Goodhue Girls Advance to Class A Semifinals

The Goodhue Wildcat girls basketball team truly lives up to their name.

When they get their defense in scramble mode, they are like wildcats clawing for the ball and making their opponents uncomfortable.

Goodhue forced 24 Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther turnovers, and the official statistics had them scoring 33 points off those turnovers to capture a 68-55 win Thursday in quarterfinal round Class A state tournament action at Mariucci Arena.

Goodhue led 33-22 at the half and only trailed one time by a scant point in the first half. The game was never tied.

It didn't look good early when Goodhue's leading scorer and rebounder, 6-foot junior  Sydney Lodermeier, got two fairly quick fouls called on her, and every starter had a  couple of fouls at the half.

But Goodhue did what Goodhue does and that's get after it on defense. Some foul issues were not going to alter what they do, as they appeared to wear down the Jaguars.

The Wildcats were led by 5-foot-8 senior Maddy Miller with 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Lodermeier finished the game with 10 points and seven rebounds; 5-foot-5 senior McKenzie Ryan tallied 14 points on 4 of 7 shooting from three-point range; 5-foot-6 junior Emily Benrud had a huge game for the Wildcats with 13 points, eight rebounds and four steals.

GHEC boasted a big front line and came into the game out-rebounding their opponents by 10 boards per game. The officials stats had the Jaguars up in that department, but just by two rebounds 37-35.

Six-foot senior Hanna Geistfeld finished with a double-double 19 points and 12 rebounds, and 6-foot-1 senior Kenlie Pytleski finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Our Goodhue County ADA Wildcats of the game were Miller, Benrud, Ryan and 6-foot-3 sophomore Lexie Lodermeier, who had six points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes of action. I had a feeling going into the game that Lexie would be needed to contribute significantly off the bench.

No. 2 seed Goodhue plays No. 3 seed Cromwell-Wright at Williams Arena in semifinal action at 2PM Friday. The winner plays for a state championship at noon Saturday on the raised floor in The Barn.

You can listen to the game broadcast below.