Hilary Haaven dribbles the ball towards midcourt. (Photo by Mojo Hill)
MAYVILLE — After reaching the state tournament in seven of the last eight seasons, Langdon Area/Munich won’t be returning this year.
The Cardinals (18-8) struggled to score early in a 36-33 loss to Linton/HMB (15-11), falling in the final of four state qualifier games at Mayville State University on Saturday.
“We only had one night to prepare. But yeah, we knew it would be tough scoring,” LA/M head coach Rob Scherr said. “We thought if we could get 40, we’d win.”
It was a rematch of last year’s state fifth-place game. The Cardinals won that one, 57-56.
LA/M has a notably young team. There are no seniors on the roster. The group was set back further with season-long injuries to junior Aubrey Badding and freshman Avery Lorenz.
“We didn’t expect to be this young during the year, with those two injuries,” Scherr said. “I had to change my coaching. It couldn’t be as precise. Because you’re dealing with 14, 15-year-old girls.”
After an 8-6 start to the season, the Cardinals won nine of their next 10 games, with the only loss a near-upset of region champion Benson County.
“When we started the season, no offense, we were not good,” Scherr said. “And I told the girls that. And we improved a lot.”
Freshman Hilary Haaven — one of the top volleyball players in the state — blossomed into the basketball team’s top scorer throughout the season.
“That girl’s amazing,” Scherr said. “Haaven was our fourth option [last year], and coming into this year, she’d have been our third option. But from the beginning of the year to the end — I mean, I’ll be shocked if she doesn’t make all-state. … Her growth is amazing.”
Haaven, like most of the rest of the team, is still young.
She was held without a point in the first half on Saturday.
“It’s always ‘what could have been’ with those two injured girls, but [Haaven] definitely needed some people to help take the pressure off of her,” Scherr said. “She knew she had to do a lot. And we needed her to do a lot.”
LA/M scored just two points in the first quarter. Linton/HMB led 11-2 early in the second quarter.
Scherr noted the Cardinals’ struggles against the Lions’ zone.
“A lot of these eighth-graders, freshmen and all that, they never see zones,” Scherr said. “So I was worried coming in. … We didn’t really have the firepower to make them pack it in. And we did a lot of dribbling. We didn’t move the ball quickly to get shots and then attack the close-outs and get to the hole. … They don’t understand the concepts effectively yet at their age of how to beat a zone.”
The Cardinals hit three triples in the second quarter to get within one.
They trailed by as many as 10 in the third quarter, but scored six straight points to cut the deficit to four.
Haaven got in the points column with a pair of baskets in the final three minutes of the third quarter.
Taya Feist, the Cardinals’ 6-foot-1 sophomore center, didn’t score any points until the opening possession of the fourth quarter. Feist, who had a game-high 10 rebounds, scored four points in the final eight minutes — including a put-back to get the Cardinals within one again, 29-28.
Linton/HMB responded with a 6-0 run, which ultimately sunk the Cardinals.
Macy Hase led the Lions with 14 points. Avery Vander Vorst had nine.
The Cardinals almost pulled together a miracle, but it was just a smidge too little, too late. Haaven got a lucky bounce for an and-one. Mya Swanson made a pair of free throws. It was 35-33 in the final minute of play.
LA/M ran out of time before it could execute the last play it needed.
The Cardinals fell by three.
Oddly, Devils Lake’s 52-48 win over Central Cass to begin the day turned out to be the least-close of the four games. The four victorious teams won by a combined margin of nine.
LA/M is still primed to be a contender for the foreseeable future, given all the talent coming back in forthcoming years. Things should only get better for this group.
“You can’t teach them three years of basketball in three months. Basketball is different than volleyball and softball or whatever else they play, because there’s so many moving pieces,” Scherr said. “Every time the ball is rebounded or moved, you’ve got to diagnose so many things. And there’s not timeouts after every play.
“So you can’t just be specialized, like in one position in volleyball. You’ve got to be able to play defense. You’ve got to able to rebound. You’ve got to be able to box out. You’ve got to be able to dribble. You’ve got to be able to have assists and be strong on offense and shoot the ball.”
Scherr left Mayville on Saturday with a sense of satisfaction in the season his Cardinals had. They went 18-8, making it to the district championship, the region championship and coming within one game of state.
“No matter how it ended here, we improved so much during the year,” Scherr said. “I’m proud as heck of them. … We were a challenging, tough out. And these young girls, which are mainly freshmen, eighth-graders, a couple sophomores, they grew immensely. But basketball usually takes years to get that knowledge. … With youth, they don’t show up some games. The next game, there’s 18 points.
“And it was hard today to get pieces in the right spots on the zone. But I’m proud of them.”
