Wolverines pick off Vikings; fall to Falcons in sub-state

East Mills boys basketball used a dominating second quarter to defeat the Stanton Vikings 56-48 and advance to the Class 1A district 14 final.
The Vikings got on the board first on a 3-0 run, but the Wolverines battled for the lead and ended the first frame ahead 17-14.
East Mills stepped up its defense in the second quarter and held the Vikings to just four points, as the Wolverines added 13 to their score and headed to the break with a 30-18 lead.
Although it looked as if East Mills had the game put away, the Vikings adjusted their defense and rallied in the third quarter. Although never gaining the lead, the press defense and alternating zone coverage put Stanton back in the game, ending the frame just three points back, 40-37.
The Vikings switched to a full-court press defense in the final eight minutes and knotted the score twice, both on Tyler Peterson buckets, before the Wolverines pulled away in the final minute to earn the victory.
“Both teams’ rosters were kind of depleted,” East Mills head coach Kevin Schafer said. “It was two tired teams out there in the final quarter. In the second half, you start getting Stanton those transition points, and you’re in trouble. We were finally able to get the ball inside and minimize our turnovers.”
Pedro Ragazzo earned an enormous double-double, scoring 20 points and bringing down 14 boards for the Wolverines.
Riley Story added 10 points, three assists, two blocks; Michael Schafer nine points, seven assists, one block; Nic Duysen nine points, 11 rebounds; Trevor Glockel eight points, eight rebounds, one steal; and Brad Hall three rebounds, one steal.
“We were not able to protect the rim like we needed to,” Stanton co-head coach Kevin Blunt said. “We did a great job of staying in it, and two times came back from being down by double digits. We had a couple possessions to either take the lead or tie it back, and could not get the good look to fall.”
Tyler Peterson claimed a monster double-double of his own, scoring 19 points and grabbing 13 rebounds to pace the Vikings.
Donnie Weis added 12 points, four assists, five rebounds; Carter Johnson 10 points; Thomas Bates four points; and Colby Royal three points, three rebounds.
“We had a great season going 21-2 and winning the regular season and conference tournament,” Blunt said. “I hate to see these seniors go. They’ve been a part of over 80 wins in the past four years.”
Stanton graduates four seniors: Thomas Bates, Andrew Hammargren, Drake Johnson, and Donnie Weis.

St. Albert
East Mills traveled to Riverside Thursday, Feb. 21 to take on St. Albert in Class 1A district 14 championship game, falling short 59-32 and ending the magical season 21-4.
Down to just seven suited up, the Wolverines laid it all on the court and made runs for a comeback several times in the game, but just ran out of gas.
The first quarter ended with the Falcons ahead 17-7, but the Wolverines cut the lead to eight, ending the first half down 25-17.
The Wolverine defense nabbed eight passes in the first half and limited St. Albert to just three buckets in the second frame, two of which were behind the arc.
The tired Wolverines got within six points in the middle of the third quarter, but three Falcon treys, including one to end the frame, pulled St. Albert to a 10-point lead with just eight minutes left in the game.
Again, East Mills never gave up and went on a 7-0 run after a minute of play in the final quarter, but too many missed opportunities from the green down the stretch helped the Falcons soar to the district victory.
East Mills only used one substitution the entire game, coming in the final two minutes remaining, and only for a brief time.
Ragazzo finished his season with another huge double-double of 13 points, 11 rebounds, and added one steal, one block.
Schafer finished the night with 11 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals; Duysen nine points, three rebounds, four assists, three steals; Glockel six points, two reoubnds; and Hall one rebound, two steals.
East Mills graduates Trevor Glcokel, Tanner Johnson, Kendel McNew, Pedro Ragazzo, Anthony Rainey, and Riley Story.