EAST CHAIN - Granada-Huntley-East Chain forward Tanner Nawrocki and center Kole Kristenson proved double-double trouble for Mankato Loyola during Thursday night's basketball playoff clash.
Kristenson erupted for a game-leading 14 points and 14 rebounds, while Nawrocki produced 10 points and 13 rebounds to complement five assists and three steals in engineering the Mustangs' 59-35 sub-section semifinal triumph over the Crusaders in East Chain.
No. 2-seeded Granada-Huntley-East Chain (15-10) advances to face No. 1-seeded Springfield for the Section 2A, South Sub-Section championship at 8 p.m. Monday night at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. The Tigers reached the sub-section finals via a 60-37 victory over No. 4-seeded St. Clair.
No. 3-seeded Mankato Loyola ended its season with a 14-12 record.
"Two of our biggest concerns coming into tonight's game were stopping their (Crusaders') dribble penetration and keeping them off of the boards," said Mustang mentor Robbin Celander. "I thought we did OK in preventing their guards from getting the ball to their shooters.
"We definitely did a really good job in outrebounding them tonight and that was a big key to the win."
With Kristenson and Nawrocki vacuuming up nearly every carom, the Mustangs produced a staggering 45-26 edge on the glass, including limiting the Crusaders to only five offensive rebounds on the playoff clash.
After Jake Wesely converted Luke Hermer's low-post entry pass into a basket to inch Loyola to 7-5, Nawrocki displayed his shooting touch by hitting a pull-up 10-foot jumper off a Kristenson outlet pass to trigger GHEC's 11-0 scoring spurt.
Nawrocki snapped the nets on a 3-pointer off a Jordan Stennes delivery to force the Crusaders to call timeout at the 11:04 juncture.
The short recess, however, could not halt the stampede as Mason Teachout converted back-to-back assists from Conner Garry to create another Loyola timeout at 9:23.
Nawrocki cleared another defensive carom out of the break before finding Kristenson along the baseline for a smooth 10-footer and 18-5 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
Stennes spun home a reverse layup off Nawrocki's pinpoint pass to extend the Mustangs' halftime margin to 19 before Kristenson, Teachout and Connor Garry opened the second half with five unanswered points.
Loyola tried to counter as Taydor Gach and Lance Gaspar connected on the team's only trifectas of the game midway through the second half, but it was not enough.
Connor Garry came off the Mustangs' bench to deliver impressive numbers of 10 points, five rebounds and five assists. Teachout and Stennes each contributed eight points to the winning effort, while Brandon Meester chipped in six points.
Toby Turbes neared double-double territory by topping Loyola with nine points, 10 rebounds and three steals, while Wesely scored eight.
