Playoffs: Thursday Night Who Advanced

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">DeLaSalle vs St. Paul Johnson</h2>   <p>The DeLaSalle Islanders make it to 3A State again this time beating St. Paul Johnson 74-65. Johnson leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id='2119645' first='Tyrel' last='Pride'] was kept scoreless but Johnson got 18 points from Rino Kamp and 17 points from Jermaine Curtis.</p>   <p>DeLaSalle's real advantage came closing the first half after Johnson tied the game at 21. The Islanders outscored Johnson 11-2 over the final 5 minutes and 48 seconds of the half. </p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126474' first='Kamar' last='Thomas'] - The Six-foot-four-inch 2027 wing looks like a special athletic player who is popping at the right moment. Thomas flared above the break with Turner guarding him, made one fake off the catch and two steps later he was hammering home a one-handed slam. </p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2103394' first='Dorian' last='Pruitt'] - The 2025 senior wing's outside shooting ability was on full display in his 14 point performance. Pruitt showed he can play off the ball coming off screens to knock down shots. At six-foot-five-inches Pruitt has good size and length at the guard and possible small forward spots.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Point Guard Match-Up</h2>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2103258' first='De'von' last='Irvin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2140591' first='Colin' last='Moore Jr']</p>   <p>Irvin a 2025 senior and Moore a 2027 sophomore really play with similar styles. Both get their teams set-up into what they want to run, can shoot it a bit from the perimeter and have good court vision to make passes up the floor in transition. </p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1288747' first='Andrew' last='Apiagyei'], a 2025 senior, gave the Islanders big minutes in the 2nd half, and was fantastic on the offensive glass. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2126102' first='Jaeden' last='Udean'] scored 13 points and had big 3-pointers to help push the lead back to double digits after Johnson got it back to 4 points at one point. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Orono Beats BSM For the 3rd Straight Year in Section Final</h2>   <p>Everything was building as this was Benilde St. Margaret's year to overcome Orono and make it to State behind Senior's [player_tooltip player_id='1572691' first='Jaleel' last='Donley'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1572689' first='Jalen' last='Wilson']. With the addition of wing TJ Stuttley, the Red Knight's came in with 2 wins over Orono in the regular season and it all seemed right. </p>   <p>Those two victories this season were both close, Orono was never out of any of those match-ups and their two seniors [player_tooltip player_id='1579885' first='Nolan' last='Groves'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1484016' first='Brady' last='Wooley'] have been tested and have overcome everything BSM has thrown at them.</p>   <p>Orono came out in zone and used a full-court zone, soft press to slow down BSM, and at times poke the ball away and gathered the loose balls. The [program_tooltip program_id='2075852' first='Spartans' last=''] took advantage on the offensive glass and created 2nd chances and took advantage of those opportunities. </p>   <p>With 9:55 to play in the first half it was still a 3-point game favoring Orono. The next possession Connor Watts took a rebound the distance and dropped off an inside pass to a cutting [player_tooltip player_id='1572689' first='Jalen' last='Wilson'] for a score, two of his 15 in the game. </p>   <p>When the game was inching closer at the two minute mark of the 2nd half [player_tooltip player_id='1484016' first='Brady' last='Wooley'] canned a triple from above the break. Wooley was fantastic on the boards again for the [program_tooltip program_id='2075852' first='Spartans' last=''] grabbing 14 along with his 13 points. </p>   <p>Groves proved again why Minnesota Mr. Basketball is a two man race putting in 34 points, grabbing 5 boards, dishing out 6 assists and securing 4 steals. Groves uses deceleration moves in the paint so well to keep defenders off balance, drawing fouls and many times making And One baskets. Groves also does this while driving and finding teammates for open lay-ups. His game at times looks so polished. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFquNgHFtIM&t=513s&ab_channel=FreshCoastHoops </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">STMA Comes Up Short in Section Final Again</h2>   <p>St. Michael-Albertville reached the section final last year versus Rogers and Rogers won 54-50. Thursday night the Spuds tipped the Knights 59-58 after trailing at half 30-22, and leading 59-53 with 3:30 left to play. 2025 senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1586882' first='Jeremiah' last='Johnson'] gave STMA 29 points and Moorhead missed four free throws in the final 3:30 and yet the Knights could not get an additional basket to fall to win.</p>   <p>Moorhead used [player_tooltip player_id='2423573' first='Reign' last='Battle'] to slow [player_tooltip player_id='1428994' first='Hudson' last='Hochstedler'] down in the first half, and Hochstedler ended the game with 8 points. In the 2nd half the Studs played much without Battle as he picked up his 4th foul early in that half.</p>   <p>Two top polar opposite sophomores for each team were featured in this contest with Moorhead's six-foot-two-inch guard [player_tooltip player_id='2451500' first='David' last='Mack'], and STMA's 7-foot [player_tooltip player_id='2126108' first='Jack' last='Thelen']. Mack walked away with the more impressive stat line of 19 points while Thelen had 7 points.</p>   <p>Mack right after the tip on STMA's first possession picked off a pass by Edlund and took it the distance like a defensive back. The six-foot-two-inch Mack patiently used a ball fake on his 2nd shot to get to the painted area for a 13 foot midrange jumper. Mack's footwork is also pretty topnotch when he's around the rim, stopping quickly and pivoting to find open teammates for better opportunities.</p>   <p>Thelen's game looks to be growing from even earlier this season when I saw him play versus Elk River. He's keeping the ball higher on catches, and as he's taller than everyone he can see teammates he can pass the ball to over the top fairly easily. Thelen is doing much better understanding his presence in the middle and the space he occupies. Thelen is running the floor better, and as he adds strength in the lower body he should be able to explode better to the rim and secure position better on offense.</p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1586882' first='Jeremiah' last='Johnson'] ends his season giving everything he had. He scored 29 points in a variety of ways versus the Moorhead man-to-man defense. In the first half Johnson had no problem getting to his spots. He hit the first points of the game for STMA on a dribble pull-up mid-range on the baseline going to his right. Johnson's next score came on a cut to the basket from the top left of the court. Johnson started the offensive set with a pass above the break and cut quickly for a score at the rim. Another driving score Johnson knifed his way laterally and hit a scoop lay-up shot on the left side of the basket.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Notes From Around the State</h2>   <p>In 4A Apple Valley got past Eagan 62-54 with newly transferred [player_tooltip player_id='2103381' first='Marcus' last='Horton'] Jr. scoring 16 points to lead the Eagles while 2026 junior [player_tooltip player_id='1560866' first='Camare'' last='Young'] added 15 and [player_tooltip player_id='2271330' first='Trey' last='Parker'] scored 14 points. 2026 junior and last year's state tournament leader in their win versus Park Center [player_tooltip player_id='1560747' first='Alex' last='Schroepfer'] scored 27 points to lead Eagan.</p>   <p>Anoka advanced to state beating Centennial 57-45</p>    <p>Cretin-Derham Hall beat Tartan in a highly competitive 73-68 game which was Tartan's first loss of the season. CJ Banks and [player_tooltip player_id='2560499' first='Kevin' last='Wilson Jr.'] combined for 47 points for the Titans. [player_tooltip player_id='1310206' first='Tommy' last='Ahneman'], Joseph Mitchell and Monteff Dixon scored 58 points without sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2126094' first='Ty' last='Schlagel'] due to injury.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvmvSV98mpo&ab_channel=FreshCoastHoops </div></figure>   <p>St. Paul Harding beat St. Thomas Academy 66-65 to advance to the State Tournament for the first time ever. [player_tooltip player_id='2463188' first='Salman' last='Hussein'] scored 23 points hitting seven 3-pointers, Ai'Jhon Douglas scored 19 points and [player_tooltip player_id='2422779' first='Mahamadou' last='Kamara'] scored 16. </p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2406302' first='Andrew' last='Nolde'] led STA with 27 points and 2026 junior guard Lars Osterass scored 15 points.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PapCw-gknaI&ab_channel=LamarrSullivan </div></figure>