Kasson-Mantorville Spark Plug Turns To Booster In State Win

Kasson-Mantorville senior Cori Kennedy played just two minutes in the Komets' 62-55  win over New Prague on Wednesday in the Class AAA opening round of the state tournament. Kennedy went down with a knee injury and told me after the game there was a lot of pain and swelling. Her family was going to take her to a hospital to have it checked. Kennedy was understandably upset, but was an incredible cheerleader on the bench and behind the bench while her teammates avenged an earlier season loss to the No. 3-seeded and rated Trojans. The Class AAA No. 6-ranked Komets were not seeded in the tournament.

There is no question the spark plug to Kasson-Mantorville's engine is Kennedy. Her experience in the limelight is something you just can't replace. Kennedy has played in six state tournaments (I never got a sniff of one): three in softball, one volleyball and now two in basketball. As I said on the radio broadcast, Kennedy is the core of what K-M Komet basketball is about. Tough mentally, tough physically and smart. Even head coach Ryan Haraldson got a bit emotional talking about losing her for most of the game.

This was a total team win for the Komets. Six-foot-2 sophomore center Kristin Scott led the way with 23 points, four rebounds and four blocks in 33 minutes. Scott was seven of seven from the free throw line, which proved to be the key statistic in the game. Kasson-Mantorville scored 10 more points than New Prague from the charity stripe 18-8. The Trojans feasted off turnovers and did force 20, but when the Komets broke the press they were very efficient offensively, shooting 50 percent for the game (with 17 fewer shots than the Trojans) and 18 of 21 from the free throw line. The points in the paint were 34-24 in Kasson-Mantorville's favor and they outscored New Prague 14-8 in second chance points. The KM Telecom stats of the game, however, may be their 24-0 scoring off the bench and 42-24 advantage on the boards. Five-foot9 junior Maddie Worden and 5-foot-5 senior Kari Pingel rotated in off the bench in Kennedy's spot and combined for 14 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. The Komets were very effective when they had both post players in the game.

Six-foot-1 eighth-grader Peyton Suess could be called the doctor of the glass (Dr. Suess, I couldn't resist) with 12 rebounds and eight points in 20 minutes of action. Five-foot-9 senior Taylor Miller tallied 10 points in 20 minutes, and even though 5-foot-9 senior Taylor Wiebke didn't score in the game, she played 29 minutes, assisted in mastering the Trojan press, helping hold New Prague star point guard Maize Diehl to just six second-half points and doled out six assists. Nine players hit the floor during the game for Kasson-Mantorville, and New Prague went eight deep. The Trojans shot 35.6 percent for the game. Sophomores Deihl and Taylor Hustad had 20 and 13 points respectively. New Prague head coach Ron Gunderson told KDHL his team gets bumped up to Class AAAA next year.

The Komets led 35-32 at the Bigelow Homes of Rochester half. The biggest basket of this game may have been made by Maddie Worden after missing two free throws with :43 to go. New Prague had cut a seven-point lead to three when they immediately fouled Worden on the in-bounds pass. Worden missed both free throws, but followed her second miss, missed a layup, got another offensive rebound and scored with :39 to go to make it a five-point lead. New Prague missed a three with :28 to go, Seuss got the rebound and hit both her free throws with :22 to go.

Kasson-Mantorville will play defending state champion Park Center of Brooklyn Park at 2 p.m. Thursday at Williams Arena. KDHL Radio and kdhlradio.com coverage begins at 1:45 p.m. Haraldson told KDHL after their victory that Park Center will be more than a handful. They are young and fast. Six-foot-1 sophomore post Mikayla Hayes tallied 15 points and 15 rebounds in 24 minutes in the Pirates 72-57 quarterfinal round win over Richfield. Hayes was five of 19 from the field, but five of six from the free throw line. Park Center, however, does not have twin towers. Tempo will be a key for the Komets to advance to Saturday evening's championship.

By the way, Park Center's enrollment is 1,317 students and New Prague's 1,123. Kasson-Mantorville's is 592. Other winners in Class AAA were top-seed Orono 70-42 over Thief River Falls and Marshall 65-30 over Princeton. Orono faces Marshall at noon Thursday. The state title game is 6 p.m. Saturday and the third-place game will be played at Concordia University in St. Paul at 2 p.m. Saturday. KDHL will follow the Komets all the way.