The Dragons traveled to St. Cloud last night for the 1st round of the boys playoffs.
Both teams wasted no time getting on the board to begin the game. The game went back and forth, neither team held more than a 4 point lead till late in the 1st half. Fouls became an issue late for both sides, that's when Pine City started to gain momentum. The Dragons pulled out to a 10 point lead with 10 seconds left in the half. They were helped by Luke Wilson's 3 first half 3 pointers and Cole Waxberg had two himself. Dylan Petersen was also a key piece as he had 11 points in the 1st half. A late surge from Kameron Jusczak assisted them in growing their lead. The Crusaders were able to hit a deep 3 point shot to end the half, but the Dragons still lead 36-29.
The 2nd half did not go the way Pine City hoped. It started out well and both teams again went back and forth but, the Dragons momentum was gone and Cathedral had taken the lead. They were able to hold the lead throughout much of the 2nd half. Down by 6 with under 4 minutes to go Pine City finally turned things back their way and went on a 14-8 run to tie the game at the end of regulation at 59.
In the overtime period Cathedral was able to push the pace and lean the game in their favor quickly. The Crusaders held a 69-66 lead with under a minute go. Pine City looked to go and tie the game with a three but the shot was just off the mark. The Dragons had no choice but to foul and send Cathedral to the line. Cathedral had missed very few free throws all night and that's where they put the game out of reach with 5 seconds left. The Dragons had one last shot but it fell short. Cathedral won 71-66.
Pine City's season comes to an end earlier than they would've like, but they gave all they had to the final buzzer. The Dragons finish the season at 18-9, 12-0 in conference play, Great River Conference Champs and Kameron Jusczak hit the 1,000 point career mark during the season. Congratulations to the Dragons on a great year!
Scoring
Pine City
Dylan Petersen 21
Kameron Jusczak 17
Luke Wilson 10
Cole Waxberg 9
Lamont Sydney 6
Jason Thieman 3
Cathedral
Thomas Pfeiffer 24
Nathan Schaefer 14
Jordan Schumann 12
Emmanuel Kutzera and Kellen Kinzer 9
Max Pfeiffer 3
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