Fertile-Beltrami wins in triple overtime to advance to state title
Mar. 22—MINNEAPOLIS — Fertile-Beltrami's standout senior Caiden Swenby fouled out in regulation Friday afternoon in the semifinals of the Minnesota Class A boys basketball tournament.
In another punch to the Falcons, West Central Area hit a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer in regulation to send the game to overtime.
Fertile-Beltrami withstood these punches before countering with the knockout blow in triple overtime.
Sophomore Preston Hanson scored 23 points including a key three-point play early in the third overtime as the No. 3 seed Falcons beat No. 2 West Central Area 84-75 at Williams Arena.
Fertile-Beltrami improved to 27-6 and advances to face No. 1 Cherry in the Class A state championship at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The Falcons looked to lock up the win in regulation when Derek Sorenson was fouled and headed to the foul line with 16.1 seconds left. He hit both free throws as the Falcons led 51-48.
However, WCA's Mitch Dewey hit a 30-foot banked-in 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game at 51.
At the end of the first overtime, it was Fertile-Beltrami's turn for late heroics. With 12 seconds left and down three, Fertile-Beltrami eventually found Masen Nowacki, who drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game at 60 and send the game to double overtime.
After double overtime became triple overtime thanks to defensive stops, the Falcons' offense took off to start triple overtime.
Sorenson started the third extra session with a 3-pointer, while Hanson pushed the lead out to six points with a three-point play.
Fertile-Beltrami took a 77-69 lead on a Caleb Stoltman basket.
Swenby, Fertile-Beltrami's leading scorer in the state quarterfinals, still managed to produce 19 points and 13 rebounds. Swenby fouled out with a little more than two minutes left in the second half.
The Falcons hit six more 3-pointers than West Central Area. Nowacki, Swenby and Hanson all hit three 3-pointers.
Fertile-Beltrami landed five players in double figures. In addition to Hanson and Swenby, Stoltman and Sorenson had 13 points each and Nowacki had 12.
Stoltman also added six rebounds and eight assists.
Ben Bye scored 23 points to pace West Central Area.
The Falcons are making the state championship game for the first time since 1996. Fertile-Beltrami has never won a state championship.
