SACRED HEART OUTLASTS CASS LAKE-BENA IN 2OT FOR SECTION 8A TITLE

The Sacred Heart Eagles and Cass Lake-Bena Panthers boy’s basketball teams met on Friday night inside of Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls for the Section 8A Championship. It was built to be a great showdown, and it was everything that was expected, as the Eagles outlasted the Panthers 69-67 in double OT to punch their ticket to the State Tournament.

FIRST HALF –

Cass Lake-Bena opened the scoring with a layup, and Landon Denney responded with one of his own a few minutes later to tie the game at 2-2 with 15:22 remaining in the first half. The Panthers would quickly respond with a three, and after a Kobe Tomkinson basket, Cass Lake-Bena would go on a 5-0 scoring run to take a 10-4 lead with 12:35 in the first half. Sacred Heart would control the rest of the half and end the final 12:35 on a 26-9 scoring run. They would start with a 10-0 run highlighted by three three-pointers from Sam Gapp, Kobe Tompkinson, and Josiah Sundby. After a three from Cass Lake-Bena to end the run, and a two-pointer from each team, Sacred Heart would go on another big run, this time a 12-2 run to take a 28-17 lead with just 1:50 remaining in the half. This run was highlighted by an Ethan Arntson three, two free throws from Isaac Zavarol, and a Zach Martin and one. The Eagles would get two more free throws, but Cass Lake-Bena would get a steal and score right before the end of the half, giving Sacred Heart a 30-19 lead into the halftime break. Sacred Heart was led in the first half by Kobe Tomkinson and Ethan Arntson with 7 points each and had seven different players score. Cass Lake-Bena was led by Leroy-Staples Fairbanks with 10 first-half points.

SECOND HALF –

It took less than a minute into the second half and Cass Lake-Bena was on a 6-0 run to pull within 5 points at 30-25. Sacred Heart settled down and after baskets from Sam Gapp and Ethan Arntson, followed by 1 free throw from the Panthers, the Eagles were back in control by eight points at 34-26 with 13:10 remaining. Cass Lake-Bena started to find its groove offensively and would proceed to go on a 19-5 run to take a 45-39 lead with 7:00 left in the game. Both teams had runs throughout the game and fought back, and this time was no different for Sacred Heart. The Eagles would counter with 12-5 run with scores from Kobe Tompkinson, free throws from Sam Gapp, and a Gapp layup to claim the lead at 51-50 with 2:20 left in the game. After a defensive stop, the Eagles would come down and get a layup from Kobe Tompkinson with 36 seconds remaining to go up 53-50, and after another stop, Ethan Arntson would make a free throw to take a 54-50 lead with 26 seconds left. Cass Lake-Bena wouldn’t go quietly, and after knocking down a three, they would foul the Eagles sending Kobe Tomkinson to the free-throw line with 10 seconds left. Tomkinson would split the pair of free throws, giving the Eagles a 2-point lead. Cass Lake-Bena would head the other way, have a three-point shot get tipped that appeared to end the game, but the ball went right to a wide-open player underneath the basket and the Panthers would score at the buzzer sending the game into overtime.

OT

Cass Lake-Bena would build off of their momentum at the end of regulation and start the OT with a 4-0 scoring run to take a 59-55 lead with 3:00 left. Kobe Tomkinson would respond with a layup, and after a stop, Sam Gapp would bury a three to give Sacred Heart the lead back with 1:30 left. Cass Lake-Bena would then get fouled and knock down a free throw to tie the game at 60-60 with 1:12 on the clock. Sacred Heart would have an opportunity to win the game, but the Panthers would come up with a steal at the end of the OT, sending us to another four-minute overtime tied at 60-60.

2OT

In the second overtime, it was the Eagles striking first with two free throws from Ethan Arntson, but the Panthers would quickly counter with a layup to tie the game at 62-62. On the next Sacred Heart possession, Kobe Tomkinson would bury another three and the Eagles were back in front 65-62. Sacred Heart would get another stop, forcing Cass Lake-Bena to foul, and sending Tomkinson to the line where he would make both free throws giving the Eagles a 67-62 lead with just 1:06 left to play. Cass Lake-Bena would mount another late comeback and get an and-one to pull within two points at 67-65 with 26.8 seconds remaining. After Kobe Tomkinson would split two free throws, the Panthers would score another layup giving Sacred Heart a slim margin at 68-67 with 20 seconds left. Ethan Arntson would be fouled with 14 seconds, and make one of two free throws, giving the Panthers the basketball down 2 points and a chance to tie or win the game. Cass Lake-Bena would get two shots at it, but both would fall short, and Josiah Sundby would grab the rebound and run off the rest of the clock sending Sacred Heart to the State Tournament as Section 8A Champions.

Sacred Heart is now 26-3 on the season and will play in the Class A State Tournament down in the Twin Cities next week. Their first-round game will be on Wednesday, March 23, and we will have the game on KROX. The time and Eagles opponent is yet to be decided. Cass Lake-Bena finishes their season with a final record of 26-4.

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