MINNEAPOLIS — Mankato East boys basketball collided with Northfield for the third time this season.
This time it was on the biggest stage and the brightest lights at Williams Arena in the state quarterfinal round. Each team beat the other on their respective home floors by an average of three points.
The rubber match between the Cougars and Raiders was set to be one for the ages. And weirdly enough, it was a rematch from their 1932 state tournament, a last-second 17-15 win by then Mankato High School over Northfield. Oh, and Northfield hadn’t been back to the state tournament since that loss to Mankato.
Everyone expected a great game Wednesday. But no saw the plot twist which was the knee injury suffered by East’s Amari Nobles coming. The shorthanded Cougars fought valiantly, but fell 56-49.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Cougars head coach Tony Ball said. “They represented our team well and represented our community really well. Couldn’t be more proud of them.”
With 8:40 left in the first half the Cougars opened a 16-11 lead. But as a whistle blew East senior Amari Nobles was on the ground, writhing in pain while grabbing his left knee.
No update on his injury was available.
“He’s a pretty tough kid,” Ball said of Nobles. “If he’s going to stay down (on the floor) like that, it means that something’s really hurting.”
To say Nobles is a big piece for the Cougars is an understatement. He’s one half of a dynamic 1-2 punch with senior guard Lucas Gustafson which has aided East in reaching the state tournament for a fifth-consecutive season.
Not only were the Cougars in an absolute war in a familiar Raiders team. They were forced to find a way to win the rubber match without Nobles.
“You have to respond in that type of scenario,” Gustafson said. “It’s pretty hard. (Nobles) kind of does everything for us. Not having it on the court is very hard for us.”
And for the remainder of the first half, the story of the third meeting between the Big 9 Conference rivals appeared to be how the Cougars rallied behind their fallen teammate.
After Nobles departed East went on a furious run to close the first half. After missing on their first seven attempts the Cougars connected twice in three attempts from beyond the arc. Five different East players contributed to claim 16 of the half’s final 26 points, leading by as many as 14 points, to take a 32-21 advantage at intermission.
“One of the big things we talked about down the stretch here of the year was playing for each other, represent our community and our school,” Ball said. “That was the reminder when we went to our huddle before we restarted. Just keep playing hard, keep making the good decisions and play for each other.
“It was inspiring to see them band together like they did and put up the fight they did.”
While the effort never changed, the story of the game did. This was no longer the story of rallying behind an injured teammate. This game became a tale of two halves.
The Cougars’ halftime lead slowly drained away like grains of sand in an hour glass. With 7:24 remaining a 3-pointer from JT Graupmann gave the Raiders a 41-40 lead, their first of the game.
East clawed to within a single possession on multiple occasions, including a 52-49 hole with under a minute remaining. But an and-1 from Northfield’s Kayden Oakland, who scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, with 31.5 second left proved to be the dagger through the Cougars’ heart for a 55-49 advantage.
Northfield outscored the Cougars 35-17 in the final minutes while shooting 13 of 24 (54.2%) from the floor, 4 of 9 from 3-point range, won the rebounding battle 16-9 and scored 15 points off 10 East turnovers. The Cougars were bottled to 6 of 19 shooting (31.6%) and 3 of 9 from 3-point range.
The Cougars now face Minneapolis South in the consolation bracket at 2 p.m. Thursday at Concordia-St. Paul.