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March 19, 2000
Roysland's 30leads Fosston past ChargersBy PAUL DUNLAP Journal Sports Editor MINNEAPOLIS -- Kelly Roysland ... remember the name, because she's going to be around for awhile. Just a freshman, Roysland lighted up the Williams Arena scoreboard for 30 points Saturday afternoon, leading the Fosston Greyhounds to a 64-50 win over Minnesota Valley Lutheran for the 2000 Class 1A state championship. "We had nobody, and I mean nobody, to match up with Roysland," Charger coach John Barenz said. "I'm still shaking my head in disbelief ... that's a freshman? She's just an amazingly-gifted ballplayer." "I didn't have my best game (Friday) night," Roysland said following the game, "because I got into foul trouble. I just wanted to come out strong today and help my team out as much as I could." Roysland was helped in the win by teammate Casey Francis, who scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Nicole Sundbom and Kara Magelsson each adde eight points for the Greyhounds (28-1). Sophomore point guard Leah Morgan led the Chargers (23-6) with 16 points and eight rebounds. Junior Sarah Gronholz added 15 points and three blocked shots, freshman Jessica Merseth ended with nine points and nine boards, and junior Erin Czer chipped in with eight points. Roysland wouldn't waste any time showing off her skills as she scored the first seven Greyhound points of the game on a combination of drives and jumpers. Gronholz would momentarily knot the game at 5-5 on a turnaround jumper, but Roysland answered and Francis followed with a five-point spurt, including a 3-pointer, that gave Fosston the lead for good. "As a team, I thought we played an all-around super game," Roysland said. "I missed some outside shots, but then I just tried to take it to the bucket and kick it out." Gronholz, who scored 13 first-half points, and Hannah Enter got the Chargers within four at the end of one, but a 10-3 run by the Greyhounds to start the second quarter opened up the lead once again. Roysland scored seven points in the run, and her runner followed by a Sundbom putback widened the lead to 30-19. The advantage at the break would be 35-25, with the freshman from Fosston pouring in 19 points. "She was able to go right or left and go into the lane," Barenz said of Roysland, "make shots with people hanging on her. I was really impressed with her, and didn't know how to stop her. We tried a number of different things, but once she penetrated we had no answer for that." The Chargers got the lead back to less than 10 early in the third, but couldn't get over the hump. An Amy Christen three-point play nudged the edge back to 44-33, and the two teams traded baskets the rest of the way in the third before three straight free throws from Roysland and Francis made the score 52-39 Fosston. "We tried to make some adjustments on Roysland," Barenz said. "What I thought happened in the third and early in the fourth quarter is that we had some opportunities. ... They missed some shots. But they got the second shot, the third shot, and on one occasion I think they had five shots at it. "So I have to give a lot of credit to the Fosston girls. They were physical on the boards and were able to take away our strong suit, which is rebounding." Czer would get the Charger faithful on their feet with a 3-pointer early in the fourth, cutting the lead to eight, but that would be as close as MVL would come as Roysland answered right back with a trey of her own. Morgan tried to keep her team in it as she hit a 3-pointer and three free throws when she was fouled on an attempt. It wouldn't be enough, though, as the Greyhounds hit 6 of 8 free throws in the final 1:38. Magelssen's steal and layup in the final minute put the game away. "I think we were really blessed," Barenz said. "We have had a great season -- great not only because we won some games, but also because these are really neat kids to be around. I'm going to miss it. The best part of the season has been being with them and coaching them. I wish the coaching could keep going." NOTE: Three Chargers -- Czer, Gronholz, and Merseth -- were named to the U.S. Bank Class 1A All-Tournament Team, as were the Greyhounds' Christen, Francis, and Roysland. Other members included Brandon/Evansville's Debbie Slack, Rothsay's Brenna Rollie and Kristen Moen, and Ogilvie's Lindsay Johnson. MVL (23-6): Czer 3-10 1-2 8, Gronholz 6-13 3-4 15, Merseth 4-15 1-2 9, Morgan 6-10 3-3 16, Madson 0-4 0-0 0, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Grams 0-0 0-0 0, Bruns 0-0 0-0 0, Dzwonskowski 0-0 0-0 0, Enter 1-1 0-0 2, Doehling 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-53 8-11 50. FOSSTON (28-1): Christen 2-7, 1-1 6, Francis 4-15 3-4 12, Sundbom 3-10 2-2 8, Magelssen 3-6 2-4 8, Roysland 3-6 2-4 8, Sather 0-2 0-0 0, Pearson 0-0 0-0 0, LaVoi 0-0 0-0 0, Erdmann 0-0 0-0 0, Goldsmith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-61 17-25 64. MVL 10 15 14 11 -- 50 Fosston 14 21 17 12 -- 64 3-Point goals--MVL 2-6 (Czer 1-3, Morgan 1-2, Madson 0-1), Fosston 3-18 (Roysland 1-8, Francis 1-5, Christen 1-4, Sather 0-1). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--MVL 20 (Merseth 9), Fosston 35 (Francis 13). Assists--MVL 7 (Czer, Madson, Enter 2), Fosston 6 (Roysland 3). Total fouls--MVL 20, Fosston 12. A--NA.
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