Girls basketball state tournament: Top seed Goodhue joins the finals crowd.

Goodhue advanced as the Class 1A semifinals began the day, and there's high scoring ahead in the 2A evening games. Come back for updates.

By Ron Haggstrom Star Tribune

March 15, 2024 — 2:40pm

Results from Thursday's Class 4A and 3A semifinals and Class 1A quarterfinal games are here

Tap on the game for a postgame summary or live scoring if the game is in progress

Semifinals

Friday at Williams Arena

Class 1A: Goodhue 63, Underwood 53

Class 1A: [3] Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart vs. [2] Mountain Iron-Buhl, in progress

Class 2A: [5] Crosby-Ironton vs. [1] Providence Academy, 6 p.m.

Class 2A: [3] Minnehaha Academy vs. [2] Albany, 8 p.m.

1:46 p.m.

Goodhue steadies itself, rallies past Underwood

Goodhue coach Josh Wieme yelled "settle down" to his players five minutes into the game. The Wildcats were playing into Underwood's hands.

It took a few minutes to register.

The No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Wildcats went on a 16-point run late in the first half, a springboard to a 63-53 victory over seventh-ranked Underwood in the Class 1A girls basketball state tournament semifinals Friday at Williams Arena. The five-minute spurt turned a seven-point deficit into a 29-20 lead.

"We were out of sorts," Wieme said. "We had to take a deep breath. We had to relax, settle down, and they did."

The Wildcats' dynamic one-two punch of senior guard Elisabeth Gadient and junior forward Kendyl Lodermeier took over during the run. Gadient scored seven points, and Lodermeier vaulted the Wildcats into the lead with six consecutive points.

"When I see an opening I take it," Lodermeier said.

Goodhue (27-5) struggled again at the start of the second half. The Rockets closed within four, 41-37, until Goodhue's duo went back to work. Gadient and Lodermeier combined for 10 points, igniting a 12-2 run to restore order at 53-39.

"We just had to keep our composure," Gadient said. "I didn't have any doubt [about winning]."

Gadient finished with a double-double (22 points, including the 2,000th of her career, and 11 rebounds) and also had seven assists. Lodermeier also wound up with a double-double (16 points and 11 rebounds).

"It took our stars to step up and carry us in tough times," Wieme said. "The goal at the beginning of the year was to make the state championship, and here we are. It wasn't easy."

Underwood (28-4) struggled with three-point shooting, which was a strength in their quarterfinal victory. They went 4-for-15 from beyond the arc after going 11-for-23 a day earlier.

Underwood senior guard Elizabeth Lukken had a game-high 24 points on 11-for-26 shooting.

"Sometimes you have to tell Liz, 'Take the ball and go,' " Rockets coach Brian Hovland said. "Our kids are tough. They battled. I couldn't be more proud of them."

Championship games

Saturday at Williams Arena

Class 4A: Minnetonka vs. [1] Hopkins, 8 p.m.

Class 3A: [2] DeLaSalle vs. [1] Benilde-St. Margaret's, 6 p.m.

Class 2A: 2 p.m.

Class 1A: noon

Tournament brackets

Class 4A | Class 3A | Class 2A | Class 1A

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Tickets, TV

Ch. 45 is televising and streaming the semifinals and championship games. Link to the streams and find other details on how to watch here. Consolation games are available for a fee on NSPN. Tickets to the event range from $11 to $22 and are available at mshsl.org/tickets.

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More coverage

The Star Tribune will be publishing stories and other content related to these state championship games and more this week. Keep up by checking startribune.com/preps each day. Thank you for reading and subscribing.

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