The Wayzata girls basketball team wanted to leave no doubt as to who was the better team when they collided with the Minnetonka Skippers in the quarterfinals of the section 6AAAA tournament. The Trojans acommplished that goal by jumping out to an early lead and cruising to a 60-41 victory.
Freshman Marissa Grossfeld led all scorers with 18 points, while senior Kate Thompson added 15. Sophomore Kristi Kuhn and senior Teresa Thour also made key contributions with nine and seven points respectively.
With 9:45 remaining in the first half, the Trojans led 17-4 with Thompson doing most of the damage.
The Skippers hung around for awhile, but when the Trojans got a three pointer from senior Alexa Clausen and a lay-up by Grossfeld with 3:30 left in the first half, the lead had swelled to 15 at 27-12.
Thompson hit a bucket just before the halftime buzzer and the Trojans went into the locker room up 31-17.
It didn’t take long for the Trojans to extend the lead out to 20 in the second half. With eight minutes remaining in the game the Trojans put a final nail in the Skippers’ coffin when Kuhn hit a three pointer and Thour converted a steal into a fast break lay-up to put the Trojans up 51-29.
The Trojans will have two days to enjoy the victory and then its back to work against the top seeded Hopkins Royals in the section semifinals. The Royals dispatched the eighth seeded St. Louis Park Orioles 78-27 in quarterfinal action on Wednesday. The Royals and Trojans will meet at 12 p.m. on Saturday at Osseo High School.
The number two seed, Minneapolis South, will face sixth seeded Minneapolis Southwest in the other semifinal. Southwest upset third seeded Armstrong 38-36 in tonight’s quarterfinal round.
By Matt Thomas, Wayzata.com Sports Reporter Photography by Jon Wright / J&K Creative
Despite a valiant effort against the number four ranked team in the state, the Wayzata girls basketball team lost a heartbreaker, 56-55 to the Hopkins Royals on Tuesday night.
Hopkins senior Jenna Lillemoe made three of four free throws in the final 15 seconds to help the Royals secure the victory and improve to 22-2 on the season. With the loss, the Trojans fell to 12-9.
With the Royals leading 53-49, Wayzata senior Kate Thompson nailed a long three pointer with 17 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 53-52.
The Trojans fouled Lillemoe on the ensuing inbound play and Lillemoe converted both free throws to push the lead out to 55-52.
After Thompson missed a pull-up three pointer that would have tied the game, Lillemoe was fouled again with seven seconds remaining. This time she made one of two free throws to give Hopkins a 56-52 lead.
Thompson came down and made another three pointer with 2.5 seconds left to cut the lead to one, but the Trojans had no timeouts remaining and Hopkins was able to run out the clock without inbounding the ball.
A physical first half saw the Trojans jump out to an early 11-3 lead. Baskets were hard to come by for both teams as the Trojans took an 18-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Royals led by as many as six in the second half, but were never able to put the Trojans away.
Thompson led all scorers with 24 points, while senior forward Christina Keup added nine for the Trojans.
The Royals were led by Lillemoe who scored 14 points, while senior Kara Ellofson added 13.
The Wayzata girls basketball team had four players score in double figures on Tuesday night as they improved to 12-7 on the season with a 62-48 victory over Minneapolis North.
Senior Kate Thompson scored 20 points to lead all scorers. Senior Teresa Thour added 13 points, while senior Christina Keup and freshman Marissa Grossfeld added 12 and 11 points respectively. Senior Alexa Clausen was the only other Trojans player to get in the scoring column – she had six.
A strong defensive effort in the first half allowed the Trojans to jump out to a 29-16 halftime lead. The team has now won four straight and seven of their last nine games.
The Trojans will play their final non-conference game of the regular season on Friday, Feb. 13 when they travel to Richfield.
The Wayzata girls basketball team made 20-24 free throws on Friday night against Minnetonka, including 11-12 in the final 1:30 of the game, to seal up a 63-56 Classic Lake Conference victory over the Skippers.
The win moves the Trojans to 3-1 in conference play and into a first place tie with Hopkins and Armstrong.
Things did not start out well for the Trojans as they found themselves in an early 16-6 hole after the Skippers made seven of their first 10 shots from the field.
The Skippers led 26-13 late in the first half when the Trojans fought their way back into the game with an 11-2 run to end the first half.
Senior Alexa Clausen made a deep three pointer and senior Kate Thompson took the ball the length of the court for a buzzer beating lay-up to end the first half with the Trojans trailing by just four.
It didn’t take long for the Trojans to reclaim the lead in the opening minutes of the second half. Clausen started the half with her second three pointer of the game and freshman Marissa Grossfeld followed with back to back jump shots to give the Trojans a 31-30 lead.
The two teams traded leads back and forth for a majority of the second half until the Trojans took the lead for good with 5:27 remaining on a three pointer by junior Kristi Kuhn.
The Trojans led by just one at 52-51, but clutch free throw shooting down the stretch made the difference. Thompson and fellow seniors Teresa Thour and Missi Crees combined to go 11-12 at the free line over the game’s final ninety seconds.
Thour finished the game with 10 points on a perfect 10-10 performance at the free throw line. Thompson led all scorers with 21 points on 8-17 shooting from the field. Kuhn also finished in double figures with 11 points on 5-11 from the field. Grossfeld and Clausen chipped in with eight and seven points respectively.
The Skippers were led by sophomore Katy Winge and senior Ali Bongard, who each scored 18 points on efficient shooting nights. Winge went 8-14 from the field, while Bongard went 8-11.
With just six games remaining in the regular season, the Trojans are now 11-7 overall. They have two non-conference games next week against Minneapolis North and Richfield before they resume the second half of the Classic Lake Conference schedule.
The Trojans will host Minneapolis North on Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 7:15 p.m.
Kate Thompson has scored in double figures in every Wayzata girls basketball game so far this season, and she wasn’t about to let the Buffalo Bison bring her streak to a halt. Thompson scored a game-high 18 points, including 11 in the second half as the Trojans won their eighth game of the season, 57-40 over the Bison on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
The Trojans led by just four, 26-22 at halftime, but used a superb defensive effort in the second half to cruise to the 17-point victory. The Trojans held the Bison without a field goal for the first 10:32 of the second half and forced them to shoot just 4-25 from the field in the second half.
“When it feels like it’s going to be a difficult night to make baskets, you hope that you can get it done on the defensive end,” Wayzata head coach Kris Jones said. “We asked our girls to give a little more energy in the second half. We made them put the ball on the floor a little bit and at that point I don’t think they were that comfortable.”
The Trojans started the second half on an 8-0 run to turn their 26-22 halftime lead into a more commanding 34-22 lead. Senior Alexa Clausen hit a pair of three pointers and Thompson added a jumper in the lane to give the Trojans the 12-point lead.
“When Alexa is hot from the outside, it’s almost an automatic win for us,” Thompson said. “When we get those three pointers, it gives us a nice cushion.”
The Trojans led 47-38 with four minutes left in the game when Thompson and senior Teresa Thour put the game away at the free throw line. The two combined to go 8-8 at the line down the stretch to deny the Bison any hope for a comeback.
Free throw shooting proved to be critical as the Trojans went 17-19 as a team, while the Bison missed several opportunities to close the gap by going just 14-26 at the line.
While Thompson was the lone Trojans player to score in double figures, eight other players contributed in the scoring column including freshman post players Marissa Grossfeld and Kayla Timmerman.
Grossfeld and Timmerman come off the bench to spell senior forward Christina Keup. Keup scored eight points on the night, while Grossfeld and Timmerman added six and four respectively.
“Our ninth grade posts have grown up a little bit and learned a lot,” Jones said. “It really gives us three different looks in the post and has given us some more production off our bench.”
Bench production will be key for the Trojans during the second half of the season, as opposing teams focus their defensive efforts on stopping Thompson. Thompson, a 6’3” player with guard skills, is averaging 19.2 points per game. She is headed for the University of Michigan next year on a scholarship.
“I love the coaching staff at Michigan. Coach (Kevin) Borseth is very animated, but he’s an awesome coach with a great reputation,” Thompson said. “There are a couple of Minnesota girls who already go there so it will be fun to play with them and lastly it’s just a great school.”
Thompson and the Trojans will now take their 8-6 record into Classic Lake Conference play. The Trojans will get a good idea of where are they are at as a team when they face seven-time defending conference champion Hopkins on Friday, Jan. 23.
“When you play Hopkins you know they are going to be talented, athletic and well coached,” Jones said. “You get your team ready by allowing them to fear nothing.”
“Hopkins is a very talented team with a couple of Division I players,” Thompson said. “I think we just need to play our game and make sure that Hopkins doesn’t get out to a big lead early on.”
Box Score
Wayzata: Kate Thompson 18, Christina Keup 8, Alexa Clausen 6, Marissa Grossfeld 6, Kristi Kuhn 6, Teresa Thour 4, Kayla Timmerman 4, Jordan Risberg 3, Rudy Ruffin 2
Team Stats: Field Goals: 17-42 (40%), Three Pointers: 6-17 (35%), Free Throws: 17-19 (89%)
Buffalo: Deanne Bechtold 10, Molly Muntifering 8, Miranda Speckel 6, Taylor Johnson 6, Hanna Rohl 5, Kristin Jeske 3, Ashley Patri 2
Team Stats: Field Goals: 12-48 (25%), Three Pointers: 2-14 (14%), Free Throws: 14-26 (54%)
By Matt Thomas, Wayzata.com Sports Reporter
You must be logged in to post a comment.