Class A Boys Basketball State Quarterfinal Recap
Posted: Wednesday, March 23, 2022 - 6:48 PM
Class A took center stage on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 when Day 2 of the Minnesota State High School League’s Boys Basketball State Tournament. Four quarterfinals were played among the small-enrollment schools at Williams Arena and four earned berths into Friday’s semifinals. Hayfield, Cherry, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa and New Life Academy advanced to the Class A semifinals on Friday afternoon.
All semifinals and championship games will be televised live by 45TV. The Class AAA semifinals are Thursday afternoon followed by the Class AAAA semifinals on Thursday evening. Class A hits the floor on Friday for the semifinals followed by Class AA on Friday evening.
Four championship games are scheduled for Championship Saturday.
Here is a look at Wednesday’s Class A quarterfinals:
· No. 1 Hayfield 66, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 66: Hayfield took another step toward a successful state title defense with a quarterfinal victory over Russell-Tyler-Ruthton at Williams Arena. Junior guard Ethan Pack scored 14 of his 25 points in the first half to send the Vikings (30-2) on their way. His three-pointer with one second remaining in the first half gave Hayfield a 37-20 lead at the break. Junior guard Isaac Matti contributed with 15 points and eight assists. Senior guard Darrick Baartman had 14 points to pace Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (23-8).
· No. 5 Cherry 68, No. 4 Nevis 57: Cherry, making its first state tournament appearance since 1997 and second overall, was off and running in a quarterfinal victory over Nevis at Williams Arena. Sophomore guard Isaac scored 31 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and had four assists in powering the Tigers (27-4) to their 13th consecutive victory. In the process, Asuma, who scored 19 points in the second half, surpassed the 2,000-point milestone in the victory. Eighth-grade guard Noah Asuma added 13 points and senior guard Sam Serna contributed 10. Senior guard Eddie Kramer had 15 points for Nevis (27-4).
· No. 2 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 70, Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s 63: Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa stared at a five-point deficit about midway through the second half and did something about it with a game-deciding 18-8 run that paved the way to a quarterfinal victory at Williams Arena. Junior guard Kaden Pieper led the Jaguars (27-4) with 24 points and five rebounds. Senior forward Ashton Dingmann added 15 points to go with nine rebounds. Senior guard Trenton Steffensmeier paced Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s (28-3) with 19 points while sophomore guard William Walter added 14.
· No. 3 New Life Academy 64, Sacred Heart 58: New Life Academy completed the semifinal pairings with the final run in a series of them in defeating Sacred Heart. New Life Academy (27-3) led throughout, and by as many as 13 points with 7:15 left in the second half, but still needed mini-runs and surges to hold off Sacred Heart (28-4). Sacred Heart trailed by 10 early in the second half before engineering a 10-point spree to tie the score. New Life Academy answered with an 11-0 run, but Sacred Heart kept battling. Senior guard Kollin Kaemingk had 20 points for New Life Academy, including a three-point with 3:25 remaining that gave the Eagles a 62-54 advantage. Junior guard Maxwell Briggs added 13. Senior forward Kobe Tomkinson powered Sacred Heart with 18 points and junior forward Ethan Arntson had 14.