Holy Family Girls Basketball Section Recap
Sadly, on Wednesday, March 4, the Holy Family Girls Basketball season came to an end. Following victories over no. 12 Maple Lake and no. 4 Blake, the Fire were unable to defeat no.1 Providence Academy, whom they defeated in overtime earlier in the year.
The Fire’s shooting woes came at a bad time, with it arguably being some of their worst of the year. At half time, the Fire trailed 27 to 9. The Fire were 1-13 on threes going into halftime and were plagued with turnovers. In utterly shocking fashion, it took the Fire 24 minutes to score on back-to-back possessions. Ultimately, Lucy Hertel was a spark for the Fire coming out of the half and gave them a chance to get back into the game; a once 31-11 game, became 33-20 with 12 minutes to play. However, the Lions fired back with two consecutive three point baskets from Miller and Anderson, allowing Providence Academy to extend their lead back to 18 with 9 minutes to play. This proved to be the final blow to the Fire, who were unable to respond. Providence Academy defeated the Fire by a score of 65-39 and held the Fire to 3-25 from three. Providence Academy would go on to face the no. 2 seed, Watertown-Mayer in the section finals. In a 49-38 decision, the Providence Academy Lions prevailed over the Watertown-Mayer Royals and were able to punch their ticket to the State Tournament.
While it was a bittersweet ending to the season for the Fire, there is a lot to be proud of. Notably, Grace Elander was named Class AA All-State Honorable Mention for her outstanding play. The Fire also return 6 of their 8 players from their rotation next year, all of whom will be juniors or younger. The Fire are young and will only continue to grow with time. They have proven that they are talented enough to take on any team in Class AA. The Fire are truly a sight-to-behold when they get hot and are clicking on offense, possessing a lethal propensity to score that few teams can match. In addition, the Fire showed gradual improvement in rebounding and defense over the season, which they will look to carry into next year as well. Ultimately, the Fire gained valuable experience that will be crucial come next season as they will once again look to capture the Section 5AA title. With Providence Academy graduating 5 of their 7 players in their rotation and the Fire’s continued development, the section will be ripe for the taking. Be sure to keep your eye out for the Fire next year as they ready themselves for another shot at redemption.
