Kenyon-Wanamingo Falls To Dover-Eyota

The Kenyon-Wanamingo girls basketball team had an incredibly successful year, but saw it end in the West Subsection championship game Saturday.

The No. 1-rated Dover-Eyota Eagles definitely had their game faces on. From the opening tip to the end of the game they were relentless defensively and were an absolute rebounding machine. The final score was 74-54.

The Eagles flew out to a 46-30 halftime lead. The Knights came into the game giving up an average of 51 points per game. Kenyon-Wanamingo did a better job defensively in the second half, but Dover-Eyota's physicality got the best of them.

Knights head coach Brent Lurken had his team pack it in defensively and dared the Eagles to shoot the long ball -- something they hadn't shown a great ability to do during the season. They hit their threes on Saturday, canning six of them in the first half to help them get their double-digit lead at the break. Junior Madison Nelson, 6-foot-1, led Dover-Eyota with 20 points, 6-foot-1 junior Megan Hintz added 19, 5-foot-11 senior point guard Brandi Blattner had 17 and 5-foot-9 senior Danielle Higgins tallied 11.

Kenyon-Wanamingo also had four players in double figures. Sophomore Mara Quam, 5-foot-7, and 5-foot-11 senior Megan Quam finished with 14 each, 5-foot-8 sophomore Savannah Bleese had 11 and 6-foot senior Brittany Flom finished with 10.

Kenyon-Wanamingo had 10 first-half turnovers and saw the Eagles collect 11 points off of them. Dover-Eyota was 16 of 26 from the free throw line while Kenyon-Wanamingo was four of seven -- more proof of the physical strength of the top-rated team in the state, according to Minnesota Basketball News.

K-W finished their season 21-8 and had one of the toughest schedules in the state in Class AA. The four seniors for the Knights were our Held Bus Knights of the game: Emily Ashland, Megan Quam, Mariah Quam and Brittany Flom. Megan Quam and Flom finished their careers with more than a thousand points. Quam is heading to Augsburg to play basketball and Flom to St. Mary's University in Winona to play volleyball. Ashland is planning to attend the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse.

Dover-Eyota will go up against Plainview-Elgin-Millville for the section title next week. PEM bested Chatfield 76-65 behind an incredible performance by 5-foot-8 junior Sarah Hart. Hart had 35 points in a very efficient offensive performance. PEM is one of just two teams to beat the Eagles this season. The other team was Class AAA Section finalist Kasson-Mantorville. Dover-Eyota is now 27-2.