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Year in review for north/east metro sports: A miracle in five finishes

Here are five of Star Tribune staff writer David La Vaque's favorite North/East metro prep sports moments from 2017:

December 23, 2017 at 4:23AM

Maple Grove players celebrated an incredible 29-27comeback win against St. Michael-Albertville 29-27. The Crimson scored three touchdowns in the last minute. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

1 Maple Grove's one-minute miracle

The facts read like fiction when describing Maple Grove football's improbable comeback against St. Michael-Albertville in the Class 6A quarterfinals. The Crimson erupted for three touchdowns in the final 59 seconds. They recovered two onside kicks during the wild sequence, capped with a touchdown run with 4 seconds left in a 29-27 victory for the ages.

2 Elk River shoots lights-out

The Elk River girls' basketball team capped a perfect season with a title-game performance to match. The Elks (32-0) shot 56.1 percent (23-for-41) from the field and were even better from the three-point arc, shooting 64.3 percent (9-for-14). "Any time you shoot like that, you've got a shot to win the ballgame," said Brian Cosgriff, coach of runner-up Hopkins.

3 Raptors run to glory

Seniors Marcus Haskins and Collin Sieffert combined to help score 46 of their team's 51 points as East Ridge captured the Class 2A track and field state meet, the first team title for the Woodbury-based school. Haskins won the 800-meter run while Sieffert took second in the 300 hurdles. Each ran a leg on a winning relay as well, with Sieffert in the 4x200 and Haskins in the 4x400.

4 Precocious performance

Champlin Park eighth-grader Chaney Neu, 13, became the youngest gymnast to win an all-around championship in the state meet. Neu executed a Yurchenko layout, scoring a Class 2A meet-best 9.8 on her second of two vaults, lifting her to the all-around title. "That was my best vault of the year," Neu said. "If I didn't do that, I probably would have lost."

5 Championship focus

Mahtomedi junior midfielder Grace Padelford — impaired vision and all — scored the game-winning goal in the Class 1A girls' soccer state tournament title game. She scored in the 73rd minute, about 30 seconds after taking a ball to the nose. "My eyes are watering, and I can barely see the ball, and I just shoot it," she said. Her teammates' cheers told her she scored.

Chaney Neu, of Champlin Park, performed on the balance beam during the Class 2A state gymnastics meet. The eighth-grader won the all-around title. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Elk River forward Sidney Wentland hoisted the 4A championship trophy after the Elks beat Hopkins by shooting 56.1 percent from the field. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)