MINNEOTA - When the Minneota and Canby girls basketball teams meet, it's always a battle.
Friday was no exception.
The Lancers won the first-half battle, but the Vikings came alive in the second half to post a 64-58 win in Camden Conference action.
Article Photos
Photo by Alex Oey
Minneota’s Taylor Reiss (22) swats a layup by Canby’s Casie Baer during Friday’s Camden Conference game at Minneota High School.
"Like I told the girls, Canby was going to come out after us," said Minneota head coach Chad Johnston, who picked up his 200th career win.
"This is a big rivalry, they've got a good ball team."
"We know Minneota is a great team," said Canby head coach Kevin Hansen. "We knew we had to play a good game to be with them."
Fact Box
Canby (58)
Riley Nordgaard 10 11-12 35, Ricki Kallhoff 4 8-11 16, Casie Baer 1 0-0 3, Moriah Hoffman 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 19-23 58. Three-Pointers 3 (Nordgaard 2, Baer 1). Rebounds 28 (Nordgaard 16). Assists 11 (Nordgaard 4). Steals 8 (Kallhoff 2, Hoffman 2). Blocks 3 (Kallhoff 2). Turnovers 13. Fouls 22.
Minneota (64)
Molly Hennen 0 2-4 2, Katelyn Kack 5 2-7 12, Kelsey Hennen 4 2-2 11, Emily Stienessen 1 0-0 3, Taylor Reiss 10 7-13 27, Megan Larson 0 2-2 2, Hanna Prellwitz 2 0-1 4, Payton Boerboom 1 0-0 3. Totals 23 15-29 64. Three-Pointers 3 (K. Hennen 1, Stienessen 1, Boerboom 1). Rebounds 29 (Reiss 12). Assists 15 (K. Hennen 5). Steals 9 (K. Hennen 5). Blocks 3 (Reiss 2). Turnovers 14. Fouls 13.
Halftime Score: Canby 29, Minneota 21.
Early in the game it was all Canby (17-5 overall, 12-3 Camden) as the Lancers went up 8-0 to start the game.
"We knew it was going to be a big game with a big atmosphere," said Minneota's Katelyn Kack. "And we knew we had to play a great game to be able to beat them again."
Minneota (22-1, 13-0) came back and tied the game 16-16 with 4:12 left in the half, but the Lancers turned it back on and took a 29-21 lead into the half.
"We were doing the little things right," said Canby's Riley Nordgaard, who had a game-high 35 points. "We were boxing out, we were rebounding hard, we were pushing the ball and we were making our shots."
The Vikings came out and started chipping away at the lead and with 6:31 left in the game, Payton Boerboom hit her lone shot of the game, but it was a three that gave Minneota its first lead of the night, 47-46.
Canby's Ricki Kallhoff tied it up 47-47 on a free throw, but a pair of free throws from Megan Larson gave the lead back to Minneota 49-47.
"We may have missed some early, but we made the key ones at the end of the game and that's big," Johnston said.
And that's when it came down to Nordgaard against Taylor Reiss.
The two players combined for 17 of the final 26 points scored in the game, with Reiss coming away with nine in the final four minutes.
"The forwards brought the bottom of the zone out more," said Reiss, who scored 27 points on the night. "So that left me one-on-one underneath and that helped me get a lot more shots."
The Vikings were able to hold the lead, though Canby came within one point with just over three minutes left, but Minneota held on and scored the final three points of the game to take the 64-58 win.
"We got down, but we stayed confident," Johnston said. "Our whole focus is to stay focused, stay healthy and stay confident.
"I think if we do those things, good things will happen."