Girls Basketball: Goodhue ousted in 1A-West finals

Goodhue took care of the basketball for most of Saturday’s Section 1A-West Subsection finale against Bethlehem Academy.

The Wildcats held a slim lead with a few minutes remaining and then the mistakes showed up.

The Cardinals forced three turnovers in Goodhue’s final four possessions and Bethlehem Academy erased a 50-45 deficit to win 54-50 at Mayo Civic Auditorium in Rochester.

“There weren’t many until the very end of the game,” Goodhue head coach Josh Wieme said of his team’s turnovers. “Their size and pressure got to us. They had some 6-footers trapping our 5-foot-3 girls. We struggle with pressure, that’s nothing new to us and size is a part of that.”

The Wildcats finished with six turnovers in the game, according to Wieme, while the Cardinals turned the ball over 17 times. The equalizer was Bethlehem Academy’s 11 offensive rebounds and 5 of 11 shooting from behind the 3-point line. Goodhue made just 38 percent of its shots in the loss.

Mikayla Miller led the Wildcats (23-6) with 17 points and eight rebounds. Mikayla Tipcke had 11 points and Meredith Watson contributed four points and seven rebounds.

The Cardinals were led by Jessie Matthews with 16 points. Taylor Schwab had 14 points in the win.

Goodhue graduates two players and returns its entire starting lineup, giving the Wildcats optimism for next season. Goodhue shared the Hiawatha Valley League Blue Division title with Pine Island.

Tags: girls basketball, sports, prep, goodhue