MANKATO — Senior guard Lucas Gustafson poured through 31 points Friday night as No. 9 Mankato East boys basketball overcame early foul trouble to upend St. Peter 85-55 in a Section 2AAAA game at the East gym.
East (15-7) was able to gain a 40-29 halftime lead despite having starters Amari Nobles and Briggs Meyer sitting out a majority of the half. Gustafson drained a trio of 3-pointers in scoring 15 first-half points while senior guard Mason Diede tallied nine of his 14 points. Senior guard Carter Dale totaled 11 of his team-best 20 points for the Saints while junior guard Ethan Potts came off the bench to earn nine of his 14 points.
“We knew we had to keep our hands off them defensively and we didn’t do a very good job with that in the first half,” Diede said. “We got better with that in the second half after weathering the storm a little bit. This year, we’ve been known to have one good half and one bad half so we knew we couldn’t come out slow in the second half.
“We made a strong effort to come out with a lot of energy. My teammates know I like to spot up in the corner and they were able to find me. We know that we’re one of the better teams in the state when we can get out and run. … In my opinion it’s hard to stop us when we do that.”
St. Peter (13-8) trailed 25-11 when junior wing Griffin Schott hit a 3-pointer with 6:29 left in the first half. Gustafson followed with a pair of triples before Schott’s baseline drive expanded the margin to 33-19. After the Saints closed to within 38-29, Diede’s layup off a Gustafson assist with two seconds to go closed out the half.
“We were able to keep the lead up by having some guys come in and contribute in little stretches,” said Gustafson, who also came up with five assists and three steals. “We kind of controlled the lead with our bench players showing the way. We knew that we had to keep our hands off them defensively and we were a lot better with that in the second half. … When we have a full team we’re kind of scary.”
Gustafson’s weaving-through-traffic drive along with Nobles’ 3-pointer and transition drive pushed the advantage to 47-29 two minutes into the second half. Gustafson then found the mark three times from beyond the arc as the Cougars opened up a 70-52 advantage. Nobles finished with 13 points and five assists for the winners, who also received six points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots from 6-foot-9 senior center Braden Petzel.
“We’ve got a nice group of players who can come off the bench for us,” East coach Tony Ball said. “I like our depth so when we’re in situations like that we’re confident they can come in and provide us a little spark. This time of the year it’s about keeping your composure and weathering those storms. … You have to keep playing possession after possession.”
East connected on 31 of 60 from the field for 51.6% compared to the Saints’ 17 of 52 for 32.6%. St. Peter held a slight 34-33 advantage on the boards and committed more turnovers 10-8.
St. Peter hosts Jordan Monday and East entertains Austin Tuesday.