The Stephen-Argyle Storm built a 16 point lead in the second half, but Badger/Greenbush-Middle River came from behind, and Adam Benke made a shot with 2.7 seconds remaining to give the Gators a 53-52 victory in a Section 8A Boys Basketball quarterfinal game played in Greenbush. “It was two teams battling it out,” said Storm Coach Nevin Lubarski. “I am proud of the boys, and we just came up one point shy. Unfortunately, it is the last game for our senior class.”
FIRST HALF –
The teams battled back-and-forth early with ties at 3, 5, 8, 11, 13, and 15 before BGMR made a three-pointer for an 18-15 lead with 7:05 left in the half. Stephen-Argyle picked up the defensive pressure, started making some shots, and went on a 14-0 run to end the half. Zach McGlynn led the Storm with six points in the run, with Jason Lindgren scoring four points and Colin MacGregor and William McGlynn got two points apiece for a 29-18 lead halftime. “We played pretty good post defense, and we had them in tizzy late in the half, I thought,” said Coach Lubarski. “That was a key to give us the lead and to give us a shot.”
SECOND HALF-
Stephen-Argyle continued their run with Lindgren scoring on a beautiful spin move through the lane to complete a 16-0 run for a 31-18 lead. The Storm took their biggest lead of the game when William McGlynn made a three-pointer with 13:29 left for a 38-24 lead. BGMR slowly chipped away at the Storm lead and tied it at 44 with less than four minutes remaining. “We know each other well enough to know there were going to be some haymakers coming, and the likelihood of the lead growing to 25 points probably wasn’t going to happen,” said Coach Lubarski. The teams exchanged baskets before Stephen-Argyle went on a 6-0 run, with Brandon Kroll, Zach McGlynn, and William McGlynn scoring two points apiece for a 52-46 with 1:38 remaining. BGMR answered with a Koby Dalllager three-point play, and about 40 seconds later, he added a basket to bring the Gators within a 52-51 deficit with 40 seconds left in the game. The Storm turned the ball over three seconds later, but BGMR missed a shot with 24 seconds to go. The Storm grabbed the rebound but turned the ball over with 14 seconds left. BGMR got the ball to Adam Benke (a 6’1 senior guard), and he cut into the lane and pulled up for a shot from about six-feet away, and it went through the hoop with 2.7 seconds remaining for a 53-52 lead. Stephen-Argyle called a time-out and tried a pass the length of the court, and the ball went out of bounds with less than a second remaining. The Storm had one more chance and lobbed a pass in the paint to a leaping Colten Pagnac, who tipped the ball up towards the hoop, but it was short, and BGMR held on for the 53-52 victory. “We tell the kids we need 36-minutes every night, and we actually needed 36-minutes and five seconds tonight.”
Stephen-Argyle ends their fantastic season with a 13-4 record and say goodbye to four outstanding seniors, Brandon Kroll, Jason Lindgren, Zachary McGlynn, and Kole Szczepanski. “Every class says they are going to do this and do that, but this senior class actually did it. The record speaks for itself the past couple of years, and they brought the program from the bottom, and they decided to change the trajectory of this program, and they did that,” said Coach Lubarski. “We had a great season, and these seniors have the program back in the right direction. Now it is up to the underclassmen to keep it going.”
BGMR improves to 17-3 on the year and will play at Fertile-Beltrami in the Section 8A semifinals on Tuesday.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Stephen-Argyle | 29 | 23 | 52 |
| BGMR | 18 | 35 | 53 |
| For Stephen-Argyle | Points |
| Zach McGlynn | 16 |
| Jason Lindgren | 10 |
| William McGlynn | 10 |
| Brandon Kroll | 6 |
| Colin McGregor | 5 |
| Kole Szczepanski | 4 |
| Colten Pagnac | 1 |
| For BGMR | Points |
| Kobey Dallager | 16 |
| Adam Benke | 12 |
| Kasen Swenson | 11 |
| Aven Augustson | 5 |
| Zach Blawat | 5 |
| Jaden Kostrzewski | 2 |
| Aaron Westling | 2 |
