Hawks top Edina to reach girls basketball finals - photo slideshow

Chaska goes for a spot in the state girls basketball tournament on Friday, March 7 against Bloomington Kennedy in the Section 2-4A finals at St. Olaf College.

Enjoy this selection of photos from the Hawks'58-48 victory over Edina in the 2-4A semifinals on March 1.

Chaska’s girls basketball team escaped a quarterfinal upset in the Section 2-4A opener on Wednesday night, topping Prior Lake by a point.

But the Hawks did not let Edina have the same level of comfort.

Chaska senior Courtney Boylan and sophomore Brooke Brown each scored 17 points as the Hawks dumped Edina 58-48 on Saturday at Hopkins High School.

The Hawks never trailed in the game, and appeared to have the win well in hand throughout the second half.

Though the Hawks were in that position before.

Edina swiped a section final berth from the Hawks two seasons ago with a pair of under-the-basket steals in the waning seconds of the game, which was also at neutral-site Hopkins.

“Some of the players remember that,” Chaska co-coach Tara Seifert said. “No one wanted that horrible feeling again.”

The Hawks are now a win away from having a wonderful feeling: a spot in the state tournament.

Chaska takes on Bloomington Kennedy at 8 p.m. on Friday at the faraway neutral-court at St. Olaf College in Northfield.

Kennedy topped Richfield 58-45 in the later game on Saturday at Hopkins. The Eagles have won 10 in a row since losing to Chaska in double-overtime on Jan. 22.

The Hawks led the Hornets early, as sophomore center Ellen Degler netted seven first-half points, but a three-pointer and a pair of free throws pulled Edina pulled to a 25-21 deficit at halftime.

The Hornets kept it close for much of the second session, but the Hawks kept the turnovers coming and set up fast-break opportunities.

“I thought our pressure was really good tonight,” Seifert said. “All our kids came out and played really good defense.”

Bigger lineup

Chaska senior Brittany Travis scored the first basket of the second half off a pass from sophomore Brianna Tisch, and banked in another shot after a pass from Boylan. Tisch then converted a pass from senior Kelsey Kalkman to quickly answer a Hornet basket.

“We started with a bigger lineup because I felt like we were the bigger, stronger team. And we did a nice job of getting some looks at the posts. We’re versatile, and we can go four guards, too.”

Brown popped in a pair of three-point shots and a jumper, and Jenna Willems added a long three-pointer to grow the Hawk lead to 12.

Boylan made all four free throw shots down the stretch, and the Hawks had key rebounds by Tiffany Van Haaften and Brown as Edina tried to score.

Megan Gaard broke a 2-minute Hornet scoring drought with a three-pointer, but the Hawks put the game away with an outlet pass to an unguarded Brown, who banked in an easy layup for her 14th point of the half.

“It’s always great to come back and beat a team that you lost to in such an almost tragic way,” Seifert said. “That was such a heartbreaker.”

The Hawks almost did not get a chance for the long-awaited revenge game, as they slipped past seventh seeded Prior Lake 49-48 on Thursday. Boylan led the way with 18 points, though the Lakers held her to four second-half points.

Seifert is enjoying her first season as co-coach with longtime Hawk coach Bob Downs, who guided the Hawks to the state tournament in 1982, 1983, 1990 and as runner-up in 1998.

“It’s going really well, we’ve had a great season,” Seifert said. “Bob’s been great to work with and very open to ideas. We have good communication, which helps a lot.”