Esko Girls Come Up Just Short In 7AA Finals Game For The Ages

Wes Vork-NSO

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Mar 8, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

In a Section 7AA Finals game that had more of a feel of a state tournament championship game Thursday night, it was a Braham Bomber squad that would defend its section title and move back to Minneapolis to defend their state title as the Bombers knocked off the Eskomos by a score of 68-58 in double overtime.

The 68-58 double overtime victory makes the win the eighth straight Braham has had since joining Section 7AA in 2008. The win also makes it the fourth consecutive season Esko has been eliminated for the playoffs by the Bombers. The only Esko win in the series came back in 2008 when Esko eliminated the Bombers in the 2008 quarterfinals.

The Bombers started fast on Thursday night at UMD when they jumped out to an early to five point lead in the first half; but each time the Eskomos would fight their way back, not letting Rebekah Dahlman and her Bombers from running away with the game. Marisa Shady played a key role offensively for the Eskomos as she had 10 points in the first half to keep the contest close at halftime.

With Braham keeping close tabs on Trapp inside Megan Reuer stepped up by scoring 6 points as well for the Eskomos as Esko found themselves trailing by a score of 25-22 at intermission. The second half saw the Eskomos come out and take the lead at 26-25 on two free throws by Shady. Shady would connect again seconds later with two more free throws which gave Esko a three point lead 28-25, the largest lead they would have all night. Esko managed to match the three point lead two other times Thursday night.

With the second half looking as it was going to be a back and forth battle, Esko’s post Savanna Trapp picked up her third and fourth fouls early in the second half and she had to spend almost seven minutes on the Esko bench in foul trouble. With Trapp on the bench for Esko, the Eskomos continued to battle over the next seven minutes and with the game tied at 37-37 Trapp returned to the Eskomos lineup and immediately provided a rebound on defense and basket on offense to put Esko back in the lead.

Both teams battled back and forth down the stretch as with Esko leading by one point at 44-43 with under a minute to play. Kelsey Sorenson-Giffrow nailed a three pointer to give Braham a two point lead at 46-44. Brooke Schramm connected with 33 seconds left in regulation and neither team would score over the last 33 seconds and the game went to overtime tied at 46 all.

Trapp hit one free throw as over time started to give Esko a one point lead 47-46. Amanda Sybrant then fouled out for the Bombers, and less the fifteen seconds later the Eskomos Savanna Trapp would foul out as well for the Eskomos with 2:54 to play in overtime. Rebekah Dahlman scored all eight points in the first overtime for Braham including a 3-pointer which broke the single season scoring record in girls basketball in the state of Minnesota.

Dahlman’s 3-pointer with :12.7 seconds remaining in overtime tied the score and also gave her the record. Dahlman entered the night with 1027 points on the season and with the overtime 3-pointer passed Taylor Hill of Minneapolis South, who scored 1051 points in 2009. Dahlman finished the night with 1064 points and counting.

Esko, which did an outstanding job all night holding Dahlman in-check; holding her to 16 points in regulation, saw her take over in the overtime as she scored 21 points to lead Braham to the 10 point sectional victory. Dahlman’s 3-pointer with :12.7 second left in the first overtime left time on the clock for Esko, but a shot with less than two seconds remaining bounced out and the game went to its second overtime tied at 54-54.

Overtime number two saw the Bombers come out fast and built a 56-62 lead. Led by Dahlman, the Bombers who jumped ahead saw the Eskomos in a position that they had to foul and that sent the Bombers and Dahlman to the line. Dahlman scored 12 of the 14 points in the second overtime, with eight of those 12 points coming from the free throw line. Reuer and Steph Bandelin each scored baskets for Esko in the second overtime.

The loss ends the Eskomos season with an overall record of 26-4 as they fall to the defending state champions, who look like the sure bet to repeat as state champions. The Bombers improve to 29-1 and they move on to the state tournament which begins next Wednesday in Minneapolis.

“It was disappointing to have our season end, but it was a successful season. Our girls battled tonight, as they have all season, and I was very pleased with our perseverance once again” commented Esko Head Coach Scott Antonutti. Adding, “We wish the Bombers well at the state tournament. We were in the game the whole way, but unfortunately came up short in the end.”

Northland Sports Online would like to thank the three graduating seniors off this year’s team, Steph Miller, Steph Bandelin, and Megan Reuer for all of their hard work and effort.

Coach Antonutti also had high praise for the graduating seniors. “We will miss our three seniors on the court and their leadership both on and off the court; they have been a tremendous asset to our team, school, and community.”

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com