Columbia Heights defeated Mahtomedi 73-63 on Thursday night in boys' basketball at St. Paul Washington High School to win the Class 3A, Section 4 title. The Hylanders are going to state for the third time in school history; the other trips came in 1930 and 2011.
Wendell Matthews led the Hylanders, scoring 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Quentin Hardrict contributed 16 points and both Kadeem Thomas and Jarvis Wright had 12 points for the Hylanders.
Trailing late in the second half, Thomas and Airreon Austin stole two consecutive inbounds passes in the final minute. The resulting six-point swing seals the Hylanders' win.
Parker Fox had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Zephyrs.
Class 4A, Section 3: Top-seeded Apple Valley captured its third consecutive Class 4A, Section 3 championship with a 72-60 victory over third-seeded Rosemount at Farmington High School. Tre Jones had 23 points, eight assists and eight rebounds to pace the Eagles.
Alec Loehr scored 18 points of his 24 points for Rosemount in the first half, including nine on three three-pointers. He helped the Irish build a 36-32 lead with 38 seconds left in the first half. He also had 11 rebounds.
Class 4A, Section 8: Top-seeded Maple Grove finished on a 23-14 run over the last eight minutes to defeat third-seeded Rogers 69-64 at Monticello High School. The Crimson head to state for the second consecutive year and fifth time in school history.
Class 3A, Section 3: St. Thomas Academy, the top seed, held off a second-half rally by third-seeded Richfield for a 62-59 victory at Bloomington Jefferson High School. The Cadets return to state for the first time since 2008. Sam Vascellaro led the Cadets with 16 points and Jack Thompson had 15. Antonio Maddox led the Spartans with 17 points.
Class 3A, Section 5: Top seed Big Lake heads to the state tournament for the first time in school history after a 67-61 victory over second seed Rocori at St. Cloud State University.
Class 2A, Section 1: Third seed Lake City upset top seed Caledonia 55-51 to reach the state tournament for the first time since 1990. The Warriors had won the section title in each of the past three years.
staff Reports
