MANKATO – The Hayfield Vikings (18-7) have the Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms (21-4) number.

Tuesday, March 07, 2000

MANKATO – The Hayfield Vikings (18-7) have the Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms (21-4) number. Tuesday night, the second-seeded Vikings defeated the No. 1 Blossoms 45-39 in the Section 2AA East Division finals.

In the fall, the Vikings volleyball team was victorious in a section match between the two highly regarded teams. There is tremendous overlap in the membership of both schools’ basketball and volleyball teams.

"I hope they don’t hate us," Hayfield’s senior guard Kristin Peterson said.

The Vikings now face west division winner Blue Earth Area in the Section 2AA finals Friday at the Otto Arena on the campus of Minnesota State, Mankato at 8 p.m.

Top-seed Blue Earth Area (22-3) defeated sixth-seed LeSueur-Henderson 48-47 in a wild finish. LeSueur missed a pair of free throws with 30 seconds to play. Blue Earth’s Janell Bly then scored with 8 seconds left. Finally, LeSueur had a game-winning shot roll around and off the rim.

In the game you really want to read about, it was (Tall) Kristin "TK" Petersen setting a monster screen to set up the key Hayfield hoop. Her pick freed up the other Peterson for a three-pointer from the left wing.

"I’ve had more opportunities (at three-pointers) after moving to off-guard this year," Peterson said. "I came open and I took the shot."

That three put Hayfield up 37-34 with under 2 minutes to play in the game. The Blossoms had fought gamely back into the contest after trailing by 10, 30-20, at the tail end of the third quarter.

"Things were going well," Blooming Prairie coach John Worke said. "We had momentum, but then we left Peterson open for a three."

The Vikings had built the lead with a 9-1 run to start of the second half. "TK" Petersen made a couple of jumpers from around the free throw line during the rally. She also had a big game on the boards with 11 rebounds.

In the last minute of play, Kelly Thompson, who averaged 5.5 points per game this year with a game-high of 15, finished off the Blossoms with some deadly free throw shooting. She was 8-of-8 down the stretch.

"She’s came into the game shooting 50 percent from the line," Hayfield coach Jay Klagge said. "She’s a gym rat. She loves to play in clutch situations."

"I was a little bit nervous at crunch time," Thompson said, "but then after I got up there – bang – I just got into a rhythm. I kept knocking them down, but the clock went on forever. "

Blooming Prairie senior Andrea Banton played her heart out right to the bitter end as did the other four Blossoms senior starters: Jana Peterson, Ranell Goette, Missy Avery and Kari Olson. Banton capped off her career with a 20-point game and finished off the game with a three-pointer.

"These girls have had a nice run," Worke said. "They were 44-7 over the last two years with a trip to state last year. We will start all over with a good junior group that should continue the tradition."

The Vikings now face an opponent they lost to in the regular season. Blue Earth Area, led by junior guard Shannon Schonrock beat the Vikings 48-45 in Blue Earth Jan. 22.

"We are playing 10 times better then we did then," Thompson said. "We will be ready."

"We are confident this time," Peterson said. "Bonnie Thoe, our leading scorer, missed two quarters after cutting her lip in a collision with Kellie Krueger in that game."

"We need to contain Schonrock," Klagge said. "We have no reason to fear them. We have been playing great team defense. This court is a full 94-feet which should be in our favor. We have better depth. They play about seven girls. We rely on 10 or 11 players."

Hayfield (45)

Kristin Peterson 11, Kellie Krueger 5, Bonnie Thoe 6, Kelly Thompson 14, Kristin Petersen 7, Sheri Swanson 2, Kimi Petersen 0, Nikki Kindschy 0, Christi Crews 0, Molly McCamy 0. Free Throws: 10-12; Three-pointer: 3 (Kristin Peterson 2, Kellie Krueger 1).

Blooming Prairie (39)

Missy Avery 2, Ranell Goette 8, Kari Olson 0, Jana Peterson 7, Andrea Banton 20, Megan Ingvalson 2, Sara Anderson 0. Free Throws: 11-15; Three-pointers: 2 (Andrea Banton 2).