Senior Durgin Decker connected on two free throws with 1.4 seconds left on the clock to seal the victory over Redwood Valley in the Section 3AA championship Thursday, March 17, at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.
This is the second section title and state tournament appearance in as many seasons for the Tigers, who will open the Class 2A State Tournament as the No. 5 seed and play Minnehaha Academy Tuesday, March 22, at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
“Very exciting for the whole team to get to experience the ride to state two years in a row,” senior Brandon Jergenson said.
Decker’s free throws gave the Tigers a 56-51 lead, but a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Redwood Valley finalized the score at 56-54 in favor of MACA.
The Tigers raced out to a nine-point lead early, but let that slip away as they went into halftime trailing 27-24. Senior Jackson Loge kept MACA in the game in the first half with 17 points in the first 18 minutes.
“Loge couldn’t miss (in the first half) and could basically score whenever he wanted,” Jergenson said.
In the locker room, the message was to attack Redwood Valley with lock down defense.
“It was more of our defense we had to adjust and make sure we locked them down after half,” Jergenson said. “It’s always a fun game against (Redwood Valley) and always so competitive.”
Out of the half, it was more back-and-forth basketball until the final 90 seconds. Jackson Loge’s bucket with just over 90 seconds remaining broke a 51-51 tie. The Cardinals would get the ball in the low-post to Carson Woodford when Decker slid in and stole it as the Tiger team raced back the other way. Decker would eventually get fouled and head to the line for a one-and-one where he went one-of-two to give the Tigers a 54-51 lead with 52.9 to play.
The score remained until Cardinals’ Charles LaChapelle’s three in the closing seconds was off the mark. Decker grabbed the rebound and was quickly fouled and sent to the line where he sealed the win.
Zack Wreck nailed a halfcourt shot at the buzzer but it didn’t matter as the Tigers and their fans flooded the court in celebration.
“The energy in that gym was the loudest and craziest thing I’ve ever been part of,” Jergenson said.
Loge finished with a game-high 27 points and 10 rebounds in a game that featured six ties and seven lead changes. Thomas Tiernan added 11 points for the Tigers, who moved to 27-2 on the year.
The Tigers now turn their heads to state where they went 0-1 last year, falling to Waseca in the quarterfinals. Due to COVID-19 limitations, there were no consolation games.
“We definitely had the toughest matchup last year. We lost to Waseca who ended up winning it all,” Loge said.
The Tigers will face Section 4AA champion Minnehaha Academy in the Class 2A State Quarterfinals Tuesday. The Redhawks will enter the tournament 17-10 overall and were the Class 3A champions in 2021.
“We can play with anyone at state and we’re going to do our best to win a state championship,” Loge concluded.
