Coaches conspire to give Centennial senior Megan Stacy her moment

Less than a minute remained in Eden Prairie's 78-57 victory over Centennial on Wednesday when the Cougars set up for an inbounds play beneath the Eden Prairie basket.

The ball was passed to an unguarded Centennial player, who made an uncontested layup.

The player was senior Megan Stacy, a five-year varsity veteran who suffered a knee injury before the season and had only recently been cleared to resume jogging.

Centennial coach Jamie Sobolik and Eden Prairie coach Ellen Wiese had agreed before the game that if the opportunity arose they would get Stacy a basket as a way to recognize her years of contributions to the team.

"She's had multiple injuries," Sobolik said. "Ellen knows Megan well. If we had the opportunity, we wanted to get her in and get her a basket to end her basketball career that way."

In Stacy's first state tournament appearance, in eighth grade, she sprained an ankle in the first 10 seconds she was on the court.

"Injuries have kind of taken a toll on her," Sobolik said. "She's never really had the opportunity to live up the expectations everybody had for her."

Lakeville North 6-3 junior post player Trinity Wilson is aptly named. She represents three different challenges for the opposition. She has size, the ability to score and the willingness to rebound.

Stillwater coach Tim Peper knew his team had its hands full in Wednesday's Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal.

"We had worked a lot on trying to stop No. 30," Peper said. "She's very talented and very strong."

Wilson went right to work, scoring her team's first six points and forcing Peper to call timeout. He switched 6-foot senior forward Lexi Karlen to guard Wilson and decided to scrap the original game plan.

"We have not played a post player like her all year," Peper said. "We don't need to double a post, ever.

Karlen, the primary Wilson stopper, needed to rethink her own strategy.

"Early on, as soon as she caught the ball on the block, she would draw a foul or back us down every single time," Karlen said. "I started trying to bug her early, getting her out of the lane and not letting her get comfortable."

Karlen at least slowed Wilson, who scored six points in the first 1 minute, 21 seconds and then 12 the rest of the game. Wilson's 18 points were a team best. Karlen finished with 17 points.

DAVID La VAQUE

Tara Starks, Hopkins girls basketball coach, held her defense to a near impossible standard when it came to game-planning for Roseville guard Kendall Barnes.

Barnes did lead her team with 12 points, but the total was a long way from her two consecutive 31-point outings in the Section 5 playoffs. Credit guard Liv McGill for winning the matchup.

"It's always good going against better or as-good guards," said McGill, who helped her team roll to a 81-40 quarterfinal victory Wednesday. "But it's a team sport, so whether she scores or anybody else on her team scores — we're just trying to stop the whole team. I wasn't really focused on being better than her. I was really focused on helping my teammates and get the win."

Starks added: "We know the kid can score, so she was the focus of our defense. We spent a lot of time working on closing the gaps and face-guarding her, wearing her down so she wasn't able to do the damage we've seen her do."

DAVID La VAQUE

Marshall coach Dan Westby knew the best chance his team had to win against top-ranked Becker was to control the tempo.

"Their guards can wear you out," Westby said. "They are extremely skilled and can get you back on your heels."

Becker's trio of senior guards — Maren Westin, Ayla Brown, and Danielle Nuest — combined for 39 points and 11 assists. Westin led the way with 27 points and four assists, and Brown added 10 points and four assists.

"You have to pick your poison," Westby said. "They are awfully good, dynamic players. Becker is No. 1 for a reason."

RON HAGGSTROM

Despite being first-timers to the state tournament, and drawing the 2022 Class 4A runner-up in the first round, the Eagan players never felt like they were in over their heads in their 80-60 loss to St. Michael-Albertville on Wednesday.

The Eagan players were comfortable right away in the Williams Arena surroundings.

"The whole game," senior forward Maddie McCullum said. "Other people might say, 'Oh, it's Eagan. They're going to get crushed.' No. We're just as good as a lot of these teams."

Eagan coach Jesse Madsen said his team was confident leading up to Wednesday's quarterfinal.

"That's kind of where this program is at right now," he said. "We've kind of gotten over that hump of hoping we can win and have gotten to the point where it's like, 'OK, we should win this game.' "

JIM PAULSEN

Was Lions coach Connor Goetz worried that his star player would get hurt in a game that had been long since decided?

"I've seen Maddyn take a bunch of spills throughout her couple of years with me," Goetz said with a smile. "Let's just say that's how she always is. She's on the ground all the time, always getting bruises and bumps. She's one of the toughest kids I know. When your dad's a former linebacker, you're used to taking hits, and she can take hits."

Greenway is the daughter of former Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway.

JIM PAULSEN

New London-Spicer is known for its deliberate style and 2-3 zone defense. On Wednesday its players ran up against a different sort of defense that led to a different sort of offense. Minnehaha Academy's pressure defense contributed to its 50-28 victory.

Minnehaha Academy forced 23 turnovers, 13 in the second half, when the Redhawks outscored New London-Spicer 31-8.

"Any time you can hold a team to eight points in the second half, that's a good sign," Minnehaha Academy coach Matt Pryor said.