Boys Basketball: Day 2 Recap

Semifinal pairings are now set in Class A as well.

The Class A field had to wait until Day 2 of the Minnesota State School League’s Boys Basketball State Tournament to begin their play on Wednesday, March 22 at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus.

Advancing to Friday’s two Class A semifinals will be top-seeded Russell-Tyler-Ruthton facing No. 4 Cherry followed by No. 2 Life Academy Academy tipping off against No. 3 Spring Grove. Those semifinals will be played at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.

Here is a recap of Wednesday’s Class A quarterfinals:

• No. 1 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 80, Nevis 62: Russell-Tyler-Ruthton opened as the top seed in the Class A field and validated it with an opening-round victory over Nevis. Senior Aidan Wichmann led the way with 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists to send the Knights (29-1) into the Friday’s semifinals. Junior Drew Workman added 19 points and eight rebounds for Russell-Tyler-Ruthton. Sophomore Alex Lester paced Nevis (24-7) with 20 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
• No. 4 Cherry 68, No. 5 Border West 55: Cherry, the Section 7A champion, advanced to the Class A semifinals for the second consecutive season by using a late second-half surge to hold off Border West (26-3). Sophomore guard Noah Sundquist scored 30 points and was 14 of 15 from the field to fuel the Tigers (27-4). University of Minnesota commit Isaac Asuma, a junior guard, chipped in 11 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Senior forward Clint Determan had 19 points for Border West, which is a co-op located near the South Dakota border just south of North Dakota and includes Wheaton. Herman-Norcross and Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley.
• No. 2 New Life Academy 62, Sacred Heart 46: New Life Academy, seeking its first boys basketball championship in four state tournament trips built a double-digit lead in the first half and maintained it from there in recording a quarterfinal victory over Sacred Heart (27-5), which is making its second consecutive state tournament appearance. Senior post Erick Reader, a 6-foot-9 senior that has committed as a walk-on at the University of Minnesota, had 14 points and 12 rebounds to send New Life Academy (25-5) to the Class A semifinals for the second consecutive season. Senior guard Ethan Arntson had nine points for Sacred Heart.
• No. 3 Spring Grove 39, Mankato Loyola 38: Spring Grove withstood a seven-point run by Mankato Loyola in the final two minutes to escape with a one-point victory in the final quarterfinal of the day. Senior guard Caleb Griffin made a three-pointer with 2:18 remaining in regulation that gave Spring Grove (30-1) an eight-point advantage at 39-31. That would be the final basket the Lions would record before the final horn. Junior Elijah Solum led Spring Grove with 16 points. Senior Carter Zimmerman made a three-pointer with 1:08 left and teammate Quinn Kelly, a junior guard, followed with one of his own to pull the Crusaders to within 39-37 with 44 seconds left. Senior Lawson Godfrey inched the Crusaders (22-9) to within one after a free throw with 9.1 seconds left, but Mankato Loyala could draw no closer.