The Eagles made enough free throws – and the Royals missed enough shots – to allow Totino-Grace to take this one comfortably.  The Eagles were 7/15 over the last 4:20 of the game from the stripe.  Rogers, 4/22 from the floor in the first half, didn’t fare much better in the second, shooting 11/31 and ending the game at 28% from the field.  Veronica Scott led the Eagles with 14 points; Casey Mann had 18 for the Royals in the loss.

Totino-Grace moves on to play for the state championship, 6:00 on Saturday against DeLaSalle right here on this very floor.

That’ll do it for another day of basketball at the girls’ state tournament. Tomorrow, the Class 1A & 2A semifinals will be played, here at Target Center, starting at noon.  From downtown Minneapolis: good night.

The Royals just can’t close the lead down farther than nine points, and are going to have to end the Eagles’ keepaway game by fouling.  T-G is 2/5 from the line over the past two minutes, but can win the game with some good free-throw shooting down the stretch.

The Royals went on a 5-0 run and cut the Eagles’ lead to seven, but Lizzie Naumann’s turnaround jumper in the post ended the run.  The lead is down to nine, though, within striking distance for Rogers…

The Royals are finding more success from the field – 6/13 this half, including three three-pointers – but five straight points from senior forward Sam Laventure have re-established the Eagles’ double-digit lead.

Early in the half, Totino-Grace’s Veronica Scott attempted a three that missed everything – backboard, rim, everything.  The Rogers crowd decided that chanting “AIR BALL!” at Scott for the rest of the half was a good move; they may want to rethink this strategy.  Scott, a 43% three-point shooter this season, hit three of four from downtown – including two late in the half – and leads all scorers with nine points.

The Royals, meanwhile, have shot just 18% from the field in the first half.  They were at 43% as a team this season, so one assumes that things will turn around in the second half. 

Mascot note: the Royals’ mascot is a gray-and-blue feline of some kind, but I can’t figure out exactly which big cat it’s supposed to be.  Panther? Cougar? Mane-less lion?  Who can say for sure?