ST. PETER — Mankato East’s lethal transition game and stingy defense were the difference Thursday night as the Cougars captured their fifth straight Section 2AAA boys basketball championship with a 72-53 win over St. Peter at Gustavus’ Lund Center.
While the Saints (18-10) looked impressive early in building a 19-11 lead on junior Owen Potts’ inside basket midway through the first half, it was the Cougars (21-7) poise and determination which took over the rest of the way. Senior guard Lucas Gustafson nailed a pair of long-range 3-pointers and a free-throw line jumper to ignite a 9-0 surge that produced a 26-22 lead.
After the Saints drew even at 26 on Potts’ 7-footer in the lane and two free throws from 6-foot-7 senior forward Parker Maloney, 6-6 senior wing Amari Nobles’ converted a three-point play to set up a half-ending 10-3 Cougars’ run. Senior guard Mason Tiede, who tallied 10 points and four rebounds, nailed a left baseline 3-pointer to give East a 36-29 lead at the break.
“They punched us in the throat right away,” said Gustafson, who connected four times beyond the arc in scoring a game-high 28 points to go along with six assists. “They haven’t been here in a while, so they were all pumped up. We had to call a quick timeout and it was good for us to slow down a bit. We slowly started to build things up by getting stops to get our offense going.
“We started the second half off well, which was big for us. It was close most of the first half and we just wanted to get up a couple of points to get that adrenaline going on our side. We played some of the best basketball of the season during that stretch. The lights were bright and we’re used to that because if you’re playing for Mankato East you’re going to play in the section championship. … You have to be ready for the moment,”
Gustafson’s reverse layup and step-back 3-pointer opened the second half before senior forward Briggs Meyer’s fastbreak basket along with Nobles’ transition hoop and head-on 3-pointer expanded the margin to 48-29 with 15:01 to go. St. Peter was determined to get back into the game, but East’s versatile offense and swarming defense didn’t let it happen.
“We knew they would have a lot of energy coming out so it was a bit of a wake-up call,” said Nobles, who totaled 20 points, four rebounds, six assists and four steals. “We started stringing stops and when we do that it leads to transition offense. They’ve got some good post players so we had to change things up and doubled them up a little more. They didn’t have good match-ups so if they went after our shooters were good to go to the basket.”
Gustafson’s down-the-boulevard drive gave the Cougars their biggest lead of the contest at 61-39 with 9:01 remaining. East connected on 29 of 51 from the field for 56.8% compared to the Saints’ 19 of 49 for 38.7%. St. Peter won the boards 30-24 and committed more turnovers 14-8. Potts led the Saints with 18 points while senior guard Carter Dale chipped in 16 points Maloney and Ian Wills earned eight points apiece.
“We knew they were going to come out with energy and maybe play a little different than they did the first time around,” East coach Tony Ball said. “We’ve been in just about any situation you could be in this year and we have a veteran group that just doesn’t panic. We stuck with our game plan, weathered the storm and with all that was going on we were up by seven.
“We were happy with where we were and knew how important it was to have a good start to the second half. Those first five minutes kind of put the game away and it made it tough for them to come back. Early on, we looked a little out of sorts defensively but once we settled in we came out and had good ball pressure. We were able to get some turnovers and turn them into easy baskets.”
East will play in the Class AAA quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 25.