North Woods wins 1A quarterfinal on half-court heave at the buzzer

North Woods sophomore guard Cade Goggleye banked home a three-pointer from just inside of half-court as the buzzer sounded Thursday, giving the school located in Cook a 54-51 upset over No. 3-ranked Central Minnesota Christian in the Class 1A quarterfinals at Williams Arena.

"It's something you always dream of making when you're young," said Goggleye, who finished with 12 points, seven assists, four steals and no turnovers while directing the Grizzlies offense. "It's an amazing feeling."

Central Minnesota Christian (25-4) had tied it at 51-51 four seconds earlier when Austin Marcus scored on a layup on a perfectly executed out-of-bounds play. It was his only basket of the game.

Both teams were out of timeouts, and the Grizzlies (30-1) attacked quickly.

"I was glad we got the ball in Cade's hands after their basket," North Woods coach Will Kleppe said. "He's the guy we want to have with the ball in that situation."

Goggleye's game-winner helped him atone for missing the front end of a 1-and-1 with the Grizzlies holding a 51-49 lead with 15 seconds left.

"I had to make up for it somehow," Goggleye said with a rare smile.

The Grizzlies overcame an eight-point deficit in the final 12 minutes, led by junior guard Tate Olson's 14 points, including four three-pointers. He finished with a team-high 16 points.

"I started off pretty cold," Olson said. "They just started going in."

The Bluejays were coming off back-to-back third-place finishes in the state tournament. They started five seniors while North Woods has only one senior on its roster.

"They looked like the more experienced team," Bluejays coach Ted Taatjes said. "They were playing pretty loose, and were the more aggressive team. They hit some deep shots, too."

Matthew Van Eps (17) and Ethan Brouwer (16) combined for 33 points for the Bluejays.

The Wildcats made seven three-pointers in the first nine minutes, building a quick 16-point lead en route to the victory.

"It was a good night for us shooting the ball," Goodhue coach Matt Halverson said. "The boys did a nice job of executing."

Goodhue (29-3) went 10-for-17 from beyond the arc in the first half, with four players hitting shots, led by senior guards Taylor Buck (four three-pointers) and Nicholas Thomforde (three). The No. 4-ranked Wildcats, with just one two-point field goal, led 34-20 at the intermission.

The 6-10 Bergh scored the first seven points for the Raiders (22-7). He had 11 in the first half to go with one rebound, that coming on the offensive end, before picking up his third foul. He wound up with 15 points and eight rebounds.

In the second half, Goodhue drove to the basket to take advantage of Bergh's foul trouble. Its only three-pointer after the break didn't come until 6:04 remained.

RON HAGGSTROM

Springfield 73, Nevis 65: The first half didn't go the way Springfield players wanted it to. It had made only 37.5 percent of its shots and one of eight three-point attempts. But the team, trailing Nevis 31-22 at halftime, didn't panic, as coach Lance Larson said players began to emphasize shot defense.

Fifth-seeded Springfield responded with second-half pressure that contributed to No. 4 seed Nevis, which shot 52 percent in the first half, slumping to 33 percent after the intermission.

"The first half we were slowing it down with their pace,'' Springfield guard Isaac Fink said. "We had to dictate the pace in the second half."

Springfield (29-2) opened the second half on a 10-0 run to take the lead. Nevis (28-2) came back to take a one-point lead, but Springfield pulled ahead shortly after and extended the lead.

Nevis sophomore Michael Landquist finished with 24 points and his brother, Jack Landquist, a junior, had 13 points.

MIKE HENDRICKSON

Minneapolis North 93, Red Lake 46: The No. 1-ranked Polars had 27 points on the board before Red Lake made its first basket.

"We wanted to get off to a fast start," coach Larry Mc-Kenzie said. "We have gotten off to a fast start in our last five games," when their average margin of victory was 69.4 points per game.

The Class 1A defending champion Polars (30-2) used a swarming defense that got the offense quickly in transition en route to a 27-3 lead. Junior guard Tayler Johnson started the onslaught, after a steal, with a two-handed dunk, the first of two in the opening half.

The Polars scored 62 first-half points while shooting 62 percent from the floor in building a 33-point cushion. Junior center ODell Wilson IV finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Isaac Johnson had 20 points.

Senior guard Rob McClain Jr. led the Warriors (25-5) with 12 points.