The Red Lake County Rebels jumped out to a big first-half lead and held on to beat the Nevis Tigers in the Minnesota State Class A Boys Basketball third-place Saturday morning at Concordia-St. Paul’s Ganglehoff Center.
There will be a welcome home celebration for the Red Lake County Rebels at Oklee on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
FIRST HALF
Red Lake County had a great start to the game as Luke Peterson made the first basket of the game and Ethan Majeres made a three-pointer for a 5-0 lead. After a Nevis three-pointer, Red Lake County responded with three-pointers from Majeres, Conner Duden, and Will Gieseke for a 14-3 lead four minutes into the game. Nevis stopped the run with a basket before Duden made another three-pointer for a 17-5 lead with 12;25 left in the half. Nevis bounced back with four points before Red Lake County’s Owen Chervestad made a free throw, Gieseke made a free throw line jump shot and Ben Gullingsrud buried a three-pointer for a 23-9 lead. The lead was the biggest of the half with 9:52 to go. Nevis answered with six straight points from 6’7 post Alex Lester (going to play at Valley City State University next year) and they added a free throw to get within a 24-16 deficit. Red Lake County responded with a Chervestad free throw and a Gavin Thomas three-pointer (his first points of the state tourney) for a 28-16 lead. Nevis chipped away at the deficit the rest of the half and trailed 32-26 with two minutes left in the half. Red Lake County ended the half in a big way as Peterson made two free throws and a last-second three-pointer from Duden for a 37-26 lead at halftime.
SECOND HALF
Nevis had a great start to the second half as they scored the first seven points of the half to get within a 37-33 deficit two minutes into the half. Red Lake County’s Will Gieseke answered with back-to-back three-pointers to build the Rebel lead to 43-33. The back-and-forth battle continued as Nevis responded with seven more points to get within a 43-40 deficit with 12 minutes remaining in the game. Nevis continued chipping away at the Rebel lead and tied the game at 52 and again at 54 with 6:15 to go in the game. Red Lake County’s Owen Chervestad sat out for almost four minutes because he had four fouls, but came in and scored five straight points and Duden buried a three-pointer for a 62-54 lead with 3:31 remaining. Nevis answered with four points before Duden made two free throws and Chervestad added one free throw for a 65-58 lead with 40.3 seconds to go. Nevis responded with four points to get within a 65-62 deficit with 18 seconds remaining. Ben Gullingsrud was fouled with 13 seconds and made the first free throw and the bonus free throw for a 67-62 lead. Nevis missed a shot and Red Lake County grabbed the rebound and Nevis didn’t foul and Red Lake County won the game 67-62 to finish third place.
Red Lake County’s Conner Duden and Owen Chervestad were named to the Class A All-Tournament team.
Red Lake County ended its amazing season with a 31-3 record, the first trip to state, the first placing at state, and many more records were broken. They say goodbye to four seniors – Owen Chervestad, Luke Peterson, Ethan Majeres, and Gavin Thomas. All four scored at least three points in the game. The Red Lake County Rebel welcome home celebration will be at Oklee tonight (Saturday) at 8:30 p.m.
Nevis’ season comes to an end with a 27-6 record.
| 1st Half | 2nd Half | Total | |
| Nevis | 26 | 36 | 62 |
| Red Lake County | 37 | 30 | 67 |
| For Red Lake County | Points | Rebounds | Misc |
| Conner Duden | 18 | 8 | |
| Will Gieseke | 15 | 7 | 2 assists/2 steals |
| Owen Chervestad | 11 | 5 | 6 assists/3 steals/1 block |
| Ben Gullingsrud | 8 | 3 | 1 assist |
| Ethan Majeres | 6 | ||
| Luke Peterson | 4 | 7 | |
| Gavin Thomas | 3 | 2 | |
| Ethan Johnson | 2 | 2 | 1 assist/1 block |
| For Nevis | Points |
| Alex Lester | 23 |
| AJ Bessler | 17 |
| Isaac Bessler | 11 |
| Ethan Buckholtz | 6 |
| Devan Lindow | 2 |
| Peyton Benson | 2 |
| Noah Kramer | 1 |
