Two county boys teams moved on to the 1A East semis. “Old reliable” R-P (2-seed, 17-8) battled past FC (7-seed, 11-15) in the final game at Rushford gymnasium. The Falcons started the game 9-2. Trojan sophomore Landon Skalet then hit three three’s, the only made Trojan trifectas of the stanza (3-19). They were part of a 17-3 R-P run. FC scored the last four of the half to trail 19-16. The regular season meeting was 9-6 Trojans. R-P began the second 12-3 (31-19). FC didn’t score the final 7-plus minutes. Defensive and offensive rebounding the catalysts, Tom Vix’s guys prevailed 43-28. R-P egged 25 turnovers (19 steals). The Trojans also had 15 offensive boards (18 second-chance-points). Noah Carlson (11 pts, 11 rebs, 4 assists, 7 stls) and Dawson Dahl (14 pts, 10 rebs) led the way. Skalet added 9 (3-10 three’s). R-P was 4-29 from distance. Riley Means (13 pts, 6 rebs) and Drew Tienter (6 pts, 7 rebs) led FC, which finishes at 11-16. R-P (18-8) will face W-K (3-seed 15-10) in the semis.
Meanwhile, Kingsland (5-seed, 14-12) avenged a 57-52 regular season loss to Schaeffer Academy (4-seed, 21-5) in a big way. John Fenske’s Knights put some points on the board, put six in double figures, in another quarterfinal. Things were knotted 27-27 at the half before team double-K scored 59 in the second stanza for an 86-66 victory. Junior guard Zach Bubany (16 pts, 10-10 FTs, 8 rebs, 7 assists) led the way. Ian Meisner (15 pts, 6-9 FGs, 9 rebs), Zach Buchholtz (14 pts, 8 rebs, 4 assists), Wyatt Pruter (14 pts, 8-8 FTs), Jackson Rindels (13 pts, 3-5 threes), and Matthew Woods (10 pts, 8 rebs) helped. The Knights hit 23 of 26 free throws to SA’s 7 of 12. Kingsland (15-12) gets SG (1-seed, 23-3) in the semis.