VAN DEN EINDE BASKET BEFORE BUZZER GIVE FERTILE-BELTRAMI THE WIN OVER CASS LAKE-BENA

The Fertile-Beltrami Falcons’ Ryan Van Den Einde made a shot right before the buzzer sounded to give his team a 58-57 victory over the Cass Lake-Bena Panthers in the Section 8A Tournament quarter-finals at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls.

FIRST HALF –
It was a great back-and-forth battle early in the game, with Fertile-Beltrami scoring the first points of the game when Caiden Swenby made two free throws for a 2-0 lead.  The teams exchanged baskets with a tie at 2 and 4 before Masen Nowacki stole the ball and scored on a layup to give the Falcons a 6-4 lead over three minutes into the game.  Unfortunately for Fertile-Beltrami, the offense went cold, and Cass Lake-Bena was on fire as they went on a 14-0 run sparked by a Kaydin Lee three-pointer and capped by back-to-back Dominic Staples-Fairbanks three-pointers for an 18-6 lead with eight minutes left in the half.  Fertile-Beltrami’s Derek Sorenson stopped the run with a three-pointer from the corner, but Cass Lake-Bena had a 25-15 lead with five minutes left in the half.  Fertile-Beltrami picked up the offense with Sorenson scoring a basket, and after two missed Panther free throws, the Falcons Swenby scored two straight baskets to get within a 25-21 deficit.  The teams exchanged baskets, and Cass Lake-Bena led 29-23 with one minute left in the half when the Falcons’ Ryan Van Den Einde made two free throws, and Swenby added a basket after his shot was blocked to bring his team within a 29-26 deficit at halftime.

SECOND HALF –
Cass Lake-Bena started the second half with a three-point play from Kingsley Whitebird for a 32-26 lead.  Fertile-Beltrami responded with an Isaiah Wright basket and a Van Den Einde three-pointer to get within a 32-31 deficit two minutes into the half.  Cass Lake-Bena responded with six straight points for a 38-31 lead.  Fertile-Beltrami slowly chipped away at the deficit and was sparked by a Swenby steal for a two-hand dunk, and they finally regained the lead on a Swenby steal for a layup to tie the game at 51 with 6:56 left in the game.  Swenby was fouled on the play and made the free throw for a 52-51 lead, the first lead since they led 6-4 over two minutes into the game.
Cass Lake-Bena responded with a three-pointer for a 54-52 lead before Fertile-Beltrami scored the next four points with a Swenby free throw, three points from Sorenson for a 56-54 lead with 1:21 left.  Cass Lake-Bena was called for a travel with 39 seconds to go, and they called a time-out.  The Panthers fouled Fertile-Beltrami, but the Falcon player missed the front end of the bonus, and Cass Lake-Bena grabbed the rebound.  The Panthers’ Aiden White drove to the basket and made the shot while getting fouled.  White made the free throw, and Cass Lake-Bena led 57-56 with 20 seconds remaining.
Fertile-Beltrami brought the ball up the floor and got a shot off, but it was short, but the rebound fell into the hands of Van Den Einde, who put a shot up before the buzzer sounded and it went in to give the Falcons an amazing 58-57 victory to advance to the section semi-finals on Wednesday. 

Fertile-Beltrami improves to 22-6 on the year and will play Fosston in the section 8A semi-final at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday.  KROX will have the game on the radio and video stream, with the pre-game show starting at 5:30 p.m.
Cass Lake-Bena’s season comes to an end at 25-3.

FOR FALCONS COACH NEIL STEFFES’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW

FOR PLAYER RYAN VAN DEN EINDE’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW

THE VIDEO OF THE GAME WINNING SHOT IS BELOW

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