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What started out as a dream for 76 teams from Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota turned into a reality this past weekend for the Okoboji 9th Grade Girls Basketball team as they won the Pacesetter Great Four-State Championship at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The Pioneers earned their spot in the tournament by winning the Iowa Championship held in Ankeny in March and took the court against the top two school teams from the four state area on Saturday.
Okoboji opened the tournament with a 34-23 victory against St. Croix Lutheran of St. Paul. In the semi-finals the Pioneers played the overall #1 seed in the tournament and Minnesota State Champion, Pelican Rapids. Okoboji would battle back from a 31-24 deficit with just over 2:00 remaining to pull out a 34-31 victory and earn a trip to the finals. In the championship game the Pioneers faced off with the overall #2 seed and 2012 Great Four-State Champion Sioux Valley (SD). Okoboji was not intimidated by the defending champs and lead from start to finish, winning the championship game 31-20.
Pictured above-front row: Mallory Miler, Kailye Hromatko, Molly Mitchell, Megan Peschong and Grace Goehring. Back row: Coach John Adams, Emily Wintz, Cory Hoffman, Brenna McCabe, Breanne Kopera, Brooklyn Barnett, Shaelyn Adams and Coach Tony Peschong.
