The Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies Boy’s basketball team saw their season come to an end on Saturday afternoon with a 70-59 loss to the Northern Freeze in the Section 8A quarterfinals inside of Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls. The Ponies only trailed by 1 at halftime, but the Freeze used a big second half to pull away for the win.
FIRST HALF –
The Ponies came out and got the first points of the game on a layup from Nathan Sedlacek, but the lead was quickly erased with five straight points from the Freeze as they jumped in front early 5-2. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo countered back with back-to-back three-pointers from Sedlacek and Tyson Mortimer to take an 8-5 lead, before a 7-0 run from the Northern Freeze put them in front 12-8. Jackson Woinarowicz responded with the Ponies third three of the game to cut the deficit to one point at 12-11 with 10:44 remaining, but the Freeze again had another scoring run, this time a 9-1 run to take their largest lead of the half at 21-12 with 8:00 remaining in the opening half. Offensive rebounds were playing a huge part in the first half, and the Northern Freeze were getting plenty of second-chance opportunities and taking advantage. The Ponies slowly started to chip away at the lead, and after Jackson Woinarowicz scored four straight points, and Kaden Pierce added a layup, the Ponies had cut the deficit down to 25-22 late in the first half. The Freeze would respond with a jumper, and after a Kaden Pierce three-pointer, the Ponies had cut the lead to two points with the Northern Freeze in front 27-25. Each team would get one last basket, and after a Tyson Mortimer free-throw in the final minute of the half, the Northern Freeze would take a 29-28 lead into the halftime break. Leading the way for the Ponies in the first half was Jackson Woinarowicz with 9 points and 3 rebounds, while the Northern Freeze got 15 points in the first eighteen minutes from Maximus Klopp.
SECOND HALF –
The Northern Freeze took control early in the second half, going on a 5-0 run to take a 34-28 lead. The Ponies responded with four straight points to cut the Freeze lead back to 34-32, and after the teams traded two-pointers, followed by three straight points from the Freeze, it was 39-34 Northern Freeze with 14:23 left in the game. The Ponies were able to get a two-pointer shortly after, but all the momentum was taken back on a 4 point play from the Freeze to go back in front 43-36. After the teams traded two-pointers again, Tyson Mortimer knocked down a three for the Ponies, to give the Freeze a 45-41 lead with 10:58 left in the game. The Freeze came out of the timeout and took control of the game for good, going on an 11-2 scoring run to take a commanding 56-43 lead with 6:00 minutes remaining. Gavin Gullickson would knock down a three to get the Ponies back within ten points, but the Freeze immediately responded with a layup, and another 7-2 run to go back in front 63-48. The Ponies were never able to get the lead back down to single digits the rest of the game, and the Freeze would go on to win 70-59, securing themselves a spot in the Section 8A Tournament semifinals (West Sub-Section Championship) on Tuesday night.
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo finishes their season with a final record of 20-7. The Northern Freeze improves to 18-9 and will play the top seed in the West Sub-Section, the Sacred Heart Eagles on Tuesday night in the Section 8A semifinals.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Northern Freeze | 29 | 41 | 70 |
| Warren-Alvarado-Oslo | 28 | 31 | 59 |
| For Warren-A-O | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Nathan Sedlacek | 16 | 2 | 1 assist/2 steals |
| Tyson Mortimer | 15 | 7 | 2 assists/2 steals |
| Jackson Woinarowicz | 12 | 7 | 1 assist/2 blocks |
| Gavin Gullickson | 9 | 1 | 2 assists |
| Kaden Pierce | 7 | 3 | 2 steals/1 block |
| For Northern Freeze | Points |
| Maximus Klopp | 28 |
| Jade Werb | 12 |
| Austin Kautzman | 10 |
| Caleb Bray | 8 |
| Carson Moen | 4 |
| Ryder Blazejewski | 4 |
| Jaxson Klegstad | 2 |
