Goodhue Wildcats Succumb to Top Rated Rushford-Peterson

The Rushford-Peterson Trojans captured the Section 1 Class A championship in Rochester on Thursday night with a 57-46 victory over the Goodhue Wildcats. The Trojans have not lost to a Minnesota team this season and will be the favorites to win their third state championship when they travel to Minneapolis next Thursday.

Goodhue competed as well as any team has this season against the green machine.  A close game most of the first half turned into a 29-18 halftime lead for Rushford-Peterson.  Goodhue head coach Matt Halverson believed his team made some nice adjustments at the half and they came out scoring five unanswered points to cut the lead to six. The Trojans popped it back up to double digits, Goodhue got it down to six again and then had successive turnovers on what would normally be a simple in-bounds pass. Against Rushford-Peterson nothing is simple.

The definition of good defense, in my opinion, is making your opponent feel uncomfortable. The Trojans are exceedingly good at that. Without a doubt, the difference in the game was turnovers. Goodhue finished the game with 19 and Rushford-Peterson converted nine of them for 20 points.

For a period in the second half, Goodhue rattled the Trojans a bit by giving them a little taste of their own medicine. They started the second half with some pressure that resulted in back-to-back turnovers by Rushford-Peterson, and the Trojans finished with eight turnovers.

Goodhue had more field goals in the second half, but Rushford-Peterson outscored them at the free throw line by 10 points. Goodhue senior Tyler Schumacher finished his career with 13 points and three three-pointers and senior Riley Augustine had seven points. The only other senior on the Goodhue roster was Isaiah Hinsch. That means Goodhue should be very good again next season. They finished a terrific year with a 23-8 record and the Blue Division of the Hiawatha Valley League championship.

For the Trojans, seniors Alex Vix, Charlie Krambeer and Kyler Paulson led the way with 14, 13 and 12 points each. Rushford-Peterson has seven seniors. The Trojans should undoubtedly be the No. 1 seed and would then open play next Thursday at 11 a.m. at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus.

Earlier in the evening, Caledonia won a hard-fought game with Rochester Lourdes 58-52 to win the Class AA title and will head to the state tournament next week. On Friday night the Class AAA and AAAA titles will be determined. At 6 p.m., Red Wing plays New Prague, and at 8 p.m. Lakeville North plays Big Nine Conference champion Rochester John Marshall.

For the 67th year, KDHL will provide baseline to baseline coverage of the state tournament. Six games on the opening day, Wednesday, and all the semi-finals and championship contests in each class Thursday through Saturday. Roy Koenig and I will have the games. On opening day, Roy will be in the Loft at the Barn, Williams Arena, and I'll be at Target Center. You can also tune in online at kdhlradio.com and by downloading the free Radio Pup app on your favorite mobile device.