Getting past first round at state is major point of emphasis
Lakeville North is playing in the state girls basketball tournament for the 12th time in 15 years, but the Panthers have had too many early exits for their liking.
The last time North won a Class 4A quarterfinal was 2018, when they edged Maple Grove 68-66. The Panthers lost in the semifinals to an Eastview team that went on to win the state championship, but they did beat Roseville in the third-place game.
North’s opponent in this year’s quarterfinals? Maple Grove. The Panthers will find out whether or not that’s good karma at noon Wednesday when they take on the Crimson at Williams Arena.
Lakeville North’s players and coaches appreciate every chance they get to play in the state tournament, but it’s clear that just getting there isn’t the goal.
“I definitely hope we can make a nice run, win our quarterfinal game and maybe play Hopkins again in the semifinals,” said senior center Trinity Wilson. The Panthers didn’t play Maple Grove in the regular season but did face No. 1-seeded Hopkins in the Breakdown Tip-Off Classic, where their furious second-half rally came up one point short in a 49-48 loss.
The North-Maple Grove winner will face Hopkins or White Bear Lake in the Class 4A semifinals at 6 p.m. Thursday. The championship game is 8 p.m. Saturday. All championship-bracket games are at Williams Arena.
Andy Berkvam, who coached Lakeville High and Lakeville North to nine state tournament appearances (and three championships) from 1999 through 2012, then returned to the Panthers this season, also wants to get past the first round.
State quarterfinal games are streamed, but getting on television – which happens if a team reaches the semifinals – is just different, Berkvam said.
“We’ve talked about that. It doesn’t seem like you’re in the state tournament unless you get on TV,” Berkvam said before the Panthers’ practice Monday afternoon. “So you’ve got to win that first one. It’s going to be easy for me to get their attention because they haven’t done it for a while.”
But it’s a tough assignment because a quality field will assemble for the Class 4A tournament. All eight teams were in the top 12 of the final Minnesota Basketball News state rankings, which were released when the section playoffs started. All eight have at least 21 victories, including Lakeville North (24-5) and Maple Grove (24-4). Maple Grove was third and Lakeville North seventh in the final Class 4A rankings.
“My goal at the beginning of the season was to get into the final four, and then just see what happens,” Berkvam said. “We have the ability to win the whole thing, or we could lose the first game. It’ll be interesting.”
Maple Grove’s top player is junior wing Jordan Ode, a Michigan State commit who averages 21.5 points a game. Berkvam said the Crimson don’t milk the shot clock and typically look to shoot in the first 15 seconds of a possession.
Lakeville North gained entry to the state tournament with a 62-54 victory over Lakeville South in the Class 4A, Section 1 final March 8 at Mayo Civic Arena in Rochester. Wilson, who has signed with Vanderbilt University, had 23 points in the championship game and averaged 21.3 points and 10 rounds in three section games. She made 73 percent of her field goal attempts.
Guards Gabby Betton and Elayna Boe scored 13 points each in the section final.
Lakeville North scored the first seven points of the game. Lakeville South (17-12) was never able to take the lead but pulled within one point several times. Junior forward Danielle Coleman led Lakeville South with 19 points and sophomore Audrey Schmidtke added 11.
Wilson said not allowing South to take the lead was a huge psychological boost for the Panthers. “I was thinking that we had to get stops so they don’t go up by one or two,” she said. “If they go ahead, they get in that mindset that they’re in it and can win the game.”
“We always try to focus on shutting down the other team first,” said Boe, a junior guard. “We feel like defense transfers into offense, and if we can score after getting a stop it’s a big advantage.”
As they practiced Monday, the Panthers looked confident and ready for their TV closeup. But before that can happen, they knew there’s a box to be checked Wednesday afternoon.
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