MANKATO - Before Friday night's Section 2AA boys basketball championship game, both coaches agreed that rebounding was a key to their success.
Jordan's 6-foot-6 center Yuriy Malashenko obviously took head coach Matt Urbanek's words to heart.
Malashenko pulled down 17 of the Hubmen's 33 rebounds as the team pocketed a 56-44 victory over the Blue Earth Area Bucs on the Bresnan Arena floor at the Taylor Center on the Minnesota State University in Mankato.
Jordan (23-5) plays the No. 1-ranked Plainview-Elgin-Millville (28-2) - a 68-40 winner over Lake City during Thursday night's Section 1 championship game - at 6 p.m. Wednesday night in the Class AA state tournament quarterfinals at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Blue Earth Area ended its season with a 24-5 record.
"We missed shots - not because of a lack of effort - the ball just rolled in and out tonight. They played as hard as we could expect the kids to play," said Buc head coach Gary Holmseth.
Blue Earth Area collected 15 rebounds in the game, but the more telling statistic was something neither coach mentioned before the game, but is always important - free throws.
The Hubmen sank an incredible 17 of 20 free throws in the game, including 11 of 12 in the second half, as the team qualified for their first boys hoops state tournament.
Malashenko had achieved a double-double performance by halftime with 10 points and 10 rebounds, finishing with 14 points and 17 caroms.
Kurt Hynes finished with 17 points and six rebounds for Jordan, while teammate Tanner Oakes added 10 points and seven rebounds.
But it proved to be a 3-pointer that gave Jordan the lead for good early in the first half.
The Bucs' Brady Anderson broke an 8-all tie by taking a Nick Lee kickout feed from the right wing for two points at 13:05, but Oakes converted from the left wing for a triple via a Malashenko pass at 13:05 for an 11-10 lead.
The Hubmen built their lead to as many as eight at 6:35 via a Hynes trey at 10:00, before Malashenko thundered his way through the lane at 6:35 for a 20-12 edge.
The Bucs cut the Hubmen lead to four points, courtesy of a Brady Anderson alley-oop pass to Lee, in conjunction with four Nate Carr free throws. But the Hubmen led 29-19 at halftime with a Hynes corner 3-pointer at the 1:55 mark, before his hook shot in the paint with 55 seconds left ended the first-half scoring.
Blue Earth Area cut its deficit to 36-32 with 12:50 left via Carr's fake pass-turned-layup at 13:35, followed by Lee's corner triple at 12:50.
Jordan eventually moved back ahead by nine, highlighted by Chris Pauly's rattling 3-pointer at 11:40 for a 41-32 lead.
The Bucs again shaved their deficit to 47-44 via a Garrett Anderson conversion in the lane prior to Jared Smith's corner triple at 3:35.
However, the Hubmen countered with a traditional 3-point play from Hynes at 2:10 before free throws down the stretch clinched a 56-44 win for the Hubmen.
Carr closed out his outstanding high school hoops career for the Bucs with a team-high 14 points, five steals and four rebounds.
Lee also concluded his prep basketball days with 10 points and three assists for Blue Earth Area.
Buc senior center Garrett Anderson also ended his high school cager career with six points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Brady Anderson added eight points for the Bucs.
