Huskies Finish Perfect Home Season with Playoff Win

The Owatonna girls' basketball team beat Rochester John Marshall 64-56 Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Section 1AAAA tournament, completing a 12-0 home schedule in the process. The victory sends the Huskies to a semifinal matchup with top-seed Lakeville North Saturday, March 3 at 1PM at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester on KRFO AM 1390 and on the new Kat Kountry 105 app.

OHS jumped out to a 9-0 lead and forced numerous Rockets' turnovers before they finally hit a basket. JM closed to within striking distance several times thanks to some sharp shooting, but Owatonna answered with strong inside play. Sydney Schultz scored 31 points, grabbed about ten rebounds and blocked a few shots. Ahna Stelter had eight of her ten points in the first half. Alexa Sommers had several rebounds and a great steal. OHS forced about 15 first half turnovers.

Jenna Zeman balanced out the Huskies' attack with timely outside shooting. She had Owatonna's first basket, a three-pointer, and nine points in the first half on two three-pointers and one three-point play. When John Marshall had closed the gap to 46-43 partway through the second half, Zeman hit consecutive treys to start a 14-0 run that put Huskies lead out of reach for the young Rockets, who had one senior of their roster. Junior Jessica Ruden led JM with 26 points which included five threes.

Zeman ended with 18 points, including five threes of her own, as Owatonna won their seventh in a row and 13th of their last 14 games. The Huskies (21-6) face No. 4AAAA Lakeville North (22-5) Saturday at 1PM. The defending section champ Panthers have won 11 of their last 12 games. This will be Owatonna's first game at the Mayo Civic Center since the 2014 section championship, won by Lakeville North.