What happens when Rushford-Peterson boys basketball plays (well) Rushford-Peterson boys basketball? You get a deliberate, super-defensive, close strategic battle where offense does a lot of yielding. Tom Vix’s Trojans (East Champions, 20-8) took on R-P graduate Matt Halverson’s Goodhue Wildcats (West champions, 27-3) for the Section 1A title; the third section title game in four years between the teams. The winning squad scored just 40 points in a 44-minute contest. Foul-outs were key. A freshman took three shots, hitting two huge ones.
The first half saw 14 total rebounds, 26 total shots, in 35 total possessions. The Wildcats led at half 17-16. The second stanza’s greatest lead was just three points (both teams). Free throws by Ben Opsahl put the ‘Cats up 26-25 (2:23). Noah Carlson then found Luke Rasmussen for a lay-up to put the Trojans back in front 27-26 (1:40). In the final minute, the teams missed three front-ends of the one-and-one (R-P twice). Carlson fouled out (his fourth was a charge call, wiping away a made lay-up). With 18.7 left, Rasmussen facilitated a jump-ball, arrow to R-P. Vix diagrammed an in-bound play that got the ball to forward Dawson Dahl, a 72% free throw shooter. He was fouled and made two to put R-P up 32-29 (0:14.7). Goodhue advanced, called timeout (0:11.6). The ball wound up in Sam Opsahl’s hands. With just one shot (0 points), the 6’2” freshman buried a 25-footer to tie the game at 32 (0:06.2)! Rasmussen subsequently front-ironed a 25-footer. The game went to overtime.
In the first session, the lead changed five times. McNamara, a 6’4” stand-out senior center, scored all five Wildcat points. R-P lost its second senior starter, Rasmussen, per foul out. Nonetheless, a Dahl free throw tied the game at 34 (0:28). The Trojans staved off a couple Wildcat shots in the final ten seconds. The game went to a second overtime tied at 34. There, Dahl got a quick lay-up (36-34). It, and Landon Skalet’s free throw, kept R-P in front, 37-35 (0:42.7). After an offensive rebound, Sam Opsahl hit his second huge shot, a corner three to put the Wildcats up 40-37 (0:21.2). R-P lost Jake Paulson seconds later to the game’s seventh charge, the fifth against R-P. Ben Opsahl hit two free throws to make it 40-37 (0:07.9). An R-P fade-away corner three before the horn didn’t have a chance. Game’s largest lead four, the #3 Wildcats, last year’s state runner-up, won their second straight 1A title 40-37. R-P juniors Dahl (15 pts, 6-7 FGs, 3-4 FTs, 3 stls) and Paulson (13 pts, 4 rebs, 4 stls) led the way. Carlson had 6 (pts), 5 (assists), and 3 (stls). McNamara (14 pts, 9 rebs) had 11 (pts) and 7 (rebs) after halftime. He started in 2015 as a sophomore. B-Opsahl added 12 (pts) and 7 (rebs). S-Opsahl’s six points were huge. The Wildcats had seven offensive rebounds, seven second-chance-points in the overtimes (eight minutes). They had five for three in regulation (36 minutes). R-P had 12 rebounds to Goodhue’s 26. R-P hit 13 of 30 field goals, Goodhue 12 of 30. The Trojans finish at 20-9 as 1A Runner-Up. Carlson, Rasmussen, and Landon Goree are their three seniors.