Wagner breaks own state tournament record with 53 points

NRHEG star helped team score 100 points in rout of Pequot Lakes.

By Brady O'Brien brady.obrien@startribune.com

Carlie Wagner picked up right where she left off last March.

The future Gopher, who set a state tournament single-game scoring record in the Class 2A championship game in 2013, broke that mark on Wednesday with 53 points in leading New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva to a 100-68 victory over Pequot Lakes in the Class 2A quarterfinals.

The game at Mariucci Arena also marked the first time that a girls' basketball team scored 100 points in the state tournament. Two other tournament scoring records also fell.

Wagner, who scored 50 points in the Class 2A title game last season, broke the record when she made the second of two free throws after she was fouled late in the second half. She went to the bench with 2:59 left in the game.

"I didn't really notice until the end of the game when the crowd went crazy," Wagner said of her record-breaking day. "I looked [at the scoreboard] and was like, 'Oh, OK.' "

"[Wagner] has the ability to score from anywhere on the court at any point of the game," New Richland-HEG coach John Schultz. "That's what separates her from other players."

Pequot Lakes (23-7) hung tough in the first half and was able to mostly keep up with New Richland-HEG's frenetic pace and hot three-point shooting. Kayla Miller had 15 points and Katie White had 10 points for the Patriots and the team shot 6-for-15 behind the arc in the first half compared to 7-for-20 for New Richland. Wagner scored 26 points of her team's 50 first-half points.

The second half proved to be a different story. Wagner, a senior guard, scored 27 more points, equaling Pequot Lakes's total. New Richland-HEG (29-0) won its 59th consecutive game.

Schultz said Wagner "has put the community on the map. She has gotten her teammates recruited. She has done so much for our entire community."

Wagner, who has signed a letter of intent to play for Minnesota next season, is 36 points shy of breaking Janet Karvonen's record of 329 points as the all-time tournament career scoring leader. Karvonen set the mark in four tournaments, ending in 1980. Wagner is playing in her third.

Her next move comes Friday afternoon, when her team takes the floor at Williams Arena for a Class 2A semifinal game.

"I'll be spending the next four years on that floor … so I'm really excited to get over there," she said.

For Pequot Lakes, Miller finished with 25 points and teammates White and Vanessa Lane with 19 apiece.

The teams combined for a tournament-record 168 points. New Richland-HEG made 13 three-point shots, also a record.