A look back at tourney madness

High school state tournament time is done for another year. What am I supposed to do with myself now? Just kidding, sort of.

It's been a fun month or so covering sports. There was girls' and boys' hockey, adapted floor hockey, girls' basketball, boys' swimming, the Frozen Faceoff, a feature on the senior class from the Gophers women's hockey team and of course, the Wild versus Ottawa. Not a bad way to spend my time, watching and writing.

Here are a few of the highlights:

I wrote a feature story on Maddie Rooney, a senior goaltender with Andover. Playing on the boys' team. This was one of those stories that developed pretty easily. Not many girls play on the boys' high school hockey team, after all. So it was really about finding out why she made the decision to switch in her senior year, how she's improved and what she's learned.

Overtime excitement in section hockey

Breck boys' hockey celebrates a section championship.

Did I ever get lucky with a couple of the section hockey games I covered. The Minnetonka girls beat Wayzata in overtime to move on to state. The really cool thing about this game was on the game clock. The Skippers scored with 5:26 left in regulation to tie the game at 2. Then they scored 5:26 into the extra session for the section final win.

How often does something like that happen? Once I realized it, the story lede was right there in front of me. As I wrote, the time 5:26 must be lucky for Minnetonka. Or it should be after that game anyway.

Then a couple weeks later there was the overtime thriller between Breck and Delano for the section championship. This game needed nearly two overtime periods to decide a winner. Breck came away with a 3-2 win. But the most exciting part started with a few minutes left in the third. That's when Delano tied the game, which was scoreless for two periods, at 1 goal apiece. Breck went ahead, then Delano tied it again with 37.5 seconds left.

The sequence had the packed arena on their feet with a roller coaster of cheers.

I left both games with that surge of writing adrenaline that only newsies can relate to. It felt great to cover such exciting games, write up the compelling stories and even make deadline. It's a rush, I tell ya.

On to the X
Then it was time for some girls' hockey at the Xcel Energy Center. I'll spare you my thoughts on where this tournament should be held. Whatever your opinion is, the fact remains that attendance for this tournament is not even in the same ballpark as the boys' tournament. The girls play to a nearly-empty arena.

Anyway, the first game was a complete blowout, as powerhouse Blake beat Hutchinson 9-0. The game reached running time as the Bears outshot their opponent 42-3. Not exactly a competitive contest in the quarterfinals. Thief River Falls denied Blake a third consecutive state title, however.

The boys' tournament was a really fun experience. Fans from all over pack the building, and this year a new attendance record was set for the tournament. When it comes to youth hockey, Minnesota owns its State of Hockey title.

I'd say probably the biggest game of the tournament was the Class 2A semifinals when Duluth East upset Edina. The Hounds scored three unanswered goals to put themselves into the final, though they lost to Lakeville North as it completed its undefeated season.

With 3.7 seconds left in the game with Edina and East, the crowd rose to its feet and cheered, most definitely appreciative of the effort from the Hounds. I heard someone say something like: The hockey tournament. Where outstate schools hate the metro, and the metro hates Edina. A few people told me after this game that they were happy to see two-time defending champion Edina go down. People just love underdogs sometimes.

Oh, and favorite quote of the tournament? When the always-colorful Hermantown coach Bruce Plante talked about his "ulcer juices" during a tight 2-0 semifinal win.

A good variety

After hockey finished up, I covered boys' swimming, which unfortunately gets overshadowed by hockey. The swimming finals fall on championship Saturday. It's too bad, because swimming is fun to watch. When you see kids closing the gap on an opponent in the next lane, and see the enthusiastic cheering from fans and teammates, it's pretty cool.

I also covered adapted floor hockey, which was fun to watch. Those kids have a ton of fun playing, almost as much fun as their fans in the bleachers do cheering them on.

The final high school tournament was girls' basketball, which finished up over the weekend. I covered a Class 1A quarterfinal with undefeated Ada-Borup and Springfield. It was a good game early on, but Ada-Borup pulled away and then capped their perfect season with a state title.

So, there you have it. My summary of coverage for the past month. And I had a blast.