MSHSL Boys Basketball Semifinals Set in Three Classes

The Semifinals have been set in three of the four classes at the MSHSL State Boys Basketball Tournament following the opening day of the 110th tournament at Target Center and Williams Arena.

KDHL Radio 75th year of Baseline-to-Baseline coverage began with a Class AAAA Lakeville North 87-59 runaway victory over the Buffalo Bison at Target Center.

Mr. Basketball finalist Nolan Winter, senior, 6'11. led his Panthers with 25 points, 17 rebounds.  Four Lakeville North starters finished with double digit points in the lopsided affair.

The Panthers led 40-23 at halftime.

Lakeville North shot 61 percent from the field for the game including 8 of 15 (53.3%) from three point range.  Seven different players had a three point basket including Winter.

The Panthers never trailed in the game while dominating the glass with a 44 to 18 rebound advantage.

Ball movement was so fun to watch for Lakeville North with 20 assists on their 35 field goals.

Jack Robison, junior, 6'6, had 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists.  Hudson Vaith, senior, 6'5, 15 points, 5 assists.  Matt Drake, junior, 5'11, 13 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists.

Total domination existed in the paint with the Panthers scoring 48 points there compared to Buffalo's 12 points.

Nathan Dahl, senior, 6'1, led the Bison with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists.  Grady Guida, junior, 6'1 added 15 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist.  Brodryck Wishart, juniior, 6'2 had 11 points, 2 rebounds.

Buffalo had 10 three pointers on 25 attempts (40%).

The #2 seed Panthers 27-3 move on to play #3 seed Wayzata in the 8:00 p.m. game Thursday at Target Center.

Buffalo 23-7 goes to Concordia University in St. Paul for consolation action against White Bear Lake Area at Noon on Wednesday, March 22, 2023.

In other Class AAAA action top seed Park Center rolled by Andover 92-72, #5 seed Eastview edged #4 seed Minnetonka 72-68 in a great game and #3 seed Wayzata defeated White Bear Lake Area 81-61.

The Trojans were led by Hayden Tibbits, senior, 5'11, 17 points, 3 assists.  Jackson McAndrew, junior, 6'9, finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds.  Issac Habte, senior, 6'5, tallied 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists.  Ben Shaffer, junior, 6'0, added 12 points in just under 18 minutes of playing time.

The Trojans had 24 assists on 32 field goals, shooting 13 of 24 (54.2%) from beyond the 3 point line.  White Bear Lake had 8 three point baskets (32%).

Wayzata shot 54.2% for the game, White Bear Lake Area 35.1%.

The Trojans bench outscored the Bears bench 31-5.

White Bear Lake Area was led by Jack Janicki, senior, 6'5, with 16 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists.  Jack Misgen, senior, 6'1, added 15 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists.  Zachary Nelson, senior, 6'2, finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists.

Eastview led nearly the entire game but it was still in doubt with under 2 minutes to go.

It was a fast break game with both teams speeding up and down the court and multiple dunks in the game particularly by the Lightning of Eastview.

Dylan Omweno, senior, 6'1, had multiple fast break slams while scoring 25 points on 8 of 13 shooting.  He was 6 of 10 from the free throw line and had 3 of the team's 5 three point baskets.

Mario Adams, senior, 6'6 had 12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist.  Jon Mekonnen, junior, 6'8, 10 points, 3 rebounds.  Chet Kloss, senior, 6'6, added 6 points, 11 rebounds in the game.

Minnetonka was led by Andrew Stefonowicz, junior, 6'2, with 22 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists.  Jordan Cain, junior, 6'2, had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists.  Jalen Cain, senior, 6'2, 10 points, 3 rebounds.

The Lightning shot 55.5%, Skippers 37.3% in the contest.

Eastview 23-7 will take on top seed, #1 rated, defending Champion Park Center at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, March 23, 2023 in the Target Center.

Minnetonka 23-7 plays Andover 10:00 a.m. Weddnesday, March 22, 2023 at Concordia St. Paul.

Park Center (27-2) led 50-32 at halftime against the Andover Huskies (22-8) on their way to a 92-72 win.

The Pirates were paced by six players with double digit scoring games.  JJ Ware, senior, 6'5 , had 14 points, 10 rebounds.  Casmir Chavis, junior, 6'3, 18 points, 11 assists.  Joe Burgess, senior, 6'5, added 15 points. Jackso  Fowlkes, junior, 6'4, 14 points.  Chaing Ring, junior, 6'8, 13 points, 9 rebounds.

Park Center out boarded the Huskies 42-33 and shot 62.1% from the field for the game.  Andover shot 38.2%.

The Pirates had 23 assists on 36 field goals and tallied 62 points in the paint compared to 30 points.

Andover was led by Ben Kopetzi, senior, 6'0, 22 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists.  Sam Musungu, senior, 6'2, finished with 17 points and Chase Pemberton, junior, 6'3, added 11 points.

Class AAA Quarterfinals were held at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus.  Top seed, top rated Totino-Grace scored a 86-36 win over St. Francis.  #5 seed Alexandria Area defeated #4 seed Mankato East 62-57.

#2 seed Orono downed Hermantown 84-82 and #3 seed DeLaSalle ended Stewartville's dream of a state title 71-66.

The Eagles of Totino-Grace flew out to a 48-17 lead at the half and never looked back against the Saints of St. Francis.

The defending State AAA Champions were led by Patrick Bath, senior, 6'9, with 23 points, 7 rebounds in just over 17 minutes on the floor.  Taison Chatman, senior, 6'4, added 16 points, 5 assists,

The Eagles had 24 assists on 36 field goals and dominated the glass 35-16.

St. Francis had one player in double figures.  Matthew Bothun, senior, 6'9, 16 points, 4 rebounds.

The Saints (16-13) will play Big Nine representative Mankato East (24-6) 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at Concordia in St. Paul.

The Cougars never led in their 62-57 loss to the Cardinals of Alexandria Area (25-4).

Alex led 27-23 at the half in game that was tied just once.  The largest lead was 11 points.

Turnovers spelled doom for Mankato East with Alex scoring 24 points off 18 turnovers.  The Cardinals had 14 turnovers but the Cougars scored 8 points off them.

Alexandria Area had 20 assists on 22 field goals while going 13 of 19 at the free throw line compared to 4 of 9 for Mankato East.

The Cougars shot 40.7% for the game while the Cardinals were at 44.7%.  Mankato East finished with 9 three pointers compared to 5.

Alex was led by Grayson Grove, junior, 6'9, with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists.  Chase Thompson, sophomore, 6'7, added 15 points, 4 boards.  Jackson Schoenrock, senior, 6'3, 9 points, 5 assists,

Mankato East was paced by Brogan Madson, sophomore, 6'0, 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists.  Ganden Gosch, sophomore, 6'4, added 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists.

The Orono Spartans Isaiah Hagen, senior, 6'4, scored 35 points,5 rebounds, 3 assists while going 11 of 13 from the charity stripe.  Kyle Kallenbach, senior, 6,1, added 20 points, 4 rebounds.  Grant Gunderson, senior, 6'4, chipped in 12 points while dishing 9 assists.

Hermantown got a monster performance from Abraham Soums, junior, 6'4, with 34 points, 12 rebounds in just over 14 minutes.  He was 10 for 10 at the free throw line.

There were 45 free throws shot in the game.  The Hawks were 20 of 24.  Spartans 18 of 21 at The Barn where the Gophers sported the worst free throw shooting in Division One men's basketball.

Orono (25-5) shot 4 of 17 from beyond the arc while Hermantown was 8 of 20.  Rebounds were as close as the score.  Hawks 29, Spartans 28.

Orono led 39-27 at the half but were outscored 55-45 in the second half.

#3 seed DeLaSalle (25-5) had a 15 point lead late in the first half and led 35-23 at the break against first time at state Stewartville.

The Tigers (25-5) shot 51.1% from the field and had two more field goals than the Islanders but DeLaSalle was 19 of 25 from the free throw line copared to Stewartville's 11 of 19.

The Islanders Nasir Whitlock, senior, 6'1, had 18 points, 10 assists while going 10 of 12 from the charity stripe.  PJ Pounds II, senior, 6'6, scored 20 points in just under 23 minutes.  Isreal Moses V, senior, 6'4, added 13 points.

Stewartville dominated the boards 27-19 with 19 assists on 24 field goals.  The Islanders finished with 20 assists on 22 field goals.

Stewartville was paced by three players each with 14 points.  Tegan Malone, junior, 6'3.  Parker Wangen, sophomore, 6'4.  Henry Tschetter, junior, 6'3.

The Islanders bench proved to be the difference 26-7.  DeLaSalle scored 20 points off turnovers with a 15-2 advantage in fast break points.

Class AA ended the night in The Barn with a thriller that Roy Koenig called on KDHL Radio.  Section 1AA representative Plainview-Elgin-Millville (26-5) was the #3 seed and led late in the game but lost 63-61 thanks to last second free throws by Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton.

The Rebels (25-6) were 16 of 22 from the free throw line while the Bulldogs were 13 of 23.  D-G-F had 9 threes, P-E-M 8 triples.

The Rebels biggest lead of  three points came with 1:39 left in the game.  There were 11 lead changes, 5 ties.  The Bulldogs had the lead 27:16 but there are 36 minutes in a game.

D-G-F was led by Owen Leach, senior, 6'6, 28 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists.  Drew Sheeley, senior, 6'1 added 10 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists.

P-E-M was paced by Kaiden Peters, senior, 6'3, with 16 points, 4 assists.  Aeron Stevens, senior, 6'7, finished with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists.

The Bulldogs led 25-24 at the half.

Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton faces #2 seed Albany on Friday, March 24, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. in Target Center.

The Huskies (30-1) defeated Pequot Lakes (25-6) by a 69-53 score thanks in large part to domination on the glass 36-16.

Albany was led by Sam Hondl, sophomore, 6'6, 20 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists.  Tysen Gerards, senior, 6'3, added 19 points, 6 assists.  Zeke Austin, sophomore, 6'2, had 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists.

The Patriots had three players in double figures.  Grant Loge, senior, 6'5, 23 points.  Gavin Kennen, senior, 6'4 and Eli Laposky. senior, 6'1 each had 10 points.

Albany had 19 assists on 26 field goals.  Second chance points favored the Huskies 14-4.

Top seed, top rated Holy Family Catholic of Victoria (28-2) had a 37-16 lead at the half against Eden Valley-Watkins (24-7) and had two players with double-doubler performances at Target Center.

Collin Mulholland, senior, 6'11, had 25 points, 11 rebounds.  Boden Kapke, senior, 6'11, added 26 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists.  Kole Hanson, junior, 6'2 chipped in 14 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists.

The Eagles were led by Parker Schultz, junior, 6'3, with 12 points.  Noah Stommes, junior, 6'8, had 11 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists.

Eden Valley-Watkins will play Gopher Conference Champion Maple River at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, 2023 in St. Paul.

The #4 seed Eagles of Maple River lost to #5 seed Minnehaha Academy 53-48 at Target Center.  Maple River never led in the game and there were no ties.

The Redhawks (22-8) had one less field goal but two more threes and were a plus 5 at the free throw line.

Minnehaha was paced by Jerome Williams, junior, 5'10, 26 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists.  Lorenzo Levy, junior, 5'10, had 10 points while knocking down all 4 of his free throw shots.  Williams was also 7 for 8 from the charity stripe.

Maple River (29-3) was led by Hayden Niebuhr, senior, 6'7, 19 points, 7 rebounds.  Mason Schirmer, senior, 5'11, had 14 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists.

The Eagles had 15 assists on 17 field goals, Redhawks 11 assists on 16 field goals.

Minnehaha Academy of Minneapolis scored 16 points off turnovers and will play the Fire of Holy Family Catholic at 6:00 p.m. Friday, March 24, 2023 in Target Center.

KDHL Radio Faribault will have all the semifinals games in all the classes.  Best way to listen is to download the FREE KDHL app on your favorite mobile device.

Roy Koenig will broadcast the first two Class A Quaterfinals games in Williams Arena Wednesday,

11:00 a.m. top seed in the tournament Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (28-1) is challenged by Nevis (24-6).

The Knights of R-T-R lost their last game of the regular season to Dawson-Boyd 72-70 but avenged it in the Section 3A Championship 63-55.

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton was ranked #6 in the final Minnesota Basketball news final ratings.  Goodhue was the top ranked team in the smallest schools division in Minnesota but was upset by #7 rated Spring Grove in the Section 1A title game.

The Tigers of Nevis have only one senior on their roster.  Their Head Coach Scott Kramer is approaching 490 career victories

1:00 p.m. #4 seed Cherry (26-4) and #5 seed Border West (26-2) hook up.

The Tigers are still a young team led by the Asuma boys. Isaac is 6'3, a junior, Noah, freshman, 6'1, Isaiah, 8th grade, 5'11.

Cherry has scored over 100 points six times this season. They are a scoring machine.

The Buccaneers of Border West have not scored 100 points in any game this year but they have been in the 80's a few times and scored 93 against a South Dakota team.

Border West has 12 seniors on their roster.

In the final Minnesota Basketball News rankings Cherry was #5, Border West #14.

At 3:00 p.m. Sacred Heart (27-4) plays #2 seed, #3 rated New Life Academy (24-5).

The Eagles of N-L-A are the highest ranked team in Class A in the tournament.

#2 ranked Cass Lake-Bena also did not make it to the Twin Cities to participate in the State Tournament.

There are 9 seniors on the Eagles roster.  They defeated Randolph from the KDHL area 79-54 and Hayfield 75-62.

Sacred Heart are also Eagles with 6 seniors on their roster.  They lost twice to Northern Freeze and fell to East Grand Forks and Thief River Falls.

The final game of the day features #3 seed Section 1A Champion Spring Grove (29-1) tangling with Mankato Loyola (22-8) out of Section 2A.

Tip-off scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, 2023 in The Barn.