Albany and Tech the last boys basketball teams competing for section title
SAINT CLOUD – Albany and St. Cloud Tech are the lone remaining boys basketball teams competing for a chance at the state tournament this season.
On Wednesday, the Huskies (26-2) will play in the Section 6-2A semifinal against Spectrum (24-4) and on Thursday, the Tigers (19-9) will take on Alexandria (23-5) in the Section 8-3A championship.
Albany has not played the Sting yet this year, while Tech has lost its most recent game against the Cardinals 77-54 on Feb. 13. Alexandria, which is seeded No. 1 in Tech’s section, boasts two high-major forwards in Grayson Grove and Chase Thompson who will be a challenge for the No. 3 Tigers in the section championship.
Tech senior point guard Tameron Ferguson has played for several years with Grove and Thompson in AAU and said to beat Alexandria the Tigers need to not only shut down the senior Grove and junior Thompson, but also limit outside shooting from other Cardinals. Tech beat Alex on Jan. 26 with limited play from the two Cardinal stars.
Ferguson leads the state in scoring with 36 points per game and is boosted when senior wings Mekhi Edwards and Palmer Baynes go off. Edwards will be relied on for defense against Alex’s posts as well as senior Amarr Boyongo.
To advance to the championship, Tech beat No. 2 Detroit Lakes (24-4) in the semifinal round March 8 by a score of 76-70. The Tigers beat Little Falls (13-14) in the quarterfinal 82-56 on March 5. Ferguson led scoring both nights with 27 against the Flyers and 43 against the Lakers.
The same night Tech beat Little Falls, No. 7 St. Cloud Apollo (6-21) was eliminated by Detroit Lakes 101-74 in the first round. The Eagles are graduating guards Chris Montescarlos and Milan Rhodes and forwards Khalid Muhumed, Cody Adams and Sudaysi Muhumed.
Coming off a Class 2A championship, Albany is hoping to take down a Spectrum team that has won four straight games and its last three by double digits. The Huskies are on a 20-game win streak, however. They beat 16-seed Pine City (6-21) and eight-seed Melrose (17-11) in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Two teams have played Albany and Spectrum this season. Annandale (25-3) beat the Sting 54-51 on Jan. 2 and the Huskies 64-43 on Jan. 4. Foley (19-9) lost to both teams. Spectrum beat the Falcons 67-65 on Feb. 20 and Albany won by double digits Jan. 30 and March 1.
Whichever team wins the Section 6-2A semifinal will face the winner of No. 2 Annandale and No. 6 Osakis (23-5) in the championship Friday at St. Cloud State’s Halenbeck Hall.
Albany has great depth with several senior and junior starters returning from last year’s state run. Zeke Austin, a junior, and Andrew Olson, a senior, run the offense from the point with help from senior guards Jack Rieland, Tyler Hoffarath and Benjamin Meyer. Junior forward Sam Hondl is another versatile scorer, and in the post Albany has seniors Hunter Haman and Caleb Abraham.
Albany beat Osakis 68-49 on Jan. 9.
Previously in the Section 6-2A tournament, No. 7 seed Foley beat No. 10 St. Cloud Cathedral (11-16) in the opening round, but lost to Annandale in the quarterfinals. Like the Crusaders, No. 11 Holdingford (9-18), No. 12 Kimball (8-19) and No. 13 Royalton (7-20) were all eliminated in the first round of the Section 6-2A tournament.
No. 4 Legacy Christian (24-5) beat Royalton 81-57, Spectrum beat Kimball 74-34, and Osakis beat Holdingford 65-53.
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Section 5-1A
Set. Johns Prep’s (7-16) season came to a close March 7 against East Central (21-6) in the Section 5-1A round of 16. The Eagles were seeded No. 1 in the east side of the bracket and are going to play No. 2 Upsala (22-6) in the semifinals Wednesday at Hinckley-Finlayson High School.
SJP was seeded No. 8 on the east side of the bracket and beat No. 9 Maple Lake (2-25) by a score of 56-37 on March 4 in the play-in game. It was SJP’s first time playing East Central this season, but during the opening postseason game, they improved on their earlier win over the Irish. The Johnnies beat Maple Lake 58-56 on Feb. 19. SJP graduate guards Mason Grove, Po Huan Lu and Oliver Aronson and forwards Evan Danielson, Charlie Wang and Raj Johnson.
Upsala has not played East Central this season, but have won nine of ten games since Feb. 1.
Section 5-3A
Becker (14-14) was seeded No. 5 in its section and beat No. 4 Monticello (11-16) 108-98 in its first-round game. The Bulldogs’ season came to an end March 8 against No. 1 Totino-Grace (23-5) in the semifinal. The Eagles will play for the section championship Thursday against Fridley (19-7).
Against Totino Grace, Becker lost 106-63. Senior forward Kyan Blomquist had 21 points, leading all scorers. Blomquist has led the Bulldogs in scoring and rebounds this year, averaging 19.1 points per game with 6.3 rebounds 2.9 assists and 1.2 steals. Becker is also graduating second-leading scorer guard Sawyer Brown (14..6 PPG), who led the Bulldogs in assists with 3.7. Brown had 12 points against Totino-Grace and sophomore Landon Peterson had 18. Blomquist and Sawyer are leaving with point guard Zach Bengtson and forwards Landon Lahr and Connor Gass.
Section 8-4A
Sauk Rapids-Rice (18-9) was seeded No. 4 in Section 8-4A and Sartell (6-22) was No. 9.
In the play-in game March 4, the Sabres beat No. 8 Elk River (4-23) 57-54 in overtime to advance to the quarterfinal round. There Sartell faced No. 1 Rogers (20-8), which moved on with a 60-44 result over the Sabres. On March 9 in the semifinal, Rogers beat Sauk Rapids’ first-round opponent, No. 5 Moorhead (14-14), and will play No. 2 St. Michael-Albertville (14-14) in the section championship Friday.
In the quarterfinal against Rogers, Sartell senior Connor Bergstrom led the Sabres in scoring with 13. He’s one of five seniors who played for Sartell this year. Classmate Edward Durrwachter had 11 points against Elk River, but sophomore Bennett Bommersbach led with 14. Bergstrom and Durrwachter are graduating with guard Jordan Fish and forwards William Mathiasen and Ethan Crews.
In the Storm’s quarterfinal game, Sauk Rapids lost to Moorhead 73-72. It was the second time Sauk Rapids has lost to the Spuds – Moorhead beat the Storm 105-103 on Jan. 13 at Perham’s Crossover Classic.
Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Albany and Tech the last boys teams competing for section title
