Cadets eliminate Chickasaw girls

Seeing Crestwood for the third time in the last two weeks didn't make it any easier.  The fourth-ranked Cadets eliminated New Hampton from the postseason Wednesday night with a 68-36 victory to advance to the 3A Region 5 final against Mount Vernon Saturday.  In the end, the Cadets just had too many weapons for the NH girls to handle. With the loss, the high school basketball careers ended for six Chickasaw seniors, including Kayla Gilbert and Bethany Zenk.  “They're a good team,” Gilbert said of the 21-1 Cadets. “It's hard to prepare for a team like that, no matter how hard you try.”  Coach Matt Schult's game plan was to limit the top scorers on the team and the Chickasaws did hold Crestwood's Shannon Pisney and Ellie Friesen both under their average.  “But they had other girls that stepped up,” Schult said. “We struggled defending in the paint. I thought we did a good job boxing out, but Crestwood would get the rebounds anyway.” More on the game may be found in the Feb. 17 Tribune.