Girls State Basketball: Unseeded Minneota advances to championship game with 53-45 win over Hayfield

Pre-state tournament assessments that Minneota was a serious threat as an unseeded team to contend for a championship are coming to fruition.

The Minneota Vkings, the defending Class A champion, began the Minnesota State High School League’s Girls Basketball Tournament this week as an unseeded team in the eight-team field. With an eye on a repeat championship, and a third since 2019, Minneota upended top-seeded Mountain Iron-Buhl in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The quest continued on Friday, March 18, 2022, with a 53-45 victory over Hayfield in the semifinals at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus.

Senior forward Natalee Rolbiecki powered Minneota (28-4) with 29 points and was 12 of 20 from the field. Junior forward Ireland Stassen had 11 rebounds to go with seven points in support of Rolbiecki. Minneota outscored Hayfield 26-14 in the paint.

Minneota trailed by as many as 12 points midway through the first half, but climbed into a 28-all tie at the break.

Sophomore forward Natalie Beaver scored 13 points for Hayfield (32-1) and senior forward Aine Stasko added 11.

Minneota, also a championship semifinalist in 2020, awaits the winner between No. 2 Mayer Lutheran and No. 3 Hancock for the Class A championship on Saturday.