Packer girls shoot down KoMets in Section 1AAA quarterfinal
Published 9:01 pm Wednesday, February 28, 2018
- Austin’s Abby Lewis roams the perimeter during the first half against Kasson-Mantorville in the Section 1AAA quarterfinals Wednesday night. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The No. 4 seeded Austin girls basketball team used a second half push to knock off No. 5 Kasson-Mantorville 59-40 in a Section 1AAA quarterfinal in Ove Berven Gym Wednesday.
The Packers (14-13 overall) trailed 18-13, but they closed the first half on a 9-0 run and they opened the second half on an 8-3 burst to go up 30-21. The KoMets (8-19 overall) had led 12-6 to start the game.

Austin’s Kyra Walters tries to secure the ball during the first half against Kasson-Mantorville in the Section 1AAA Tournament quarterfinals Wednesday night. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
“We looked like we had some girls that never played in a Section 1A girls basketball game to start out and it took us about seven minutes to get going,” Austin head coach Eric Zoske said. “It worked out. Our goal all year has been to get better each day and that was our goal tonight.”
Austin senior Emily Hegna went out strong in her last game in Ove Berven Gym as she finished with two points, four steals and three rebounds. She played on the top of an Austin defense that forced 30 KM turnovers in the win.
“I was motivated to go after 50-50 balls and I gave it my all. It was a really emotional game,” Hegna said. “I think we were getting good shots early on, we just had to make some of them. In the second half we came out with the full court and I think that really sped things up for us.”
Austin eighth graders Emma Dudycha and Hope Dudycha each scored 14 points for the Packers and Kiwi VanZant added 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and five steals.

Austin’s Kiwi VanZant shoots over Kasson-Mantorville’s Kinsey Koebele in the first half Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of Section 1AAA Tournament. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
“I’ve been working on offense in practice and it’s helped me in games,” VanZant said.
Austin will square off against top-seeded Northfield in a Section 1AAA semifinal in Mayo Civic Center at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Northfield, which has four players who are six-foot tall, beat Austin by scores of 49-25 and 61-52 in the regular season.
“We’re really excited and we’re going to come out with a lot of fire,” Hegna said. “We’ve just got to stay with them.”

Austin’s Hope Dudycha drops a pass through traffic during the first half Wednesday night against Kasson-Mantorville during the quarterfinals of the Section 1AAA Tournament. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
KM 18 22 — 40
Austin 22 37 — 59
Austin scoring: Hope Dudycha, 14; Emma Dudycha, 14; Kiwi VanZant, 11; Abby Lewis, 8; Kyra Walters, 6; Pation Schawb, 3; Emily Hegna, 2; free throws: 85 percent (11-for-13); rebounds: 31 (VanZant, 5); turnovers: 15