Boys Basketball: #7 Lions Hold on Versus #1 Goodhue, Roar to State

One lug nut held, maybe two. The Section 1A boys basketball title game between #7 in A Spring Grove (2-seed, 28-1) and #1 in A Goodhue (1-seed, 26-3) will be remembered. For 30 minutes, the Lions were in control. Then, in the blink-on-an-eye, the wheels nearly fell off. The Lions boys, battled-tested from already making state and the state finals in football back in the fall, held it together. They steadied the wheel and limped, then staggered, and then toughly walked across the finish line triumphant. For most of the game they controlled or dominated the action. SG started the contest 19-6. The Lions hit seven of their first 13 shots, including a trio of three-pointers from three different players. Their long half-court trapping defensive positioned itself all over the court, limiting the Wildcats. Goodhue scored first but then hit only two of its next nine shots, including 0 for 5 from three-point land, while burdened with six early turnovers. The Wildcats made up some ground late, ending the stanza on an 8-3 spurt. By intermission, the Lion lead was seven at 24-17. SG had forced eight turnovers while only committing three and they hit 4 of 8 threes while Goodhue was 0 of 4. Senior Tysen Grinde then opened the second half with a steal and three-point bucket. On the next trip down the court, Elijah Solum drove in for two, and the Lions were back up by 12 (29-17). Jaxon Strinmoen and Caleb Griffin also each hit a three in the first 9:00 of the stanza. No Lion scored back-to-back points in the half until the final 2:00. And the defense again held the Wildcats in check. They started the half 4 of 11 shooting with eight turnovers. Two Jacob Olerud free throws stoked the Lions’ lead to 46-27 with 6:47. State appeared eminent. But Goodhue then full-court pressed, with gusto. The Wildcat comeback started slowly; one singular free throw followed by a Justin Buck bucket. A bevy of Goodhue pressing steals and buckets ensued. The comeback became ferocious. Sam Opsahl, a 6’7” senior guard, was the biggest catalyst. He scored nine straight points over five possessions and 1:14 of clock, each points loosening lug-nuts from the Lions’ wheels. An Opsahl three-point play with 3:32 left cut the lead to 46-39. The Wildcat crowd’s roar grew and the Lions’ wheels were wobbling. After a steal, Adam Poncelet hit a three, and the Wildcat crowd boomed. SG’s once 19-point lead was down to four, 46-42, with 3:16! SG was in search of a mechanic. After another steal, Poncelet scored and was fouled! He missed the free throw, but Goodhue, down 46-27 with 6:07 left, was now within two, 46-44, with 2:56 to play. They had engineered a spirited, physical, 17-0 run in

just over three minutes to suddenly threaten to steal state away from the Lions. Over an eight possessions span, SG had six turnovers. Up until that point, they had five total. But the Lions held it together, clinging to each other to collectively grab the ratchet and socket and tighten the lug nuts while the vehicle was travelling down the road at 70 mph. Solum put a hand on the bleeding with one free throw with 2:50 to make it a three-point game, 47-44. More importantly, SG was able to set its half-court defense, which Goodhue struggled against. A Grinde slashing interior layup (assist Solum) with 2:35 left put the Lions up five, 49-44, a much more secure bandage. The Wildcats, meanwhile, had back-to-back turnovers. Down the stretch, the Lions kept away from turnovers and Goodhue was forced to foul. Grinde and Solum then each made two at the line in a row. Solum’s free throws stretched the Lions lead to 53-45 (0:52). The wheels were back on and spinning normally. Opsahl then hit a three, one last gasp by the Wildcats. With 0:29 left, SG’s lead was 53-48. But Solum and then Grinde hit two more at the line in the final 0:30, pushing the lead into insurmountable territory, 57-48. And SG-nation, which has seen some boys basketball letdowns over the years, could suspire. The Lions could exhale and rejoice courtesy of a 57-48 victory and the Section 1A title. SG is headed back to state! It was the second straight game the Wildcats rallied from a late deficit. In the semifinals, they trailed by 10 points in the second half before coming back to overtake 4-seed and #9-ranked Lyle/Pacelli, 54-51. But they could not quite ride a rally to

victory two games in a row. These same Lions, who had seen their quest for a state football title slip away late, were able to regain their basketball composure just in time to deliver the deciding blows from the free throw line. Solum (22 pts, 6-11 FTs, 5 asts) led the way. The 6’1” junior had 12 in the first half and 10 more in the second half. He also took three charges including a couple with three fouls. Grinde (14 pts, 4-6 FGs, 4-4 FTs, 7 rebs, 5 stls) was naturally a strong second force. The duo clutchly scored SG’s final 11 points, including hitting 9 of 10 free throws, after the Wildcats closed to down two. Strinmoen (12 pts, 4 rebs, 3 stls) also hit double figures. Griffin added seven points. Goodhue was led by Opsahl (an MSU-Mankato commit), who had a fantastic performance (28 pts, 11-19 FGs, 10 rebs, 5 asts, 4 stls). Poncelet (9 pts) and Buck (7 pts, 5 rebs) helped. Though the Lions had their share late, they still won the turnover battle 13 to 18. SG hit 7 of 15 threes (47%) to Goodhue’s 3 of 17 (18%). The Wildcats made hay on the glass (27 to 19 rebounding edge) and with second-chance-points (14 to 2 advantage). SG won at the free throw line 16 of 21 (76%) to 7 of 17 (41%). Each team scored 41 points from the field with SG holding the nine-point edge from the line in a nine-point win. “We were able to really make them work for everything they got,” said Spring Grove head coach Wade Grinde. “And I think that was the difference. It’s really frustrating playing against that defense for 36 minutes. You got to be mentally tough, and they are. You saw they had a run left in them, but our guys are pretty tough, too.” It was the Lions’ fourth win over a ranked foe this year, as they beat Lyle/Pacelli twice, #9 Hayfield in the 1A semis, and #1 Goodhue in the finals. It was the second straight year for Goodhue to be the section runner-up. Last year, both the Wildcats and Lions were eliminated by eventual state champion Hayfield. Spring Grove and Goodhue have played six times overall and twice in the section championship game; SG came into each one at 28-1. The Wildcats defeated the Lions in the 2016 title contest, but Grove won their 2018 section quarterfinal game. The series record is 3-3. It was SG’s 27th straight win this year with the only loss coming to #8 Dawson-Boyd. It is SG’s second state appearance in boys basketball (2019) as they are now 2-3 in 1A title games. With their 29th win, this group became the only Lion boys team to get to said threshold. They received the 3-seed and will play Mankato-Loyola (22-8) in the state quarters. SG won in January 61-54.