Irish girls basketball enter playoffs in a good place

By Brenda Erdahl

Sports Editor

It’s playoff time for high school basketball and the Irish girls are playing some of their best ball of the season.

After a near miss early last week against Spectrum, the Irish went on to record two of their three wins of the season and one was in the first round of the Section 5A tournament.

The Irish closed out the regular season with a 56-51 loss to Spectrum on Tuesday, Feb. 20 and a 54-36 win over Breck on Friday, Feb. 23. Primed for Monday’s, Feb. 26 Section 5A game against St. John’s, the Irish secured a 39-30 win at home to advance to the quarterfinals where they will meet Ogilvie at 7 p.m. on Thursday Feb. 29 in Ogilvie.

Maple Lake 51, Spectrum 56

The Irish met the sting at home where a back-and-forth battle ensued that featured 24 ties or lead changes. Maple Lake played a stout zone defense in the first half, holding Spectrum to just 20 points. The Irish struggled to shut down the Sting’s perimeter shooting in the second half and that made all the difference. Spectrum tallied 10 three-pointers in the game. Despite the loss, the Irish had their best offensive outing from a scoring, shot selection and offensive rebounding standpoint, Irish Head Coach Adam Ronnenberg said.

“Truly our best offensive game,” he said. “The girls accomplished all goals we put in front of them, and it should’ve equaled a win. Unfortunately, Spectrum hit some clutch three-point shots.”

The Irish, who have struggled with rebounding in the past, didn’t against Spectrum, grabbing a season high 20 offensive rebounds and a season high 49 total rebounds. The Irish were on target, shooting 35 percent from the floor and they handled the ball well with only 13 turnovers.

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