Goodhue Boys Back to State after Double Overtime Thriller

The Goodhue Wildcats are going back to the state boys basketball tournament after a nail-biting 40-37 double overtime win over the Rushford-Peterson Trojans on Thursday night in Rochester.

That is not a misprint. The score was indeed 40-37, with both teams clamping down defensively and content to work for good shots.

Goodhue led 17-16 in a see-saw first half, led by 6-foot-2 senior Ben Opsahl with seven points. Rushford-Peterson junior Jacob Paulson also had seven points at the half for the Trojans.

Rushford-Peterson had three players foul out of the game: 6-foot-1 guard Noah Carlson left the game with 34.2 seconds to go in regulation, 5-foot-9 senior Luke Rasmussen left with 2:45 to go in the first overtime, and Jacob Paulson fouled out with 9.2 seconds to go in the second overtime.

Goodhue head coach Matt Halverson credited the Trojans with a lot of heart and was proud of his players never giving up when it looked like their season might come to an end.

Like late in regulation when 6-foot-2 freshman Sam Opsahl hit a three-point shot from well behind the three-point line in front of his Goodhue team's bench to tie the game with 8.3 seconds to go, an eternity in basketball. But Rushford-Peterson launched a long-range jumper that hit the front of the rim and the two teams went to their first overtime tied at 30.

It was amazing Goodhue was even in the game because they had turnover after turnover after turnover and went a number of minutes with no shots at the basket, but the Trojans couldn't score either thanks to some very good defense by the Wildcats.

I had Goodhue with 13 turnovers in the second half after committing just two in the first half. They only had one in each of the overtimes. Meanwhile, Rushford-Peterson finished with 13 turnovers in the game.

The game was tied at 35 after the first overtime, and in the second overtime the Trojands did not record a single field goal and Sam Opsahl hit another clutch three late to give his team the lead they would not relinquish.

Our Goodhue County ADA Wildcats of the game were the freshman Opsahl, his older brother, Ben, who Halverson told us after the game had been running a fever throughout the day and gutted it out for his team.

The Wildcats are glad he did. Opsahl hit three big free throws in the second overtime and finished with 12 points. After the game he looked totally exhausted.

Our other Goodhue County ADA Wildcat of the game was 6-foot-4 senior Jacob  McNamara, who got in foul trouble early in the game and played with four fouls through much of the first and second overtimes. McNamara finished with 14 points.

The Trojans could have won the game in regulation had they just hit their free throws.

Goodhue was behind and had to foul and Rushford-Peterson did not cash in. They missed five free throws in the second half of regulation and finished 9 of 16 from the line while Goodhue was 11 of 16 from the charity stripe.

Goodhue will find out their seed in the Class A tournament on Saturday. Last season the Wildcats shocked a lot of people by getting all the way to the championship game and leading by a point at the half before succumbing to the Minneapolis North Polars.

Jacob McNamara told KDHL after the game he has no specific goals going into the state tournament. He just wants his team to make another deep run.

I told Sam Opsahl he just earned the nickname "Big Shot" and he calmly said he was happy he could help his team win.

Opsahl said, "The seniors have helped a lot this season and I'm glad I could help them for once." That's maturity beyond his years and didn't surprise me a bit, your usual Goodhue class.

You can listen to the game below.