Chance at state slips away

An effective ball control game from Goodhue and poor shooting by Blooming Prairie combined for a 58-42 victory over the Blossoms Saturday, Feb. 28, at Rochester.  
The win avenged a loss to the locals in last season’s tournament and gave the No. 1 seeded contingent the West Sub-Section 1A championship. Goodhue will face Rushford-Peterson now for the section title and a spot in the state tournament.
BP led just once in a tightly-played first half when John Rumpza made two free throws for a 13-12 edge with 5:35 left before the break. Goodhue responded with a 10-4 run, including a trey from Jacob Pasch and a basket and free throw for Tyler Schumaker. The Wildcats led 20-16 at the half.  No team had more than a five-point advantage before the break.
As Coach John Bruns commented, “They are such a tough team to come back on, because they are so deliberate, they make their free throws, and they know how to close out games.” 
The Blossoms finished the season with a 16-11 record overall and a 5-7 mark in the conference.
BP trailed just 28-25 at the 9:43 mark of the second half on Scott Romeo’s rebound basket, but the Wildcat outscored the Blossoms 14-7 in the next six minutes to take a commanding ten-point edge. In the last three-plus minutes Goodhue made 15 of 17 free throw attempts to foil any comeback hopes for the locals, and that led to the wide margin at the end.
“I was proud of how the boys competed in the game,” continued Coach Bruns. “We didn’t make enough shots to hang in, as this was our poorest shooting night of the season. Give credit to Goodhue for some of those problems, as they are very good defensively.”
Despite being double and triple-teamed all game long, John Rumpza managed to lead the Blossoms with 13 points, including seven of eight from the free throw stripe. Mitchell Jones counted 12 points, including six of eight from the line, and Anthony Nelson added seven points.  
The team, however, made just 27 percent from the field on 12 of 43 attempts, while the Wildcats shot 48 percent on 19 of 39 tries, including five of 14 from three-point range. Each team had just seven turnovers, and Goodhue had an edge on the boards 32 to 27. Rumpza had ten for BP and another double-double and Nelson added five.
 “Rumpza probably is the finest all-around athlete to come through the high school,” concluded Coach Bruns. “He has the record now in rebounding and blocked shots, and he will be over 2,000 points scored when that total is added up. He has been a leader for four years, and he will leave a huge hole to fill in BPHS basketball.”