The Stephen-Argyle Storm and the Sacred Heart Eagles Girl’s Basketball teams played a back-and-forth game on Thursday night, but it was the Eagles who shot their free throws well down the stretch and managed to come away with a 54-45 win to advance to the Section 8A Tournament Quarterfinals.
FIRST HALF –
Something that hurt the Storm the last time the two teams met was three-pointers, and Sacred Heart’s Isabel Vonesh came out and knocked down two early ones for the Eagles. But even with those three-pointers, Stephen-Argyle was able to get out to an early 8-7 lead with four points from Isabelle Westman, a Live Efta layup, and Regan Swanson jumper. After the teams traded a couple of baskets, the score was tied at 11-11 midway through the first half. Sacred Heart would start to impose their will, and thanks to some full-court pressure and offensive rebounds, the Eagles would rattle off a 14-2 run to go in front 25-13. Lydia Riskey and Alexis Lawrence would pace the run for Sacred Heart as the two eighth-graders came off the bench and combined for 10 first-half points. The Storm ended the first half on a much-needed 6-0 run thanks to good free throw shooting, and the Eagles took a 25-19 lead into the halftime break. Isabel Vonesh led the way for Sacred Heart with 10 points in the first eighteen minutes, while Regan Swanson had 7 for the Stephen-Argyle. The other big stat from the opening half was that the Eagles had 14 points off turnovers while the Storm had just 6.
SECOND HALF –
Stephen-Argyle came out and started the second half on an 8-1 run to take a 27-26 lead with 14:36 remaining and force a Sacred Heart timeout. Highlighting the run was Regan Swanson with four points, a couple of free throws from Britni Kroll, and a layup from Tessa Durand. Sacred Heart would finally get an Isabel Vonesh free throw to tie the game at 27-27, and the two teams traded a couple of baskets keeping the game tied at 31-31 with 10:03 left to play. Foul trouble started to become a concern for the Storm and they had four different players with at least three fouls in the game with over twelve minutes remaining. Sacred Heart was also able to get themselves into the bonus for the final 10:33 of the game. After two more free throws from Lydia Riskey, the Storm would answer back with a free throw of their own to give Sacred Heart a 33-32 lead. After Isabel Vonesh knocked down a jumper, Charlotte Rogus would hit one herself giving Sacred Heart a 35-34 lead with seven minutes left. Stephen-Argyle would take the lead back shortly 36-35 after with a couple of free throws, but that would be the last lead they would see in the game. Lydia Riskey would start an 8-0 Sacred Heart run with a three-pointer, and Leah Sundby would score the next five points to put Sacred Heart in front 43-36 with 4:35 left in the game. Regan Swanson was trying to will her team to a victory as she would counter with an and one to cut the Storm deficit to 43-39, but Sacred Heart would get two more free throws from Finley Horken to go in front 45-39. Tessa Durand would come down on the next possession and convert a layup to pull the Storm within four points trailing 45-41. Sacred Heart would get another big three after that from Leah Sundby, and a layup from Lydia Riskey to go in front 50-41 with two minutes left in the game. Regan Swanson would score four more points in a row for Stephen-Argyle to make it 50-45 with 1:01 left, but Sacred Heart would sink their free throws down the stretch, and go on to win the game 54-45. As a team, the Eagles shot 12-17 from the free-throw line in the second half to help secure the win.
Sacred Heart improves to 16-10 on the year and will now play Goodridge/Grygla in the Section 8A Quarterfinals this Saturday from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls. Stephen-Argyle finishes their season with a final record of 7-16. They will lose three seniors from the team as Tessa Durand, Emma Evans, and Greta Svendsen will all graduate this spring.
FOR EAGLES COACH MIKE MATHISON’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
FOR STORM COACH GARRY KOTT’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
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1st
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2nd
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Final
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Stephen-Argyle
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19
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26
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45
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Sacred Heart
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25
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29
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54
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For Sacred Heart
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Points
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Rebounds
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Assists/Steals
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Lydia Riskey
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21
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7
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2 assists/2 steals
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Isabel Vonesh
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13
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1
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Leah Sundby
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8
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3
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1 assist/1 steal
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Ava Knudson
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5
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3
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1 assist/2 steals
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Alexis Lawrence
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5
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7
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1 assist
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Finley Horken
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2
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1
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2 steals
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For Stephen-Argyle
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Points
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Rebounds
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Assists/Steals
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Regan Swanson
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24
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5
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4 steals
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Isabelle Westman
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7
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11
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1 assist/1 steal
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Tessa Durand
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6
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6
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1 steal
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Britni Kroll
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4
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3
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1 assist/2 steals
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Liv Efta
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2
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2
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5 assists/1 steal
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Charlotte Rogus
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2
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2
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