CMCS sinks Vikings in 3A
Minneota's season came to an abrupt halt when the Vikings succumbed to Central Minnesota Christian School 69-46 in the Section 3A-North quarterfinals Saturday in Montevideo.
CMCS (17-9) shot a season-high 50 percent from the field in eliminating a Vikings team that finished 8-16 with four underclassmen in the starting lineup under first-year coach Chad Johnston.
"They didn't make things easy on us the way they were shooting," said Johnston. "Nothing they did on offense or defense surprised us. They just shot extremely well."
CMCS had edged Minneota 54-52 in overtime on Jan. 10 in Prinsburg. This time, the Bluejays jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never looked back. The closest the Vikings came after that was 20-13 when Tate Peterson stepped off the bench and drained a three-pointer.
Max Rost was the lone Minneota player in double figures with 15 points.
Minneota shot just 24 percent from the floor, including 22 percent from behind the three-point arc.
"We didn't shoot well at all tonight and they couldn't miss," Rost said. "That was the biggest difference from the last time we played them. Give them credit, they shot better than us and their defensive intensity was better than ours."
Ryan Harrington, a 6-4 junior, paced the Bluejays with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Drew Duininck added 14 points and seven assists. Ethan Bulthuis had 12 points and eight rebounds.
With Harrington scoring 13 of his points and Duninck adding eight in the first half, the Bluejays coasted to a comfortable 31-15 halftime lead.
Minneota couldn't overcome the large deficit in the second half as CMCS connected on four of its seven treys.
Ryan Dalager had two of Minneota's six triples and finished with eight points. Tate Peterson had six points, Lucas Rybinski five, and Jackson Lacek and Peyton Sheik had three apiece.
Anthony Rybinski and Jackson Lacek were the only two seniors on the Minneota team this season.
"I think it was a tough season for the team with a new coach and a new system, and then we started two weeks late because of football," said Johnston.
"This was a crucial year where practice time was vital because the kids were trying to learn what we wanted from them. But we were so limited to practices because of the late start and bad weather. I think we ended up playing as many games as we had practices."
Johnston felt the team improved but there are still things that need improving.
"There were some things we could have done better," he said. "The things we learned in practice didn't always carry over into the games. We showed improvement, but not consistently enough."
Still, the experience the returning players gained should prove invaluable.
"I thought we improved throughout the season. We just weren't consistent with our shooting," said Rost. "But I felt we played to beat teams instead of just trying to stay close."
CMCS 69, Minneota 46
Central Minnesota Christian School...................................31 38 - 69
Minneota................................................................................15 31 - 46
Team Statistics
Field-goal shooting (good-attempt-pct.): CMCS 29-for-58, 50 percent; Minneota 16-for-68, 24 percent ... 3-point shooting (good-attempts-pct.): CMCS 7-for-16, 44 percent; Minneota 6-for-27, 22 percent ... Free-throw shooting: CMCS 4-for-11, 36 percent; Minneota 8-for-14, 57 percent ... Rebounds: CMCS 39, Minneota 37
CMCS Individual Statistics
Scoring (fg-att, ft-att, pts): Micah Asake 3-5 1-2 9, Ethan Bulthuis 5-12 0-1 12, Jaden Dannen 0-1 0-0 0, Kadin Dehmlow 1-4 0-0 2, Drew Duininck 5-8 1-2 14, Wesley Fussy 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Harrington 11-19 0-2 22, Brayden Marcus 1-2 0-0 2, Braelin Rime 0-1 1-2 1, Logan Roelofs 1-2 0-0 2, Seth Zwart 2-3 1-2 5 ... 3-pointers: Duininck 3, Asake 2, Bulthuis 2 ... Rebound leaders: Harrington 11, Bulthuis 8, Asaka 6, Duininck 4 ... Assist leaders: Duininck 7, Marcus 6, Harrington 4 .... Steal leaders: Duininck 3, Dehmlow 2
Minneota Individual Statistics
Scoring (fg-att, ft-att, pts): Ryan Dalager 2-15 2-2 8, Max Rost 6-22 3-6 15, Sawyer DeSmet 0-2 0-0 0, Anthony Rybinski 2-9 1-4 6, Peyton Sheik 1-87 1-1 3, Lucas Rybinski 2-4 0-0 5, Tate Peterson 2-3 1-1 6, Lincoln Jerzak 0-1 0-0 0, Jackson Lacek 1-3 0-0 3, Grant Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Schmidt 0-1 0-0 0, Keaton Jurrens 0-0 0-0 0 ... 3-pointers: Dalager 2, Lacek 1, L.Rybinski 1, A.Rybinski 1, Peterson 1 ... Rebounds: DeSmet 12, A.Rybinski 9, Sheik 4, Dalager 3, Rost 3, L.Rybinski 2, Jerzak 2, Lacek 1, Peterson 1 ... Assists: Rost 4, L.Rybinski 3, Jerzak 2, Sheik 2, Peterson 2, DeSmet 1, Lacek 1 ... Steals: Dalager 1, Sheik 1, Jerzak 1