In a roller-coaster type game that included numerous peaks and valleys for the team, the Lady Owls displayed incredible heart during their 59-52 win against Ortonville for the sub-section championship. It is the program's third sub-section championship appearance under Coach Jodi Holleman (since 1998), and second win in such games. Their last sub-section championship in 2002 propelled them into the Class A State tournament.
Ortonville finishes their season 15-10 and Sub-Section 5A-South runners-up for the second straight season. In 2006 they fell in a very heart-breaking game to Osakis 60-58 by blowing a seven-point lead late in the game. That season they finished 21-4. This season, they started 2-5 with a tough December before winning 13 out of their final 17 games. Hats off to the Trojans for another fine season of girls basketball.
The Lady Owls now face the Battle Lake Battlers in the Section 5A Championship game on Friday, March 9 at the Minnewaska Area High School. Tip-off is at 7:00pm. The Battlers are 20-6 after their 61-57 win over Bertha-Hewitt in the 5A-North championship game that preceded the Lady Owls' game tonight. The section championship will be a game between the number-one seeds out of both sub-sections. This has not happened in numerous seasons in Section 5A in girls basketball.
In 2006, the Battlers were nipped in the sub-section semi-final game (meaning, no trophy) by eventual Section Champ Browerville 64-62 to finish 19-5 overall. In 2005, they were also defeated by the eventual Section Champ (Underwood) 51-46 in the sub-section semi-final game and finished 16-8. In 2004, they lost their section opener and finished 14-8. In 2003, they were the number one seed in the 5A-North bracket, finishing 21-2 in the regular season. They lost 39-36 in a huge upset to eventual Section runner-up Underwood, who lost to State Entrant Kimball 68-50 in the championship game. Kimball had defeated the Lady Owls 44-41 in the Sub-Section 5A-South championship. That was Hancock's last appearance in a playoff championship game.
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