Staff photo by Ari Selvey Sleepy Eye St. Marys' Brynne Ibberson creates some space under the basket during the Class A State Girls Basketball Tournament third-place game against Goodhue Saturday at the Gangelhoff Center.

MINNEAPOLIS — Though Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s came within 2 points of Goodhue in the final minute of the third-place game of the Class A State Girls Basketball Tournament Saturday at The Gangelhoff Center, Goodhue held on for a 68-61 win as the Knights finished the tournament in fourth place.

“They play such good pressure defense,” St. Mary’s head coach Bruce Woitas said. “They play such good pressure and they come after the ball a lot. Two, sometimes three girls to the ball, and they do that very effectively. And they anticipate that pass coming in. There’s a reason they were ranked one all season long. They had a tough day yesterday and got beat, but we knew it was going to be a challenge and we’re so proud of our kids and the way that they competed with what I would call the best team in the state.”

St. Marys’ Morgan Mathiowetz led the team with 32 points, surpassing 2,500 for her career and earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Natalie Fischer and Olivia Schieffert each added 10 points for the Knights.

Goodhue took a 5-0 lead to open the game and held a 12-3 advantage as St. Mary’s called a timeout early in the first half. The Knights battled back to cut the lead to 17-11 on an and-one by Mathiowetz, and the Knights were able to keep the lead at single digits until Goodhue’s Aubrey Christianson made a layup to put the Wildcats up 30-18, forcing another St. Mary’s timeout. The Knights stayed close, with the lead sitting at 36-25 at halftime after a pair of free throws by Schieffert and a mid-range jumper by Brynne Ibberson.

St. Mary’s turned things around in the second half, scoring the first 10 points coming out of the break to cut the lead to 36-35, with Fischer and Schieffert both making 3-pointers during the stretch.

“The main thing is we were moving the ball better,” Woitas said. “We made an adjustment at halftime to try to get more inside looks. They were giving that lane look, and we hit some shots. We got it down to 1 … Our kids never quit and they kept battling. I’m so proud of how they played this whole weekend.

Goodhue quickly retook control of the game, however, extending the lead out to 57-43 on a layup from Lola Christianson. Once again, St. Mary’s fought back as Mathiowetz got hot from behind the arc. Mathiowetz made two 3-pointers to cut the lead down to 60-51, and a mid-range shot from Ibberson saw the lead dwindle to 63-55. Mathiowetz was fouled on a 3-point shot and made all her free throws, then made another 3-pointer to bring the score to 63-61 with just under a minute remaining. However, Goodhue was in the double bonus and made five of its eight free throws to close out the game to keep the Knights at bay and come away with the win.

St. Mary’s finishes the season with a 30-4 record.

“It’s the most wins this program has ever had in their history,” Woitas said. “A lot of good teams over those years as well. They accomplished a great deal. They’ve got to take a step back and reflect on this year and realize that, yeah, we lost twice up here, but we competed in every single game. They’ll reflect on that and recognize the great year that they had.”

Fischer, a junior, said that her biggest takeaway from the state tournament was the intensity that each team brought to the tournament.

“I think we see some of the best competition up here,” Fisher said. “It’s kind of eye opening to see how intense some teams can be … It just brings up more intensity in us and makes us want to win more.”

Amelia Schwartz, the team’s lone senior, leaves behind plenty of experience for next year’s team.

“Mr. Woitas likes to say we’re not a young team anymore,” she said. “We had all of last season and this season, and we didn’t lose anyone. I’m super proud of where we are and where we have gotten to. But you can’t say we’re a young team anymore. I’m super proud. We work day-in and day-out and there’s nothing more that you can ask for as a team than to be here playing with all of the best teams. I am leaving behind a great team that has a lot ahead of them.”

Woitas added that his team will miss what Schwartz brought to the team next year.

“So proud of our kids,” he said. “And Amelia, with her leadership that she provided to this young group for the past few years. We’ll miss her greatly, but we have a great group of kids coming back and hopefully they can understand what it takes to get here again, because it’s not easy. Work hard, and maybe they’ll get this opportunity again next year.”