They certainly came home disappointed. At the 2018 Minnesota boys basketball Class A state tourney, Rushford-Peterson lost more than it won. Each defeat, however, was highly competitive affair. R-P played until the very last day of the season. They played, by upperclassmen numbers, as underdogs.
Two Big Shots, Two Overtimes in Quarterfinals
There really isn’t any other way to describe R-P’s (unseeded, 23-7) opening round contest with #4 Cass Lake-Bena (3-seed, 29-1) other than; an absolutely great game. The Panther’s only loss was to top-seeded Mayer Lutheran (54-52). At Williams Arena, R-P and CL-B frenziedly duked it out for 44 minutes, through 11 ties, 11 lead changes, two especially big shots, and two overtimes. In a rarity, it wasn’t the Trojans with the especially quickest hands, the fastest defense. CL-B was relentless with their ball pressure. The Trojans best asset in the first half was the glass. They had 10 offensive rebounds for 7 second-chance-points. The stanza saw six ties. Each team hit a three late to leave the half-time score CL-B 25, R-P 24. In the second half, R-P scored nine of the first 12 points to go up 33-28. Behind Noah Delapaz’s three trifectas, Cass Lake-Bena then went on a 13-2 run to lead 41-37. The lead grew to 47-39 (4:58). R-P replied by scoring seven straight. Payton Hahn’s corner three made it 47-46 CL-B (1:37). Taking a page out of the Trojans’ playbook, the Panthers played keep-away for about a minute. Jarell Jacobs was fouled. He made two free throws, making it 49-46 (0:33). After a missed Trojan shot, a committed foul (Jake Paulson’s fifth), and a missed Panther free throw, the Trojans brought the ball up court trailing by three (0:11). Hahn launched a top of the key three. It was by no means perfect. It splatted back iron/backboard evenly, bounced forward, hit front iron, and fell in, tying the game (49-49) as time expired! The game went to overtime. There, Arnold Kingbird opened the session by hitting a three. Luke O’Hare then authored a through-contact high-flip finish, a three-point play (52-52). With R-P having to defend CL-B’s range-less guards on the perimeter, the Panthers penetrated. Jacobs was left open down low. Hahn blocked his shot, but Jacobs grabbed the rebound and put it back in to give CL-B a 54-52 lead (0:57). After a Trojan turnover and a missed CL-B free throw (0:11), it was time for a second as-time-expired basket. Off a Dawson Dahl miss, Ben Ansell secured the rebound and put it back in just before the clock hit zeros. To a second OT the game went, 54-54! There, the squad’s alternated scores over five possessions. An Ansell put-back had the Trojans up 60-59 (1:40). But another penetration and a Raul Washington interior finish put the Panthers ahead 61-60. The Trojans then turned the ball over, their second straight miscue. CL-B made two free throws (0:09). Down three (63-60), R-P needed a third big shot. They missed a three, but got fouled on a second offensive rebound put-back (0:00.3). The Trojans needed a make, a miss, and a tip in. They got the make, the miss, and the tip, just not the in. Cass Lake-Bena endured 63-61 in double OT. Ansell led the way for R-P (17 pts, 7-12 FGs, 6 rebs). CL-B worked hard to limit him, denying multiple low-post passes. Hahn, who’s battled a foot injury, had his best game in a while (13 pts, 3-4 threes, 5-7 FGs, 4 blks). Skalet added 12 points. Paulson (10 pts, 10 rebs, 5 assists, 4 stls, 2 blks) was the best all-around Trojan. His foul-out was critical. Delapaz (15 pts, 5-12 threes), Jacobs (13 pts, 8-9 FTs, 5 rebs), and Kingbird (12 pts, 5 assists, 5 stls) led the Panthers. Turnovers were key (R-P 20, CL-B 14). All five Trojan starters had at least two TOs. The Panthers outdid R-P on steals 15 to 13. Free throws also were critical (CL/B 15 of 18, R-P 10 of 18). The Trojans controlled the glass 37 to 25 including grabbing 18 o-boards. Overall, both teams tried to exert their wills. Said wills were neither exerted nor broken; a non-stop collision. CL-B was simply ahead two points on the scoreboard when the clock hit zeros. Five ties and eight lead changes came in the second half and overtime.
Consolation Semi Slammed to Victory
A day later, R-P (23-8) was off to the Gangelhoff Center at Concordia University-St. Paul. Heritage Christian Academy of Maple Grove (13-18), a Cinderella story given their sub .500 record, loomed. Though certainly tired from the previous days scrap, the Trojans controlled the game throughout. The Eagles were held to 13 first half points. Offensively, R-P was a bit sluggish to start, but they ended the stanza scoring on 8 of 11 possessions. At halftime, the lead was 29-13. HCA never threatened. Payton Hahn’s in-the-half-court, amidst traffic, two-handed slam dunk was the exclamation point. R-P prevailed 57-30. Dawson Dahl (14 points, 4-8 FGs, 6-8 FTs), Ben Ansell (12 pts, 10 rebs) and Landon Skalet (10 pts) hit double-figures. The Trojans went 15 of 18 at the free throw line, improving from their 10 of 18 effort versus Cass Lake-Bena. CL-B turned around and lost to North Woods 67-47 in a semifinal. The Panthers shot 8 of 19 at the line (after going 15 of 18 versus R-P). CL-B was whistled for 27 fouls after having 19 versus R-P. North Woods made them pay, hitting 21 of 31 free throws.
Bad Endings in Consolation Final
R-P (24-8) ended their state experience by playing an 8 a.m. contest versus Hinckley-Finlayson (27-5) for the consolation title (at the Gangelhoff Center). The game was about endings. All three weren’t good for the Trojans. Team green came out of the blocks 13-5. R-P led 24-17 with 2:06 left. The first bad ending was the ending of the first half. H-F closed on a 9-0 run (final 1:56) to go to intermission up 26-24. The Trojans came out strong in the second half, scoring on their first six possessions (6-6 FGs). It equaled a 13-4 run, a 37-30 lead. But R-P would have just five more made field goals. They had a span of seven straight empty possessions and went nearly eight minutes without a made field goal. The Jaguars ran 15-4. The first nine of those points came from 6’4” 2,000-point senior forward Travis Visser. Still, the game was close. Dawson Dahl’s free throw closed H-L’s lead to 45-42 (3:56). Then came bad ending number two. H-L scored on their final six possessions. Payton Hahn had a couple late baskets for R-P, including a three that made it 50-47 (1:17). But the Jaguars went 4 of 4 from the free throw and got a leak-out basket late. They captured fifth place by a final of 56-49 (bad ending number three). After trailing 39-32, H-L outscored R-P 24-10 to the close. Ben Ansell (16 pts, 8-9 FGs) led the Trojans. He hit double figures in all three state games. Landon Skalet chipped in 9. Hahn had 8. Visser led all scorers (20 pts, 9-11 FGs, 9 rebs). Anders Prater and Chayne Dunkley each added 8. The Jaguars shot 54.1% (20-37). R-P shot 53.8% (21-39). H-L won the free throw line 13 of 19 (68.4%) to 2 of 5 (40%). R-P also lost the turnover battle 13 to 10. The Trojans finish at 24-9. Their roster includes just six combined juniors and seniors. Every other Class A team in the field had at least ten. R-P will lose four good ones in Hahn, Dahl, Ansell, and Paulson. They’ve added their names to the long list of Trojans who’ve led their teams to state in basketball. Dahl, Paulson, and Skalet join the long list who’ve been key assets on both state football (2016) and basketball (2018) teams. The game seemingly is to be the last for Tom Vix on the sideline at R-P. The HCA win was his 684th, moving him into sixth place all-time in Minnesota boys coaching history. With his 16th state tournament appearance, Vix tied Hopkins’ Ken Novak for most ever all-time. Since 1990, only Minneapolis-DeLaSalle (19) and Hopkins (15) have went to state as often or more than R-P. Of the 32 teams at the 2018 state tournament, only DeLaSalle (23) and Austin (31) have had more appearances than R-P (15). Vix, a 2008 Minnesota Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame inductee, built the R-P program into one of the very best in the state, by the numbers, the best small school program.
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