Rosemount finishes sixth at state girls basketball
“It’s not how you start but how you finish” is a well-known, well-worn axiom. Rosemount, however, proved that how you start still matters.
Turnovers on their first six possessions put the Irish in a hole they spent the rest of the game trying to escape in the Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinals. A 68-57 loss to defending state champion St. Michael-Albertville on March 13 at Williams Arena put Rosemount in the consolation bracket, where they defeated Andover 72-64 on March 14.
A 71-60 loss to South Suburban Conference rival Lakeville North in the consolation final March 15 at Concordia University in St. Paul ended a 23-8 season for the Irish.
The early turnovers in the quarterfinal game allowed St. Michael-Albertville to unleash its transition game and take a 9-0 lead three minutes in. The Irish had a nine-point run of their own later in the first half, cutting STMA’s lead to 25-23. Rosemount made it a one-possession difference a couple of other times, but never got the lead.
Although the Irish outrebounded the Knights and made more three-pointers, turnovers killed them. They had 23 to STMA’s 10, and the Knights had a 25-3 advantage in points off turnovers.
Rosemount coach Chris Orr praised his team’s effort in getting back into the game after the bad start.
“Especially against a great team. They’re defending state champs for a reason,” Orr said. “All year we’ve been down and battled back, so it’s nothing we weren’t used to, in a sense. Today, they just made more plays than we did.”
STMA’s transition was unlike anything the Irish faced in the South Suburban Conference and took some getting used to, Rosemount senior guard Ava Thompson said.
“They got out in transition really early, so it was kind of like we had to shift gears from being on offense to ‘Oh, crap, there’s a girl all the way under our basket right now,’” Thompson said. “That’s not something we’re really used to playing.”
Rosemount was down 9-0 before Avery Moeller made a free throw to put the Irish on the scoreboard. They were down by as many as 12 points before surging back in the game. Amisha Ramlall’s basket made it 25-23, but STMA hit a three-pointer just eight seconds later to add to its lead. The same scenario occurred in the second half when Rosemount cut STMA’s lead to two points.
St. Michael-Albertville coach Kent Hamre said Rosemount gave his team plenty to think about.
“They’re a scary team on film,” Hamre said. “They can shoot the eyes out of it. I couldn’t be more proud of our kids, the way they knew the game plan. They kind of knew what Rosemount was going to do and were in the right spots.”
Amisha Ramlall had 15 points and Avery Moeller 13 for Rosemount. Ashna Ramlall added 11 points, Thompson had nine points, seven assists and four steals, and Ayelishka Teko-Folly grabbed 12 of the Irish’s 28 rebounds.
Guard Cail Jahnke had a game-high 22 points and led four STMA players in double figures.
It was the third state tournament appearance in four years for Rosemount but the first time many of the current players saw significant playing time on that stage. They didn’t take the opportunity to play at Williams Arena lightly.
“It’s always been a dream, especially since the last time I came here (2022) I was a reserve sitting on the bench,” Teko-Folly said. “I know the people on our team had a really fun time. But I’m just really glad we fought back, even though things didn’t go our way.”
Consolation bracket
Rosemount led Andover by as many as 17 points in the second half before the Huskies (24-6) charged back into the game, tying it 56-56 with 8 minutes, 41 seconds left. It was tied 58-58 before Amisha Ramlall’s basket with 5:35 left put the Irish ahead for good.
Moeller had 28 points and Amisha Ramlall 26 for the Irish. The two guards made nine of Rosemount’s 10 three-pointers.
Lakeville North never trailed in the consolation final and led by as many as 19 points midway through the second half.
Amisha Ramlall scored 19 points and Riley Ang 18 in the consolation final. Moeller scored 11 points and Thompson had a team-high seven rebounds.
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