Agates earn spot in section semis with last-second win

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Photo by Brian Rauvola Head coach Brooke Chaffee (right) celebrates with the rest of her bench after the Agates pulled of a come from behind upset over Virginia Saturday at UMD.

Talk about it

A strong second half comeback propelled Two Harbors into the section 7AA girls playoff semifinals with a 48-45 win over Virginia last Saturday at Romano Gym on the UMD campus.

The Agates made up a 14-point deficit in a little over seven minutes of the half to pull the game even and a big 3-point shot by Sis Alvarez with 5.3 seconds remaining in the game gave earned the girls a spot in Wednesday’s semis against No. 1-seed Aitkin.

The game was tied 45-45 and Two Harbors had possession of the ball with about two minutes remaining in the game when a missed shot rebound was grabbed by Katelyn Adams. Adams kicked the ball back out to the perimeter and the Agates ran the clock down before calling a timeout and planning a play to try and get the ball inside for a final shot. The lane was clogged so the ball was moved around the perimeter until Alvarez took the game-winning shot.

Virginia moved the ball down the court and had a chance at the buzzer but the ball bounced off the rim.

Defense was the name of the game for the Agates as they held the Bluedevils to 11 points in the second half enroute to the win. Two Harbors trailed Virginia 34-20 at the half.

“We came out strong and actually had the early lead,” said Two Harbors coach Brooke Chaffee. “But the girls got a little winded and Virginia took some of the momentum and we might’ve psyched ourselves out a bit at that point. I asked the girls if we were ready to have our season end. We changed our defnse a bit at the half and put the pressure on and everybody shouldered their packs. It was a collective effort.”

Assistant coach Rick Ray said he simply told the kids “We can be a no-show or we can put on a show” as they readied to take the court in the second half.

The girls obviously chose to put on a show and grab a dramatic win to move on in the playoffs.

The defensive intensity was evident as the Agates shut down Virginia’s leading scorers in the second half. Adams held Ashley Shereck to but 2 points in the half, while Abby Ray and Sierra Tietge held Jessica Youso scoreless.

“The girls didn’t hold anything back,” said Chaffee.

The girls hit on 7-of-15 field goals in the half and dropped in 3-of-6 3-pointers.

“Nina (Bukowski) had a key steal and then hit some free throws when it mattered,” said Chaffee. “Sierra (Tietge) played aggressive and people stepped up when the game was on the line.”

Ray and Kristy Olson led the Agate scorers with 11 each. Ray also added 10 rebounds. Adams had 5 points to go along with 13 rebounds. Alvarez scored all of her 9 points on 3-pointers, including the game winner. Bukowski and Tietge each had 6 points.

“We waited for a good shot at the end but we didn’t want to lose the ball in the final seconds so we were ready to go into overtime with the tie,” said Chaffee. “That’s when Sis put it away for us.”

The Agates face the Gobblers at Romano as this edition of the News-Chronicle goes to press.

Two Harbors made it to the quarterfinals with a 36-24 defensive-minded win over Duluth Marhsll in Saturday’s subsection game.

Tags: girlsbasketball, basketball, twoharbors