DeLaSalle Reign is Over in Class 3A and Top Two Seeds Play for Title in 4A
The Minneapolis DeLaSalle Islanders reign over Class 3A high school boys basketball is over. The Hylanders of Columbia Heights were relentless on the glass in a 71-69 victory at the Target Center in Minneapolis last night. DeLaSalle had blown out Columbia Heights twice during the regular season by 36 points and 15 points.
The Hylanders were a plus 10 in rebounds with 16 offensive boards and had five players score in double digits led by 6'6 senior Wendell Matthews with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Matthews has a wiry frame, but is a quick leaping athletic player who logged 27 minutes. 6'0 junior Jarvis Wright scored 15 points, 5'9 senior Quentin Hardrict tallied 15 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, 6'3 senior Christian Kelly had 11 points and 9 rebounds and 5'11 senior Deundra Roberson finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds.
DeLaSalle kept launching three point shots against the Hylanders zone and were ice cold from beyond the arc going 7 of 24 for the game. Despite that the Islanders shot 50 percent for the game. That means they were 20 of 30, approximately 67 percent inside the arc. University of Minnesota recruit 6'4 senior Gabe Kalscheur was 2 of 10 from three point range and 5 of 17 from the field with 12 points and 3 rebounds while playing every second of the game. DeLaSalle was led bu 6'2 junior Tyrell Terry with 24 points and 4 assists. 6'7 junior Jamison Battle added 15 points and 3 rebounds and 6'3 senior Christian Dickson collected 10 points and 9 rebounds in 23 minutes.
The top ranked team all season and top seed in the tournament will play #2 rated and second seed Austin for the third place trophy and individual medals tomorrow at Concordia University in St. Paul.
The Packers looked almost giddy taking the floor after watching DeLaSalle get knocked off but the Delano Tigers used the same formula as Columbia Heights to take down the Big Nine Conference co-champions 80-68.
The Tigers crashed the glass and out rebounded Austin 40-24. The Packers also had no answer for Mr. Basketball finalist Calvin Wishart. The 6'2 senior will play basketball next year at Georgia Southern and finished the game with 29 points, 19 rebounds and 7 assists while playing every second of the game.
Delano shot 58 percent for the game including 42 percent from three point range and were 14 of 19 from the free throw line.
Austin shot 41 percent for the game, 42 percent from trey land and was 7 of 16 from the charity stripe.
The Packers were led by 6'5 senior Duoth Gach but it took him most of the game to get on track. He played just 9 minutes in the first half after getting a couple of fouls and finished the game with 17 points in 27 minutes. Three other Packers were also in double figures. 6'2 senior Moses Issa had 15 points, 6'0 junior Medi Obang 11 and 6'0 junior Ngor Deng also had 11 points.
The Islanders and Packers will play in the third place game at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow in St. Paul.
In the Class 4A semifinals top ranked and top seed Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders edged the #4 seed and 9th ranked Eden Prairie Eagles 60-56. One of the Raiders two losses this season came against the Eagles on February 28, 65-63.
Eden Prairie had a chance at the end of the game to win or tie and send it into overtime and missed a good look just inside the free throw line and fouled with a half second on the clock.
The Raiders were led by 6'10 future Gopher Daniel Oturu. He basically put the team on his shoulders with 24 points and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes. 6'1 senior point guard Ryan Larson is a matchup problem for teams because of his strength. He finished with 18 points and 7 assists and play every tick tock of the clock.
Eden Prairie was led by 6'5 sophomore Austin Andrews with 16 points. 6'1 senior point guard Kyler Kluge had 13 points and 7 assists and 6'6 sophomore Connor Christensen fouled of the game after scoring 11 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.
The Raiders shot 49 percent for the game and were 13 of 21 from the free throw line, they were also 3 of 10 from three point range. The Eagles shot 40 percent for the game, were 7 of 26 (27%) from beyond the arc and 7 of 13 on their free throws.
Apple Valley downed fellow South Suburban Conference member Lakeville North 58-45 in a game that would not win any beauty points.
This was a slug fest because these two teams obviously knew each other very well. Halfway through the second half Lakeville North had not scored a field goal but still were just down single digits because Apple Valley wasn't exactly on fire either.
6'3 senior Mr. Basketball finalist Tre Jones had 16 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists to lead the Eagles. The Panthers were forced to foul late turning what was a very close game into the double digit win because Jones was 8 for 8 from the free throw line.
6'7 junior Tyler Wahl led Lakeville North with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in 35 minutes.
Apple Valley won the battle of the boards 36-29 and shot 41 percent compared to Lakeville North's 35 percent. The Panthers were 1 of 17 from three point range and Eagles were 5 of 11.
The Lakeville North third place game against Eden Prairie is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. tomorrow at Concordia University in St. Paul and John Anderson will have the call on POWER 96 Radio, 95.9 FM and www.power96radio.com. The best way to listen is to download the FREE Power 96 Faribault app on your favorite mobile device.
I'll have the Class 4A State title game tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. as part of our 70th year of baseline to baseline coverage of the Minnesota State Boys High School Baksetball Tournament.