Boys State Basketball Tournament
Rushford-Peterson 51, Maranatha Christian Academy 44
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Rushford-Peterson beat Maranatha Christian Academy 51-44 in the Class 1A boys basketball championship game Saturday at the Target Center.
Alex Vix scored a game-high 23 points and fellow senior Charlie Krambeer added 17 for Rushford-Peterson. The Trojans (32-1) capped a 28-game winning streak and avenged their loss in the state title game a year ago.
R-P outscored its opponents by 48.5 points in its first two state tournament games but wasn't able to create separation against MCA's stingy defense. The Mustangs (29-3) forced R-P, which had averaged 75.0 points per game this tournament, to patiently grind out offensive possessions.
In the end, it was R-P's defense_not it's high-scoring offense_that secured its first state title since 2006.
Senior forward Jeremiah Hanson led MCA with 21 points. Junior guard Damario Armstrong added 11.
Melrose Area 63, Caledonia 51
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Drake Meyer scored a game-high 24 points and Tyler Braegelmann added 15 as Melrose Area won the Class 2A boys basketball state championship 63-51 over Caledonia.
It was the Dutchmen's first state appearance since 1974, when they last won it all. It is Melrose's third boys basketball championship overall.
The Dutchmen (29-5) had a Cinderella postseason. Melrose knocked off two sub-section top seeds to win Section 6AA, then the state tournament's top seed, St. Croix Lutheran, 55-40 in the state semifinals.
On Saturday, Melrose held a 31-24 halftime lead against second-seeded Caledonia (28-5). The Warriors cut it to 45-40 with about 4:30 remaining, but a 10-3 Dutchmen run created enough separation to hold on.
Colton Lampert, Justin Burg and Austin Bauer each led Caledonia with nine points.
Apple Valley holds off Champlin Park for 4A boys state title
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Brock Bertram finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Tre Jones scored 12 more to help Apple Valley hold off Champlin Park 64-61 and claim its second 4A boys state championship in the last three years on Saturday night.
With less than a minute remaining, Champlin Park (31-1) pulled within 57-54 off McKinley Wright's 3-pointer, but couldn't complete the comeback.
The Eagles (30-2) avenged a prior loss to Champlin Park, handed the Rebels their first loss of the season and claimed Apple Valley's second 4A boys state championship title since 2013, when Duke guard Tyus Jones — Tre's older brother — graduated.
Wright finished with 16 points for the Rebels, including another 3-pointer at the buzzer that drew the losing score closer. The game was tied four times, the last at 33-33 in the second half before Eagles' guard Gary Trent Jr. hit three 3-pointers to help stretch his team's lead to 44-36.
Marty Hill scored 19 for Champlin Park.
DeLaSalle wins 4th-straight Class 3A boy's championship
(MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Sacar Anim scored 32 points to lift DeLaSalle to an 82-64 win over St. Paul Johnson in the Class 3A boys' basketball championship.Anim scored nine points in the opening four minutes of the second half to build on the Islanders' 32-22 halftime lead. The game got away from the Governors (27-4) before intermission. Islander seniors Anim, Jarvis Johnson and Josh Collins orchestrated a 23-5 run in the first half, springing DeLaSalle (27-4) to its fourth-straight 3A championship - one of only three Minnesota high school teams to ever win four state titles in a row.
University of Minnesota basketball coach Richard Pitino was in attendance at the Target Center to watch Johnson, a 2015 recruit, who scored nine points for DeLaSalle.
Jalen Mobley scored 19 points for the Governors.
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