Chad Greenway has
played in plenty of big games. He was an All-American linebacker at the
University of Iowa and a two-time Pro Bowl selection during his 11 years with
the Vikings.
He’s become more of a
spectator since retiring from football in 2017. This week, Greenway will be cheering
for his daughter Maddyn and her Providence Academy teammates at the girls state
basketball tournament.
He said Maddyn is
thrilled at the opportunity to play at Target Center, and he advised her to give
it everything she had and enjoy every moment.
“I told her I went to
one NFC championship game and never made it back, so don’t take this opportunity
for granted.”
The Lions (21-1) will
meet New London-Spicer (23-0) in the Class 2A semifinals at 5 p.m. Tuesday at
Target Center. The winner will advance to Friday’s 3 p.m. championship game
against either Albany or Glencoe-Silver Lake (they play at 2 p.m. Tuesday).
There are no consolation brackets or third-place games this year, so teams that
fall in the semifinals will see their seasons end.
New London-Spicer coach
Mike Dreier is the state’s career leader in girls basketball victories with 983
in a 43-year career that includes 19 trips to state and championships in 1997
and 2002 along with six second-place finishes.
This is Providence Academy’s
third appearance at state. The Lions qualified in 2011, won the 2A title in
2012 and had advanced to the state semifinals last year before the tournament was
halted due to Covid-19.
Maddyn Greenway, a 5-foot-6
seventh-grader, leads the Lions in scoring with a 21.4 average. She scored a
career-high 34 when Providence Academy defeated Southwest Christian 74-47 in
the Section 5 tournament final and had 32 in last week’s state quarterfinals as
the Lions held off Duluth Marshall 94-91; Marshall senior Gianna Kneepkens
scored a state-record 67 in that game.
“I’ve never seen
something like that,” Chad Greenway said of Kneepkens’ performance. “She scored
67 and dare I say it was a quiet 67, she was just methodical and shot the ball
really well. Maddyn got an opportunity to guard her off and on, and for us to
kind of be the better team and come out on top was special.”
Maddyn is the oldest of
four daughters of Chad Greenway and his wife Jennifer, who was a multi-sport
high school athlete in Illinois and captain of the University of Iowa track and
field team. Both Chad and Jennifer have helped coach their daughters’ youth basketball
teams. In fact, Chad had coached all of Maddyn’s teams until this season.
“Now I’m a fan and a
dad,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s a challenge, you can’t control anything. You’re
cheering, you’re rooting, it’s been a lot of fun. You get such a proud feeling
of seeing the work meet with the opportunity. She cares so much about the game
and being good at it eventually and continuing to work at it.”
Chad was a multi-sport high
school athlete in Mount Vernon, South Dakota, competing in nine-man football,
basketball, baseball and track and field. He led his football team to two state
championships and was named South Dakota's player of the year. He was a
record-setting track and field performer who still holds a state meet record in
the triple jump. He says his favorite sport was basketball, and he was probably
headed to a college basketball career before Iowa offered a football
scholarship.
Now the former football
star is president of the Wayzata Girls Basketball Association. His daughters
are active in basketball, soccer and other sports. He said Covid-19 “kind of drove
us to Providence Academy,” which is in Plymouth.
They live in the Wayzata
school district, but “Providence Academy was being diligent and thorough about safely
having in-person school,” he said. “We’ve really had a great experience there, and
we’re raising our kids Catholic so that fits really well. The basketball piece
kind of fell into place. We thought, ‘If she can play varsity at this level, let’s
get her in.’ They needed a point guard and she fit that mold.
“It’s been pretty cool.”
--MSHSL media
specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school
activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to
"Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org
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