Starting the Class 3A girls state basketball tournament with a 29-0 record, Monticello ran into the wrong team and the wrong moment.
Cretin-Derham Hall was too deep, too athletic and too calm down the stretch in what was a tight game from start to finish before the Raiders used two late baskets off steals to seal a 59-50 victory in a quarterfinal Wednesday afternoon at Maturi Pavilion.
Cretin-Derham Hall guard Teagan Jacobs (22) tries to get through the defense of Monticello defender Addison Ruda (22) under the basket in the first half of a Class 3A quarterfinal game of the State Girls Basketball Tournament at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Matt Blewett / Special to the Pioneer Press)
It didn’t help that the Magic were without all-state guard and leading scorer Samantha Voll, unavailable for an unspecified reason, but the fact is Cretin-Derham Hall — despite being the tournament’s No. 7 seed and not having a single player with state tournament experience — was going to be a tough out in any case.
The Raiders (21-9) advanced to face Marshall in a 2 p.m. semifinal Thursday at Williams Arena. Marshall beat Rock Ridge 67-51 in their 3A quarterfinal.
“We’re an athletic team; we try to defend and push the ball,” Raiders coach Tara Gunderson said. “So our whole thing was to keep it tight. We have nothing to lose playing in a game like this; they’ve had the undefeated season.”
Madelyn Barrow pulled the Magic within 51-49 with her second 3-pointer of the game with 1:19 remaining, but the Raiders took control from there, scoring eight of the next 10 points on a give-and-go to Sage Gilbert, a transition basket by Isabella Deleeuw, a steal and layup by Madeleine Hamiel and, finally, a steal and layup by Deleeuw to put it away.
“We wanted it and, you know, when you want it more than the other team, you’ve just gotta do what you do,” Deleeuw said. “That’s what we do.”
Cretin-Derham Hall guard Sage Gilbert (12) shoots from the corner against Monticello in the first half of a Class 3A quarterfinal game of the State Girls Basketball Tournament at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Matt Blewett / Special to the Pioneer Press)
Deleeuw and Hamiel are two of the three eighth-graders on the varsity roster who combined for 27 points and 13 rebounds.
“At our section final, I said, ‘Raise your hand if you’ve ever played in a section final,’ ” Gunderson said. “And three of us coaches raised their hands, but nobody else did.”
You wouldn’t have guessed it on Wednesday. The Magic, looking like a team that hadn’t lost all season, took early control when 3-pointers by Aubrey Krienke and Reese Hausmann spurred a 9-3 run that put the Magic up 14-6 at 12:33.
But the Raiders reeled off 11 straight points to take a 17-14 lead before the teams traded baskets, and free throws, on the way to Cretin-Derham Hall’s 26-25 lead at intermission.
Monticello made another bid to start running away early in the second half, as well, forcing four turnovers during a 9-2 run that put them up 34-28. But an inside jumper from Hamiel and three straight 3-pointers from Gilbert gave the Raiders a 40-34 lead with 9:40 remaining.
Gilbert, a junior, was 4 for 7 from deep for all 12 of her team-high 17 points. Her second of that run was a quick step back that changed the game’s momentum.
“I was kinda feeling it, and I practice that shot a lot — like just a jab and then get in rhythm — and (my defender) was backing off me, and I had just made one. So I was feeling pretty confident,” Gilbert said. “I just trusted my shot, and it went in.”
Gilbert added six rebounds and three assists.
Hamiel, who moved to Minnesota with her family this year, finished with 15 points, a team-high seven boards and three steals. Deleeuw finished with 12 points and three steals, and fellow eighth-grader Teagan Jacobs had five rebounds and two assists.
“They just did their best, we did our best,” Kreinke said. “We just came up a few points short.”
It’s unclear whether Voll will be available to play in any consolation games, or whether she could have pushed the Magic past the Raiders.
“She’s a great player, but our kids, they battled,” Geyen said. “I’m so proud of them. They left it all on the floor, there’s no doubt about it. … We just came up a few buckets short.”
Monticello defender Addison Ruda (22) fouls Cretin-Derham Hall guard Teagan Jacobs (22) in the first half of a Class 3A quarterfinal game of the State Girls Basketball Tournament at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Matt Blewett / Special to the Pioneer Press)
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