Both East Central and Braham competed at Hinckley-Finlayson HS on Saturday afternoon.
The first game was East Central vs PACT Charter. The Panthers got out to a quick start leading 8-0 over the Eagles. But the Eagles quickly worked to tie the game and even grab a lead. East Central's offense started to poll away and their defense held the Panthers in check. The Eagles built up a double digit lead at the half of 31-20.
After the half PACT Charter seemed to swing all momentum back in their favor, and it certainly caught the Eagles off guard. The Panthers and cut their deficit down to only a few possessions. The Eagles offense continued to score but not the way they would've liked. They struggled to find open shots from beyond the arc and the shots in the paint refused to go in. But sometimes you just have to will the ball through, and that's exactly what they did. The baskets may not have been there but they kept shooting and eventually they went through. The Eagles managed to hold onto their slim lead and get the win 57-51.
With the win they'd get to watch the next game and see who they'd play in the sub section championship game.
Scoring:
East Central
Jacob Dixon 25
Ben carlin 15
Xavior LeTexier 6
Warren Carlson 5
Dylan Lundberg 4
Brayden Olson and Ramsey Keranen 1
The 2nd game saw a rematch from earlier in the season, between Braham and Upsala. The first time they played was a regular season tilt, where Braham fell in OT. This time the stakes were higher. Early in the game Braham came out looking like a team with something to prove. Going stride for stride with the Cardinals and even out playing them at times on their way to a lead. They were able to hold that lead till late in the half, when Upsala used their pace and excellent shooting from outside the arc to take over the lead. Unfortunately Braham went into half trailing 38-28.
The 2nd half was not kind to Braham, while they found some good looks the rim was simply not allowing anything in nor would it provide a good bounce. Upsala on the other hand was converting everything and began to slowly pull away. The Bombers would fall 74-54.
With the Bombers loss the sub section championship is set for East Central to play Upsala on Wednesday at HFHS at 7PM.
Scoring:
Braham
Tyler Ecklund 25
Garett Lidke 8
Lukas Schuh 7
Soren Lilly 6
Brycen Lotz 5
Tanner Doble 3