Blossoms Hang On, Move to Finals

In a game that was "eerily similar to the January match up at Grand Meadow," the Blooming Prairie boys topped the Super Larks 52-49 in the Section 1A basketball semifinals at the Rochester Mayo Civic Auditorium. BP advances to the section title game Thursday, March 12 against Hayfield at 6 pm.

Blossoms coach Nate Piller further elaborated, "Once again, we built a 12-point second-half lead and once again we couldn't put them away until the buzzer sounded. This time a desperation heave from 3/4 court hit the right side of the rim and bounced harmlessly away." BP had edged Grand Meadow 54-53 on January 9.

"We missed a layup of two and several free throw attempts within the final couple of minutes. Any of which could have iced the game, but Grand Meadow went down fighting."

Piller added, "A lot of credit has to go to Park Vaith, who came off the bench to score 12 points. Six of those points came in the first half when we had struggled mightily to score. Parker found a little bit of room to drive to the basket and got some and-one opportunities. Then in the second half he connected on a pair of three-pointers."

"Drew Kittelson found some points by cutting to the basket and Gabe Hagen showed his mettle often scoring against multiple defenders. Each of them finished with 12."

Blooming Prairie jumped out to a 6-0 lead but the teams played tight throughout the first half with BP leading by two at the break. Piller closed with "All in all, we're glad we got the win and get the chance to move on."

The Awesome Blossoms have swept Hayfield this season by scores of 65-40 and 59-54. The Vikings won their semifinal game Saturday over Randolph 68-60. The championship game Thursday, March 12 at 6 pm is at the arena at Mayo Civic Center and can be heard on Kat Kountry 105 FM and the free Kat Kounty 105 app.