sports

SACRED HEART HITS FREE THROWS AND BIG SHOTS TO ADVANCE TO SECTION CHAMPIONSHIP

March 15, 2022

The Sacred Heart Eagles Boy’s basketball team won a hard-fought 59-56 game over the Northern Freeze on Tuesday night for the West Sub-Section Championship in Section 8A inside of Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls.

FIRST HALF –
The Northern Freeze came out firing to take an early lead. After Ethan Arntson got the scoring started with a three for the Eagles, the Freeze would go on a 9-0 scoring run to take a 9-3 advantage. Josiah Sundby finally put an end to the run knocking down a three, and after the Freeze countered with back-to-back baskets, it was 13-6 Freeze with 11:51 remaining in the first half. The teams continued to trade baskets the next couple of minutes until the Freeze led 18-11 after knocking down a three. A big reason Sacred Heart was able to get going offensively in the first half was the play of Ethan Arntson and Josiah Sunby. After a Sam Gapp layup, the Freeze scored one of their own, but the Eagles responded with two three-pointers from Ethan Arntson and Josiah Sunby to pull Sacred Heart within one point at 20-19 with 5:35 until halftime. After a Landon Denney layup, the Eagles reclaimed the lead at 21-20, capping off an 8-0 run for Sacred Heart. The Freeze would take it right back on a layup, but Zach Martin would rumble down the lane and score an and one putting the Eagles back in front 24-22. After the Freeze was able to tie the game up once again, Ethan Arntson would hit his third three of the opening half giving Sacred Heart a 27-24 lead. The Eagles wouldn’t take the lead into halftime, however, as the Freeze would finish the last two minutes of the first half on a 6-2 run and take a 30-29 lead into the halftime break after a back and forth eighteen minutes. The Eagles were led in that first eighteen minutes by Josiah Sunby and Ethan Arntson with 9 points each, while Maximus Klopp put up 10 to lead the Freeze.

SECOND HALF –
After the first half, we knew the second half would be a good one, and that’s exactly what it was. Sacred Heart buckled in defensively and held the Northern Freeze scoreless for the first four minutes of the half to go on a 5-0 run and take a 34-30 lead. The Freeze quickly got things figured out however and responded with an 8-0 run thanks to great defense of their own. After Kobe Tomkinson ended that run with his first points of the game, the Freeze answered back with a layup, and it was a 40-36 advantage for the Freeze. Ethan Arntson continued to deliver for the Eagles, and after a three, the Eagles were back within 1 point at 40-39. Sacred Heart was able to carry over the momentum, and after an 11-4 scoring run finished off with a three from Sam Gapp and a layup from Josiah Sunby, Sacred Heart had built their biggest lead of the game at 50-44 with 4:49 remaining in the game. The Northern Freeze took a timeout and, out of the timeout, knocked down a three, giving Sacred Heart a 50-47 edge. Kobe Tomkinson would respond with a layup to put Sacred Heart in front 52-47, and shortly after, the Freeze responded again to cut the lead down to 52-49 Eagles with 3:30 to play. On the next Sacred Heart possession, Landen Denney would score inside for the Eagles to go back up five at 54-49, but the Freeze countered with a three this time to make it 54-52 Sacred Heart with 2:22 remaining. The last two minutes were about the free-throw line, and Sacred Heart would make just enough to win the game 59-56. Sam Gapp would make one, Josiah Sunby would knock down four, and the Freeze would have one last attempt at the buzzer that would miss giving the Eagles the Section 8A West Sub-Section Championship victory.

Sacred Heart improves to 27-3 and is the West Sub-Section Champion which means they will now compete in the Section 8A Championship on Friday night for a trip to the State Tournament. The Eagles will play the winner of the Section 8A East Sub-Section Championship between Cass Lake-Bena and Fertile-Beltrami. The tip-off for the Section 8A Championship is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls, and the game will be on KROX Radio and the KROX Live Video Stream, starting with the RiverView Health pregame show at 6:30 p.m.

For coach Destry Sterkel’s comments click below –