Hayfield girls fall short in HVL title game
Published 10:15 pm Monday, February 18, 2013
Hayfield’s Jessie Foster controls the ball against the defense of Pine Island’s Cede Finstuen in Hayfield Monday. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
HAYFIELD — It was a tournament atmosphere, but the Vikings just couldn’t hit enough shots to match up with Pine Island as they dropped the HVL girls basketball title game 45-35 in Hayfield Monday.
Hayfield’s Dani Wagner goes up for a lay-up against Pine Island in the HVL title game in Hayfield Monday. The Vikings lost 45-35. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
The Vikings (17-8 overall) took a 31-28 lead when Rachel Monahan hit a 3-pointer with 11:30 left in the game, but the Panthers (22-5 overall) responded with a 13-1 run over the next eight minutes and Hayfield never got closer than six down the stretch.
Hayfield missed 22 three-pointers in the loss.
“We didn’t shoot the ball like we needed to,” Hayfield head coach Fred Kindschy said. “With their size, we knew we wouldn’t be able to live inside. If you shoot twelve percent behind the arc, you’re gonna die out there and we did.”
The Vikings controlled the pace early on as they jumped out to an 11-2 lead when Abby Pollock hit a 3-pointer to open the game and she added a three-point play to finish the run.
PI pulled to within 17-15, but Hayfield closed the first half with a Jessie Foster lay-up and Foster added a put-back to put her team up 21-15 on the first play of the second half.
“Defensively I thought we did a real nice job at the beginning,” Kindschy said. “In the second half their height wore on us and we just couldn’t keep them off the boards.”
The Vikings, would’ve liked to have won the HVL title for the first time in school history, but they’ll have to settle for the first HVL Gold Division in school history.
It also couldn’t hurt the Vikings to play in front of a packed house as the Section 2AA tournament begins Feb. 26.
“It’s a real nice atmosphere to play in this game,” Kindschy said. “It’s kind of like what we’ll see in a couple of weeks and it was a good matchup with a good team.”
Hayfield will close out its regular season when it hosts United South Central Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
PI 15 30 — 45
Hayfield 19 16 — 35
Hayfield’s Jo Bungum looks to drive past Pine Island’s Sam Heeren in Hayfield Monday. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Hayfield scoring: Dani Wagner, 11; Abby Pollock, 9; Alyssa Monahan, 6; Jessie Foster, 5; Jo Bungum, 4; Rachel Masching, 1; free throws: 55 percent (6-for-11); three-pointers: 12 percent (3-for-25); rebounds: 35 (Wagner, 8); turnovers: 8