Girls basketball review: Tigers made history in 2010-11

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A focus on defense helped the Farmington girls basketball team meet most of its lofty goals during the 2010-11 season.

The Tigers held their opponents to an average of 40.2 points per game, the lowest of any of the Class 3A and 4A teams in Minnesota. They started the season with a school-record 11-game winning streak and went on to win a share of the program’s first Missota Conference title by posting an 11-3 record in league play.

A 22-3 regular season record earned the Tigers their first No. 1 seed in Section 4A, but they came up a game short of the program’s first state tournament berth after a 49-35 loss to Rochester Mayo in the section finals.

“It was a great year. They may go down as one of the best teams in Farmington girls basketball history,” said Jason Berg, who stepped down as the team’s head coach after the season. “The players really bought into being a great defensive team and played unselfishly. We had different players step up almost every night and pick each other up. We really only played one poor game out of 27 — very consistent group.”

Six seniors received varsity letters after the season, including first-team all-conference post players Jordan Bridges and Elena Koch. Bridges averaged 11.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per game and was also named the team’s most improved player, while Koch scored 8.6 points and grabbed 6.8 rebounds per game and won the Tiger Team Award.

Senior Jamie Kenealy was an honorable mention all-conference pick and was named the team’s most valuable defensive player.

Starting guard Shelby Calhoun, back-up guard Jessica Gaalswyk and post player Sarah Silber also contributed to the team’s record-breaking season.

“They were a great group of players. All six of them had terrific senior years,” Berg said. “They did a great job of leading this team, and they were unselfish as a group. They put winning above everything else. This group won a conference championship and played in two section championship games — no other group of seniors can say that in Farmington.”

Six juniors will return to the Tiger roster next season, including team MVP Taylor Meyer. Meyer averaged 14.5 points and eight rebounds per game in being named first-team all-conference.

Also coming back will be guards Isis Alexander, Paige Steele, Mariah Mincke and Gabby White, as well as forward Desi Loftus.

Tags: girls basketball, sports, farmington, tigers, prep