St. Paul Harding 66, St. Thomas Academy 65
Trailing 58-50 with roughly 6 minutes to play, Harding rallied to secure its first-ever boys basketball state tournament appearance by winning the Class 3A, Section 3 title at St. Thomas Academy.
The Knights were trailing 63-61 in the final minute when Ai’Jhon Douglas got a steal, drove the length of the floor in transition and scored an and-1 basket to put Harding on top.
St. Thomas Academy split a pair of free throws on its ensuing possession to knot the game. Douglas then drove back down the floor, got into the teeth of the defense and drilled a mid-range jumper to put the Knights up two.
The Cadets again split free throws, leaving them down one and forced to foul Harding. After a pair of Knights missed free throws, St. Thomas Academy called timeout with 5 seconds to play, needing to go the length of the floor and score to win.
Instead, Harding forced a turnover, chucked the ball to the heavens as the clock expired and fans stormed the court to celebrate program history. Harding is the first St. Paul public school to qualify for the boys state basketball tournament since 2015.
Watch a free replay of the game here.
The Class 3A quarterfinals will be played Tuesday at Williams Arena. Brackets will be determined on Saturday.
Cretin-Derham Hall 73, Tartan 68
Cretin-Derham Hall rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to end Tartan’s perfect season and advance to the Class 4A state tournament via Thursday’s Section 4 title game victory in St. Paul.
The Raiders scored 10 of the first 12 second-half points to trim its deficit to five and get back into the game.
Tartan’s lead was six with eight minutes to go, but the Titans went cold at the wrong time, scoring just two points over the next 6 1/2 minutes while Cretin-Derham Hall (27-1) did damage from the free-throw line.
The Raiders were led by 23 points from Jojo Mitchell. Tommy Ahneman added 21.
CJ Banks scored 26 points for the Titans (27-1), while KJ Wilson added 21.
DeLaSalle 74, St. Paul Johnson 65
DeLaSalle took a nine-point advantage into the break, a cushion it needed in a high-scoring second half.
The Governors (20-7) made numerous pushes in the second stanza, getting as close as four points on a pair of free throws from Jeramine Curtis, who scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half.
But every time Johnson made a run, the Islanders had an answer.
Rino Kamp scored 18 points to lead Johnson.
DeLaSalle (23-5) had five players score in double figures, led by 14 points from Dorian Pruitt.
Apple Valley 62, Eagan 54
Marcus Horton Jr., Camare Young and Trey Parker combined for 45 points as Apple Valley (23-6) controlled much of the Class 4A, Section 3 final on Thursday in Apple Valley.
Alex Schroepfer scored 27 to pace the Wildcats (17-12), who made a late charge to get within five points but couldn’t get over the hump.
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