TOSSING IN TWO — Waseca’s Damarius Russell (3) drives around Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton’s Cole Schlueter to score a basket during the two teams’ Section 2AA, South Sub-Section semifinal game Thursday night at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont. Waseca’s Deron Russell (1) and JWP’s Memphis James (15) watch the play. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT –Damarius Russell’s monsterous 25-point outing powered the No. 2 seed Waseca Bluejays past the No. 3 seed Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Bulldogs 74-52 Thursday night from Fairmont High School’s Cardinal Gym.

Waseca advances to face No. 1 seed Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial at Minnesota State University-Mankato at 8 p.m. Monday in the sub-section finals.

The Bulldogs got out to an early lead on the Bluejays, slowing the game down with an impressive zone defense and aggressively attacking the rim on the other end.

Sophomore Daulton Bauer nailed a 3-pointer with 9 minutes remaining to give the Bulldogs the early 20-17 advantage.

The Bulldogs would go on to extend their lead following a pair of steals from eighth-grader Gavin Bauer and another trey from Dalton Bauer with 6:01 remaining to make the score 29-17.

The Bluejays would go on a run, however, as Damarius Russell nailed a floater in the final possession of the half to inch closer, 36-30, heading into the lockeroom.

Bluejays head coach Seth Anderson felt his team’s effort on defense contributed to closing the gap.

“We were on the wrong end of the snowball in the first half,” Anderson said. “I thought our communication between our top two guys in the zone was a little weak in the first half and they passed the players off to one another much better in the second half.”

The communication was much better on the defensive end for the Bluejays, contributing to Damarius Russell’s game-high eight steals on the night.

Waseca continued its ascent after a 3 from Carson Ohnstad fell through the net to tie the game at 46 apiece.

From there, the Bluejays put their foot on the gas.

Sophomore guard Deron Russell went on a run, converting multiple layups, culminating in an ‘and-1’ finish with 7:30 remaining in the second half. With the conversion at the charity stripe, the Bluejays took at commanding 58-46 lead and played fluid basketball to finish out the win.

Deron Russell ended the night with an efficient 24 points on 8 for 13 splits from the floor and a perfect 7 for 7 from the line. He added nine boards and five assists to his tally for the Bluejays.

The Bulldogs sported a balanced attack in the loss, with three players scoring at least nine points on the night.

Sophomore Caleb Quast led the way with 14 points for the Bulldogs and senior Memphis James wasn’t far behind with nine points and four boards on the night.

The Bluejays came out on top with reliable shooting from the free throw line down the stretch, 74-52.

JWP         36-16–52

Waseca    30-44–74

WASECA (74)

Da. Russell 10-20 3-3 25, De. Russell 8-13 7-7 24, Hulscher 5-13 0-0 13, Keeton 3-7 0-0 7, Ohnstad 1-4 0-0 3, J. Thompson 1-3 0-0 2, Robran 0-1 0-1 0, Danner 0-1 0-0 0, Vagts 0-1 0-0 0.

JWP (52)

C. Quast 5-10 3-4 14, James 3-14 1-1 9, D. Bauer 3-8 0-0 9, G. Bauer 3-5 1-2 7, Kronbach 3-7 0-0 6, Schlueter 1-2 1-2 3, Johnson 1-4 0-0 2, A. Quast 0-0 2-2 2, Dimmel 0-1 0-0 0, Carda 0-1 0-0 0.