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Mar. 18—MINNEAPOLIS — Coming into its matchup with first-seeded Cretin-Derham Hall, No. 8 John Marshall had nothing to lose.
For the first 16 minutes, the Rockets held their own against the second-ranked team in the state. In the final 2 minutes before the half, the Raiders, playing in their fifth state tournament in six years, started to pull away en route to a 69-57 victory at Target Center.
The Raiders led for most of the game while the Rockets were ahead for just 1 minute and 53 seconds.
JM never quit battling. It trailed by a series of nine and 11 points consistently throughout the second half, but couldn't cut it down much more than that.
With 10 minutes remaining, the Rockets gained some momentum after an alley-oop dunk from senior forward Angok Kucha followed by a block.
The John Marshall crowd — which traveled well from Rochester for JM's first state run in 22 years — made its presence known.
"It was exactly what we were expecting," Kucha said of the environment on Tuesday. "Target Center is a huge arena, so the atmosphere is loud, and we haven't been to state in 22 years, so now that we're finally here, the city came to support us and I'm glad for all the fans that came."
Senior forward Brayson Sawyer added: "It was a crazy environment. We're thankful for all of the people from Rochester that came out to support us."
The fans saw an impressive effort from the Rockets, but it wasn't quite enough. Cretin-Derham Hall walked away with a 12-point victory, advancing to the state semifinals on Friday.
"I'll just say this, a 25-4 team seeded eighth — wow. What a team we just played," Cretin-Derham Hall head coach Jerry Kline Jr. said. "A well-coached, really good team with a lot of talent. Wow, just amazing that they're that seed. Give them credit."
The Rockets were led by senior guard Eli Ladu with 15 points, Kucha added 14 and senior center Joe Lueth had 13. Kucha and Lueth tied for most rebounds on the team with seven. Ladu added three assists and two steals.
"I said in the locker room after the game that 'We competed,' " JM head coach Jim Daly said. "We struggled a little bit offensively at times, but I've never really questioned their heart all year, and today was no different. They gave me everything they had."
The Rockets came a long way from their loss in the first round of the Section 1, Class 4A quarterfinals last season. Ladu said the team used that loss as motivation and has been building on it ever since.
"All the hard work has paid off," Ladu said. "I want to thank my coach, Coach Daly, if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here. He pushes us every day, even the days we're not playing basketball. He pushes us to be better people and good people, good teammates off the court. And I'm proud of my guys and how they fought this morning."
Daly commended his senior class for their effort in the quarterfinals and throughout the season.
"I wish we could get them for one more year," Daly said of his six seniors. "They've been everything. ... We always say we're led by our oldest players, and sometimes that's good in programs and sometimes that's bad. But for John Marshall, it's been great. They're great leaders on and off the court. ... I always say leave a positive legacy and they've certainly done that for many years to come."
Junior guard Joe Mitchell and sophomore forward Ty Schlagel led the Raiders with 16 points apiece. Schlagel is a four-star recruit and top-ranked player in Minnesota for the class of 2027.
"Coming to this game, we knew they had a lot of size and a lot of athleticism," Schlagel said of JM. "So, I feel like our coaches prepped us well for that. And I feel like that's what we got today was, (6-foot-11 senior forward) Tommy (Anneman) coming up against another almost 7-footer, and then (6-foot-6 senior forward) Monteff (Dixon) having to guard, a 6-foot-(8), very athletic kid."
The Raiders shot 50% from the field to the Rockets' 44%. Each time JM pulled within single digits, C-DH scored on almost every following possession to add to its lead. The Rockets were 4-for-14 from the 3-point line while C-DH went 5-for-10.
As for total rebounds, the Raiders ended the game with 33 while the Rockets tallied 30. JM turned the ball over 14 times to C-DH's 10.
Despite the loss, JM's season isn't over yet. Daly said his team will do its typical walkthrough and watch film in preparation for the consolation semifinals against Apple Valley at 10 a.m. on Wednesday at Gangelhoff Center at Concordia University-St. Paul.
"After the game, I said ... 'Let's just not be satisfied with getting here,'" Daly said. "I don't think that was the case at all. They're disappointed because they wanted to get first place, but our approach to tomorrow will be no different than it was from Game 31 to Game 1."
"We're trying to keep our heads high right now because we still got more games to come," Kucha said. "This is a learning moment. Played the number one seed, so we have to just keep going and learn from this game and keep moving forward."
BOX SCORE: Cretin-Derham Hall 69, John Marshall 57
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For the first 16 minutes, the Rockets held their own against the second-ranked team in the state. In the final 2 minutes before the half, the Raiders, playing in their fifth state tournament in six years, started to pull away en route to a 69-57 victory at Target Center.
The Raiders led for most of the game while the Rockets were ahead for just 1 minute and 53 seconds.
JM never quit battling. It trailed by a series of nine and 11 points consistently throughout the second half, but couldn't cut it down much more than that.
With 10 minutes remaining, the Rockets gained some momentum after an alley-oop dunk from senior forward Angok Kucha followed by a block.
The John Marshall crowd — which traveled well from Rochester for JM's first state run in 22 years — made its presence known.
"It was exactly what we were expecting," Kucha said of the environment on Tuesday. "Target Center is a huge arena, so the atmosphere is loud, and we haven't been to state in 22 years, so now that we're finally here, the city came to support us and I'm glad for all the fans that came."
Senior forward Brayson Sawyer added: "It was a crazy environment. We're thankful for all of the people from Rochester that came out to support us."
The fans saw an impressive effort from the Rockets, but it wasn't quite enough. Cretin-Derham Hall walked away with a 12-point victory, advancing to the state semifinals on Friday.
"I'll just say this, a 25-4 team seeded eighth — wow. What a team we just played," Cretin-Derham Hall head coach Jerry Kline Jr. said. "A well-coached, really good team with a lot of talent. Wow, just amazing that they're that seed. Give them credit."
The Rockets were led by senior guard Eli Ladu with 15 points, Kucha added 14 and senior center Joe Lueth had 13. Kucha and Lueth tied for most rebounds on the team with seven. Ladu added three assists and two steals.
"I said in the locker room after the game that 'We competed,' " JM head coach Jim Daly said. "We struggled a little bit offensively at times, but I've never really questioned their heart all year, and today was no different. They gave me everything they had."
The Rockets came a long way from their loss in the first round of the Section 1, Class 4A quarterfinals last season. Ladu said the team used that loss as motivation and has been building on it ever since.
"All the hard work has paid off," Ladu said. "I want to thank my coach, Coach Daly, if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here. He pushes us every day, even the days we're not playing basketball. He pushes us to be better people and good people, good teammates off the court. And I'm proud of my guys and how they fought this morning."
Daly commended his senior class for their effort in the quarterfinals and throughout the season.
"I wish we could get them for one more year," Daly said of his six seniors. "They've been everything. ... We always say we're led by our oldest players, and sometimes that's good in programs and sometimes that's bad. But for John Marshall, it's been great. They're great leaders on and off the court. ... I always say leave a positive legacy and they've certainly done that for many years to come."
Junior guard Joe Mitchell and sophomore forward Ty Schlagel led the Raiders with 16 points apiece. Schlagel is a four-star recruit and top-ranked player in Minnesota for the class of 2027.
"Coming to this game, we knew they had a lot of size and a lot of athleticism," Schlagel said of JM. "So, I feel like our coaches prepped us well for that. And I feel like that's what we got today was, (6-foot-11 senior forward) Tommy (Anneman) coming up against another almost 7-footer, and then (6-foot-6 senior forward) Monteff (Dixon) having to guard, a 6-foot-(8), very athletic kid."
The Raiders shot 50% from the field to the Rockets' 44%. Each time JM pulled within single digits, C-DH scored on almost every following possession to add to its lead. The Rockets were 4-for-14 from the 3-point line while C-DH went 5-for-10.
As for total rebounds, the Raiders ended the game with 33 while the Rockets tallied 30. JM turned the ball over 14 times to C-DH's 10.
Despite the loss, JM's season isn't over yet. Daly said his team will do its typical walkthrough and watch film in preparation for the consolation semifinals against Apple Valley at 10 a.m. on Wednesday at Gangelhoff Center at Concordia University-St. Paul.
"After the game, I said ... 'Let's just not be satisfied with getting here,'" Daly said. "I don't think that was the case at all. They're disappointed because they wanted to get first place, but our approach to tomorrow will be no different than it was from Game 31 to Game 1."
"We're trying to keep our heads high right now because we still got more games to come," Kucha said. "This is a learning moment. Played the number one seed, so we have to just keep going and learn from this game and keep moving forward."
BOX SCORE: Cretin-Derham Hall 69, John Marshall 57
Continue reading...
