Double Jeopardy: Providence Academy Bests Albany in Girls’ Basketball State Championship Again

(KNSI) – What looked like a state title and revenge for the Albany Huskies Girls’ Basketball Team turned into heartbreak Saturday.

The team fell late to Providence Academy in the Class AA championship, 81-78. It was Albany’s second consecutive defeat to the Lions on the biggest stage in Minnesota high school basketball.

The Huskies likely used the 2023 defeat as motivation, coming out like a house on fire. They scored nine straight points at one spot in the first half and pushed the lead to 18 with 3:33 left. The squad had 55 points at the break, up by double digits.

It looked like that would be enough, but Providence Academy kept chipping away. They scored the last seven points of the contest, leading for only nine seconds of the entire game. They were the most important nine seconds, though.

Albany had the ball and was up one with about a half-minute to go. Guard Savanna Pelzer missed a layup inside, but the Huskies got the stop. It was Pelzer who was fouled with 15 seconds left to try and seal the deal. She couldn’t convert the front end, and all-state guard Maddyn Greenway drove coast to coast for the layup to put Providence ahead, 79-78.

The Lions forced Callie Holthaus into a turnover and went up three thanks to two free throws with under a second left. The game was played at Williams Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

Alyssa Sand’s 29 points paced the Huskies on 10-14 shooting. She also went 8-9 at the free throw line. Kylan Gerads added 23. Both will be playing in college next year.

Providence continues to be led by sophomore Maddyn Greenway. She has been a varsity hooper since seventh grade and is already over 3,000 for her career. Greenway is the state’s most anticipated high school recruit since Paige Bueckers. She had 27 points Saturday, including the go-ahead layup.

Albany ends its season at 30-2.

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