Providence Academy and Crosby-Ironton, a perfect pairing, reach Class 2A girls basketball final

Third try’s the charm. On Crosby-Ironton’s third consecutive trip to state, the Rangers made it to their first championship game, and in style. They’re undefeated, 32-0.

That doesn’t mean it was effortless. Their leading scorer — and rebounder, and assister — future Gopher Tori Oerhlein debriefed the Rangers’ semifinal win with ice wrapped on her back.

The No. 2 seed Rangers leaned on a physical, energetic start to hold off Minnehaha Academy 85-72 in Friday’s Class 2A semifinal game at Williams Arena.

The Rangers get the honors of facing the also-undefeated three-time reigning state champ, No. 1 Providence Academy, on Saturday for the championship. With two fast-transition offenses, expect a track meet on a basketball court.

“Not to quote ‘Miracle,’” said Crosby-Ironton head coach Pete Vukelich — accepting the role of underdog, “‘They might beat us eight times out of 10, but on one night, it can be our night.‘”

Crosby-Ironton was versatile and athletic in its attack, then held the Redhawks (22-10) to 24-for-66 (36%) shooting. Still, the state’s leading scorer, Maryland commit and Minnehaha senior Addi Mack, netted 28 points for the two-time state champs.

“We dug ourselves in a hole through our defense right away,” Mack said.

In a game with two 4,000-point career scorers, Mack and Oerhlein, it was senior guard Regan Juenemann who led the Rangers with 31 points. A transfer from Duluth Marshall, Juenemann added a threat on the perimeter this year.

“[She] obviously helped us get one step further than we did last year,” said Vukelich.

The Rangers finished fourth last season after making the quarterfinals the year before.

After Crosby-Ironton built a 40-24 halftime lead, Juenemann exploded for 13 straight points to start the second half, and the Rangers went up by as many as 21.

“I knew [the Redhawks] weren’t going to go away,” Junemann said. “Just because we’re up by how much, they’re not going to fall behind.”

Oehrlein also gave Gophers fans a glimpse of what she could bring to her future home court. The state’s all-time leading rebounder dropped 27 points and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds. Her boards powered the Rangers’ up-tempo game, allowing her to facilitate without a post player.

“I can just get it, go,” Oerhlein said. “I feel like there’s where we get a lot of teams as we run on them.”

Junior guard Sammie Hachey added 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting as the Rangers shot 31-for-53 (59%) from the floor.

The Minnewaska Area girls thought they were prepared. They did their diligence before they played Providence Academy in the Class 2A semifinals. They watched tape, the tried to imitate the Lions’ ridiculously fast-paced style, they even had their starters practice against six defenders at a time.

But the only team that can pull off a reasonable facsimile of Providence Academy are the Lions themselves. They improved to 31-0 with a convincing victory over Minnewaska Area. They will play in the Class 2A championship game for the fifth year in a row with a chance at their fourth straight title.

“You just can’t duplicate what Providence can do,” Minnewaska head coach Nick Danielson said. “That is a different animal over there.”

Befitting their mascot, the Lions live in eternal attack mode.

Missed shots, fouls, turnovers matter little. Nothing slows the Lions down.

The biggest reason is the never-slow-down style of junior Maddyn Greenway. Greenway, who clearly comes with no off switch, pushes the ball up the court every chance she gets.

She scored 26 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists, a ho-hum individual effort for the reigning All-Minnesota Player of the Year. Providence Academy thrives on speed and possessing the ball in a way opponents cannot match.

And the Lions did it Friday without making a substitution until less than four minutes remained in the game and the victory was in hand.

“I’ve done that ever since I became a coach,” Providence Academy’s Connor Goetz said. “It’s a gamble, but I trust these players to make smart decisions.”