Montevideo grinds out win over Fairmont in 3AA girls hoops finale

MARSHALL -- Montevideo's 6-foot-3 hybrid center Avery Koenen and her Thunderhawk basketball teammates made school history Friday night, while denying the Fairmont Cardinals a third state bid since 2007.

Koenen, a junior who's a North Dakota State University basketball commit, produced game-highs of 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists to complement three steals to power Montevideo to a grinding 43-32 victory over Fairmont in the Section 3AA championship game at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.

Montevideo (25-3) earned the program's first-ever state girls basketball berth, and will tip off the Class AA quarterfinals on Wednesday night at either 6 or 8 p.m. at either Williams Arena or Maturi Pavilion against an opponent to be determined.

Senior forward Rayah Quiring generated a team-best 10 points and garnered a game-high six steals for the Cardinals, who closed out the season with a 24-4 overall record.

"We (coaching staff) figured it'd be a defensive battle coming into tonight's game," said Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier, who was an assistant coach on the Cardinals' last state qualifier in 2015. Fairmont also advanced to state in 2007. "We just didn't have an answer for how patient they were on offense.

"They were so deliberate that we couldn't simulate that slow pace in practice to prepare for it."

Emma Gudahl drilled a left-wing trifecta to open the game for Fairmont. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the shot would be just three of 12 first-half points, while the Thunderhawks generated only 15 by intermission.

Ironically, Tenley Epema later hit a 3-pointer to swing an early 5-4 lead to Montevideo, and the defensive-minded Thunderhawks would not ever relinquish the lead for the duration.

The Cardinals did manage to knot the game at 16-all on Cassidy Schultz's left-elbow 15-footer and at 18-all via Gudahl's steal-turned-layup during the early stages of the second half, but Fairmont could not ever grab the upperhand on the scoreboard.

"Give them (Montevideo) credit for being able to keep us from getting good looks at the basket," said Junkermeier, whose lineup made just 2 of 11 from 3-point range.

After neither team held more than a four-point lead in the opening 18 minutes, the Thunderhawks assembled a momentum-gaining 14-0 run after the Cardinals' Brittney Mosloski hit a baseline drive to inch within 22-21.

Kiera Foley swooshed a pivotal left-wing 3-pointer off one of Koenen's kickout assists to trigger Montevideo's double-figure offensive outburst. Hailey Dirksen worked the baseline for a leaner before Teagan Epema swooshed a key 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Koenen displayed her athleticism by banking in a reverse layup off Tenley Epema's sideline inbound delivery, Tenley Epema sank a 15-footer and Koenen finger-rolled in a swoop-and-scoop runner for a commanding 36-21 lead with 6 minutes left in regulation.

Quiring finally ended Fairmont's scoring drought by pocketing a steal before going end-to-end for a layup. Quiring later drained a 3-pointer and hit a runner, but it was not enough down the stretch.

Cadee Becker finished with nine points for the Cardinals, while Gudahl contributed seven points and grabbed a team-best six rebounds.

Keely Foley scored 10 points on 5-for-6 field-goal shooting for the Thunderhawks, while Tenley Epema tossed in seven points.

Fairmont 12-20--32

Monte 15-28--43

FAIRMONT (32)

Becker 3-8 3-6 9, Quiring 4-12 1-2 10, Mosloski 2-7 0-0 4, Gudahl 3-11 0-0 7, Totzke 0-0 0-0 0, Schultz 1-2 0-0 2, Busche 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-41 4-8 32.

MONTE (43)

Dirksen 3-6 0-0 6, Keely Foley 5-6 0-1 10, Koenen 5-7 2-6 12, Tenley Epema 2-10 2-3 7, Teagan Epema 1-3 0-0 3, Kiera Foley 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 18-35 4-10 43.

3-pointers: Montevideo 3-14 (Kiera Foley 1-1, Teagan Epema 1-2, Tenley Epema 1-7, Dirksen 0-3, Koenen 0-1); Fairmont 2-11 (Gudahl 1-4, Quiring 1-5, Busche 0-1, Becker 0-1). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: Fairmont 24 (Gudahl 6); Montevideo 20 (Koenen 7). Assists: Montevideo 8 (Koenen 5); Fairmont 3. Steals: Fairmont 9 (Quiring 6); Montevideo 7 (Koenen 3).