Girls Basketball: Warriors dispatch Sauk Rapid quickly

On Wednesday, February 28, Brainerd Warriors left no room for doubt.
In the Section 8-4A playoffs, the Warriors, seeded third, jumped on the No. 6 seed Sauk Rapids Storm right away, winning 79-56.

With 19 points off the bench, Allison Thomes spearheaded the Warriors’ offensive. Thomes scored five 3-pointers in the first half to give Brainerd a 46-17 lead at the interval.
Thomes said, “We wanted to show Sauk Rapids and the section that we are serious about playing and making it to the section final, and that we deserve the No. 3 seed.”
In order to get to the Section 8-4A playoffs, ten different Brainerd Warriors found the scorebook in Brainerd.
The Warriors’ head coach Troy Nelson said, “We came out focused and ready to play and got after it from the opening tip.” “We had excellent ball movement and played solid defense in the first half. We dominated the opening half of the game.
In the opening five minutes, the Warriors surged out to a 15–6 advantage. Later in the first half, Brainerd scored 15 runs to take a 30-8 lead.
Before Thomes made three of her five 3-pointers, including one at the first-half buzzer, to increase the advantage to 29, the Warriors led 35–11.
Nelson said, “When she is on, she is really on.” I don’t believe she was hitting the rim with the majority of her attempts in the first half. They were unadulterated. It helps the team get energized and play better defense when she has that confidence and her teammates have that faith in her to shoot.
Thomes sensed that the last three were going in after she made her first two 3-pointers.
Thomes said, “I was just letting it go and knew I was on.” “If it got in or not, I didn’t care. I took a crack at it. I believe it will continue into the next game. We will obtain excellent shots if we cooperate as a team.
With eight points in the first half and nine in the second, Mya Tautges scored a total of 17 points. With 13 points, AJ Johnson was also in double digits.
The Storm were limited to 17 points in the first half and 34% shooting overall by Brainerd’s defense.
With 20 points, Sienna Petermeier lead the Storm’s scoring.
In the second half, Sauk Rapids trimmed the advantage to 22, but the Warriors rallied with two more runs to take a 35-point lead.
The Warriors prevailed thanks to eight more points from Brook Sandberg and seven from Addison Bjorklund. The Warriors made 36% of their 3-pointers and 45% of their field goals.
Nelson said, “We discussed how this was game number 27, and we just had to go out and play.” “I think the girls played our game and bought into it very well. We made many inside-out threes while sharing the ball.
Now 22-5, Brainerd will travel to face No. 2 seed Elk River on Saturday, March 2, at 1 p.m.
Two Saturdays ago, on February 24, the Elks beat the Warriors 66-46. The second semifinal in Section 8-4A pits top-seeded St. Michael-Albertville against fourth-seeded Sartell.
Nelson said, “We are thrilled about the opportunity to play Elk River one again and maybe win this time. When we played them for the first time, I believe we discovered a few things about ourselves. We’ll adjust our strategy and make some adjustments. We should be prepared to play and make it to the section finals, I believe.
“We need to play as a team, and our defense was a little rocky the last time we played them,” Thomes said.

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