DETROIT LAKES — Basketball in March leads to madness and the Section 8AAA semifinal matchup between No. 2 Detroit Lakes and No. 3 St. Cloud Tech lived up to the hype.
After the Lakers came back down double-digits in the second half, the Tigers were able to finish strong down the stretch to win the section title 76-70.
St. Cloud Tech was led by Minnesota Mr. Basketball top-10 finalist Tameron Ferguson who scored a game-high 43 points. Mekhi Edwards added 18 points, all from inside the paint.
“You have to give St. Cloud a ton of credit tonight,” Detroit Lakes head coach Brett Maass said. “They’ve got a very good basketball team and Ferguson is a heck of a player. He scored 43 points and that can be hard to come back from. I’m proud of our guys battling back. We switched to zone in the second half and honestly, we should have done that earlier but we had our chances but it didn’t work out for us.”
Cooper Kanthak / Detroit Lakes Tribune
The Lakers were led by their senior trio of Devon Berg, Mason Carrier, and Brandton Marsh. Berg led the way with 23 points and seven assists. Carrier added 19 points and nine rebounds while Marsh chipped in 15 points on 6-7 (85.7%) shooting.
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“I thought we battled hard,” Berg said. “Tech is a good team but so are we and we battled with them throughout the night. I thought we competed well with them.”
Both teams traded baskets in the opening minutes. Ferguson attacked the rim right out of the gate to give the Tigers an early 10-8 lead with 13:25 left.
Carrier struggled to find his shot in the first half but he connected on a layup to give the Lakers a 21-20 lead with around eight minutes remaining. The Tigers answered with an 11-0 run behind back-to-back and-one layups from Edwards. St. Cloud Tech stretched their lead to 39-25 with 1:51 remaining and Ferguson continued to attack the rim and get to his spot as he scored 23 points in the first half.
Cooper Kanthak / Detroit Lakes Tribune
Detroit Lakes gained some momentum going into the half as Carrier threw up a one-handed three-pointer as the clock expired to trail 41-32 at the break.
“It was hard to simulate their pressure, especially in the first half,” Maass said. “We can work on it in practice but it’s not going to be the same. Our scout team did a great job but we don’t have the type of athletes to go against night in and night out. They’re long and athletic and we turned the ball over too many times in the first half.”
At the start of the second half, Detroit Lakes chipped away at the Tiger lead. Berg found Marsh on a backdoor cut and Marsh threw down a monstrous dunk to ignite the home crowd. Trailing 49-38, the Lakers picked up their defensive intensity and St. Cloud Tech started to get careless with the basketball.
Carrier splashed a three-pointer to cut the lead to 58-50 with around 10 minutes remaining. The Lakers kept limiting the Tigers to one shot and rebounded well enough to trail 62-59 with 6:26 left.
With 2:55 left, Carrier knocked down another triple to trail 67-66. Edwards quieted the crowd with a tough finish for St. Cloud Tech and Maass needed to call a timeout.
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Cooper Kanthak / Detroit Lakes Tribune
Coming out of the huddle, the Lakers found Marsh inside and he connected on a hook shot to trail 69-68. On the ensuing possession, Ferguson pulled up and made a three-pointer to sink the hearts of the Detroit Lakes faithful. St. Cloud Tech iced the game with a pair of free throws to come away with the victory and advance to the section championship.
“Tonight was a microcosm of how we have played all season,” Maass said. “We brought it every night and almost came back tonight. We were dead in the water in the first half but credit to our kids for continuing to battle and fight all the way to the end. We had some open looks that could have given us the lead but it didn’t happen.”
The Lakers ended the season 24-4 setting the program record for most wins in a season. Carrier ended his Laker campaign as the all-time leading scorer and all-time leading rebounder. He saw a lot of varsity time as a sophomore along with Berg and Marsh. Although the outcome wasn’t what the Lakers had hoped for, that doesn’t diminish the success they had throughout the year.
“It was a heck of a ride,” Carrier said. “We kept building the program up year after year and we got the wins record this year. It was awesome and I can’t thank Coach Maass enough. The coaching staff is amazing. We seniors have been playing together forever and have had so much fun so I have no sorrow about the season. We gave it everything we had.”
Cooper Kanthak / Detroit Lakes Tribune
Coach Maass was proud of his team and how they have battled through adversity all season long. The seniors helped set the standard for the future and he was grateful for them while they were Lakers.
“Like I said before this was a dream season for us,” he said. “With all of the wins and accolades and the type of kids we had, it was just super fun to be a part of. We stressed and preached throughout the year to enjoy it because at some point it will end. You can’t hang your head on one game, that’s not what we do here. We enjoy the journey and create memories that someday we will all look back on. That is what I am most proud of, the product they brought every night and showed to the community.”
ST. CLOUD TECH 76 DETROIT LAKES 70
SCT – 41 35 – 76
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DL 32 38 – 70
DETROIT LAKES SCORING – Berg 23; Carrier 19; Marsh 15; Bye 8; Buboltz 4; Strand 1
ST. CLOUD TECH SCORING – Ferguson 43; Edwards 18; Harris 6; Traore 4; Henke 3; Baynes 2
Cooper Kanthak / Detroit Lakes Tribune
Cooper Kanthak is a sports reporter for the Detroit Lakes Tribune, Perham Focus and Wadena Pioneer Journal. Cooper graduated from South Dakota State University with a degree in journalism and minored in digital and social media. He is originally from Pipestone, Minnesota, and has a passion for all things sports. You can reach Cooper at ckanthak@forumcomm.com.
