Photo by Lee Epps
The Spring Grove boys lost a state-ranked, SEC showdown in the final seconds at Southland, but the Lions had already nailed down a fourth consecutive East Division title earlier in the week with runaway wins over L/P and M-C. The 79-26 home rout of the Athletics (7-9, 8-12) completed an SEC sweep, during which the Lions attempted a season-fewest four free throws (4 of 4) and the Athletics only one (1 of 1). But SG poured in a season-most 13 threes (42%) and committed only 10 turnovers to the visitors’ 20. Jaxon Strinmoen had a double-double (20 pts, 12 rebs) and Ben Udstuen was close (21 pts, 8 rebs). Elijah Solum (8 pts) passed out a career-best 11 assists. It was decided quickly with an early 24-0 SG run. In the 80-38 win versus M-C (8-8, 10-11), the Cougars remained in contention longer, trailing only 21-20 before Grove closed the half with a 19-4 run and then scored the first 21 points of the second half. The Lions had seven turnovers to the Cougars’ 24, had a season-fewest five fouls, netted a dozen threes (38%), shot a hot 50% overall and held a 27-15 rebound advantage. Four Lions scored in double figures: Udstuen (18), Solum (16), Jacob Olerud (16) and Strinmoen (10). Darian Hershberger had 10 points (4-5 FGs) to lead M-C. Cayden Tollefsrud (7 pts, 5 rebs) was held under 20 for a first time this season. The Class A #3 Lions led #13 Southland for most of the second half, but Noah Bauer hit a three with under two seconds to play in the Rebels’ euphoric 52-50 home win. Inbounding with only 1.3 seconds left, SG amazingly got off a shot (that missed). The score was tied seven times; there were seven lead changes. Grove trailed by eight points early (10-2) but rallied to lead by 11 just before taking a 31-27 lead into halftime. The Lions led 50-45 with 4:09 to play, but missed their final five shots and two late free throws. The Rebels scored the final seven points of each half. SG allowed the Rebels only six free throws (4 of 6) and had only seven turnovers, Southland only 11. But the Rebels shot 43% to Lions’ 35%. Strinmoen scored a game-high 22 points. Udstuen double-doubled (15 pts, 10 rebs). Ethan Crouch had a career-high 6 assists, no turnovers. East champ SG (15-2 18-2) lost for only the second time, both versus West leader Southland (14-2, 18-3), which had won earlier at SG, 58-49. The Lions had a 12-game win streak ended. SG ended the week playing at R-P (See “Basketball: Trojans Perfect Week Includes Epic Boys Game”).