Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Jaguars 70 Goodhue Wildcats 54

Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Jaguars 70 Goodhue Wildcats 54

The BBE Jaguars swarmed the offensive boards all day long. 38 rebounds were taken off of BBE misses, and BBE got 22 of them to 16 defensive rebounds for Goodhue. 2nd chance points were 22-7 BBE. That accounts for 15 of BBE’s final margin of 16 points in the 1st Class A quarter-final game.

The Jaguars came into the game as the only unbeaten team left in the state of Minnesota at 30-0, and rated #1 in Class A. And they showed why that was, taking early leads of 13-5 and 23-11. In the early going, Belgrade picked Goodhue’s 2-3 zone apart with some deft inside passing. 7 of BBE’s 11 1st half buckets were layups.

But Goodhue shifted to a 1-3-1 zone half way through the 1st half and sealed off those passing lanes. BBE responded by pounding the offensive boards. Their jump shots weren’t falling, but there were 13 offensive boards and 11 2nd chance points in the 1st half alone. Overall the rebounding was 28-10 BBE. 6-4 Kevin Kuefler and 6-5 Brady Koehler had 8 points each at halftime.

The half-time score was 31-22 and when Brady Koehler scored the 1st 2 buckets of the 2nd half, it looked like it might be all over. But no. Ashton Erie scored 6 straight points for Goodhue, the third a lay-up off a steal and suddenly it was 40-37.

But Goodhue got no closer as Kevin Kuefler matched Erie’s 6-point run and now it was 46-37, then 50-39 at 5:15 and 56-44 at 3:59. The final was 70-54 as Goodhue began to hurry its shots and gamble on defense, none of which helped the Wildcats get back into the game but in fact had the opposite effect.

Kuefller finished with 22, Brady Koehler with 17, Brian Goodwin 14 and Connor Goodwin 13 points, and Koehler and Connor Goodwin with 12 boards each. Brian Goodwin added 3 assists and 3 steals, brother Connor 2 assists and 4 steals.

Ashton, the leading all-time scorer for the Wildcats, was most of the story for Goodhue with 23 points and 9 boards.

Trench Player: Kevin Kuefler