Maple Grove girls basketball hits game-winning layup to down Lakeville North in Class 4A quarterfinal (watch)
MINNEAPOLIS — The No. 4-seed Maple Grove Crimson (24-4) defeated the No. 5-seed Lakeville North Panthers (24-5) 56-55 in the MSHSL girls high school basketball Class 4A state tournament quarterfinals at Williams Arena.
Maple Grove called timeout with 1.9 seconds remaining in the game. After the timeout, Kate Holmquist inbounded the ball, and she threw it over the top of the paint, where senior Claire Stern caught it after running through a screen. Stern had an open layup, and she converted.
It's a play the Crimson call "Iowa," after taking it from the University of Iowa basketball team.
"We walked through it this morning," Maple Grove head coach Mark Cook said. "We said, 'Just in case, let's walk through our last second stuff.'"
For the Panthers, it was a play they discussed in the huddle, but failed to execute moments later.
"Before we went out, we said, ‘Lets switch all back-picks,’ and [we] didn’t switch it, and thats how they got it," Lakeville North coach Andy Berkvam said. "If we switch, they don’t get it."
The Maple Grove defense kept the Panthers from finding any rhythm in the first half. Lakeville North had 13 first-half turnovers, and the Crimson led 31-22 at halftime.
"This team is one of the best defensive teams I’ve ever had," Cook said. "They really buy into what we are doing. Our perimeter pressure is much better than what we’ve done in the past."
The Panthers adjusted in the second half. They used their size and strength to dominate in the paint and on the glass. Center Trinity Wilson led the Panthers in the second half. She finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds.
"We knew that we had a huge size disadvantage against these guy, so we worked on a couple different things: play behind [Wilson], play in front of her," Cook said. "They made great adjustments on taking away our backside help, and really isolated her down there."
Jordan Ode led the Crimson with 16 points, and the Crimson hit 9-of-20 threes.
"We shoot the three a lot," Cook said. "We’re a very good 3-point shooting team. We knew we were going to have to hit some. I thought that kept us in it in the first half. We’re going to live by it, or we’re going to die by it one way or the other."
The Crimson will play No. 1-seed Hopkins in the Class 4A semifinal on Thursday, March 14 at 6 p.m. at Williams Arena.
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- Jack Butler | butler@scorebooklive.com | @Butler917
