Season ends for area boys’ basketball teams

Byron bucket boys out
of playoffs

STEWARTVILLE — The Bears were eliminated from post-season play, following a 42-37 loss to No. 1 Stewartville, in Section 1AAA semifinal action, on Saturday, March 11. Stewartville, the No. 1 seed, had defeated No. 4 Byron, 77-36 and 84-65, during the regular season. Byron was missing three starters the first time the two teams met, but this time the Bears were at full strength.

Byron made the game close, but Stewartville never trailed and pulled out a low-scoring 42-37 victory to advance to the section title game. Stewartville (24-4) will face No. 3 Winona (14-14) in the section title game at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 17, at Mayo Civic Arena.

Byron Scoring: Ryan Boyken, 3 points, (1) 3-pointer; Dom Cartney, 2 points; Tyler Connelly, 2 points, 6 rebounds; Isaac Dearborn, 8 points, 4 rebounds; Zach Vanderpool, 4 points, 9 rebounds; Max Dearborn, 18 points, 10 rebounds, (2) 3-pointers.

Stewie Scoring: Parker Wangen, 6 points; Henry Tschetter, 13 points; Brady Pickett, 6 points; Tegan Malone, 10 points; Caleb Jannsen, 4 points; Ayden Helder, 2 points; Caleb Bancroft, 1 point. (Halftime: STEW 20, BYR 17; Free throws: BYR 12-16, STEW 12-24; Three-pointers: BYR 3, STEW 4)

Season ends for Hayfield Vikings

ROCHESTER — The Hayfield basketball boys lost to Spring Grove, 57-46, in Section 1A semifinal action on Saturday, March 11, at Mayo Civic Center. Hayfield’s 6-foot-4 junior Zander Jacobson had a big game on the inside with 22 points and 16 rebounds, while senior guard Isaac Matti, a career 2,000-point scorer, had 18 points. Spring Grove (28-1) will face No. 1 Goodhue (25-3) in the section title game on Thursday, March 16, 6 p.m. at Mayo Civic Arena.

Hayfield Scoring: Zander Jacobson, 22 points, 17 rebounds; Isaac Matti, 18 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists; Ethan Pack, 4 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals; Trent Jellum, 2 points, 2 rebounds; Isaac Fjerstad, 2 rebounds, 3 assists; Spring Grove Scoring: Caleb Griffin, 11 points; Tysen Grinde, 20 points; Ethan Crouch, 5 points; Jacob Olerud, 5 points; Jaxon Strinmoen, 11 points; Elijah Solum, 5 points. (Halftime: SG 26, HAY 14; Free throws: HAY 3-6, SG 12-16; Three-pointers: HAY 5, SG 9).

K-M bucket boys out of playoffs

WINONA — Tuesday, March 7, was the undoing of the Kasson-Mantorville boys basketball team. They were bounced from playoff action following the 79-53 loss to No. 3 seed Winona, in the Section 1AAA quarterfinal round. K-M finished its season 8-18 overall.

Winona jumped ahead by double-digits early, leading 17-7, at nine minutes, 25 seconds. That lead held for much of the rest of the half, but the KoMets finished strong and the Winhawks only led 33-26 at the break. Kasson-Mantorville hung around for the next few minutes, and Winona only led 44-37 at 12:59. The Winhawks scored on their next four possessions, though, and it was off to the races from there.

Winona’s lead got as high as 28 points, but by the end, the Winhawks’ reserves finished off a 26-point victory to advance to the section semifinals.

KoMets senior Jake Hallstrom and sophomore Ethan Lee combined for 34 points. Lee led the team with 19 points, 3 assists; and Jake Hallstrom added 15 points, 5 rebounds; Carson Briggs, 11 points, 8 rebounds.

Hayfield wins in quarterfinals

ROCHESTER — The Hayfield basketball boys were sharp as ever last Tuesday, March 7, with their 77-41 victory over Kenyon-Wanamingo, in the Section 1A quarterfinals at Mayo Civic Center. The two-time defending state champ Vikings improved to 23-6 and now face No. 2 Spring Grove, on Saturday at the Mayo Civic Center in semifinal action. Spring Grove enters the contest with the top defense in Section 1A (37.8 points per game).

KW Game: The Hayfield bunch scored 25 of the game’s first 33 points and never looked back. The Vikes made (9) 3-pointers in the first half alone, with Isaac Fjerstad accounting for four of those, to match his career-high of 12 points, and help stake the Vikings to a 44-19 lead. The Vikings combined lethal outside shooting with stingy defense, limiting a K-W offense well below its season average of 65.4 points per game. Hayfield did a much better job of defending the dribble-drive and limiting penetration — something that was a major problem when K-W pulled off a 59-58 upset earlier in the season.

Hayfield Scoring: William Gillette, 3 points; Isaac Fjerstad, 21 points; Zander Jacobson, 16 points; Isaac Matti, 16 points; Trent Jellum, 13 points; Braeden Hahn, 2 points; Ethan Pack, 6 points; KW Scoring: Lorenzo Stucci, 2 points; Cal Luebke, 3 points; Zach Mason, 13 points; Colton Steberg, 7 points; Logan Carroll, 2 points; Joe Mills, 4 points. (Halftime: H 44, KW 19; Free Throws: KW 3-7, H 2-5; Three-pointers: KW 5, H 14)

Photo: Photo by Dawn Hallstrom Carson Briggs aims for the basket in Kasson-Mantorville’s game against Winona.