BOLD holds off Hayfield for spot in Class 1A championship game

BOLD coach Brian Kingery was determined not to let Hayfield's two stars, junior guards Kristen Watson and Natalie Beaver, beat him.

His hybrid defense, two players face-guarding the Vikings standouts and a triangle zone protecting the paint, worked to perfection.

The Warriors held both players to one field goal en route to a 58-46 victory in the Class 1A girls basketball state tournament semifinals Friday at Williams Arena.

"We wanted to make somebody else beat us," Kingery said. "We set the tone with our defense."

The fifth-ranked Warriors (26-5) usually play an aggressive 2-3 zone, but they also used the hybrid defense to beat Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart in the Section 2 tournament.

"We have mixed up our defenses a lot," Kingery said.

Beaver scored 31 points and Watson 10 in the Vikings' 63-58 quarterfinal victory over Badger-Greenbush-Middle River. Watson finished with three points and Beaver two on Friday. Beaver was also slowed by an illness.

Senior Anna Moorse covered Beaver all game, and junior Rylee Boen and senior Lily Dean kept Watson under wraps. Beaver and Watson took a total of 11 shots.

"We didn't have enough help with those two getting face-guarded," Hayfield coach Kasey Krekling said.

All part of the plan. "We have been making other teams feel uncomfortable with our defense," Kingery said.

Meanwhile, the players who formed the defensive triangle were carrying the offense. Sophomore Lainey Braulick scored 19 points, junior Mackenzie Visser 18 and senior Mari Ryberg 15.

"We have wanted this all year," Ryberg said.

Junior guard Chelsea Christopherson led the fourth-ranked Vikings (29-4) with 18 points but regretted that the two standouts were shut down. "We let [BOLD] dictate what they wanted to do with their defense," she said.

The Warriors will play Saturday for the first state title in program history.

"We're not done yet," Ryberg said. "We have one more."