The high school girls basketball season came to a close for Rochester's three remaining teams on Saturday in the semfinal round of section tournament play.
John Marshall and Century were both bested by Lakeville teams in a pair of Section 1AAAA games at Mayo Civic Center Taylor Arena, and Lourdes went down to top-ranked Plainview-Elgin-Millville in a 1AA game in the evening at Mayo Auditorium.
It was a busy Saturday at Mayo Civic Center with eight playoff games played between the two gyms.
• Fourth-seeded JM scored only 14 points in the first half and played from behind all game in a 50-43 loss to No. 1 seed Lakeville North. JM finished 22-6.
Rochester's all-time leading scorer Jamie Ruden had 23 points, eight rebounds and four blocks in her last game. The Arizona State recruit scored 2,671 points in five varsity seasons, finishing with 506 more than the previous record of 2,165 held by 1991 Lourdes grad Stacy Sievers.
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Seventh-seeded Century got off to a fast start against No. 3 Lakeville South, until the Cougars seized control with a 14-0 run late in the first half. The Cougars held a double-digit lead throughout the second half and won 53-42. After winning its first playoff game since 2012 last week, Century finished 14-14.
• The clock struck midnight for No. 12 seed Lourdes in a 62-28 loss to top seed P-E-M in 1AA. The high-scoring Bulldogs capitalized on 22 turnovers by the Eagles and won their 19th straight.
In the other 1AA semifinal game, defending state champion Dover-Eyota pulled away to a 60-48 win over Hayfield. D-E senior guard Madison Nelson scored 23 points.
P-E-M (27-1) and D-E (23-6) will meet in a section championship rematch at 8 p.m. Friday at Mayo Arena. D-E beat P-E-M in overtime last year.
• In Section 1AAA, No. 2 seed Kasson-Mantorville returned to the section final with a 55-46 win over No. 3 Northfield, and top seed Winona overcame No. 5 Byron, 54-43. Kristin Scott starred again for K-M with 23 points and nine rebounds, and Byron's 6-foot-5 sophomore center Ayoka Lee had 25 and 11 in the Bears' defeat.
K-M (27-2) goes for a section three-peat against Winona (22-6) at 8 p.m. Thursday at Mayo Arena.
• Most of the drama happened in the Section 1A semifinals, which featured a pair of close finishes. Goodhue erased a 17-point deficit against defending section champ Lyle/Pacelli and the Wildcats escaped with a 43-42 win in the West subsection. In the East, Rushford-Peterson edged Kingsland with a buzzer-beater, 57-55.
