Delano guard Calvin Wishart missed three games earlier this season after injuring one of his ankles.

So Delano coach Terry Techam was concerned when Wishart got a painful reminder of the injury on Wednesday at Williams Arena. With about 10:22 left in the second half, Wishart, the Tigers' leading scorer, came up limping.

"I rolled it [right ankle] pretty good," said Wishart. "It hurt for 45 to 60 seconds. Then the adrenaline kicked in. We've been looking forward to state all year.

"I just told Coach I'm not coming out. I'll ice it after the game."

Techam said: "He just kept telling me he was OK."

Wishart shook off the injury and scored 25 of his game-high 35 points in the second half to lead the unseeded Tigers to a 79-64 victory over third-seeded Mankato East.

The Tigers (19-11) had used an 18-6 run late in the first half to open an 11-point lead before settling for a 34-26 lead at halftime.

Wishart then scored eight points in the first two minutes of the second half as the Tigers quickly opened a 44-30 lead. The Cougars (24-6) didn't get closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

The Cougars got within 11 with 2:36 remaining, but Wishart made nine of 10 free throws in the final 2:13. For the game, Wishart made 17 of 22 free throws.

Keegan O'Neill added 16 points for the Tigers. Uhana Ochan's 18 points led the Cougars.