Red Lake County uses two big runs and suffocating defense to beat the Northern Freeze in the 8A Boys Basketball semi-finals

The Red Lake County Rebel boys basketball team led by 12 at halftime, but dominated the second half as they outscored the Northern Freeze 37-15 in the second half to win 73-39 in the Section 8A Semifinals at Ralph Englestad Arena in Thief River Falls.

FIRST HALF –
Both the Freeze and the Rebels came out of the gate hitting shots, leading to a fairly high-scoring half for the first eight minutes. The Rebels got off to a quick 8-3 lead with the help of yet another Nick Suchy three-pointer after he set the school record with nine of them in the game on Saturday. However, the Freeze bit back, feeding the ball inside to 6’4 center Avynn Ryba, who hit a finesse layup to cut the lead to 8-7. The teams then exchanged buckets for the next few minutes, with the Freeze getting the lead down to one on multiple occasions, but were unable to tie. At 19-16 Rebels, a runner by Connor Duden brought the lead to five, and then after a bucket from the Freeze’s Trig Anderson, Ben Gullingrud drilled a three-pointer to give the Rebels their largest lead to this point, at 24-18. The Freeze had another answer, as Brekken Bring responded with a deep one to make it 24-21 with six minutes to go. The Rebels answered with a 10-0 run with Duden making a basket and a pair of three-pointers, and Gullingsrud added a basket for a 34-21 lead. The Freeze responded with three points to get within a 34-24 deficit with 1:29 left in the half, but a layup by Alex Renner gave the Rebels a 36-24 lead at the break.

SECOND HALF –
The Rebels began to push the gas pedal even harder to start the second half, ballooning the lead to 15 almost immediately upon the start of the half. Connor Duden and Nick Suchy scored breakaway layups, Gullingsrud tacked on another three-pointer, and a wide-open Duden three-pointer capped off an 11-86 run to start the half, bringing the lead to 47-30 a little over four minutes into the half. After a Northern Freeze basket five minutes into the half, Red Lake County went on a 19-2 run over an eight-minute span. The run started with four points from Will Gieseke and a Duden three-pointer. After a Freeze basket, Duden had a basket followed by two Thor Thompson baskets, a Gieseke three-pointer, and a Gullingsrud three-pointer for a 66-34 lead with 4:41 left in the game. The teams went to the bench for the remainder of the game with Red Lake County’s Dylan Lundeen making a three-pointer and later followed with a basket, Nate Powers added a basket in the final minutes, and the Rebels won the game 73-39.

Red Lake County improves to 27-3 on the year and will take on the winner of Fertile-Beltrami and Stephen-Argyle in the Section 8A championship on Friday, March 13 at 7:00 p.m. The Northern Freeze ended the season with a 17-10 record and say goodbye to the following seniors: Sawyer Torgerson, Brandon Schenkey, and Wyatt Klopp.

Will Gieseke

Ethan Johnson

Mason Williams

Nick Suchy

Ben Gullingsrud

Will Gieseke

Ethan Johnson

Mason Williams

Nick Suchy

Ben Gullingsrud

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