Prep girls basketball: Hawks erase painful memory, beat Grand Rapids

Up by seven with 80 seconds remaining, Hermantown wound up falling to the Thunderhawks in overtime.

"That was to go to state, and that's the team that knocked us out," junior guard Maddy Foster said, matter-of-factly.

Fast forward to Tuesday's rematch, and Foster made sure the host Hawks got a little payback with a 65-64 victory in a matchup of the News Tribune's top-ranked large-school teams, scoring a game-high 23 points. It is Hermantown's first win against Grand Rapids since Dec. 10, 2015, snapping the Thunderhawks' five-game winning streak in the series.

"It feels good," Foster said.

"It feels awesome," Hermantown coach Beth Clark added. "Obviously, last year has been weighing on us for awhile. That's the team that sent us home, so that's a game that we're going to remember."

Thunderhawks star Heaven Hamling had a chance to win it at the end but her 3-pointer rimmed out. Teammate Maggie Miska corralled the rebound but couldn't get a shot past Hermantown's 6-foot-2 center Ellie Gamradt and 6-foot-1 guard Sierra Bolen as time expired.

Clearly, there is never a dull moment when these two play.

"Heck no," Clark said. "And that's what we said at halftime. We might have the lead, but they're not going to go away. They're too good, too well-disciplined, too well-coached, and they're going to come back, and they're going to come back harder. We were prepared for that. We obviously we had a little bit of a hiccup there midway through the second half, but we made a couple clutch baskets to help us get back into it."

Gamradt added 18 points for Hermantown (14-2), which has won five straight, while Taylor Vold had 13 while playing tough defense on Hamling.

"She's gassed," Clark said of Vold, the Hawks' defensive stopper.

Hamling, who signed with NCAA Division I Stephen F. Austin, finished with 22 for Grand Rapids (11-6) but never did heat up like she did in last year's Section 7AAA finale, where she had 14 of her 30 points in the final minute of regulation and overtime. Liberty Blaine added 18 for the Thunderhawks, who trailed 36-26 at the half before coming back behind their press.

"We just didn't play well the first half, whatsoever," said Grand Rapids coach Kris Hamling, Heaven's mother. "We were just not ready to box out, and they outhustled us. We did much better in the second half, but we need to do that for a full game. You can't make it come down to that. You can't just play a half."

Grand Rapids graduated five players, including two starters and four post players from last year, while Hermantown graduated four, including three starters, but the quality — and the memories of last year — are still there.

So when Grand Rapids rallied to take a 46-45 lead with 10:26 to play, the Thunderhawks' first lead of the game, it was natural for fans to think of last year.

Foster was asked if it ever crossed her mind.

"No, it never did," Foster said. "Just keep playing."

She sure did. Foster scored eight points, including two 3-pointers, as Hermantown regained control and Grand Rapids was playing catch up the rest of the way. After Gamradt provided Hermantown some cushion with a couple inside baskets, the Thunderhawks mounted a furious rally in the closing minute but came up just short.

While Hermantown will enjoy this one, the veteran Clark knows it's ultimately just a win and the Hawks and Thunderhawks have much bigger goals in mind.

"It's a long season," Clark said. "You play 26 games, and we play them twice during the regular season, so we're going to see them again, and we'll probably see them in the playoffs. This was a great win, but we'll refocus and go from there."

Grand Rapids 26-38—64

Hermantown 36-29—65

Grand Rapids — Liberty Blaine 18, Heaven Hamling 22, Hannah Demars 7, Maggie Miska 8, Meara Beighley 9. Totals 24 6-9 64.

3-point goals — Blaine 6, Hamling 3, DeMars.

Hermantown — Sierra Bolen 6, Maddy Foster 23, Ava Asgaard 2, Carly Zierden 3, Taylor Vold 13, Ellie Gamradt 18. Totals 25 11-19 65.

3-point goals — Bolen, Foster 3.