For the second year in a row, the Valley City Hi-Liners stand atop the Class A mountaintop in girls basketball with a dramatic 69-62 win over the South Prairie-Max Royals.
The first quarter saw the top-seeded Royals come out and land an authoritative opening blow. After not allowing more than nine points in an opening quarter all tournament, the Royals plastered 19 points on the Valley City Hi-Liners defense, as Rylee Routledge led the way with nine points. The Hi-Liners countered with Katie Burchill, who scored seven points, but without any support around her the Royals took a solid 19-7 lead after one.
The second quarter started with both teams trading baskets, as Burchill did everything in her power to keep the Hi-Liners in the game, finishing the half with 17 points. Skotti Beck would awaken in the early goings of the second quarter for the Royals, cashing in five points in the frame. But trailing big past the halfway point of the quarter, the Hi-Liners would catch fire from deep, with Maddy Frieze, Dacota Potratz, Kinslee Glandt and Mariah Frieze all draining 3-pointers, with a Potratz buzzer-beater tying the game at 31 heading into the break.
The third quarter would see the Hi-Liners defense lock down the Royals, as Valley City held South Prairie-Max to just 10 points in the frame. The Hi-Liners were able to wrestle the lead away from the Royals, due in large part to the play of Skye Nielsen, who would finally get on the scoreboard after a scoreless first half. In a slow-scoring, grinding-it-out third quarter, the Hi-Liners found themselves in front 45-41.
South Prairie-Max jumped all over Valley City in the early stages of the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run, capped off by a Brianna Rose and-one that gave the Royals a 50-47 lead at the six-minute mark of the fourth. However, the Hi-Liners answered back with free throws — free throws and more free throws. After not having a single two-for-two trip to the stripe in the first three quarters, the Hi-Liners converted 15 free throws in a row.
Nielsen and Burchill converted 13 of the Hi-Liners’ 15 foul shots, with the other two belonging to Glandt. Maddy Frieze also buried a timely 3-pointer in the quarter to re-stabilize the lead for Valley City as they closed in on another state tournament title.
But the Royals got timely 3-pointers from Beck and Abigail Mikkelson to keep South Prairie-Max breathing down the Hi-Liners’ neck. But with the Hi-Liners’ inability to miss from the stripe, and with the defense getting just enough stops, they were able to keep the Royals at arm’s length as the Hi-Liners held on to take their second straight Class A state championship.
Skye Nielsen and Katie Burchill were named to the all-tournament team, with Burchill taking home tournament MVP honors for the second year in a row, averaging 25 points and 12.3 rebounds in the tournament.