Providence Academy catches Albany at the end, wins Class 2A girls basketball title

Maddyn Greenway doesn’t take losing lightly. A regular-season loss was eating at her.

It happened three months ago. Providence Academy lost 72-70 at Albany.

On Saturday, the time came to make amends.

Greenway scored five points in the final minute, rallying the top-ranked Lions to an 81-78 victory over No. 3 Albany at Williams Arena and to their third consecutive Class 2A girls basketball championship.

“I took that loss personally,” said Greenway, who finished with 30 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. “We wrote that score down and looked at it every day as a reminder. We weren’t losing this game.”

The speedy sophomore guard went coast-to-coast for a layup with nine seconds remaining, giving the Lions (28-4) their first lead of the game, 79-78. It came after the Huskies missed the first free throw of a 1-and-1.

Junior forward Hope Counts added two free throws with four-tenths of a second remaining after the Huskies (30-2) turned the ball over.

Greenway had buried a three-pointer with 45 seconds left to close the deficit to 78-77. Both teams missed layups on their following possessions, setting up Greenway’s sprint for the winning points.

“She just beat us down the court,” Albany coach Aaron Boyum said. “She is very explosive.”

Providence Academy overcame an outstanding effort from Albany senior forward Alyssa Sand, who is committed to St. Thomas for college. She accumulated 29 points and 17 rebounds in limited time (28 minutes) because of foul trouble.

“She was assertive, very dynamic,” Boyum said. “She demonstrated her ability to shoot.”

The Lions didn’t have an answer for the 6-3 Sand. She was 10-for-14 from the field, including 1-for-3 on three-pointers, and 8-for-9 from the free-throw line.

“She is a difference-maker,” Lions coach Conner Goetz said. “She is a special talent.”

Sand had 20 points at halftime, when the Huskies held a 55-44 lead. She picked up her fourth foul on a controversial call two minutes into the second half. The play was originally called charging but was changed to a blocking foul on Sand. Replays clearly showed Sand was not in the restricted area.

“I think it was a charge. I thought I was set and outside the arc,” Sand said. “I was more reserved after that.”

The call ignited the Lions. Albany scored only 23 second-half points, nine by Sand.

“It was big,” Goetz said. “We had one less dynamic scorer to worry about.”

Senior forward Kylan Gerads tried to make up for Sand’s absence because, she said, “Nobody wants to end their career like that.” She also had a double-double, 23 points and 11 rebounds.

Senior guard Brooke Hohenecker added 17 points for the Lions and held Albany senior guard and double-digit scorer Tatum Findley to three points and no field goals.

“It’s a tough day,” Boyum said.