(KWMN)- The Cotter Boys shot out to a 15-point halftime lead over St. Charles, and managed to hang on late for a tight victory, upsetting the #7 seed, 52-51.
St. Charles slowly worked against the deficit in the second half, overcoming a 37-22 Cotter advantage over the course of the final 10-minutes of the game. The Saints hit two big three-pointers in the final minute to cut the Cotter lead to just one. After a miss at the charity stripe from freshman, Lewis Shira, for Cotter, St. Charles had a chance to win it, but couldn’t get a final shot off in time, and the #10 seeded Ramblers keep on dancing.
“Number one for sure, with a bullet,” Head Coach Mike Costello said afterwards, when asked where he would rank the win on the season. “It’s playoffs, all that matters is the score. I thought our scrap was pretty good all night. Some crazy stuff at the end, but we’ll take it.”
The Ramblers played arguably their best half of the season in the opening 18 minutes. They struggled in the final 18, only scoring 15 second half points. It was the defense that stepped up to the plate, as it has all season long.
“I thought the defense was really good. We got to thinking, hey, let’s just see how they kind of react [if we switch to a defensive zone], and I thought it worked well, and then we went back to man, and the man was really good too.”
It felt like a Greek tragedy in the closing minutes. Cotter had struggled all season long from the free throw line, garnering a mere 55% from the line. This game, after having a 15-point lead, was going to come down to the Achilles heel. Lewis Shira made a couple of big free throws, albeit in the middle of some misses, but it was enough to get the job done. Costello knows his team has to get better from the line, especially in tournament play. He says that he just has to get the kids to stay out of their own head when they get to the line. Regardless of how he goes about it, Costello knows they have to be better by the quarterfinal.
They’ll meet the #2 seed in Canon Falls at the Civic Center next Tuesday with a chance to head to the section semifinal. Cotter will be able to use the underdog role to their advantage, but they’ll have to play one of their best games to get the win, something Costello is well aware of,
“They’re a very good team. And they have one exceptional player. It’s going to take a herculean effort to get it done. I think if we play well, we can play with him.”
Other Section Scores
#3 Rushford-Peterson 81-33 #14 Mabel Canton
-RP advances to the section 1A quarterfinal to face #6 Kingsland
Weekend Matchups
Friday: Winona Boys (3-22) vs. Mankato East (24-1): 7:30 p.m.
Saturday:
Section 1A Semifinal: #4 Rushford-Peterson Girls vs. #1 Goodhue: 11:00 a.m. from the Civic Center in Rochester, Minn.
Section 1AA Semifinal: #4 Cotter Girls vs. #1 Caledonia: 1:00 p.m. from the Civic Center in Rochester, Minn.
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