East Central played Upsala in the section semi finals on Wednesday night.
The first half of play was what most people expected. A close game with each team showing their strengths on both sides of the court. The teams traded the lead but towards the end of the first half Upsala gained some momentum and pulled away. But East Central didn't let the Cardinals get too far out in front. The Eagles made a run before the end of the first half and only trailed by 1 at halftime 28-27.
The start of the second half could not have been worse for the Eagles. Although the hit a few shots, the Cardinals began to take over. Their offense was getting every and any shot they wanted to fall in. Meanwhile, the Eagles found some good looks but couldn't buy a basket. Upsala pulled in front by double digits and looked to be on the verge of running away with the game. With the score in Upsala's favor 51-38 and under 9 minutes to go in the game the Eagles needed a timeout to try and regroup. And regroup they did. Out of the timeout the Eagles looked like a much different team. They had dug deep and found a spark, and it came from the defense. They were able to force Upsala into some less than ideal looks and many of the shots missed. The Eagles offense went with a bit of a new look and converted many of their possessions into points. East Central would finish the last 8:30 of the game on a fiery 26-5 run! This put them on top and helped lead them to a 64-56 victory! It wasn't just the defense, their players at the free throw line came up clutch to help extend the lead going 11-14 in the 2nd half.
The Eagles are Sub Section 5A East Champions!
With the win the Eagles will play Nevis in the section championship game on Friday at Hallenbeck Hall at St. Cloud State at 8PM!
Scoring:
East Central
Xavior LeTexier 26
Jacob Dixon 20
Warren Carlson 8
Ben Carlin 7
Dylan Lundberg 3