Experienced Cromwell Girls Carry #2 Seed into State Tournament

The Cardinals will face Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa in the state quarterfinals on Thursday.

CROMWELL, Minn. – The excitement and jubilation of the section playoffs is over and done with and now, teams are getting set for the state tournament. That includes the Cromwell-Wright girls who come into the Class A tournament as one of the teams to beat.

The Cardinals finished the season ranked #1 in QRF, but settled for the #2 seed in the state tournament, one spot below defending state champs Minneota. But this won’t be the first rodeo for Cromwell-Wright as they’ll head down with lots of previous playoff experience.

“They played as eighth-graders and ninth-graders on our last two state tournament teams. They’re just looking forward to getting down there and competing,” head coach Jeff Gronner said.

“It was so fun back then. But I think it’s a little bit better since we’re seniors this year. We’re all really pumped and just to get down at the state tournament is very exciting, especially for us seniors because it’s our last chance so it will be a good time,” said senior guard Taya Hakamaki.

“This school is really small but we’ve always had a good basketball program. When I was younger and watching the seniors play when I was in elementary, that was just amazing. My dream as an elementary student was going to state and maybe winning it all some day,” senior guard Shaily Hakamaki said.

The Cardinals will face Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa in the state quarterfinals on Thursday. Tip-off for that one is set for 3 p.m. at the University of Minnesota’s Maturi Pavilion.