MARSHALL -- Pipestone Area was simply the better team Friday night as the Arrows used their superior athleticism and conditioning to blowout North section champion Lac qui Parle Valley 67-41 to win the Section 3AA girls basketball tournament.
With the victory, the Arrows (22-4) advance to the Minnesota state high school tournament and will begin play against Section 1AA winner Caledonia at 1 p.m. Thursday at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion. The Eagles end their season with a (20-8) record.
Faith Tinklenberg, who scored her 1,000th career point with two minutes, 19 seconds remaining in the game, shared game-high honors with Steph Kocourek -- each dropping in 20 points on the night.
"I was just so excited when I got it," Tinklenberg said following the game. "I knew I had 20 to go, but if I didn't get it I wasn't going to be upset. I just got a lot of good, open looks tonight."
Tinklenberg started the scoring off for the Arrows, hitting a 3-pointer to set the tone for the rest of the game. Kocourek followed with a pair from the foul line, and the Arrows had a quick 5-0 advantage. Kocourek, Kelsey Lorenzen and Ashley Weatherly each found paydirt and Pipestone Area had built a 13-2 lead six minutes into the contest.
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The Eagles were stunned, as the Arrows' defense limited their looks at the basket. When Lac qui Parle Valley did manage to get in the paint, the Arrows either blocked the attempt or put them on the foul line.
"They are a very physical team and in much better condition than us," Eagle senior forward Madeline Gail said. "They're nothing like we've ever seen up here. I wish them well at state."
But as the fouls piled up for the Arrows in the first half, the Eagles began to find the range -- pulling within seven at 19-12 with five minutes remaining in the opening period. The Arrows countered with fresh legs and determination on the offensive glass.
Chelsey Evans' putback bucket extended the lead, but the Eagles were beginning to sink their free throws and kept it close -- trailing 26-21 at the half.
With an oppressive defense and a crashing effort on the boards at both ends, the Arrows ran away with the contest in the second half. Pipestone Area scored the first nine points of the final period to lead 35-21 four minutes in. With 12 minutes remaining, Whitley Strei finally canned a short jumper to put some points on the scoreboard for the Eagles.
"I really felt depth would be a factor tonight," Pipestone Area head coach Jay Johnson said. "It's a bigger, longer court, and our girls stayed pretty fresh. We kept the fatigue factor in our favor and although we had some sluggish periods in the first half, we stepped it up at both ends in the second."
Following the Strei deuce, the Arrows started finding the range from beyond the arc. Weatherly fired the first bomb, and Tinklenberg followed after a Kayla Rowden layup -- helping the Arrows build a 20-point lead, 43-23.
As the half progressed, the Arrows took advantage of the Eagles' fatigue -- quickly sending passes down court to Kocourek and Tinklenberg for easy scores. With six minutes left in the game, a 3-pointer from senior post Kayla Rheingans momentarily stopped the bleeding for the Eagles.
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"We have a quick team, an athletic team," Weatherly said. "We could tell they (LQPV) were tired, and we took it right at them. I thought if we pushed it to Faith and Steph, we'd be able to run past them."
With the clock ticking away, the Eagles didn't hang their heads and kept putting in the effort. Unfortunately for LQPV, the mind was willing, but the body wasn't.
"We were dead tired after the first half," Gail said. "We stayed with them in the first, but that was all we had."
Kocourek and Bailey Bouman finished with seven rebounds apiece, while Weatherly dished out eight assists. Paige Pals and Megan Vanderpoel each had two blocks on the night for the Arrows.
The Eagles were led in scoring by Mindy Clark, who had a quiet 12 points. Clark also had seven rebounds on the night.
LQPV 21 20 -- 41
PA 26 41 -- 67
LQPV (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Clark 2-1-4-12, K. Rheingans 2-0-2-8, Ma. Gail 0-2-2-6, Erickson 0-0-6-6, Me. Gail 0-2-0-4, A. Rheingans 0-0-3-3, Strei 0-1-0-2. Totals: 4-6-17-41.
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PA (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Tinklenberg 4-4-0-20, Kocourek 0-7-6-20, Weatherly 1-2-2-9, Rowden 0-2-1-5, Bouman 0-1-2-4, Lorenzen 0-1-0-2, Vanderpoel 0-1-0-2, Evans 0-1-0-2, Pals 0-0-2-2, Nelson 0-0-1-1, Totals: 5-19-14-67.
