Providence problems: for second straight year Albany girls basketball falls in championship
MINNEAPOLIS – In the girls Class 2A state basketball tournament against Albany on Saturday, the first lead Providence took was with 7.7 seconds remaining.
The Huskies failed to get a shot off to regain their game-long advantage and lost their second game of the year 81-78. It was the teams’ fourth straight meeting in the state tourney and third championship matchup in those years. Albany (30-2) won in 2021, and Providence (28-4) has now won two consecutive titles over the Huskies. The most recent was played Saturday afternoon at Minnesota’s Williams Arena.
“I don’t mean to be controversial with this comment – I will always believe that this is the best girls basketball team for Class 2A,” Albany coach Aaron Boyum said of the Huskies after the game. “They beat Providence Academy at our place, and for them to step on that court after playing a run-and-jump Minnehaha (28-4) at 8 o’clock last night and put forth what they put forth without a couple of unfortunate things happening – I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
The No. 2 seed despite a Dec. 19 victory over Providence, Albany led the game at halftime 55-44 and was up as much as 18 over the No. 1 Lions, shooting lights-out in the first period. But because of star foul trouble and Providences’ hard defensive pressure, the lead dwindled until sophomore guard Maddyn Greenway scored off a missed free throw, dribbling coast-to-coast for a layup and the lead during those final seconds. Albany senior Savanna Pelzer took the free throw but missed the first shot of a one-and-one opportunity having shot 72.7% from the stripe before the tournament.
Albany turned the ball over for the 19th time in the game during those 7.7 seconds, and there was less than half a second remaining in its next possession after two made Lion foul shots.
Greenway is second in the state across all classes in total points this year (1,098) and points per game (35.7). She led scoring in the championship game with 30 points on 9-for-24 shooting.
“At half, (coach Conner Goetz) didn’t go into it as much, but we turned to each other and were like, ‘We’re not losing this game,’” Greenway said. “’We’ve gone through too much as a team to let it end like this.’ We kind of did what we did last year in the beginning of the second half where we went on a little bit of a run.”
It was the second night in a row Albany faced a team with a top-three-scoring player in the state. Against Minnehaha Academy in the semifinal Friday night, the Huskies had to erase a halftime deficit against junior Addi Mack, who had 1,027 points before beating Crosby-Ironton (25-8) in the third-place game Saturday.
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Albany started the championship on a three-minute 7-0 run with Pelzer, Sand and Gerads later scoring a few deadly 3-pointers to hold the lead. The trio of seniors were very confident shooting and ended up with the majority of Albany’s points.
Sand was 10 of 14 from the field and had 29 points and 17 rebounds for the Huskies. Pelzer had 13 points and led the team with five assists, and Kylan Gerads scored 23 points with 11 rebounds. Callie Holthaus was 3-for-13 from the field with eight points.
A senior who was effectively shut down was guard Tatum Findley – getting her three points on free throws. Providence senior Brooke Hohenecker was assigned Findley and focused tight, clean coverage with pass and shot denial.
The Huskies talked in the postgame conference about what their senior class means to each other. They were emotional and agreed that the game was one of the best they’ve played all year.
“They’re my best friends, and I’ve played since like fourth grade with some of them, so this is just one of the hardest goodbyes ever,” Sand said.
During Albany’s second-half slide, the Huskies tried different sets to slow the Lions. Pelzer took a few charges, and Sand tried, too, but a couple were called blocks. With four fouls and about 16 minutes remaining in the game, Albany’s main offensive threat had to be more conservative than she’d have liked.
“(Sands) is obviously a difference-maker down there,” Goetz said. “It’s really hard to score on her. She’s 6-foot-3-inches, but her arms are even longer. I think she has a 6’4”, 6’5” wingspan. She’s a special talent.”
He said having her less involved opened up the lane for freshman forward Ari Peterson and her junior counterpart Hope Counts, who both scored 12 points.
Albany has been to five state tournaments in six years and has the ‘21 championship and two runner-up finishes. This year makes Providence’s fifth-consecutive tournament, and the Lions have been on the podium each time, counting 2020’s “championship semifinalist” ending.
“Realistically, I believe if it wasn’t for us, (Albany) would be a four-time state champion,” Goetz said. “So, all credit to them. They’re absolutely fantastic, and they pushed us to the absolute brink, so for us to come back was pretty special.”
Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Albany girls basketball loses Minnesota state championship to Providence
