Historic trip to state ends early for NY Mills boys

Kevin Cederstrom

herald@eot.com

For the Eagles boys basketball team reaching the state tournament capped off a great playoff run - a run that ended too soon for this New York Mills squad against Osakis in the first round March 23 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

The New York Mills boys unexpected trip to the state tournament for the first time in school history took them from an upset win in the Section 6A championship to a first round matchup at state against unbeaten Osakis, and a chance to write a storybook ending to this magical playoff run. The Silverstreaks (30-0) knocked off NY Mills 62-54 and advanced to the state semifinals. The loss sent the Eagles home - one and done.

Ted Rud kept the Eagles close throughout the game and led all scorers with 24 points in the game, finishing 9 for 14 shooting and 6 for 8 at the free throw line. Rud and the rest of the Eagles were unphased by the state-ranked Silverstreaks, nor were they star-struck playing in a big-time arena at the University of Minnesota.

The kids were definitely prepared and we were confident with our match-ups, said Bryan Dunrud, Eagles head coach. They knew they would have to play well to beat Osakis and they were very focused to start the game.

The teams played to a tight first half with neither team building a lead of more than five points. The Eagles were up 19-14 midway through the first half and held a 27-24 lead with about 4:30 remaining before Osakis jumped ahead 28-27 a minute and a half later. The teams traded the lead and the Silverstreaks went on top 34-30 with 19 seconds to go, but Chris Baune hit a jumper with 1 second remaining for the Eagles to put the score at 34-32 in favor of Osakis at the end of the half.

Rud scored 15 points in the first half on 5 of 7 shooting and Ryan Peeters pulled down six first half rebounds.

The teams continued to battle in the second half, again with neither team able to build much of a lead as the tension and excitement mounted in The Barn. Eagles fans, who showed up to the University of Minnesota arena in impressive support, believed the boys could pull off yet another upset, which would have kept the party going for two more games.

The Osakis defensive plan was apparent all game. The Silverstreaks collapsed inside on Eagles big man Ryan Peeters, who was held to just seven points all game. Without much of an inside game in the second half the Eagles relied on Ruds mid-range jumper to keep the game close. Mills tied the game at 49-49 when Erik Peeters scored with six minutes remaining but the turning point in the game came about a minute later when the Silverstreaks Kendall Proell drained a 3-pointer, which sparked a 12-0 run putting Osakis up 60-49 with 1:47 remaining. The Eagles turned the ball over down the stretch and couldnt stop the Silverstreaks run. Osakis scored 29 points in the game off Eagles turnovers, compared to just 13 for Mills.

By shutting down Ryan Peeters in the middle Osakis won the battle inside, scoring 32 points in the paint compared to Mills 16. The Eagles did out-rebound Osakis 37-30 with Erik Peeters grabbing 12. But with the Silverstreaks defenders crowding the inside the Eagles shooters were unable to hit consistently from outside to open things up for Ryan Peeters. The Eagles finished the game just 2 of 11 from the 3-point line.

I told the kids after the game they played well, Dunrud said. They gave it their all and left it on the floor. They were disappointed after the game but throughout the section playoffs saw how good they could be. The big thing is they really saw first hand to play as a team and understand their roles.

NY Mills loses a group of five quality seniors who have played together since elementary school. Ted Rud, Ryan Peeters, David Klinnert, Josh Hendrickx and Chris Baune leave the program. Dunrud describes them as a quality group of kids who developed great attitudes, improved throughout the season and really clicked as a team playoff time.

Were going to miss the seniors, Dunrud commented. They definitely left a mark on the team. They leave something for the other kids to build on and will always have that honor of being the first team to go to state.

NEW YORK MILLS (21-6)

Rud 9-14 6-8 24; Peeters, Erik 2-8 3-4 7; Peeters, Ryan 3-10 1-2 7;

Hendrickx 2-3 0-0 5; Cameron 1-2 1-2 4; Van Dyke 1-1 0-0

2; Helmeke 1-2 0-0 2; Baune 1-4 0-0 2; Klinnert 0-3 1-2

1; Flanigan 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 20-51 12-18 54.

OSAKIS (30-0)

Lang 6-14 7-11 19; Proell 6-13 1-4 15; Grundman 4-10

5-6 13; Nomeland 4-6 1-2 9; Laven 2-4 2-3 6; Tersteeg 0-1

0-0 0; Langer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-49 16-26 62.

New York Mills................ 32 22 - 54

Osakis........................ 34 28 - 62

3-point goals-New York Mills 2-11 (Hendrickx 1-2; Cameron 1-1;

Baune 0-2; Flanigan 0-4; Peeters, Erik 0-2), Osakis 2-11

Proell 2-5; Grundman 0-1; Laven 0-1; Lang 0-4).

Fouled out--New York Mills-None, Osakis-None. Rebounds-New York Mills 37

(Peeters, Erik 12), Osakis 30 (Grundman 10). Assists-New York Mills

12 (Hendrickx 3), Osakis 15 (Proell 6). Total fouls-New York

Mills 21, Osakis 14.

Osakis, Pelican Rapids finish 3rd

Osakis (31-1) lost their second round game, and thier first game of the season, to Ellsworth, 70-63. They went on to beat Maranatha Christian Academy, 85-74, in the third place game.

Rushford-Peterson (23-9) won their first Class A championship, beating Ellsworth 55-52 in the title game. R-P was last years runner-up and ranked No. 7 heading into State.

Pelican Rapids 3rd in 2A

Heart O Lakes and Section 8AA Champ, Pelican Rapids, finished third in

Class AA.

The Vikings gave eventual 2A title winners Braham everything they could

handle in the semifinals, finally losing 64-54.

Pelican Rapids, which was ranked No. 2 most of the season and finished with a 30-3 record, finished their season on a winning note, beating Dover-Eyota 53-45 in the third place game. They won their opening

round game over Benson, 72-50.

Braham (31-2) won their third straight Class 2A crown, beating Breck School 72-53 in the title game.

DeLaSalle (27-5) beat Duluth East, 65-47, in the Class 3A championship for the schools fifth State title. They were No. 7 entering the tournament.

No. 2 Hopkins (30-2) defended their 4A title by beating Robbinsdale Cooper, 69-53. It was their fifth title overall.

(John George of the Perham Enterprise-Bullitin contributed to this story.)