Girls win opener at state
The New Prague Trojans won their opening game of the State Class AAA girls basketball tournament, beating the Worthington Trojans 54-50 Wednesday at Williams Arena.
New Prague led most of the second half, but Worthington tied the game at 48-48 with less than five minutes left. With the score tied at 50-50, New Prague's Maggie Weiers used a head fake to get past Worthington's Martha Alwal and score on a lay-up to put her team up for good. Alwal had 11 blocked shots in the game. Rena Kneeland gave New Prague an added cushion by sinking a pair of free throws in the final minute.
Hannah Strop led the Trojans with 17 points, while Weiers had 13.
New Prague will face Minneapolis North in the semifinals at noon Thursday at Target Center. The Polars defeated Grand Rapids 61-33 in their semifinal.
Win or lose, New Prague will play again on Saturday. The third place game is at 2 p.m. at Concordia University in St. Paul and the championship game is at 6 p.m. at Target Center in Minneapolis.
