Goodhue Sees One-Point Halftime Lead Erased by Minneapolis North

The Goodhue Wildcats were shocking basketball fans in the Target Center on Saturday when they came from a 15-2 deficit to take a 26-25 lead over the No. 1 ranked and seeded Minneapolis North Polars.

A southeastern Minnesota coach told me it would take a few minutes for the Wildcats to adjust to the kind of speed and quickness Minneapolis North presents on the floor.

He was right. Not even four minutes into the game the Polars were ahead 15-2.

Then Goodhue chipped away thanks to some hot three-point shooting by senior Jacob Pasch and a couple of Minneapolis North turnovers.

The Polars had a couple of dunks mixed in, but as one of the Wildcats told me before the game as we were entering the Arena, "They still count as two points."

Senior Taylor Buck hit a free throw and missed a free throw with 1:11 to go in the first half to give Goodhue their first and only lead of the game 26-25. Neither team could score the rest of the half.

There was a buzz around the arena. The high-flying, incredibly athletic Polars were behind some farm boys from Goodhue.

It harkened back to the single class days when small towns would face big cities in an effort to secure the only boys basketball title in Minnesota.

Minneapolis North head coach Larry McKenzie told reporters after the 68-45 Polars win he knew Goodhue was a good basketball team. He said head coach Matt Halverson played for Tom Vix, so he knew the Wildcats would be similar to the Trojans, who Minneapolis North has played the past couple of seasons. "Tempo" he said was the key to the game for his team.

At the half, Goodhue had as many points off turnovers as Minneapolis North, with six points each. The Wildcats also led in second chance points 9-5 and their bench outscored the Polars 4-1.

Twenty-six seconds into the second half, Minneapolis North regained the lead and never looked back largely due to the statistic the Polars thrive on, points off turnovers.

Minneapolis North had 19 points off turnovers in the second half and Goodhue zero.

The Polars also collected seven second chance points to the Wildcats' two and outscored Goodhue 28-8 in the paint in the second half.

There were some tears shed by Goodhue players because whenever a dream is not realized it hurts, but someday the memory of the end of that first half running off the Target Center floor with a one-point lead over the team that many thought would run away with the game from the beginning will put a smile on their faces.

At that moment the farm boys from Goodhue, with just over 1,000 population, were on top of the talented players from Minnesota's largest city.

Wildcats Ben Opsahl, Jacob McNamara and Jacob Pasch were named to the Class A All-Tournament team.