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Otters suffer 49-44 overtime loss in state quarterfinals
Erlandson's clutch three sets up Minnehaha win
Published Thursday, March 13, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS – The Fergus Falls Otters left it all on the court Wednesday night in a tremendously physical Class 3A state quarterfinal game at the Target Center.
The Otters came out of the short end of a 49-44 overtime decision but left the court knowing they had given the best they had.
“As painful as it is right now I just can't say enough positive things about our team and how proud I am of how hard we've battled all year long, not just tonight but all season long," said Fergus Falls head coach Dave Rund. "Tonight, unfortunately, they made an extra play.”
The biggest extra play of the game was when Minnehaha Academy star Megan Erlandson knocked down a three at the buzzer to send the game into overtime tied at 41-all.
“I can hardly remember it,” said Erlandson. “I just knew we needed a three and it went in.”
The Otters made history last week when the defeated arch rival Detroit Lakes 46-45 to become the first Fergus Falls girls' basketball team to ever qualify for the state tournament. They held at team that averaged 74.9 points a game in check all night long, but Erlandson's trey was completely legit.
“She hit a good shot,” said Fergus Falls star Hannah Draxten, who saw her team lose their only game of the season to a Class 3A club. The Otters entered the state tournament having lost four games to Class 4A clubs.
Draxten, who is headed for the University of Iowa on a basketball scholarship next fall to play for the Division I Hawkeyes, scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Otters.
“Tremendous players make tremendous plays and Hannah did it again and again tonight,” said Rund.
The Otters dominated the first half 26-15 with Draxten and Erin Morstad both scoring eight points. The Otters canned five of their nine treys for a sizzling 56 percent and hit on 10 of their 23 floor shots for a respectable 43.5 percent. The high-scoring Redhawks were 3-for-19 from the field for an anemic 16 percent.
Both teams lost key players in the first half. Minnehaha Academy lost double figure threat Rachel Hansen to a knee injury. With five minutes left in the first half the Otters lost Amanda Lewis, the team's No. 2 scorer this year, when she re-injured her right shoulder. Lewis's arm was bent back when she went in for a layup and she left the court in terrific pain.
Having shot so poorly in the first half the Redhawks played a more deliberate style in the second half. They showed their defensive abilities in rallying for a 14-2 scoring stretch that saw them take a 34-31 lead on a trey by Sarah Peterson at the 8:33 mark.
Draxten put the Otters back on top with a pair of free throws, a deuce and two more free throws that gave the Otters a 38-34 lead, Ani Johnson canned a three to bring the Redhawks within one at the 3:58 mark. After Draxten hit a deuce, big Katelyn Adams hit a free throw at the 2:47 mark to bring Minnehaha within two.
When Peterson took a three with 17 seconds left and missed her shot Morstad was fouled on the rebound and gave the Otters a three-point lead with 15.1 seconds left. Her second shot failed to drop but the Redhawks had to have three, or else.
“They had the momentum coming into the overtime,” said Draxten. “We stopped them but they came up big again.”
Draxten opened the overtime by hitting a three but Erlandson completed a three-point play to tie the game. A pair of free throws by Brittany Norby put the Redhawks ahead for good. Morstad, Draxten, Becca Rengel and Sarah Erickson all took field goal shots after Norby's free throws but they did not fall. Erlandson made the game's final three points at the foul line.
Erlandson finished the game with 16 points while Johnson added 12. The Redhawks made 33 percent of their floor shots and were 16 of 22 at the foul line. The Redhawks hit on five of their 10 treys in the second half after making only two of eight three-pointers in the first half. The Otters missed all four of their second half treys and were just one for eight on treys in the last two periods.
The ffifth-seeded Otters end their season with a 24-5 record. The fourth-seeded Redhawks will advance to Thursday's semifinals with a 27-3 record. Josh Thurow's club with face the top-seeded DeLaSalle Islanders, a team they have lost to twice this season by a total of nine points. The Islanders advanced Wednesday with a 51-38 win over Austin.
Thurow left the court with a terrific respect for his team's quarterfinal opponent as well as for their fans.
“I'm completely jealous,” said Thurow. “They should be proud of their team and I am sure they are.”
Lewis managed a grin after the game when she talked about the battle her club gave the Redhawks.
“We came to play and we left it all out there,” said Lewis.
FERGUS FALLS (44)
S. Erickson 3, S. Wellendorf 5, E. Morstad 9, H. Draxten 23, B. Gagner 2, B. Rengel 2. Totals: 9/6 8-15 44
MINNEHAHA ACADEMY (49)
B. Norby 8, R. Hansen 1, A. Johnson 12, S. Peterson 5, M. Erlandson 16, K. Adams 7. Totals: 6/7 16-22 49
FF 26 16 3 _ 44
MA 15 26 8 _ 49
Fouls: FF 21, MA 13
Fouled Out: Rengel (FF)
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by IAmLegend (anonymous) on March 13, 2008 at 7:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
all i can say is that MSHSL should be ashamed of the refs they hired for last nights game....cause i'm pretty sure that "CLutch Three" was really an unclutch two...and the foul ratio is ridiculous...hosestly those refs got what they deserved when they had to run to their locker room on the fergus side....but what a beautiful season by the girls this year what a team that in all honesty deserved to win it all...way to go girls!!!
Posted by JacobMHD (anonymous) on March 13, 2008 at 8 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'll bet someone has the video.
Posted by IAmLegend (anonymous) on March 13, 2008 at 8:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
we need to put it on this site...cause i'm still not so sure about that shot...maybe i'm wrong...but if i'm right then wag of the finger to the refs...tip of the hat to the fergus girls though
Posted by prock22 (anonymous) on March 13, 2008 at 4:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We didn't lose because of a 3 pointer. We had a run of about 8-9 minutes of scoreless play, many turn-overs, and yes some bad fouls. I have high regards for the team and they did well. But too many times in that game when clearing their defensive zone they stood still with the ball waiting for Hannah to get open and control it up court. Rund should have put it in those girls' heads to have some confidence in themselves because they were a different team the 2nd half.
All in all, they competed very well against one of the stronger teams in the tournament. I'm not trying to be negative, but Minnehaha didn't beat us, we beat ourselves.
On another note...editors, please do your job and proof the copy before you post/publish. Slight grammatical errors are very common on this site!!
Posted by IAmLegend (anonymous) on March 14, 2008 at 8:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
yes daily journal...pull it together
Posted by vvv (anonymous) on March 14, 2008 at 3:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Just noticed that there is now a highlight video from the game posted under the "Video Gallery" section of this website.
The video includes the three point shot at the end of regulation. Sure looked legit to me. It is a difficult camera angle because the camera was at court level and behind the shooter but I would guess that both feet were at least 4-6 inches behind the three point line. In fact the still frame on the "Videos" page is from when the shooter was planting her feet for the shot.
By the way, I REALLY wish the videos from this website could have the normal play, pause, forward, and reverse functions available. Frustrating to view.
Posted by samkiefer (Sam Kiefer) on March 14, 2008 at 7:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Adding user controls is what we are currently working on... Right now our files are uploaded in the adobe flash .swf file extention, and we've been trying to get the play/pause and the rest of the controls included.
We have been making a lot of changes to the site lately, so please try to bear with us as we try to embrace all technology avenues now available. Currently we (the royal we in this case) don't have the ability to do multi camera work (I'm only one man), but that is something that is in the works as well.
also, the three point shot was definately legit. In my source footage, her feet are clearly behind the arc. The girls definately fought hard, and should be proud of the game they played.
Posted by IAmLegend (anonymous) on March 17, 2008 at 6:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
well thank you for looking at the tape...i just wasn't completely sure about it...but now i'm fine with it
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