Baraga falls short to Fowler in Division 4 state semis, 51-45
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EAST LANSING -- The Baraga Vikings girls' basketball season came to an end on Thursday night at the Breslin Center.
The Vikings lost 51-45 in a well-fought battle to the Fowler Eagles in a MHSAA Division 4 semifinal game.
It was Baraga's first-ever game at the Breslin Center.
The Eagles (23-2) jumped out to a 6-4 lead over the Vikings (23-3) in the opening five minutes of the first. While the Eagles would go on to score 13 more points in the final two minutes, the Vikings would stay stuck at four mainly due to turnovers. They gave up eight up alone in the first and five more in the second.
"This is a tough one. We didn't come out the way we wanted to," said Baraga head coach Tyler Larson. "But we hung around, kept it close enough so we could hang for the second half. Give credit to Fowler, they played great defense on us."
Turnovers combined with a strong Fowler press took Baraga out of its game.
"I thought initially coming out, our press would have some success early on," said Nathan Goerge, Fowler's head coach. "But (Baraga has) got some very skilled guards. And we couldn't force the sideline as much as I was hoping we would. So they kind of got the ball back to the middle of the court, and then I was a little nervous that some of our legs were a little tired. So that's why we decided to holcd off the press in the second half."
Despite being down 17-4 after one, the Baraga girls won the remaining three quarters outscoring Fowler 41-34. However, the 13-point deficit in the first was just too much for the Vikings to overcome.
With less than 1:30 to go in the second, Baraga's Makenna Hendrickson sunk two free throws to bring the Vikings within seven but a three-pointer by Fowler's Emma Riley pushed back to ten with a 28-18 halftime lead. Larson however was optimistic.
"I talked to the girls (at halftime) about how the games ebb and flow," he said. "They came out swinging. We talked about, you know, it's like a boxing match. Everyone just takes their turn swinging and landing punches. We climbed our way back, and very proud of the way that the girls handled a little bit of adversity on such a big stage. We just fell a little bit short."
That 10-point advantage remained for much of the third. Baraga scored, but did not slow Fowler's momentum. The Eagle's were led by Grace Epkey, who had a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Emma Riley followed her with 17 points and nine rebounds.
In the fourth, the Vikings came within one point. With Fowler leading 39-31, two free throws by Baraga's Reide Osterman sparked a seven-point run to make it 39-38 with five minutes to go. It was then 45-42 and another free throw by Osterman made it 47-45. That was as good as it got for the Vikings.
Riley sealed the Eagles' win with nine seconds to go in the game.
The Vikings were led by Osterman, who scored 17 points. Makenna Hendrickson and Corina Jahfeston followed with eight. At 17-21, the Vikings shot an impressive 81 percent from the free throw line.
FHS 17 11 9 14 -- 51
BHS 4 14 11 16 -- 45
FOWLER (51): Riley 17, Koenigsknecht 3, Andros 2, Epkey , Riley 24, Weber 2. 3-point FG: Riley 1, Koenigsknecht 1. FT: 13-23.
BARAGA (45): Hendrickson 8, Osterman 17, Michaelson 4, C. Jahfetson 8, Tembreull 4, Larson 2, K. Jahfetson 2. 3-point FG: 2-4. FT: 17-21.