MINNEAPOLIS -- No. 2-seeded Goodhue came out on fire from downtown and built a first-half lead the Lake Park-Audubon Raiders could not erase in its 57-37 victory in the Minnesota Class A state quarterfinals Thursday, March 23, at Williams Arena.
The Raiders never led and quickly trailed 13-4 five minutes into the game on 3-point baskets by Nicholas Thomforde, Taylor Buck and a pair from Ben Opsahl.
LP-A came in with the defensive strategy to allow the 3-point shot.
“Instead of letting (Jacob) McNamara and Opsahl beat us down low like they did last year, we said ‘We’re going to give up baseline threes,’ ” said Raiders head coach Kyle Haberman. “We gave up the shot we wanted; they knocked them down -- credit to them. You go with a game plan and you stick with it.”
The Wildcats turned the Raiders over often in the opening minutes and forced 11 first-half gaffes, while only committing four on the offensive end.
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Goodhue bombarded LP-A’s zone from outside, making 10 3-pointers in the opening 18 minutes.
LP-A went to 6-foot-10 center Jesse Bergh down low and Bergh scored 11 first half points, but picked up two fouls in the first five minutes. He was called for his third on a loose ball under the basket 90 seconds before halftime.
“Overall, this is kind of what we wanted to do,” said Goodhue head coach Matt Halverson. “We wanted to wear (Bergh) down and when he got in foul trouble that was big for us.”
The 6-foot-4 McNamara also left the game early with two quick fouls.
Goodhue was content to work the ball slowly around the 3-point line and outside the Raiders’ defensive zone with a 25-11 lead and held that buffer until halftime, leading 34-20 at intermission.
The Wildcats frustrated LP-A with their slow and methodical style of play.
“It’s very frustrating; personally, I think there should be a shot clock so they can’t run down eight minutes,” said Bergh. “If that’s the way they’ve got to play to win then they’re going to do it.”
“They’re good at it,” added Haberman. “They’re really good. Coach Halverson is fantastic at what he does. They are a composed team; they know how to grind those out. They get up 12 then they just pound it for three minutes. It’s tough to defend.”
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Buck led the first-half charge for Goodhue, sinking four 3-pointers for a dozen points by halftime.
Grant Pederson and Mike Vohnoutka gave the Raiders a shot in the arm out of the break with back-to-back 3-pointers to pull within 34-26 with plenty of time on the clock.
At the 12-minute mark, Mitch Hall hit a three-pointer to get the Raiders within seven points, 38-31, but McNamara and Thomforde responded to push Goodhue back up by double figures at 42-31.
McNamara had his hands full with Minnesota State Moorhead commit Bergh.
“It’s hard; I tried to get under him as much as I could -- make a two-foot shot into a four, and four-foot into a six,” said McNamara. “We had a lot of help, double teaming on him.”
Bergh led all scorers with 17 points and added nine rebounds.
“On defense, they did a good job, I’ll give ‘em that,” said Bergh. “They’ve got a big guy in back and it’s hard for our guards to get up the court.”
Lake Park-Audubon (22-7) plays in the consolation semifinals at noon Friday, March 24, at Concordia-St. Paul.
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LPA: Bergh 17, Pederson 10, Hall 5, Vohnoutka 3, Hannesson 2.
G: Thomforde 15, Buck 12, Opsahl 10, McNamara 8, S. Opsahl 5, Evenson 3, Alpers 2, L. Thomforde 2.
Half: G 34, LPA 20.
