of that matchup in the consolation semifinals at Gangelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia-St. Paul on Friday at 12 p.m.

Cromwell-Wright 71, Red Lake 41: #3 Cromwell-Wright (26-4) converted 13 three-pointers to snap Red Lake's (24-3) 15-game winning streak 71-41 in the Class A quarterfinals at Mariucci Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Cromwell-Wright made 9-of-16 three-pointers before the break and defended the arc well, holding the Warriors to 0-7 three-point shooting to mount a 46-15 lead at the half. The Cardinals were led by Chelsea Swatek with 23 points and nine rebounds as she delivered 4-9 from three-point range. Taya Hakamaki had 16 points and five assists on 4-5 three-point shooting and Bailey Gronner made three three-pointers to finish with nine points and 10 rebounds. Cromwell-Wright led by as many as 37 in the second half before Red Lake finished strong down the stretch, narrowing the margin to 24 with an 18-5 run spanning six and a half minutes. The Warriors were led by Grace White's 13 points and nine rebounds while Alexis Desjarlait had 10 points and four rebounds. Cromwell shot 54.3 percent from the floor (25-46) for the game and 52.0 percent from the arc (13-25). The Cardinals advance to the semifinals to face defending Class A champion #2 Goodhue on Friday at 2 p.m. at Williams Arena. Red Lake will take on GHEC/Truman/Martin Luther in the consolation semifinal on Friday at noon at Gangelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia-St. Paul.