Photo by Leif Erickson
Chatfield boys basketball (7-seed, 16-10) held Zumbrota-Mazeppa (10-seed, 6-20) to just 35 points in notching a Round of 16 playoff win. The Gophers built a 29-16 first half lead and coasted to a 59-35 victory over the Cougars. Cole Johnson stuffed the stat sheet to lead the way (16 pts, 6-12 FGs, 4-4 FTs, 8 asts, 8 stls). Connor Jax (11 pts, 3-5 threes, 5 rebs) and Drew O’Connor (10 pts, 5-9 FGs, 7 rebs) also made double figures. Sam Backer chipped in 8 points. Chatfield won despite top scorer Drew Schindler being held to just 4 points (1-4 FGs), but he had 6 rebounds and 6 assists. The Gophers shot 23 of 45 (51%) while hitting 6 of 16 threes (38%). Chatfield beat Z-M 50-32 in the regular season. The Gophers have held opponents to less than 40 points eight times this year, including the two games versus the Cougars. Jeremy McBroom’s group (17-10) moves on to face #4 in AA Plainview-Elgin-Millville (2-seed, 26-1). Chatfield lost to the Bulldogs 71-50 and 60-56 in the regular season.