PIPESTONE -- Defending Class A champion Fulda looked every bit the part Monday evening as the Raiders used a balanced scoring effort and turned up the defense in the second half to defeat the Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots 68-33 in the Section 3A South quarterfinals.
With the victory, the Raiders (24-3) advance to meet the Edgerton Flying Dutchmen tonight in Windom. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Patriots finish their season with a 7-19 record.
While the Raiders weren't sharp from the field to open the contest, good positioning under the basket allowed Fulda to score on several putbacks and forge a quick 10-3 lead. Kaitlyn Kramer (13 points, 10 rebounds), Sarah Raddle (12 points, six assists) and Laura Kramer (eight points, 14 rebounds) all scored during the run.
The Patriots, who had difficulty penetrating the Fulda garrison all evening, struggled to find an open look. Still, Chelsi Fink (14 points, two assists) managed to get to the hoop for a pair of field goals, and Kerri Fransman slashed to the basket for a deuce to cut the lead to four at 10-6.
That was as close as H-BC would get as the Raiders began to warm up from the field and slowly pull away. With 2:09 remaining in the first half, Sarah Raddle answered a 3-pointer from H-BC's Brittany Helgeson by hitting the second of four 3-pointers to help her club carry a 29-18 lead into the intermission.
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"We moved the ball around well, and I was open for some good looks," Sarah Raddle said following the game. "We struggled a bit in the middle of the first half, but came out strong in the second half."
Kaitlyn Kramer and Chelsey Speckmeier hit back-to-back filed goals to open the final frame. Sam Raddle then drilled a bomb from behind the arc, followed by back-to-back treys from Sarah Raddle to break the game wide open -- giving the Raiders a 42-20 advantage with 13 minutes to play.
"We moved the ball well in the second half, turned up the defense and had a balanced scoring effort," Fulda head coach Gregg Slaathaug said. "If they're going to double down on Laura (Kramer) and Kaitlyn (Kramer) then we're going to kick it out to the perimeter. We have a lot of girls that can knock down that shot."
Fueled by five points from Amy Paulzine (11 points), the Raiders took off on a 15-7 run through the middle of the second half to take a 30-point lead at 57-27 with 4:30 to go. Paulzine, who has been stellar off the bench for the Raiders all season, played like a veteran -- quickly squaring up after grabbing the delivery from the perimeter.
The never-say-die Patriots kept plugging away as Fink drove to the hoop at every opportunity and scored six second-half points. Fransman knocked down a pair in the final five minutes, and Jocelyn Bucher also got to the hoop.
"They came out on fire in the second half, and they were hard to stop," H-BC head coach Jason Blosmo said of the Raiders. "They have a lot of weapons. They're not 24-3 and the defending state champs for nothing.
"Our girls came out ready to play and played hard," Blosmo added. "They gave it their all and played a strong first half. Fulda is a well-coached team, and we wish for them to repeat."
H-BC 18 15 -- 33
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Fulda 29 37 -- 68
H-BC (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Fink 0-6-2-14, Fransman 1-2-0-7, Bucher 0-2-1-5, Helegson 1-1-0-5, Hoyme 0-0-2-2. Totals: 2-11-5-33.
Fulda (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): K. Kramer 0-5-3-13, L. Kramer 0-4-0-8, Paulzine 0-5-1-11, Sarah Raddle 4-0-0-12, Speckmeier 0-3-0-6, M. Gunderman 0-4-0-8, Sam Raddle 2-1-0-8, S. Gunderman 0-1-0-2. Totals: 6-23-4-68.
Edgerton 64, Ellsworth 51
Alyson Drooger hit four 3-pointers and scored 20 points for Edgerton, while teammate Alexa Vanden Bosch hit a full-court driving layup just before the first-half buzzer that put the Flying Dutchmen ahead for good.
With five seconds left, Vanden Bosch (15 points) took the inbound pass at the opposite free-throw line and sprinted the length of the floor, getting her shot off before the buzzer sounded, putting Edgerton ahead 27-26 after trailing by as much as seven.
"For them, it gave them a boost more than anything," Ellsworth head coach Justin Hendricks said. "You could tell the way they were running into the locker room."
From there, Edgerton picked up its intensity and effectiveness on offense, hitting 11-of-23 shots in the final 18 minutes. The team hit just 12-for-38 in the first half.
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"Second half we played with a lot more confidence and played more aggressive," Edgerton head coach Andrew Fleischman said.
Amy Kallemeyn added 17 points and 19 rebounds for the Flying Dutchmen, while Katie Hadler scored all 12 of her points in the second half. Hadler hit on 7-of-8 free throws in the second half.
Edgerton hit 10-of-16 free throws in the last 18 minutes. The Flying Dutchmen also helped their cause by protecting the basketball -- turning it over just six times in the contest.
For Ellsworth (13-11), Brooke Kramer had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Brooke Kix put up 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists, and Amanda DeBoer finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
Ellsworth 26 25 -- 51
Edgerton 27 37 -- 64
