The Sacred Heart Eagle Girls’ Basketball team played a tremendous all-around game, but three costly turnovers in overtime were the difference as they lost to the Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s Knights 65-61 in overtime in the Minnesota State Girls Basketball tournament quarterfinals at Maturi Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.
FIRST HALF –
The game was back-and-forth early on with ties at 2 and 4 and Sacred Heart jumped out to a 7-6 lead after a Leah Sundby three-pointer over three minutes into the game. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s answered with a 9-2 run with six points from Olivia Shieffert and a three-pointer from Morgan Mathiowetz for a 15-9 lead. Sacred Heart’s Lexi Lawrence took over the game as she scored four straight points. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s bounced back with four free throws for a 19-13 lead with 5:32 remaining in the half. Sacred Heart regained the lead with an impressive 12-0 run over three minutes. Lawrence started the run with an offensive rebound and putback and another basket. Kate Bernhoft made a three-pointer, Lawrence added another basket, and Finley Horken buried a three-pointer for a 25-19 lead with one minute to go in the half. The last points of the half came on a Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s three-pointer from Natalie Fischer and Sacred Heart took a 25-22 lead into halftime.
SECOND HALF –
Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s started the second half by scoring the first four points before the Eagles’ Ella Arntson made a three-pointer for a 28-26 lead less than three minutes into the half. The Knights answered with a 7-0 run with four points coming from Mathiowetz and a three-pointer from Schiefiert for a 33-28 lead. After a three-pointer from the Eagles’ Bernhoft, Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s answered with a 7-0 run for a 40-31 lead halfway through the half. Sacred Heart didn’t go down without a fight as Lexi Lawrence made a free throw to spark a 9-2 run with Lydia Riskey burying a three-pointer and after a Knight basket, Lawrence scored in the paint and Sundby made a three-pointer to get within a 42-40 deficit with seven minutes to go. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s responded with four points before Sacred Heart’s Arntson and Sundby made back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 46-46 with 92 seconds to go in regulation. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s made a basket with one minute to go and Lawrence answered with a basket with 37 seconds left for a 48-48 tie. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s missed a shot with 3.7 seconds to go and Sacred Heart grabbed the rebound and called a time out. Sacred Heart got the ball down the floor, but didn’t get a shot off before the buzzer sounded and the game was going to overtime.
OVERTIME –
Sacred Heart started the four-minute overtime period with a Riskey basket for a 50-48 lead. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s answered with an 8-0 run. They started the run with two free throws and then had three steals that led to layups for a 56-50 lead with 2:43 to go. Sacred Heart’s Lawrence stopped the run with a basket. The teams exchanged baskets before Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s scored four straight points for a 62-54 lead with 44 seconds to go. Sacred Heart battled back to get within a 65-61 deficit as Riskey hit a shot at the buzzer and Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s won the game 65-61 in overtime.
Sacred Heart drops to 24-7 on the year and will play Mayer Lutheran in the consolation semi-finals on Friday at the Gangelhoff Center at Concordia-St. Paul. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s improves to 30-2 on the year and will take on MACCRAY in the semi-finals on Friday at Williams Arena.
| 1st | 2nd | OT | Final | |
| Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s | 22 | 26 | 17 | 65 |
| Sacred Heart | 25 | 23 | 13 | 61 |
| For Sacred Heart | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Lexi Lawrence | 25 | 16 | 1 assist/1 steal/1 block |
| Leah Sundby | 9 | 5 | 4 assists |
| Lydia Riskey | 7 | 3 | 2 assists/1 steal |
| Finley Horken | 6 | 2 assists/1 steal/1 block | |
| Ella Arntson | 6 | 3 | 3 assists/1 steal |
| Kate Bernhoft | 6 | 2 | 1 assist |
| For Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s | Points |
| Morgan Mathiowetz | 30 |
| Olivia Schiefiert | 16 |
| Natalie Fischer | 7 |
| Amelia Schwartz | 6 |
| Brynne Ibberson | 4 |
| Sidney Tauer | 2 |
