Posted: 3/10/04
Head Coach Dan Schindler knew that Totino-Grace had been on a hot streak to end the regular season. He knew that with 11 wins in the Eaglesí last 15 games, they would be tough to beat.
Three points was all Totino needed March 4 to end the North Branch girls basketball season.
Totino came into the section quarterfinal game as the statistical underdog, seeded No. 6. North Branch was seeded No. 3 in the section. A 12-6 first quarter put the game in the Eagleís hands and the Vikes were never able to recover.
ìI think we came out a little nervous and we tried to force the ball too much on the inside right away,î Schindler said.
Totino took advantage of aggressive rebounding, often sinking shots on the second or third try in the first quarter.
North Branch trailed 22-16 at the half and continued to struggle on offense. ìThe main problem is that they play great defense too and their size really hurt our perimeter people from getting off any open shots,î Schindler said.
The team settled down and came out strong in the third quarter, tying the game at 24-24 midway through the quarter. Schindler said the team wasnít able to get in a rhythm after that, falling 38-35. ìTotino was just able to make more shots than us,î he said.
Junior Jenny Anderson led the team with 10 points, followed by freshman Gabrielle Olson with 8. Senior Rachel Brown added 7 and senior Vashaity Center had 6.
The game ended the Vikes season with an 18-9 overall record and third place in the RRC.
ìWe certainly were very disappointed with the loss, but we are still very happy with our season,î Schindler said. ìI think this team really showed improvement over the season and we only lost 3 games since January 1, going 14-3.îÝÝ
Schindler thanks the five seniors who were ìjust great people to coach over the past 4 yearsî ñ Katie Hasleiet, Rachel Brown, Kara Lundeen, Vashaity Center and Jennah Engen. He also thanks the parents, fans and assistant coaches Brian Hasleiet, Kristen Hetland and Allison Reese.
The North Branch JV squad finished with a 16-10 record and the 9th grade team ended at 25-4. ìWe will be expecting many of these players to step up next year and help the varsity,î Schindler said.
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