Saturday, March 7th.
Boys Hockey.
Class A State Third Place game.
#4 Mahtomedi 4, #2 Delano 3. Jackson Wollack and Daniel Halonen scored second period goals as the Tigers led 2-0 going into the third period. In the third the Zephyrs tied it late and won it in overtime on a goal by Will Seevers to take home third place in Class A. Daniel Halonen had a goal and two assists in the loss.
Boys Basketball.
Section 6AA Section Quarterfinals.
#2 Annandale 67, #7 Sauk Centre 62. Ben Walter scored 22 points in the Cards win in a game that was tied at halftime. Gabe Westman scored the first five points of the second half and the Cards never trailed after. Westman finished with 10 points. Jacob Drevlow was the top scorer for the Mainstreeters with 27.
Tuesday, March 10th.
Boys Basketball.
Section 6AAAA Semifinals.
#2 Hopkins 66, #3 Buffalo 48. Jayden Moore did a little bit of everything for Hopkins, and Xavier Frelix did it booth from the mid-range and deep as the Royals defeated Buffalo in the Section 6AAAA semifinals and will move on to the championship round for a much-anticipated matchup with Wayzata on Friday night. Moore, who is headed to North Dakota, had a triple double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists killed the Bison off the drive while Frelix scored 23 points and added 7 boards, and was lethal with his mid-range jumper and hit some key 3’s. It was even early, but a 9-0 run to end the half gave Hopkins a 29-20 halftime lead. Hopkins scored the first six of the second half and it looked like the blowout was on, but Buffalo had one big push. Led by Matthew Jordan, who finished with 17 points the Bison cut the Royals lead to 48-41 midway through the second half, but Hopkins outscored the Bison, 16-7 the rest of the way to advance to the finals.
Above, Matthew Jordan, #5, knocks down a three-point shot against Hopkins on Tuesday night. Jordan scored 17 for the Bison in the loss.
Jayden Moore, above, consoles #33 Thomas Jordan after the Royals win.
Wed, March 11th.
Girls Basketball.
Class AAAA State Quarterfinals.
#3 Rochester Mayo 63, #6 Monticello 61. Monticello went undefeated during the regular season last year and reached the Class AAA state tournament. This season the Magic returned eight seniors, but moved up to Class AAAA, but that didn’t matter, here they were back at state again on Wed. Their opponent, 28-1 Rochester Mayo. The Spartans and Magic went back and forth the whole day at Williams Arena, with neither team being able to shake the other. Monticello led by one point with 57 seconds left, when Amelia Mills, who scored 26 points in the game, made a layup to give the Spartans a one-point lead. The Magic then turned the ball over, Mayo was fouled, hit one free throw and led by two points with just 7 seconds remaining. The Magic got the ball to their start point guard Samantha Voll who pulled up for a jump shot as time expired. The shot missed and the Spartans advanced to the state semifinal to meet Rosemount on Thursday. Mills led the Spartans with 26 points, including 4-5 on three-point shots, while Samantha Voll had another great game for the Magic with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists. Addison, and Abby Ruda added 12 points each for Monti. The Magic will play Chanhassen in the consolation semifinals on Thursday at the Ganglehoff Center at Concordia St. Paul. The Magic won the regular season matchup over the Storm, 84-81.
Samantha Voll, #21 in white, led the Magic with 25 points on Wed.
Boys Basketball.
Section 6AA Semifinals.
#6 Melrose 58, #2 Annandale 56. Despite being the #2 seed in the Section, there was a lot of questions about Annandale going into the section due to one big issue. They were going to play without their top scorer, Jr. Colton Purcell, who was avg 27 ppg. Purcell was hurt in the final regular season game, so the Cards had to adjust in just a matter of days to playing without Purcell. Things went smoothly against Milaca and Sauk Centre in the first two rounds, but on Wed night, the Cards just didn’t have enough offense to get past the Dutchman. It was close through most of the first half, but the Dutchmen went on a 12-0 run to end the half and led 33-21, going into the break. In the second half the Cards went to a 1-2-2 zone, and it forced some turnovers and behind Gabe Westman’s 15 second half points the Cards cut the Dutchman lead to 57-54 in the last minute, but the Cards couldn’t quite get over the hump and Melrose advanced to the Section final to face Albany on Friday night. Westman led the Cards with 20 points and 4 assists. Owen Pederson also had 16 points and 5 rebounds in the loss for Annandale. Riley Elfering was the top scorer for Melrose with 16 points, and big man Brady Goil also finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds for the Dutchman.
Ben Walter, above in red, finished his career at Annandale with over 1,000 points scored, and also led his team to the Class AA state championship in football. Walter will play football next fall at Concordia-Moorhead.
