QUICK RELEASE — Blue Earth Area’s Max Loge fires a jumpshot over St. Clair’s Ethan Preston (1) during Section 2AA, South Sub-Section quarterfinal basketball action Tuesday night in Blue Earth. The Bucs’ Ashton Lloyd (far left) and the Cyclones’ Tanner Winkler watch the play. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Mertens/Faribault County Register)

BLUE EARTH — Senior Ashton Lloyd was too much to handle in the paint as he posted a near double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds to help the No. 4-seeded Blue Earth Area Bucs boys basketball team beat the No. 5-seeded St. Clair Cyclones 77-52 in a Section 2AA, South Sub-Section quarterfinal on Tuesday night in Blue Earth.

St. Clair finished its season with a 12-15 record.

Next for Blue Earth Area (15-8) is a trip to Mankato East High School to face No. 1-seeded Maple River (26-2) at 6 p.m. Thursday night in a sub-section semifinal game. Maple River advanced with a 77-41 win over No. 8-seeded Medford on Tuesday night.

Blue Earth Area and Maple River did not play each other during the regular season. The last time the teams met was back on March 20, 2021, in a Section 2AA second-round tournament game won by the Bucs, 63-59.

“We really went into this game knowing we could do well if we played well defensively,” Blue Earth Area head coach Colby Swanson said. “I think they (St. Clair) paid a lot of attention to Ashton and he found the open guy when they double-teamed him and we had some easy looks at the basket.

“Ashton played unselfish and didn’t force his game tonight.”

Lloyd wasn’t the only Blue Earth Area player to score in double figures as senior Austin Skaden had a team-high 19 points, including making three 3-pointers in the first half and four total, and junior Max Loge had 16 points.

Senior Abram Kokos was close to scoring in double digits, finishing with nine points on three 3-pointers.

Blue Earth Area made 12 triples in the game in 30 attempts from beyond the arc.

Defensively, the Bucs forced 20 turnovers, while they only had 11 total, including just two in the first half.

Blue Earth Area came out of the gate with a high level of energy, building a 20-7 lead at the 10:30 mark of the first half after Kokos drilled a 3-pointer from the corner.

“We knew we had to come out and get after them on the defensive end of the court, which we did,” Swanson said. “We forced some turnovers, which we converted into baskets.”

Senior starter Jack Norman spent most of the first half on the bench after picking up two fouls during the first 2:43 of the opening half for the Bucs.

Kokos picked up the slack with Norman on the bench and had the hot hand in the first nine minutes of the opening half, and Skaden had the hot hand in the final nine minutes of the first half.

Lloyd was a focal point for the entire half as St. Clair didn’t have anybody who could stop him in the paint.

The Bucs’ lead was lengthened to 45-23 at the half and was 54-25 with 15:03 left in the game after Lloyd scored a hoop on a driving layup. His putback on his own missed shot forced a St. Clair timeout with the score 60-32.

St. Clair continued to play hard, but the 28-point deficit was too much to overcome and Blue Earth Area cruised in the final 9 minutes of the game and won going away in their final home game of the season.

St. Clair made 17 of 26 free throws, while the Bucs shot only five free throws, making all five.

For the Bucs, sophomores Branson Hauskins and Jacob Grandgenett each finished with five points, followed by Norman, freshman William Bromeland and sophomore Gage Barker with two points apiece.

For St. Clair, junior Austin Segal had a team-high 16 points before leaving late in the second half with an injury and senior Brandon Meng had 10 points. Those two players scored half of the Cyclones’ total points.

Segal also had a team-high six rebounds to go with the 16 points. He had 14 points in the first half.

Lloyd finished with five blocked shots and Loge had three, while Loge also had a team-high four steals.

Blue Earth Area had 13 steals in the game.

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Section 2A Playoffs

Mankato Loyola 71, Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther 45 — Lawson Godfrey and Simon Morgan packed a lethal 1-2 punch to power the No. 2-seeded Crusaders to a 26-point Section 2A, South Sub-Section quarterfinal victory over the No. 7-seeded Jaguars on Tuesday night in Mankato.

Mankato Loyola (19-8) advances to face No. 3-seeded Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey (18-8) in a 7:45 p.m. sub-section semifinal Thursday night at St. Peter High School. The Wolverines gained the next round by downing No. 6-seeded Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton, 67-51.

Godfrey, who was injured a couple of weeks ago, returned to the Loyola lineup and tossed in a game-leading 31 points to complement distributing a game-best seven assists.

Morgan, who has eclipsed both the 1,000-point and 1,000-rebound career plateau, added to those numbers by generating a double-double performance of 15 points and a game-high 12 boards for the Crusaders.

Kayden Loeschen produced 13 points and doled out five assists to top the Jaguars, who closed out the season with a 14-13 overall record.

Jakob Fischer contributed 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds and pocketed four steals for the Jaguars, while teammate Jackson Madsen chipped in nine points and four boards.

The Crusaders built a 31-17 lead by intermission before outscoring the Jaguars 40-28 during the second half.