Boys Basketball: Apple Valley moves on to play Champlin Park

MINNEAPOLIS-Junior guard Tre Jones scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half to help the No. 3-seeded Eagles pull away for a 77-54 victory over No. 2 Maple Grove in the Class 4A semifinals on Thursday night at Target Center.

The victory sends the Eagles (29-2) into the big-school championship game for the third time since 2013. In both of those previous appearances, Apple Valley has emerged as the Class 4A champion. That includes a victory over Champlin Park in 2015, the same school they will face on Saturday night.

Jones completed his triple-double with 13 rebounds, including 11 on the defensive end, and also had 10 assists. Senior guard Mohamed Kone added 16 points for the Eagles, including 4 of 5 from three-point range.

Senior forward Tywhon Pickford led the Crimson (28-3) with 23 points. Senior guard Brad Davison, who averages a team-best 24.3 points per game, was held to 13 points. The University of Wisconsin recruit was 4 of 17 from the field, including 0 of 6 from three-point range.

Junior guard Luke Martens scored 10 points in the first half, making 5 of 6 shots from the field, to help send Apple Valley to a 34-30 lead after 18 minutes of play. Jones and Kone had eight points apiece.

Champlin Park 70, Wayzata 62

MINNEAPOLIS-After a one-year hiatus from the state championship game, Champlin Park is making a return trip. The Rebels used a late, stunning run to get there in their 70-62 victory over Wayzata in the Class 4A semifinals Thursday night at Target Center.

The top-seeded Rebels escaped danger and kept their undefeated quest for a championship alive with a decisive and powerful 10-0 run in the final minutes to earn a spot in the championship game for the second time in three seasons. In 2015, the Rebels lost to Apple Valley in the title game.

Senior guard McKinley Wright scored 21 points to help send the Rebels (31-0) to the big-school championship game on Saturday night.

Senior guard Ryan Lindberg led Wayzata (27-4) with 21 points and sophomore guard Jacob Beeninga added 15.

Wayzata raced to an 11-0 lead to open the game and maintained its frenzied pace throughout the first half en route to a 34-31 lead. Beeninga led the Trojans in the first half with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three-point range.

DeLaSalle 86, Columbia Heights 60

MINNEAPOLIS-For the sixth consecutive season, DeLaSalle has found its way to the same place.

The 5-time defending Class 3A champion Islanders earned a chance to make it a half dozen following an 86-60 victory over Columbia Heights in the semifinals Thursday at Target Center.

Senior forward Goanar Mar scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, 12 on the defensive end, to spur the Islanders (26-3).

Junior guard Gabe Kalscheur had 18 points and seven rebounds while sophomore guard Tyrell Terry chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds in helping the Islanders defeat the Hylanders (22-9) for the third time this season.

Junior guard Quentin Hardrict paced Columbia Heights with 17 points. Teammate Wendell Matthews, a junior forward, had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Christian Kelly had 14 points.

Austin 73, Marshall 53

MINNEAPOLIS-Austin earned a chance to win the school's first boys basketball championship for the first time in nearly six decades following a 73-53 victory over Marshall in the Class 3A semifinals Thursday at Target Center.

Duoth Gach, an athletic 6-foot-4 junior guard, put on an offensive show, complete with thrilling dunks mixed in with 3-point shooting, to finish with 29 points. Senior forward Oman Oman chipped in 14 points for the No. 2-seeded Packers.

It will be Austin's 11th appearance in a boys basketball championship game. The first came in 1923 when the Packers were the single-class runner-up. Championships followed in 1935, '46 and '58.

It will be the third time that Austin (29-2) faces DeLaSalle in the 3A championship game. The others were runner-up finishes to the Islanders in 2013 and '14.
Junior guard Trey Lance had 16 points for the No. 3-seeded Tigers (27-4). Senior forward Mitchell Sueker added 11 points.

Mpls. North 93, Red Lake 46

MINNEAPOLIS-An early 27-3 run by Minneapolis North turned out to be indicative of this Class 1A state quarterfinal as the Polars eased away from Red Lake 93-46 Thursday.

North forced 12 first-half turnovers en route to building a 62-29 lead. A running clock was used in the second half.

Four players from defending champion North (30-2) scored in double figures, including O'Dell Wilson IV (21 points) and Isaac Johnson (20).

Rob McClain Jr. led the way for Red Lake (25-5) with 12 points. The Warriors will resume play in the consolation bracket at 10 a.m. Friday at Concordia University in St. Paul.

Springfield 73, Nevis 65

MINNEAPOLIS-Fifth-seeded Springfield (29-2) advanced to the Class 1A state semifinals, topping No. 4 Nevis 73-65 in the quarterfinals at Williams Arena Thursday.

Springfield will face defending 1A champion Minneapolis North at noon Friday at Target Center. Nevis will head across the river to Gangelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia-St. Paul where it will play Red Lake in the consolation semifinals at 10 a.m. Friday.

Isaac Fink had 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Kale Meendering had 22 points on 10-14 shooting for Springfield.

Nevis was led by Michael Landquist with 24 points on 9-18 shooting and Griffin Chase added 14 points and seven assists.

Goodhue 57, LP-Audubon 37

MINNEAPOLIS-The No. 2-seeded Goodhue Wildcats capitalized on a 34-20 halftime advantage and went on to defeat the unseeded Lake Park-Audubon Raiders 57-37 in the Class 3A quarterfinals Thursday at Williams Arena.

Goodhue also went on a 19-0 scoring binge over 10 minutes in the second half.

Three players finished in double-figures for the Wildcats: Nicholas Thomforde with 15 points; Taylor Buck with 12 and Ben Opsahl with 10. Lucas Thomforde had five steals for Goodhue.

Jesse Bergh tallied 17 points and nine rebounds for Lake Park-Audubon. Grant Pederson added 10 points and four steals for the Raiders.

North Woods 54, Central Minnesota Christian 51

North Woods sophomore Cade Goggleye etched his name into boys basketball state tournament lore Thursday evening by banking home a half-court shot at the buzzer to lift North Woods to a wild 54-51 win over Central Minnesota Christian in the Class A quarterfinals at Williams Arena.

Austin Marcus forged a tie game for the third-seeded Bluejays (26-4) with a layup that came in the closing seconds. The Grizzlies immediately got the ball to their young point guard, and Goggleye bolted the other way. Glancing at the scoreclock propped just above the North Woods basket and seeing one second remaining, he elevated from about 4 feet in front of the half-court line and released his prayer.

The ball caromed off the backboard and in. Goggleye was promptly dogpiled, and showed up to the postgame news conference with a bag of ice for the minimal injuries he incurred in the celebration.

The unseeded Grizzlies (30-1), who were on the ropes after Central Minnesota Christian opened the second half on an 8-0 run, move into Friday's semifinals vs. Goodhue at 2 p.m. at Target Center.

Tate Olson, whose 3-point shooting triggered North Woods' second-half comeback, had a team-high 16 points. Brendan Parson added 14 and Goggleye finished with 12 for the Grizzlies, who are making their state tournament debut.

-- mshsl.org