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What a difference a year makes. Despite laying waste to a long list of quality opponents all summer long, the 2016 version of Minnesota Fury 2020 Blue was unable to dent the armor of their mighty rivals from North Tartan.…
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Continue ReadingWhat a difference a year makes. Despite laying waste to a long list of quality opponents all summer long, the 2016 version of Minnesota Fury 2020 Blue was unable to dent the armor of their mighty rivals from North Tartan. The state championship game was a 26-point blowout. Fast forward to 2017 when the Fury demonstrated their improvement in the state preliminaries two weeks ago. There they came within three points. Still, few thought it was going to be that close in Sunday’s championship game but North Tartan needed a desperation basket at the buzzer to force overtime before prevailing 47-45.
NT got off to a slow start, but a steal and score by wunderkind Paige Bueckers (Hopkins) about four minutes in seemed to get the girls rolling. Bueckers proceeded to score from downtown a few minutes later to give North Tartan its first lead at 12-11, followed quickly by baskets from TeTe Danso (Simley), Mallory Brake (Hastings), and another pair of threes from Bueckers. It looked like the defending champs were about to run away and hide. Sydney Stensgard (Simley) of the Fury had other ideas, however, and the talented freshman scored a quick five points to close out the half. North Tartan led by just five.
After the break, Tartan went into a plodding half-court offense, picking their spots carefully, waiting for just the right moment to pounce. Except those moments were few. Bueckers was no longer dominating and Stensgard was making more noise. The Fury’s 6-1 post Natalie Mazurek of Eden Prairie tied the game at 38 with 4 minutes remaining and from there it was anyone’s ballgame. In the final moments of the game, the Fury committed two intentional fouls to wind the clock down to 5.9 seconds, and had a third foul to give. McKenzie Kramer (St. Michael-Albertville) received the inbounds pass and was trapped on the sideline with the Fury trying desperately to foul. “I knew we only had a few seconds left so I turned around and saw TeTe was under the basket,” Kramer explained. “I made a baseball pass and got her the ball just in time.” Indeed. Danso calmly slipped the ball into the hoop and the game was headed for overtime.
In the two-minute extra session, Jensen gave Tartan the lead before Brake scored on a nice feed from Courtney Becker (Fountain City, Wisc.) to put North Tartan ahead by four. Farmington’s Molly Mogenson buried a long three for the Fury with 16 seconds left. A quick intentional foul put Lakeville North's Lauren Jensen on the line where she made one of two. That left the Fury with one last-gasp effort but Kaylie Van der Werf of Holy Angels could only watch helplessly as her jump shot careened off the rim as time expired. North Tartan were champions once again.
What can you say about this North Tartan squad that hasn’t already been said? They are simply great, boasting six of the top 10 players in Northstar’s class of 2020 rankings: 1. Bueckers, 2. Kramer, 5. Brake, 7. Jensen, 8. Mia Curtis (Minnehaha) and 10. Danso. Of course, Fury Blue aren’t exactly barren with five players in the top 20. Power forward Ysareia Chevre (Tartan) is at #4, Ravyn Miles (Simley) is 11th, Mogenson is at #13, Lauren Frost (Park Center) is 16th, and Van der Werf is at 17. Is it any wonder this is a rivalry?
Danso may be the most intriguing prospect of the bunch. She is sometimes listed at 5-11, sometimes at 6-foot. The exact number is irrelevant, however, because Danso’s leaping ability makes her as effective as players who are three or four inches taller, and her sense of timing on rebounds is impeccable. Danso always seems to be in the right place at the right time. In the shadow of Paige Bueckers, the exploits of her teammates are often overlooked. On this day, however, all eyes were on Danso when it really mattered.