The Red Lake County Rebels survived a 20-0 run in the second half from the Goodhue Wildcats and hit clutch free throws down the stretch en route to a 68-61 win in their first state tournament game in program history in the Minnesota State Boys Basketball Class A quarterfinals at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
FIRST HALF
Red Lake County had a great start to the game as Will Gieseke made a free throw line jump shot and Ethan Majeres hit a three-pointer for a 5-0 lead 90 seconds into the game. Goodhue bounced back with five points and with Red Lake County leading 6-5, Conner Duden scored four points and Luke Peterson grabbed an offensive rebound and scored before Gieseke made a free throw for a 13-5 lead six minutes into the game. Goodhue battled back with a 9-3 run to get within a 16-14 deficit with 8:33 remaining in the half. Red Lake County’s Gieseke made a basket and Peterson added two free throws in the bonus for a 20-14 lead. Red Lake County led 20-16 when they ended the half on a 15-6 run behind eight points from Owen Chervestad and seven points from Peterson for a 35-22 lead at halftime.
SECOND HALF
The teams exchanged baskets for the first two minutes of the second half and with Red Lake County leading 41-27, they went on a 9-0 run behind three-pointers from Ben Gullingsrud and Gieseke, a basket from Peterson and a free throw from Chervestad for a 50-27 lead with 12:25 left in the game. It looked like Red Lake County was going to cruise to a victory, but Goodhue had different plans as they responded with a 20-0 run over four-plus minutes to get within a 50-47 deficit with 8:30 left in the game. Red Lake County’s Gieseke stopped the run with a basket, but Goodhue answered with five points to tie the game at 52. The teams exchanged baskets and the game was tied at 54 when Goodhue had a chance to take their first lead of the game with a free throw in the bonus with 5:02 remaining. The Wildcats missed the free throw and Red Lake County grabbed the rebound before Gullingsrud buried a three-pointer for a 57-54 lead. Goodhue made two free throws before Conner Duden hit a twisting three-pointer with 2:53 to go for a 60-56 lead. Goodhue answered with a three-pointer before Duden made a basket and then added two free throws on the next possession for a 64-59 lead with 1:13 remaining. Goodhue made two free throws before Red Lake County made four of six free throws in the final 22 seconds to hold on for a 68-61 victory.
Red Lake County improves to 30-2 on the season and will take on Dawson-Boyd in the Class A State Semifinals on Friday at 2:00 pm. You can hear both state semifinal games on KROX starting at noon. Goodhue drops to 22-9 and will play Heritage Christian Academy in the consolation semi-finals on Friday.
| 1st Half | 2nd Half | Total | |
| Goodhue | 22 | 39 | 61 |
| Red Lake County | 35 | 33 | 68 |
| For Red Lake County | Points | Rebounds | Misc |
| Luke Peterson | 14 | 5 | 1 steal |
| Conner Duden | 14 | 7 | |
| Will Gieseke | 13 | 8 | 5 steals/2 assists/1 block |
| Owen Chervestad | 13 | 3 | 8 assists |
| Ben Gullingsrud | 8 | 2 | |
| Ethan Majeres | 3 | 1 | |
| Ethan Johnson | 3 | 6 | 1 steal |
| For Goodhue | Points |
| Michael Roschen | 16 |
| Alex Loos | 15 |
| Luke Roschen | 13 |
| Owen Roschen | 12 |
| Cody Ryan | 3 |
| Sean Matthees | 2 |
