The Jackson County Central boys basketball team advanced to the Section 3AA championship game after a 59-46 triumph over Redwood Valley in the South Subsection finals Saturday at Southwest Minnesota State University.
The Huskies, seeded second in the South Subsection, topped the No. 1-seeded Cardinals thanks to a strong start that resulted in a 28-9 first-half JCC advantage. The Huskies went on a 16-0 surge during the opening half and stayed ahead from there to earn a spot in Thursday’s Section 3AA title tilt against Morris Area-Chokio-Alberta, which will tip off at 8 p.m. at SMSU.
Roman Voss topped JCC in scoring with 16 points while Grant Freking added 15, Weston Rowe 13 and Ben Gallagher 11. The Huskies are now 20-7 on the year.
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Also in boys basketball Saturday night, In the South Subsection final of Section 3A, top-seed Hills-Beaver Creek led 28-21 at halftime but wound up falling 64-54 to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton at SMSU.
The Patriots conclude their season with a record of 19-9. R-T-R, meanwhile, will face Central Minnesota Christian on Thursday night with a state tournament berth on the line.
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Southwest Minnesota Christian will represent Section 3A in next week’s Minnesota State Girls Basketball Tournament after the Eagles dominated the second half and topped Minneota 58-38 on Friday night in the sectional championship game at SMSU in Marshall.
Minneota had captured the section title the last six years in a row, but the Eagles – ranked 10th in the state – throttled the ninth-ranked Vikings in the second half and held them to just 13 total points.
Jocelyn Barron paced Southwest Minnesota Christian with team highs of 19 points and 22 rebounds; the Eagles outrebounded Minneota 42-25. Ana Veldkamp contributed 16 points as the Eagles moved to 28-2 on the season. One of the losses was 57-53 to the Vikings back on Feb. 6.
Southwest Minnesota Christian has been seeded fifth in the state Class A tournament and will play its first game at 1 p.m. Thursday at Maturi Pavilion against fourth-seeded Underwood. If the Eagles win, their next opponent would be either Mayer Lutheran or top-seeded Goodhue in the semifinals at noon Friday at Williams Arena. The state championship game is noon Saturday at Williams Arena.
In another state qualifying game Friday night, New London-Spicer advanced to state for the second straight year and the fourth time in the last five years by scoring 55 first-half points on its way to defeating Windom 80-40 at SMSU. New London-Spicer is the fourth seed in the state AA tournament and opens play there Wednesday night.
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