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Section 6AAA Championship

North Branch 52

Andover 44

A little confidence can sure go a long way. After upsetting St. Michael-Albertville in the section semifinals, the same St. Michael team that edged out the Vikings for the conference title, North Branch figured why not keep it going? So last Friday in Irondale against top-seeded Andover, the Vikings stared the basketball gods in the face and pulled off the upset-again. This time, their reward was a section title and a berth to the state tournament. What a difference a little confidence can make.

The Vikings were ready from the opening tip. Facing a team that was considered one of the best teams in class 3A basketball, the third-seeded Vikings neutralized the Huskies with defense. Known for their athleticism, North Branch slowed them down, holding the Huskies to just nine points in the first quarter. Meanwhile, leading 7-4 at one point, the Vikings managed to hold on to a one point lead after one, 10-9.

The lead was short-lived. Immediately, Andover took the lead early in the second quarter, kicking off a see-saw battle that stretched both teams to the max. For North Branch, their adversity came right away as the Huskies went on a 8-1 run to begin the second, giving them a 17-11 lead with five minutes left in the half.

“It was up and down the whole way. The first three quarters, it seemed like every time a team got a four or five point lead, the other team went on a run to tie it up. We just had kids step it up,” said Dan Schindler, North Branch head girls basketball coach.”

After a North Branch time-out, the Vikings adjusted and fought back with a run of their own, scoring 10 of the next 15 points in the quarter to pull within one at the half. Senior’s Megan Stegmeir and Jenny Anderson came up huge for North Branch late in the quarter, combining to score nine of the Vikings 11 second quarter points. The lead was one for Andover at the half, 22-21.

Both teams mounted runs in the third as the back and forth track meet continued.

First, thanks to Tiffany Good’s touch from beyond the arc, the Vikings were able to pull in front by opening up the third with a 7-3 run. However, right on cue, the Huskies responded by going on a 9-1 run of their own to re-take the lead, 34-29. And if that wasn’t bad enough for Schindler and his team, sophomore point Gabi Olson picked up her fourth foul, sending her to the bench.

It was simple, North Branch needed someone to step up. As in the first half, Stegmeir was happy to respond. Stegmeir took over the point and drive to the basket every chance she got, scoring five points in the quarter- three from the free throw line.

“Everybody knows their roles on this team and she knew, once Gab went to the bench that she had to take the point over,” mentioned Schindler. “That’s her job when Gab goes out. Usually, it’s only for 30 seconds or a minute at the most, but here it was an extended period of time and she just picked it up.”

Meanwhile, Good was great as the sophomore continued to light it up with one clutch basket after another. Good’s ninth point of the quarter was a jumper from the baseline, giving North Branch back the lead, 37-36 with under a minute to play. Even though Andover finished the quarter with a basket of their own, the Vikings had climbed back into the game once again. The momentum was on their side heading into the fourth.

This team, probably more than any other team that I’ve had, doesn’t have any super stars. Jenny Anderson usually puts up some big stats, but in that game, we had Randi Zentner come off the bench because we were having trouble defensively against their post. She didn’t play a second in the St. Michael game and she was probably the biggest reason why we won and advanced to state because she played great defense,” remarked Schindler.

“Tiffany Good was struggling scoring and she gave us 12 points. Gab Olson got in foul trouble and we had to move Megan Stegmeir to the point. I don’t remember a game in my last four or five years when I didn’t sub a player out. She never came out of the game. She went six for six from the line in the fourth when she had to be dead tired. We have a lot of players who step it up and it’s a different player each night.”

Playing with a slim lead, the Huskies opened up the fourth quarter by taking all the time they could with each possession. With four minutes left, Andover went into a stall. While that was happening, Schindler was preparing his troops for the final run.

“The biggest thing we told them was composure and we still had plenty of time. They started to hold the ball with four minutes left and we told our kids that was way too much time. We had our best defensive unit in at the time and we told the kids not to go crazy, not to start fouling. Try to get a few steals,” commented Schindler.

“I also told them that we’ve been here before. We had two comeback wins against Foley, we had a comeback win against St. Michael. The kids are confident that we can do what it takes down the stretch. I think the kids went out there and did what we needed to do and not get in a panic mode and I think Andover did the opposite.”

Trailing 44-41 with two minutes left, the Vikings made their move. First, Olson, who was back in the game playing with four fouls, buried a basket from the right wing. Then with one minute left on the clock, Good tied the game at 44-44 with a free throw.

It stayed that way until an Andover turnover gave the ball right back to the Vikings. This time, Anderson converted under the basket with a hook shot, giving the Vikings a 46-44 lead with under a minute to play.

From there, the Vikings defense took over by picking up three steals over the final minute. One came from Stegmeir who in turn fouled as she drove to the basket. Her two free throws were good, pushing the North Branch lead to four with 25 ticks left. The excitement was mounting on the court and on the bench.

“Our motto has been ever since I came to the program, it’s starts with defense. Usually that’s what we put on the boards, on the back of our shooting shirts, it says defense wins championships,” said Schindler. “We work three-fourth's of our practice on defense compared to one-fourth on offense. That’s just what gets us there. We’re not flashy on offense. We usually look ahead to the fourth quarter when teams tire out, teams get tired and defense is the key. It certainly has worked well for us.”

Moments later, another steal led to another foul. This time, Olson walked to the free throw line and canned both, making the score 50-44. North Branch added two more free throws before it was all said and done. The Vikings hit nine of 12 free throws in the fourth.

Meanwhile, the Huskies didn’t have an answer. Over the final two minutes of the game, the Vikings had out-scored Andover 11-0, making the dream of a state tournament reality. When the final buzzer sounded, North Branch had themselves their second straight comeback win. This one was for the section title.

Stegmeir led all scores in the game with 17 points while Good finished with 12 and Anderson added 11. In all, seven Vikings scored in the game.

Up next is Sartell in the first round of the class 3A girls state basketball tournament at the Target Center. Sartell goes into the state tourney with a record of 20-8. North Branch is 23-6 overall.

“We know quite a bit about Sartell. I had some scouts at that game (section final). I have tape on Sartell. One nice thing about being in the business this long is that I have a lot of friends so I was on the phone all weekend,” smiled Schindler. “We’re excited to play them at state. We’re probably the underdog again but we’ve been that all year.”

North Branch 52

Andover 44

1 2 3 4 F

North Branch 10 11 16 15 52

Andover 9 13 16 6 44

Scoring-

Stegmeir 17, Good 12, Anderson 11, Olson 6, Robatcek, Graff, VandenHeuvel 2.

Note: Before the section championship game, Dan Schindler was named section co-coach of the year. Schindler won the award in 2001 and 2002 as well.

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