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The Warriors in action, from top to bottom:
The Warriors’ Cassie Gran was half a foot shorter than Cotter’s
center Jenny Gilbertson.
Caledonia’s trainer Doc Schoeberl helped Libby Augedahl stop a bloody nose during the final minutes of the game.
Caledonia’s Laquita Becker tries to power past Cotters’ 6’2” center Jenny Gilbertson, as Brianna Vick looks on.
The Warrior’s Megan King wasn’t bothered by the Cotter cheering section, which nearly spilled out on the floor.
Sarah Colleran concentrated on this jump shot.
Photos by Charlie Warner
By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
For the fourth straight year, Caledonia and Winona Cotter met for the
Section One AA East Sub-section championship game. And for the second
straight year, the Warriors topped the Ramblers to move on to the
Section One AA championship game. The CHS girls beat a very tall and
talented Cotter team 66-60 Saturday night at the Mayo Civic Center
before a large and loud crowd.
The much smaller Warriors utilized a tenacious trapping defense, and
ran when they could, to avenge a 21-point loss to the Ramblers (54-33)
on Jan. 19.
The two teams battled back and forth, with the lead changing hands
countless times. Caledonia held a 33-30 halftime lead, but Cotter tied
the game at 41-all with 11 minutes to play.
The Warriors went on a 6-0 run and held a four or six point lead the
rest of the game. Cotter was forced into a full-court press, which the
smaller, quicker Warriors were able to break.
With 90 seconds remaining in the contest, the Ramblers brought all of
their defenders into the front court, in an attempt to deny the inbound
pass following a Cotter score. Cassie Gran broke off a screen, caught a
pass in full stride and scored an uncontested lay-up to give the
Warriors a six-point lead.
Cotter again scored and attempted to stifle the Warriors. The Warriors
connected on another full-court pass to Gran for the score, pushing the
lead back to six points with less than 30 second to go.
The Ramblers were able to score again, called a quick time out and once
again set up their defense. This time coach Scott Sorenson had Laquita
Becker break off the screen and dashed for the open basket. The
Warriors scored on a third straight “Hail Mary” pass and won by six.
“The girls executed our game plan very well,” Sorenson said. “They
played very tough defense, and we worked the ball around for the open
shot on offense.”
Libby Augedahl led the Warrior offensive attack with 21 points. Megan King added 12 points.
No other stats were made available by the coaching staff.
The 25-3 Warriors will meet Rochester Lourdes (23-7) for the Section
One AA championship this Thursday night at the Mayo Civic Center. Game
time is 8 p.m.
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