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B.E. Area hoopsters hold off Medford in 2AA playoffs

ELEVATION — Blue Earth Area’s Cameron Anderson shoots a jumper over Medford’s AJ Vandereide (11) during Section 2AA playoff action Thursday night in Blue Earth. The Bucs’ Austin Thielfoldt (5) watches the action. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Mertens/Faribault County Register)

BLUE EARTH — Fifteen lead changes and nine ties.

No. 2-seeded Blue Earth Area took a back-and-forth 68-58 win over the No. 7-seeded Medford Tigers during Section 2AA, South Sub-Section quarterfinal action Thursday night.

With the win, Blue Earth Area (14-4) moves on to play host to No. 3-seeded Maple River in Blue Earth at 7 p.m. Saturday. Maple River beat No. 6-seeded New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva 93-46 during quarterfinal action Thursday night in Mapleton.

The teams went into the halftime break tied at 28, then Medford jumped ahead.

AJ Vandereide continued his first-half hot streak, where he scored 14 points including six consecutive made shots, with an assist to Jeff Westergaard for a left-corner 3.

Henry Grayson then used a post-spin move to bank in two more points before assisting Kael Hermanstorfer on a cutter through the lane to put the Tigers ahead 35-28 with 15:31 left.

That’s when Austin Thielfoldt took over for the Bucs.

Thielfoldt grabbed a defensive rebound and took it coast-to-coast before pulling up just in front of the free throw line for a jumper, then pulled up from the same spot 30 seconds later for two more points to bring the Bucs within three.

Thielfoldt hit the back end of two free throws to cut the deficit to two with 14:07 remaining, before Gunner White hit two free throws for the Tigers to extend the lead back to four. Thielfoldt scored another two points when he used a Gavin Storbeck assist for a deep jumper from the right wing, then Ashton Lloyd stole a pass and hurled it forward to Storbeck for a layup to tie the matchup at 37 with 13:10 left.

“Our intensity in the second half, we picked it up with full pressure,” BEA head coach Colby Swanson said of what made the difference in the second half. “I thought Austin Thielfoldt did a great job of leading us. His energy and intensity, and Ashton Lloyd did a great job, too, in the second half, finding ways to get to the offensive glass and get to the rim. He was a huge spark plug for us.

“In the first half, we had probably five possessions where we were shooting 3s without penetrating into the middle of the floor, that’s when they (Medford) went on a bit of a run. Once we got the ball to the middle in the second half, our shot selection got a lot better.”

Grayson hit two free throws to put Medford back in front, but Lloyd hit a fastbreak layup and used a Thielfoldt assist for a left-wing 3 to give the Bucs a 42-39 advantage.

After another Grayson free throw, Braden Gudahl sent an alley-oop to Cameron Anderson, who snuck from the left corner down the baseline behind the Medford defense before extending for a two-handed dunk.

Westergaard swooshed a 3 and White hit a reverse layup for the Tigers, while Gudahl sank one of two free throws to tie the matchup again, this time at 45, with 9:30 left.

Thielfoldt used an Anderson post-entry assist for two, then assisted Will Howard with a post-entry pass of his own to put the Bucs in front 49-47.

Thielfoldt then stole a pass and attacked two defenders on his own, making an athletic finger-rolling layup. Vandereide answered with a three-point play, his lone points of the second half.

The teams continued to go back and forth, tieing twice more in the next three minutes and keeping the game within three points until Thielfoldt assisted Anderson on a drive from the left wing to put the Bucs ahead 61-56 with 2:22 left.

Hermanstorfer hit a short jump short with 2:15 left for what turned out to be the Tigers’ final points.

Thielfoldt, Anderson and Gudahl combined to hit seven of eight free throws in the final 1:30 to extend the Bucs lead to 10.

Lloyd led the Bucs with 17 points and eight rebounds, complementing three steals, while Thielfoldt scored 14 points, brought down six boards, poked away four steals and dished out four assists.

Anderson scored 15 points, grabbed four caroms and stole three passes, while Gudahl scored 14 points brought down four boards and dished out four assists for the Bucs.

Vandereide led the Tigers with 17 points to complement seven rebounds and three assists, Grayson scored 15 points, grabbed seven caroms and dished out four assists and Hermanstorfer grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to complement eight points.

Medford 28-30–58

B.E. Area 28-40–68

B.E. AREA (68)

Lloyd 7-13 0-0 17, Anderson 6-16 3-7 15, Thielfoldt 6-11 2-4 14, Gudahl 3-9 5-6 14, Storbeck 2-7 1-2 6, Howard 1-1 0-0 2, Keister 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 25-60 11-19 68.

MEDFORD (58)

Vandereide 8-14 1-1 17, Grayson 6-10 3-4 15, Hermanstorfer 4-17 0-0 8, Westergaard 3-5 0-0 8, White 1-5 2-4 4, Paulson 2-3 0-1 4, Jones 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 24-54 8-12 58.

3-pointers: BEA 7-29 (Gudahl & Lloyd 3 each); Medford 2-18. Rebounds: BEA 34 (Lloyd 8, Thielfoldt 6, Gudahl, Keister & Howard 4 each); Medford 31 (Hermanstorfer 9). Assists: BEA 16 (Gudahl & Thielfoldt 4 each); Medford 12 (Grayson 4, Vandereide & White 3 each). Steals: BEA 15 (Thielfoldt 4, Anderson & Lloyd 3 each); Medford 4.

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