After a lull, St. Michael-Albertville fires up in 4A victory over Eagan

Eagan's impossible dream lasted about six minutes, the first-time entrant Wildcats actually building an early lead against No. 3 seed St. Michael-Albertville in a Class 4A quarterfinal of the girls basketball state tournament Wednesday.

Reality set in soon after, with the Knights going on a 16-5 run to take a lead they didn't relinquish in an 80-60 victory.

They were decided underdogs, but the Wildcats went into the game refusing to genuflect in front of more experienced, tested St. Michael-Albertville.

"We couldn't go into the game careful or laid back," said junior guard Drew Buslee, who scored eight points in the Wildcats' early run. "We had to attack them because we knew they were going to attack us."

St. Michael-Albertville (27-3) was making its 10th state tournament appearance since 2006, and the players admitted they might have taken Eagan lightly when the game started.

"Sometimes we overlook teams, and that's what we struggled with during the season," said Tessa Johnson, who had 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds. "At the same time, our coaches were on that at practice, saying we cannot overlook anyone."

Eagan's early success certainly got the Knights' attention.

"I think it was kind of a wakeup call for us," St. Michael-Albertville coach Kent Hamre said. "With Eagan, they were 19-10. There might have been a little bit of 'Let's get ready for the next round.' So we might have dodged a little bit of a bullet. They did wake us up right away."

Junior JaKahla Craft led the Knights with 24 points. Forward Maddie McCullum had 17 points to pace Eagan (19-11).