MINNEAPOLIS — Usually, an early deficit isn’t the game plan.
But last year in the state semifinals, Mankato East trailed 14-0 to open the game against Alexandria. Earlier this season, the Cougars trailed 10-0 in a victory against Alexandria.
So 11-2 deficit?
“Maybe we should have given them a bigger lead,” East coach Joe Madson said. “It’s familiar territory for us.”
However, this time the comeback fell short as top-seeded Mankato East fell to Alexandria Area 73-64 in the championship game of the Class AAA boys basketball tournament Saturday at Williams Arena.
East, making its fourth straight trip to the state tournament, finished third in 2022 and second last season. East is 104-21 in the last four seasons.
“We had some looks at 3 that we normally make,” coach Madson said. “But they didn’t go down. I just thought they we weren’t as aggressive as we wanted to be.”
The Cougars had four early turnovers and fell into an 11-2 hole. Lucas Gustafson hit a 3-pointer and layup as East found its offense.
Ganden Gosch’s basket gave East its first lead at 20-19 with 7 minutes remaining in the first half, but Alexandria had an answer, with star forward Chase Thompson on the bench in foul trouble, using seven straight points to build a 37-28 advantage at halftime.
“I thought that was a big six minutes,” coach Madson said. “We needed to make a push there, but they actually increased their lead.”
The shooting percentages in the first half were similar for each team, but Alexandria was 7 of 16 on 3-pointers and 6 of 8 on free throws while East, which had nine turnovers, was 2 of 11 on 3-pointers and 0 of 3 at the free-throw line.
Alexandria opened the second half with a 11-5 run, making things look more bleak for East, but consecutive 3-pointers from Brogan Madson and Amari Nobles gave the Cougars some life.
“We were getting the looks we wanted,” Brogan Madson said. “We didn’t shoot the 3-ball very well, but usually when we struggle on offense, we play better defense.”
East eventually pulled within 58-55 when Brogan Madson made a 3-pointer with 4:40 to play, and it was a three-point game after Ganden Gosch hit a 3-pointer with 1:25 to play.
But Alexandria finished strong to end a three-game losing streak to East, including an 81-77 loss during the regular season.
“I really liked the resolve we showed in the second half,” coach Madson said. “We got down early, but I thought we handled it pretty well. We just didn’t get enough offense.”
Brogan Madson led East with 27 points, though he had several tough shots from the lane spin out. Gustafson scored 12 points to go with seven rebounds, and Nobles had 10 points. East shot 44.3% from the field but only 26.9% on 3-pointers.
Brogan Madson, Gustafson and Gosch were named to the all-tournament team.