Hayfield girls can’t finish comeback in loss to No. 2 Knights
Published 12:03 am Sunday, March 9, 2014
ROCHESTER —The Hayfield girls basketball team didn’t back down against No. 2 ranked Kenyon-Wanamnigo. They just ran out of time.
The Vikings stormed back into the game after trailing by 11 points with 3:44 left in the contest, but they ended up one shot short in a 60-58 loss to the Knights in the Section 1AA West finals in Mayo Civic Auditorium Saturday.
Rachel Masching hit a 3-pointer and Jessie Foster added two 3-pointers in a one minute spurt to pull the Vikings (21-6 overall) within 56-52 with 1:25 left, but KW went 3-for-4 on free throws in the final minute to close the game out.
Hayfield’s Alyssa Monahan went 2-for-3 on free throws with 15.6 seconds left to make it a 58-56 game before the Knights hit two free throws to close the game. Hayfield’s Dani Wagner made a layup as time expired.
“It’s very tough for us,” said Hayfield junior Jo Bungum, who had 15 points and eight rebounds. “We came into the game thinking we were here for revenge and we wanted it as bad as any other team. We planned for it every day and we thought we had it. At the end they took it away from us.”
The Knights (28-1 overall) did most of their damage inside, but a lot of their close looks came from guard penetration. Hayfield hit 12 3-pointers in the loss, but in the end, it just didn’t make enough stops.
“They weren’t going to let us go inside so we had to go outside. We hit enough shots, but we just couldn’t stop them inside,” Hayfield head coach Fred Kindschy said. “You can’t chase them. They’re too good of a team.”
KW’s Audra Clark gave Hayfield fits as she dished out 10 assists and went six-for-six on free throws in crunch time.
“She’s a very good guard,” Bungum said. “She knows when to drive and when not to drive. We knew coming into the game that we had to stop their drives, but they kind of ate us away.”
Wagner, a senior, had 12 points, eight assists and six rebounds in her last game for the Vikings and Foster added 12 points.
Foster, Bungum and senior Masching all fouled out late in the loss.
Hayfield will graduate six seniors, but Kindschy is expecting to have another solid squad next season.
“We’ll be okay. We’ll survive this and hopefully come back stronger,” Kindschy said. “We’re going to miss our seniors and we’ve had them here for a long time. It’s going to be tough to absorb the loss.”
Hayfield 25 33 — 58
KW 31 29 — 60
Hayfield scoring: Jo Bungum, 15; Dani Wagner, 12; Jessie Foster, 12; Alysaa Monahan, 7; Rachel Masching, 5; Bhrett Zahnle, 5; Rachael Ausrud, 2; free throws: 73 percent (8-for-11); rebounds: 24 (Bungum, 8); turnovers: 14