Smothering defense and a balanced scoring attack propelled the Rushford-Peterson boys to a 54-28 win over the Wabasha-Kellogg Falcons Friday, March 19. The victory advances the 4th-seeded Trojans to the semifinals of the Section 1A tournament. They’ll face top-seed Southland on Monday, March 22.
R-P jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening minutes of the contest, but W-K responded with a quick run of its own to pull within one. For a few minutes it looked like the #12 Falcons–who toppled 5th-seed Spring Grove 38-36 last Tuesday–might give the Trojans trouble.
Then the R-P defense took over. The Trojans, who’ve specialized in limiting opponents to 40 points or less, largely shut down Falcon scorers down for the rest of the half. While Trojan shooters weren’t setting the nets on fire, they scored methodically and consistently enough to take a 25-14 lead into the locker room at the half.
After the break it was all R-P. Led by junior standout Justin Ruberg (12 points, 8 rebounds) the Trojans maintained a stifling defense while steadily building a lead. But with four players in double figures, Ruberg had plenty of help. Point guard Malachi Bunke and sophomore standout Grady Hengel each matched Ruberg’s dozen, and senior Luke O’Hare pitched in 11 points and 7 rebounds. Senior Trey Olsen only managed a single three-pointer, but it was a big one, jarring R-P from a scoring lull in the first half. Defensive specialist Andrew Hoiness added two points and Logan Skalet came off the bench to add a pair.
Perhaps most impressive was the R-P performance at the free throw line. When W-K started fouling midway through the second half, the Trojans turned in a perfect 14 for 14 performance at the charity stripe. “Our kids want to be on that foul line,” said R-P head coach Chris Drinkall. “As a coach it’s nice to have that confidence that, if we build a lead late in the game and we start getting fouled, the guys are going to come through.”
Drinkall was especially pleased with his team’s defensive effort. “We got off to a quick start and I think the guys were just a little too excited,” he said. “It’s really the first time we’ve had that many fans in the stands all season and there was a lot of emotion. When W-K made that run at us early I called a time out to settle everyone down and just remind them to get back to doing what we do.
“We talk all the time in practice that defensive effort is the one thing we can control. There are nights when the ball isn’t going through the net like you’d like, but playing hard on defense is a constant. Our guys not only do that individually–Hoiness and Hengel were giving their guards fits tonight–but also as a team. They’re communicating well and switching off and maintaining constant pressure. It was fun to watch.”
Monday’s matchup with top-ranked Southland will be a battle, Drinkall said. “They’ve got a kid who reminds me a lot of Ruberg; he can shoot outside and has great footwork in the lane as well. They’ve also got an outside shooter who I think had 8 treys in one game. But we never focus our efforts on shutting down one guy; we just play hard, consistent team defense. We’ll stick with what we know going forward.”
The R-P vs. Southland game will be played at Century High School in Rochester. Tip-off time for the Monday game is 7 p.m. The winner of that contest will advance to the Section 1A final, which will be played Wednesday, March 24, at Rochester Mayo High School.
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