Blooming Prairie Loses Heart-Breaking, Double-Overtime Thriller

The Blooming Prairie girls' basketball had No. 2 seed Hayfield beaten, twice, on Monday night, but the top-five ranked Vikings pulled out the 67-63 double-overtime victory to advance to the Section 1A semifinals. Just two weeks prior, the Awesome Blossoms dropped a 30-point decision to Hayfield. BP coach John Bruns said on Saturday's KRFO coaches show that the regular season game came during a busy stretch for Blooming Prairie and they had more time to prepare for the playoff rematch.

BP jumped out to an early lead Monday at the Mayo Civic Center and held a two-point advantage going into halftime 25-23. The game was tied at 41-41 with about seven minutes to go. Blooming Prairie regained the lead by the closing minute. With time winding down, a Hayfield player hit a three to tie the game at 54-54, forcing overtime.

Hayfield took the initial lead of the four-minute extra session, but Megan Oswald hit a shot to put BP up by a point in the closing seconds. A foul was called on a long in-bounds pass, sending Hayfield to the free throw line, where they had struggled all night. The first shot missed, but the second went through to tie the game at 61-61 and sending it to the second overtime.

Blooming Prairie was called for a traveling violation on a potential game-tying shot late in the second overtime. Hayfield hit free throws to seal the win. Blooming Prairie (17-9) will graduate seniors Samantha Wurst, McKenna Hein and Ayren Ingvalson.

Hayfield will face Goodhue in Saturday's semifinals on KDHL radio. The two-time defending state champion Wildcats beat Randolph 53-19 Monday, holding the Rockets to five points in the second half.