STATE CHAMPS — Front from left: Sidney Schultz, Andrea Briggs, Raquel Fischer; back: coach John Schultz, Teagan Sutter, Erin Jacobson, Sophie Stork, Hallie Schultz, coach Dan Stork. (Submitted photo)
It’s been a while since New Richland, Hartland, Ellendale and Geneva have celebrated a state championship. At least it was a while.
The NRHEG ninth-grade girls’ basketball team changed that, winning the Pacesetter Minnesota State Championship on Sunday, June 23 and advancing to the Great Five-State Championships.
The Panthers beat Stephen-Argle 40-32 in the championship game at Maple Grove Middle School. They reached the finals, beating New London-Spicer 30-28 and Mt. Iron-Buhl 35-30 in overtime.
Team members are Sidney Schultz, Andrea Briggs, Raquel Fischer, Teagan Sutter, Erin Jacobson, Sophie Stork, and Hallie Schultz. Coaches are John Schultz and Dan Stork.
“The girls are a lot of fun to work with,” said Coach Stork. “They have great attitudes and work extremely hard! All three games at the state pacesetter tourney were very good games.
In edging New London-Spicer, NRHEG avenged a 12-point loss to them in an MYAS tourney early in the spring.
The top two teams in the state tournament advance to the Great Five-State to take on top teams from the Pacesetter tournaments in Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota. The ninth-grade girls tournament will be held July 13-14 at Maple Grove Middle School and Target Center.
Eight regional Pacesetter tournaments were held with over 650 school/community teams participating in grades 4-9. The region champions play in the Pacesetter state tournaments. MLWR won its regional. The teams with only one loss in the regional play in the Minnesota Invitational Tournament.
Pacesetter Sports, based in Paynesville, conducts tournaments and camps for basketball and volleyball in six states.