Kasson-Mantorville Proves They Definitely Belonged At State

Before the quarterfinal round state tournament game between Kasson-Mantorville and New Prague, Komet head coach Ryan Haraldson told KDHL his team wanted to show everyone they belonged in the Class AAA field. They certainly did.

After a win over New Prague, they gave Park Center all they could handle before falling in the third-place game to top-rated and top-seeded Orono. Park Center won the championship and Kasson-Mantorville had a second-half lead against them before a stretch of turnovers did them in. The same thing happened Saturday in the third-place game. The Komets led nearly every tick of the clock in the first half and took a 17-15 lead into the halftime break. Orono tightened up their full court man pressure and did a masterful job denying Komet post Kristin Scott the ball, and Kasson-Mantorville may have simply run out of gas.

They became shorthanded just over two minutes into the quarterfinal round game when their second all-time leading scorer, top three-point shooter, leading assist person and top ball handler Cori Kennedy went down with what an MRI showed Friday was a torn ACL.  Chances are, as Johnny Mathis would say, with Kennedy available there aren't as many turnovers. The Komets had 20 turnovers in their win over New Prague, 24 in the loss to eventual state champion Park Center in the semifinals and 22 against Orono in the third-place game.

Both teams Saturday played defense in a very physical game at Concordia University in St. Paul. Orono won 47-33 and shot 30 percent from the field. The Komets shot 21 percent and neither team had a single three-point basket in 11 tries (seven for the Spartans and four for the Komets). Kasson-Mantorville's Scott was held to one of six shooting for the game but finished with another double-double and made the All-Tournament team. The sophomore had 11 points and 12 rebounds and was going up against 6-foot-4 junior Meghan Mandel, who also was an All-Tournament selection. Mandel had nine points and seven rebounds and was four of 12 from the field. Scott went nine for 10 from the free throw line, which brought her totals in the state tournament to 19 of 22 (86 percent). Orono got very physical with Scott.  Even when Mandel wasn't in the game they were leaning on her pretty good. I know she'll be hitting the weights this summer to get stronger.

I thought Maddie Worden deserved All-Tournament status. The 5-foot-9 junior may have run out of gas in Saturday's game, playing 19 minutes with one point, five rebounds and one assist. In the previous two games, Worden collected 18 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists, logging 25 and 27 minutes respectively.

While the Komets were receiving their fourth-place trophy Saturday, Haraldson was wiping away tears from his face. These seniors had an incredible run, with two straight state tournament runs. Seniors include Kennedy, Taylor Wiebke, Taylor Miller, Danika Hodgman and Kari Pingel. Kasson-Mantorville does have a lot coming back next year with the twin towers in Scott and 6-foot-1 eighth-grader Payton Seuss. Worden will be back along with 6-foot junior Abby Wigham as guards, and they could pose some match-up problems for teams.