Thief Rivers Falls upsets top seed Hutch

When Thief Rivers Falls' Jenna Tadych and Tiahna Nicholson both fouled out in the second half Tuesday against top-seeded Hutchinson, a simple thought went through Thief River Falls coach Jeff Loe's mind.

"Oh boy," he said."We had to scramble."

The Tadych-Nicholson post tandem had helped form the perfect storm that allowed Thief River Falls to have a chance at an upset bid. Without them, the Prowlers went to a small lineup and a pressure defense, hoping to hold on.

Thanks to big play from guard Kylea Praska, they did just that. Unseeded Thief River Falls won 61-59 in the Class 3A quarterfinal.

"We've talked about believing all year," Loe said. "These girls have learned ways to win."

Hutchinson began 1-for-18 shooting. Their top scorer, Tori Wortz, left early in the first half because of an apparent eye injury. Behind 13 points from Makenzie Rensch and 12 from Morgan Kurth, the Tigers (23-6) still managed to lead for much of the second half in what was a physical game.

"I couldn't tell at a point there if it was rugby or basketball," Hutchinson coach Tim Ellefson said. "It was quite embarrassing, honestly, to have a game mean so much and be that ugly."

Nicholson finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Praska scored 23, including five in the final 1:19, as the Tigers (26-3) scrambled their way to a huge upset.

Holy Angels 68, Marshall 47: Tuesday was far from the first time someone has asked Holy Angels coach Dan Woods what makes Laura Bagwell-Katalinich so good.

She is not big. She is not fast. She doesn't jump high or have the most impressive natural shot.

It reminds Woods of another player. Larry Bird.

Against Marshall in the Class 3A quarterfinals, that comparison didn't seem like too much of a stretch. Bagwell-Katalinich finished with 34 points and 14 rebounds and went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.

"Come over and keep watching her," Woods said. "For some reason, she has drive. She gets it done, nonstop. She does it game in and game out. You can try to do what you want to. She just has the will to win."

Bagwell-Katalinich and the rest of her team didn't start out shooting well, but once they got some momentum, it turned into a clean, convincing win. Megan Meyer added 14 points and Holy Angels forced 17 turnovers as the Stars wore down Marshall and improved its season record to 23-5.

Marah Mulso led Marshall with 14 points, but the Tigers (23-7) never had the firepower to match Bagwell-Katalinich.

"In the second half, I really committed myself to getting rebounds, which led to easy putbacks," Bagwell-Katalinich said. "Got a couple steals, and my game just took off from there."