WORTHINGTON -- Pipestone Area's full-court press was high energy, smothering and effective in propelling the team to the section championship game as the Arrows defeated the Jackson County Central Huskies, 58-49, Tuesday in the Section 3AA South girls' basketball final at Worthington gymnasium.
With the victory, the Arrows (21-4) will square off against the Lac qui Parle Valley Eagles (20-7) at 8 p.m. Friday in Marshall. The Huskies end their season with a 15-12 record.
Trailing 28-27 to open the second half, the Arrows immediately put pressure on the Huskies' ball handlers -- employing a stifling full-court press. The Arrows' aggressive defense forced the Huskies to turn the ball over on their first four possessions of the final period, while PA took the lead by converting on several of those miscues.
"They're very athletic and aggressive in their press, and we just didn't take care of the basketball," JCC head coach Stephanie Kramer Bot said. "Hats off to Pipestone, they did an excellent job defensively."
Midway through the second half, PA had built a 47-37 lead. Senior forward Steph Kocourek (19 points) dropped in three consecutive field goals with brilliant cuts behind the Huskies' defense to maintain the 10-point advantage with three minutes remaining.
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"I managed to get behind them, and I don't think they realized I'm left-handed," Kocourek said. "That made for some easy baskets, but it was our press that really did the job."
Faith Tinklenberg, who led all scorers with 21 points, followed a pair of Kocourek free throws with a filed goal and a pair from the stripe, and the Arrows quickly had a 16-point advantage -- a lead that a pair of quick 3-pointers from JCC's Traci Fransen (nine points, six assists) couldn't reverse.
"I was concerned at halftime," PA head coach Jay Johnson said. "I thought Jackson had a lot of momentum and a great deal of confidence at the break.
"They have such a physical presence and did a good job of taking us out of our offense in the first half," Johnson added. "We tried to save our press for the second half and hopefully get them off balance. We used our athleticism to our advantage in the second half."
While Tinklenberg opened the game hitting a quick 3-pointer followed by a pair of field goals, the Huskies pushed the ball down low.
Angie Oelke (seven points) and Brooke Burmeister (12 points) muscled up shots in the paint to keep the score even. Fransen hit the second of two free throws, while Margret Rubis and Megan Bezdicek each knocked down a deuce to give the Huskies a 12-7 lead eight minutes into the game.
The Huskies continued to find room inside. While JCC didn't always hit its initial shot, Burmeister, Fransen and Anna Meneely were there to snatch an offensive board and get another look -- often kicking it out to Ashley Kruse (11 points) for a jumper.
"We let them get too many offensive rebounds in the first half," Tinklenberg said. "They're big and strong, and we couldn't take them for granted."
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With five minutes to play in the opening frame, the Arrows started warming up from the field. Ashley Weatherly (three assists) hit from beyond the arc, and Kelsey Lorenzen (six rebounds) drained a long deuce. But Burmeister answered for the Huskies, scoring her team's final five points of the half to give JCC a 28-27 edge at the break.
JCC 28 21 -- 49
PA 27 31 -- 58
JCC (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Oelke 0-3-1-7, Burmeister 0-5-2-12, Kruse 0-5-1-11, Fransen 2-0-3-9, Meneely 0-1-4-6, Rubis 0-1-0-2, Bezdicek 0-1-0-2. Totals -- 2-16-11-49.
PA (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Tinklenberg 1-8-2-21, Kocourek 0-7-5-19, Pals 1-1-0-5, Weatherly 1-0-2-5, Lorenzen 0-3-0-6, Vanderpoel 0-1-0-2. Totals -- 3-20-9-58.
