Basketball: Saints strong start fades in loss at state

By Jason Olson
SportsPrepZone Editor

No. 4 seed Chaska proved to be too strong inside while St. Francis ' shooting woes in the second half hindered an otherwise strong start, losing its state Class AAAA quarterfinal 76-57, March 17.

St. Francis (25-5) started strong on an 8-2 run thanks to back-to-back baskets with a steal under the basket in between by Jordan Falk. Taylor Morrell added a three pointer to set the up-and-down tone for the Fighting Saints.

"Before the game she talked about leaving it all out on the floor," senior guard Marissa Borstner said. "We had our team talk before the game and we all knew that the season could end at any time so we didn't want to leave anything out there."

Falk led the Saints with 16 points and four steals while Morrell scored 14 points and Borstner contributed 13 points and two steals.

Like any seasoned squad, Chaska (ranked seventh in the final coaches poll) used its size inside to convert much of its offense.The Hawks big inside players, Ellen Degler and Brianna Tisch scored 19 and 12 points respectively, but it was guard Brooke Brown to put the dagger in the Saints season, scoring  a game-high 20 points.

Saints coach Jen Close said the key to breaking past Chaska's inside game was to go directly at them instead of focusing on playing from the perimeter. It worked at times in the first half, drawing 11 fouls in the first half, two on Degler, one on Tisch and three on another forward, Megan Evangelista.

The Saints didn't challenge the Hawks inside to the extent they did in the second half, only going to line three times (1-for-3) while the converted 74 percent from the line in the first half (11-15).

St. Francis ' defense out ran the Hawks at times, finishing the game with the 21-14 edge in points off turnovers.

"No doubt we were trying to get them into foul trouble early," Close said. "We knew that if we went at them they would get into trouble and it work in the first half.
"We're a team that likes to be aggressive and push the ball up the court so we knew that would play into our favor."

As strong as St. Francis played in the first half, keeping the score within reach, down 35-31 at the break, they came out cold in the second half, shooting 38 percent from the field (11-29) finishing the game 5-for-22 from behind the three point line (23 percent).

St. Francis drew within three points, 38-35, with 16:23 left in the second half as Kelsey Lipinski scored in the paint. Lipinski, the Saints' inside answer on both ends of the court pulled in four rebounds.

Chaska went on a 46-22 run from that point, putting the game out of reach.

"We missed a couple shots to start the half and that really hurt us," Close said. "We didn't get into the right (ball) rotation and we didn't swing the ball like we normally do for open looks."

Chaska broke the press to establish its half-court offense, which overpowered the Saints inside all game, out scoring St. Francis 44-18 in the paint and 11-0 on second chances.

Borstner said the goal in the second half was to pull the defenders out so they could work the ball inside the paint for easy baskets. Chaska didn't oblige as their big players trapped the Saints in the paint, making easy looks anything put.

"We had to play from behind the second half and that was tough to do," Borstner said about the play in the second half. "We needed to kick (the ball) down inside more to not let them collapse in the paint to force a turnover."

Having five seniors leave the program next season, Close said the opportunities will be there for the next generation of Saints players.

"We had a much more balanced attack this year, compared to our 2008 team (last time St. Francis was at state)," Close said. "I was an assistant coach at that time and we were skeptical going against (eventual champion) Eastview. This time we knew we could play with Chaska."

Joy Mikkelson is the only starter that could return. The junior went 0-6 from the field (0-for-5, three pointers) while pulling down four rebounds.

Jason Olson is at jason.olson@ecm-inc.com.