basketball

It might not have been pretty, but Owatonna will happily take the victory in the Section 1AAAA quarterfinals 56-48 over New Prague Wednesday at Owatonna High School. OHS missed some makeable shots early and was held 17 points below its average, but several players made big plays late to pull out the win.

The Medford and Blooming Prairie boys' basketball teams each fell behind early in the section playoff games Tuesday and could not climb out of the hole, bringing their seasons to an end. Medford lost at St. Peter 90-35. Blooming Prairie fell to Rushford-Peterson 56-33 at the Mayo Civic Auditorium in Rochester.

The Owatonna High School boys' basketball team is on a season-long roll heading into Wednesday's Section 1AAAA playoff opener against New Prague at the OHS gym. Since a 3-4 start to the season, the Huskies have won 17 of their last 19 games. The streak includes a sweep of top-five ranked Mankato East and a win over Big Nine co-champ Austin.

A stellar season ended for the Owatonna High School girls' basketball team with a 73-55 loss to top-seed Lakeville North Saturday in the Section 1AAAA semifinals at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Nine seniors played their final game for the Huskies. The defending section champion Panthers will face Farmington in Thursday's finals.

Hopes for an all-Gopher Conference subsection final in 2AA girls' basketball were dashed by the Big South Conference as Blue Earth Area beat NRHEG 52-45 and St. Peter topped Medford 59-26 Friday night at Mankato East High School. The Bucs and Saints will play for the south subsection title Tuesday at Minnesota State-Mankato. NRHEG won the section crown in 2017.

The Medford and NRHEG girls' basketball teams play subsection semifinal games Friday at Mankato East High School. The Tigers (fifth seed) face top-seed St. Peter at 6PM. The defending section champion Panthers (third seed) meet Blue Earth Area at about 7:45PM. The NRHEG-Blue Earth game will be on 104.9FM and the new Kat Kountry 105 app.

The Blooming Prairie boys' basketball team went to Leroy-Ostrander Thursday as the No. 9 seed in Section 1A and came home with a 63-48 win. Coach Nate Piller said, "It was all about our defense tonight." The Awesome Blossoms held the Cardinals to 12 first-half points and led 42-14 early in the second half, "But things never feel comfortable in the playoffs."

The Owatonna girls' basketball team beat Rochester John Marshall 64-56 Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Section 1AAAA tournament, completing a 12-0 home schedule in the process. The victory sends the Huskies to a semifinal matchup with top-seed Lakeville North Saturday, March 3 at 1PM at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.

The Owatonna boy's basketball team built an early 11-0 and 23-8 lead over No. 3AAA Mankato East on Tuesday night. But any thoughts of an easy win for the Huskies on Senior Night were dashed as East battled back to force overtime. Senior Dalton Kubista hit three free throws with five seconds in the extra session for a 73-72 win and season sweep for Owatonna over the Cougars.

The Blooming Prairie girls' basketball had No. 2 seed Hayfield beaten, twice, on Monday night, but the top-five ranked Vikings pulled out the 67-63 double-overtime victory to advance to the Section 1A semifinals. Just two weeks prior, the Awesome Blossoms dropped a 30-point decision to Hayfield. BP coach John Bruns said on Saturday's KRFO coaches show that the regular season game came during a busy stretch for Blooming Prairie and they had more time to prepare for the playoff rematch.