Sacred Heart Girls Basketball battles, but falls to Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s in OT

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.

Ella Arntson

Leah Sundby

Lydia Riskey

Finley Horken

Sacred Heart crowd

Coach Brian Loe

Lexi Lawrence

Finley Horken

Ella Arntson

Leah Sundby

Lydia Riskey

Finley Horken

Sacred Heart crowd

Coach Brian Loe

Lexi Lawrence

Finley Horken

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