Golden Eagles’ comeback cut short

A furious second-half rally fell just short, and the Tower-Soudan Golden Eagles’ remarkable postseason run came to an end Wednesday night during the opening round of the state high school girls basketball tournament.Minneota hung on to defeat the Golden Eagles 66-64 in a Class A quarterfinal thriller at Williams Arena.Tower-Soudan, which swept through the Section 7A playoffs and earned the school’s first berth in the state basketball tournament, trailed by as many as 18 points against the Vikings before surging back.“The kids came into the huddle (after falling behind by 18) and said they weren’t going to let this one get away,” said Tower-Soudan Head Coach Randy Johnson, whose team finished 24-2. “They could have just as easily hung their head and said ‘we’re done.’ But they didn’t.”A 13-0 third quarter run, punctuated by the first of three three-pointers by six-foot junior center Katie Jamnick, got the Golden Eagles back in the game.In the fourth quarter, T-S pulled to within a basket on four separate occasions and had the ball trailing 64-61 with 15 seconds left.That’s when Minnesota’s Alyssa Buysse came up with the play of the game. She stole Alex Tomsich’s entry pass and took it in for a game-clinching layup.Tomsich responded with a three-pointer at the horn, but T-S ran out of time and saw its season come to an end.The Golden Eagles had nearly pulled off a comeback for the ages.Minneota had gone on an 11-2 run to end the first half and outscored the Golden Eagles to start the second to take a 40-22 lead two minutes into the third quarter.But the Vikings couldn’t finish T-S off.Senior Whitney Johnson, playing despite a bout with the flu and tonsillitis, helped force several Viking turnovers and had eight of her 14 points in the third quarter.Jamnick and Tomsich hit from long range and the lead went from 18 to five in three minutes.The Golden Eagles were never able to crawl all the way back, largely because of the efforts of Minneota’s Ashley Hennen.The junior guard had a game-high 28 points and nailed four three-pointers in the second half.When T-S pulled to within 47-43 early in the fourth, Hennen nailed a three-pointer from the right wing.It was 54-52 and the Golden Eagles were surging when Hennen responded again, this time with a triple from the left side.And after Tomsich hit a free throw to make it 60-58 with 2:15 to go, Hennen had back-to-back baskets to extend the gap to six.The Golden Eagles would have one last rush. Pam Frazee’s putback made it 64-61 with 27 seconds left, and Tomsich picked up a steal on the ensuing possession.After a timeout, Buysse answered with a steal of her own, stepping in front of a pass intended for Jamnick.Brittany Buysse added 18 points for the Vikings, who advanced to play unbeaten Fosston in Friday’s semifinals.Tomsich finished with 19 points for T-S. Johnson had 14 points, seven assists and four steals while Jamnick had a monster second half to wind up with 16 points and 13 rebounds.“Jamnick had a heck of a game,” said Randy Johnson. “I’ve been saying that each game has been her best game and every game she seems to get better.”The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early 6-3 lead but Minneota picked apart the T-S defense the rest of the opening frame, taking a 17-13 lead.Both teams struggled from the floor for much of the second quarter, but the Vikings’ late spurt gave them a 31-20 lead at the half.Hennen drained a ‘three’ to start the third quarter and the Vikings opened up the 18-point bulge.That’s when the Golden Eagles finally got their transition game in gear. They scored after missed Vikings shots and stepped up the defensive pressure up top, with Johnson and Frazee wreaking havoc.Minneota had 23 turnovers, 16 in the second half.Tower-Soudan 62, Cromwell 55Frazee and Katie Zavodnik did a number on Cardinals star Kylee Smith, holding the sharpshooter scoreless for a 14-minute stretch as the Golden Eagles prevailed in the 7A title tilt, held March 4 at Hibbing.Smith scored 13 of her 20 points in the opening quarter and Cromwell led 16-14 after the first eight minutes.It was a different game after that, as T-S junked it up on defense, going to a box-and-one with Frazee and Zavodnik both taking turns guarding Smith.That and a huge edge on the boards - Tower-Soudan outrebounded Cromwell 40-18- turned the tide.Jamnick helped fuel a second quarter run that gave the Golden Eagles a 32-23 lead at the half.Johnson’s late basket gave T-S a 12-point lead after three-quarters and the Golden Eagles opened up a 16-point fourth quarter bulge after a ‘three’ by Tomsich and a Zavodnik free throw.Cromwell, the defending section champion, had one last run as Smith and Alexa Grones knocked down three-pointers and the gap was sliced to five at 52-47.A drive to the hoop by Tomsich and some free throws down the stretch by Johnson sealed it for the Golden Eagles.