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Mar. 9—ROCHESTER — Is there a sense of contentment wafting over the Mayo girls basketball team now that it has advanced to the state tournament for the first time in 11 years?
Judging from Saturday's practice, definitely not. These Spartans want more.
Mayo was all business Saturday.
"The girls are excited right now," Mayo coach Andy Bromeling said. "But there is also a sense of unfinished business. Our girls don't want to settle for just getting there. They want to win it."
Judging from the lofty seed that the Spartans drew — No. 3 — they definitely seem in the conversation to challenge for the title.
They also know that they could be out of that picture in a hurry if they don't play well on Wednesday, when they open Class 4A state tournament play at 4 p.m. against No. 6 seed Monticello at Williams Arena.
The Magic are not to be trifled with. They are ranked eighth in the state (Mayo is fifth) and have one of the best guards around in Samantha Voll. The 5-foot-9 senior averages 26 points per game and will play her college basketball at Division I University of St. Thomas.
The Magic also have two others who have committed to play Division II college basketball at Concordia University, St. Paul University — Abby (1,000-point scorer) and Addison Ruda, a pair of 6-1 twins.
There is going to be nothing easy about getting out of that first round.
Still, as much as Mayo respects Monticello, it knows it has the firepower to take it down.
There is a comfort level in being able to fight fire with fire, and Mayo can do that with a pair of future Division I players of its own.
Still just sophomores, Amelia Mills and Maggie Dyer already rate as two of the state's top talents, both with a horde of Division I offers. Mills, a speedy 5-7 point guard, averages 21.5 points, 3.3 steals and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 40% from 3-point range.
Dyer, a strong and athletic 5-11, averages 18.3 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 35% on 3s.
Together, they bring a sense of comfort to this team with their talent.
"There is a comfort level to having two Division I players on the floor who you can count on in any situation," Bromeling said. "But I feel like we are also balanced. All of our players feed off each other."
As good as Mills and Dyer are, what especially makes this Mayo team special is its collective speed, quickness and tenacity. The Spartans employ non-stop full-court person-to-person pressure defensively. That has proved crucial to their attack as teams average 21 turnovers against them, Mayo turning lots of those takeaways into easy layups.
Mayo goes well beyond Mills and Dyer in making that happen. Among the defensive leaders are junior Madalynn McLaughlin (she'll defend Monticello's Voll), junior Siri Kirkeby and sophomore reserve Lyric Urban.
And as good as all of those players are, Mayo likely doesn't have a player with more value than senior shooting guard Mia Banks. The lone senior on the team, Banks is not only a strong player (13 points and five rebounds per game) who will play at Division II Bemidji State University next season, but she is an ultimate leader.
"She is such a leader for this group," Bromeling said. "She is always a constructive encourager even when things aren't going well."
Mostly, things have gone extremely well for the Spartans. Save for a Nov. 28 loss to Eastview, Mayo hasn't dropped a game this season, including beating annual nemesis Lakeville North twice, the latest one just barely (50-48) in the Section 1, Class 4A final.
Mayo brings with it a 28-1 record and a hunger to accomplish more.
—A Mayo win on Wednesday would send it to the semifinals where it would face the winner between No. 2 Rosemount and No. 7 Chanhassen. Gametime is 8 p.m. Thursday at Williams Arena.
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Judging from Saturday's practice, definitely not. These Spartans want more.
Mayo was all business Saturday.
"The girls are excited right now," Mayo coach Andy Bromeling said. "But there is also a sense of unfinished business. Our girls don't want to settle for just getting there. They want to win it."
Judging from the lofty seed that the Spartans drew — No. 3 — they definitely seem in the conversation to challenge for the title.
They also know that they could be out of that picture in a hurry if they don't play well on Wednesday, when they open Class 4A state tournament play at 4 p.m. against No. 6 seed Monticello at Williams Arena.
The Magic are not to be trifled with. They are ranked eighth in the state (Mayo is fifth) and have one of the best guards around in Samantha Voll. The 5-foot-9 senior averages 26 points per game and will play her college basketball at Division I University of St. Thomas.
The Magic also have two others who have committed to play Division II college basketball at Concordia University, St. Paul University — Abby (1,000-point scorer) and Addison Ruda, a pair of 6-1 twins.
There is going to be nothing easy about getting out of that first round.
Still, as much as Mayo respects Monticello, it knows it has the firepower to take it down.
There is a comfort level in being able to fight fire with fire, and Mayo can do that with a pair of future Division I players of its own.
Still just sophomores, Amelia Mills and Maggie Dyer already rate as two of the state's top talents, both with a horde of Division I offers. Mills, a speedy 5-7 point guard, averages 21.5 points, 3.3 steals and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 40% from 3-point range.
Dyer, a strong and athletic 5-11, averages 18.3 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 35% on 3s.
Together, they bring a sense of comfort to this team with their talent.
"There is a comfort level to having two Division I players on the floor who you can count on in any situation," Bromeling said. "But I feel like we are also balanced. All of our players feed off each other."
As good as Mills and Dyer are, what especially makes this Mayo team special is its collective speed, quickness and tenacity. The Spartans employ non-stop full-court person-to-person pressure defensively. That has proved crucial to their attack as teams average 21 turnovers against them, Mayo turning lots of those takeaways into easy layups.
Mayo goes well beyond Mills and Dyer in making that happen. Among the defensive leaders are junior Madalynn McLaughlin (she'll defend Monticello's Voll), junior Siri Kirkeby and sophomore reserve Lyric Urban.
And as good as all of those players are, Mayo likely doesn't have a player with more value than senior shooting guard Mia Banks. The lone senior on the team, Banks is not only a strong player (13 points and five rebounds per game) who will play at Division II Bemidji State University next season, but she is an ultimate leader.
"She is such a leader for this group," Bromeling said. "She is always a constructive encourager even when things aren't going well."
Mostly, things have gone extremely well for the Spartans. Save for a Nov. 28 loss to Eastview, Mayo hasn't dropped a game this season, including beating annual nemesis Lakeville North twice, the latest one just barely (50-48) in the Section 1, Class 4A final.
Mayo brings with it a 28-1 record and a hunger to accomplish more.
—A Mayo win on Wednesday would send it to the semifinals where it would face the winner between No. 2 Rosemount and No. 7 Chanhassen. Gametime is 8 p.m. Thursday at Williams Arena.
Continue reading...
