What Park Christian wanted was balance. What it got was closer to perfection, for one quarter, anyway, in the way it executed and distributed. And that weighted heavy enough to offset the tilt of the final scoring column.
The Falcons bolted to a 20-point first-quarter lead and Grant Gunhus finished with 35 points in an 83-59 victory against Waubun in the Minnesota Class 1A, Section 6 boys basketball quarterfinals at Memorial Auditorium Monday.
"They came out and they were just red hot," Bombers coach Scott Lerud said. "You want to believe that something can happen and maybe you can make some runs and we did."
Thanks to the 3-point shooting of Tim Stalberger, who finished with 17 points, second-seeded Waubun (19-5) cut a 25-point deficit to 14 midway through the third quarter.
That's about the time Park Christian's offensive equity, out of necessity, went out the window.
ADVERTISEMENT
Gunhus, a junior, scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to help the Falcons avenge a regular-season loss to the Bombers and advance to meet No. 5-ranked Ulen-Hitterdal at 7 p.m. Thursday in the semis.
"He's an important part of our team," Park Christian coach Randy Schauer said of Gunhus, "and from a leadership standpoint, he's a captain. And he's expected to do those things."
That's not to say the 6-foot-3 guard was a one-trick, red-headed pony.
In addition to scoring, and he was 15 of 20 from the field, Gunhus grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out eight assists. Both tied for team highs.
His play, a mix of brute force and delicate touch, elicited superlatives from the official stat keeper and caused one referee to raise an eyebrow in appreciation.
"We can't look for one, two even three of our players to score all our points," Gunhus said. "We need to move the ball around."
That was the script in the first quarter, when all five Park Christian starters tallied at least three points.
The Falcons (22-6) made 6 of their first 9 shots, including four 3-pointers for a 16-1 lead in less than 4 minutes. The margin reached 25-5 on a hoop by Austin Pennick, who finished with 14 points.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Our goal is working to share the ball," Schauer said. "We had some unselfish play. God has given these guys ability and they worked liked crazy."
Talk about crazy: Waubun shot 48 percent (24-for-50) from the field and lost by 24 points. Park Christian made 66 percent (35-for-53) of its shots.
"It feels good," Gunhus said. "It feels good to get any type of win, especially in the playoffs."
Park Christian 25 40 58 83
Waubun 8 22 40 59
PARK CHRISTIAN: Hall 2 2-2 7, Pennick 6 0-0 14, Nygard 3 0-0 6, Gunhus 15 2-2 35, Kastner 3 3-5 9, Meyer 1 0-0 2, N. Leedahl 1 0-0 2, Piersol 3 0-0 6, Twest 0 0-1 0, D. Leedahl 1 0-0 2. Totals 35 7-10 83.
WAUBUN: Lerud 2 0-0 4, Borgrud 3 1-4 8, Zima 3 1-2 7, Stalberger 7 0-0 17, Haverkamp 7 5-8 19, Larson 2 0-0 4. Totals 24 7-14 59.
3-point goals: Gunhus 3, Pennick 2, Hall, Stalberger 3, Borgrud. Total fouls: PC 15, W 14. Rebounds: PC 33 (Gunhus, Kastner 10), W 18 (Haverkamp 6). Assists: PC 22 (Pennick, Gunhus 8), W 13 (Lerud 6). Steals: PC 12 (Pennick, D. Leedahl 3), W 9 (Larson 3). Turnovers: PC 16, W 13.
ADVERTISEMENT
Readers can reach Forum reporter Terry Vandrovec at (701) 241-5548
