An old adage in sports states that it's hard to defeat the same team three times in a single season, but the St. Peter girls basketball team faced the challenge of defeating the Marshall Tigers for the fourth time this year, with the right to go to the MSHSL State Championship Tournament on the line. In a rematch of last year's Section 2AAA Championship game, the Saints found themselves trailing the Tigers at halftime as they struggled to make shots from beyond the arc and found themselves down by as many as 10 points in the second half before mounting an unforgettable rally.
When senior captain Rhyan Holmgren made a layup through contact, drawing the foul and completing the and one, St. Peter took a three-point lead with just over three minutes to go that they would hold until the final buzzer, earning a 58-51 victory and a trip to state.
"I'm just so happy for the girls," said Saints head coach Bob Southworth after the victory. "They put in a ton of time in the offseason and I'm just happy for them to get to experience finally winning the section final."
The win means that this core group of St. Peter players who have defined the last several seasons will get the ability to show the entire state of Minnesota what everyone who follows them has come to know, that this is a group of players with no quit in them who have come to represent the St. Peter community in spirit and determination.
In what played out as almost a complete reversal of last year's section title game, it was Marshall that took the early lead and maintained it throughout the entire first half despite an impressive defensive showing from the Saints. An early block from Holmgren led to a shot clock violation and a stolen ball leading to a fastbreak score from Maddie Kamm kept things close, but the Tigers still took a 25-21 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.
"I was telling our coaches after the game that this this felt like last year's game except the roles were reversed," said Southworth. "Credit to Marshall, we knew it was gonna be tough. They play really good defense and make you work for everything and I thought in the first half, we were hurrying it a little bit."
Coming out of the break, the Marshall offense put together an 11-5 run to take a 10 point lead that put the Saints on notice that something needed to change and soon. Holmgren, as she has many times over the last four years, put the team on her shoulders, slashing to the basket through defenders despite the defensive focus on her.
After four straight points from Holmgren, Annika Southworth, who missed the previous game with a hand injury that clearly still had an impact, launched a three from the top of the key that splashed through the net for her first points of the night.
"I think she was nervous to shoot and I just told her in the second half, 'what do you got to lose,'" coach Southworth said. "You just got to shoot the ball like you know you can, and she did."
The next possession saw Maddie Kamm predict a pass and intercept the ball, kicking it ahead to Holmgren for a layup and after a defensive stop, Holmgren drew a foul, draining both to cut the deficit to just two points and force a Marshall timeout.
The teams traded a couple of baskets out of the break before Southworth drained her second three to give the Saints a 42-41 lead and after forcing a turnover, Southworth stepped into another three that splashed through the hoop, extending the lead.
As the game entered the final five minutes, the Tigers drilled back-to-back threes to tie the game 47-47 and got a defensive stop against the Saints, giving them a chance to retake the lead. As a Marshall post player appeared to get a clean look on a turnaround shot, Kamm flashed from the other side of the paint, cleanly blocking the shot and hauling in the rebound.
"With our defense in the second half I told them that in one of the timeouts, I told them we can't trade baskets and we have to shut them down and the intensity got turned up a lot," said Southworth. "It starts with Maddie and Rhyan, and I thought Annika did a really good job on No. 2 when we switched her."
After hauling in the blocked shot, Kamm passed the ball ahead to Abby Maloney who knifed through the Marshall defense to put the ball up and into the hoop and regain the lead. After a Tiger two-pointer, Holmgren's most significant play happened after she pulled down an offensive rebound, putting the ball back up and in while being fouled.
She completed the and one to earn the lead that St. Peter would maintain until the final buzzer. A Marshall two-point bucket cut the lead to one but Maloney made a strong play in the post to push it back to three.
The Tigers went 0-2 on the front end of a pair of one-and-ones in the final minute while Maloney drilled both of her attempts on a one and one and after a final shot rimmed out for Marshall, the celebration began in earnest for the Saints.
"Abby Maloney played the best I've seen in the last five minutes of that game," said Southworth. "One of the reasons we won that game is Abby Maloney."
With the win, St. Peter will now begin to prepare for the class AAA MSHSL State Tournament which is scheduled to begin Wednesday, March 13. This is the first time since the 2019 season that the Saints will be competing in the state tournament and the first time they will compete there at the AAA level.
Seeding is still to be determined, but the AAA field will play the first round at Maturi Pavilion on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Games are scheduled to begin every two hours beginning at 10 a.m.
Information regarding the tournament and ticketing can be found at <https://www.mshsl.org/sports-and-activities/basketball-girls>.
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