Dawson-Boyd’s Romell Horton rises up to shoot a jumper during their Section 3A tournament game against Central Minnesota Christian on Saturday in Montevideo.

MONTEVIDEO – Another weekend, another day filled with postseason prep action from the hardwood. This time it was the boys basketball teams who flooded the gymnasium of Montevideo High School for the quarterfinal round of the Section 3A Tournament.

No. 1 Minneota 78, No. 8 Canby 49

Fresh off a 73-54 victory over No. 9 seed MACCRAY, the No. 8 Canby Lancers came into Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup facing a challenging task with the well-rested No. 1 Minneota Vikings standing opposite them. The Lancers kept themselves in the game throughout the majority of the first half, but a 12-1 run midway through the opening half gave the Vikings the boost they needed as Minneota cruised past Canby 78-49.

It was a tight game to start, as the Lancers held a slim 8-6 lead thanks to a layup from Zach Durfee. Marksmanship was the early storyline in the first half, as both teams found their touch from beyond the arc right away.

A 3-pointer from Nolan Boerboom pushed Minneota’s lead to 21-16 with 10:46 left and Canby needed a spark to get itself back into the game. Instead, it was the Vikings who continued their hot shooting, as Minneota took a 33-17 lead with 7:05 remaining that capped off a 12-1 run.

The Vikings would eventually build their lead to 20 points with five minutes left, and maintained that lead throughout the rest of the first half before taking a 51-27 lead at halftime.

Minneota continued to add its lead in the second half, going up 62-32 early before a Jacob Hennen 3-pointer made it 70-36 with 9:30 left. The Lancers would go on a 9-4 run to cut it to 74-45 with 6:13 to go, but wouldn’t get any closer as Minneota advanced to the semifinal round with a 78-49 victory.

Minneota coach Dave Busselman said offensively their key was their ball movement as well as working on different options between the post and perimeter.

“We had all cylinders moving and was able to move the ball well and make that extra pass. We had a lot of different options out there and matchups that we liked,” Busselman said. “We had some mismatches on the inside but we’re still going to shoot a lot of threes so that always helps.”

Thomas Hennen led the way for the Vikings with 22 points while Jacob and Isaac Hennen each added 14 and Boerboom and Logan Sussner each had 13. Sussner led in rebounds with nine while Thomas and Isaac Hennen led in assists with four each.

Canby was led by Zach Durfee, who had 21 points, while Riley Kockelman added nine and Ethan Thovson had eight. Five players led in rebounds with three each while Tyler Sayre and Kockelman led in assists with four each.

Lancers coach Zach Traphagen was pleased with the confidence level the team came into the game with and liked how they continued to fight against a good Minneota team.

“The effort coming out the gate our guys were fired up. They played their best game of the season on Thursday and that’s all you ask for. We came out hot and knocked down everything; the hoop looked like the ocean to the guys,” Traphagen said. “And then you cool off but Minneota didn’t and you give credit to them; they made shots when they needed to and took the wind out of our sails. I’m still proud of our guys for how they battled all season long and they’re a fun group of guys to coach.”

Canby ends its season with a 9-16 record and graduates four seniors in Mercer, Jacob Crowser, Brandon Bursack and Tyler Kack. Traphagen said this group has been phenomenal to work with and he knows they left it all out there on the court.

“They’re just a fantastic group of kids and have been a pleasure to work with. When I started teaching, they were in seventh grade and I had them in junior high football so this group is extra special to me,” Traphagen said. “I really think we got everything out of these kids and I know that they don’t have any regrets so those are the moments that make you the most proud as a coach.”

Minneota (22-3) advances to the Section 3A semifinals and will face Renville County West on Thursday at 6 p.m. at SMSU. Busselman said their biggest takeaway will be focusing on each level one game at a time and continuing the success they saw in the regular season.

“Right now it’s about winning on each level and we’re on the second level, so that’s a positive. We’ll see what we can do and we’ve got a couple of days to work on who we’re playing,” Busselman said. “The positive thing is that I think we’re ready for this and now this is the time to make something of the season that we’ve had.”

Canby 27 22 – 49

Minneota 51 27 – 78

Scoring: Canby 29-61, 47.5 percent (Durfee 8-16, 3-3 21; Kockelman 3-12, 0-0 9; Thovson 2-3, 2-2 8; Sayre 3-7, 0-0 6; Kack 0-5, 2-2 2; Crowser 1-1, 0-0 2; Wente 0-0 1-2 1); Minneota 22-36, 61.1 percent (T. Hennen 10-13, 0-0 22; J. Hennen 6-8, 0-0 14; I. Hennen 4-6, 6-8 14; Boerboom 5-7, 0-0 13; Sussner 3-8, 7-9 13; Rost 1-1, 0-2 2).

Rebounds: Canby 25 (Durfee, Kockelman, Mercer, Crowser, Wente 3; Bursack 2; Harding, Sayre, Kack 1); Minneota 37 (Sussner 9; T. Hennen, I. Hennen 6; Boerboom, J. Hennen 4).

Assists: Canby 15 (Sayre, Kockelman 4); Minneota 20 (T. Hennen 4; Sorensen, Josephson 3).

Steals: Canby 4 (Kockelman 2); Minneota 14 (Sussner 4; Sorensen 3).

Blocks: 5 (Durfee, Crowser 2; Thovson 1); Minneota 2 (T. Hennen, Sorensen 1).

Fouls: Canby 14; Minneota 10.

Turnovers: Canby 18; Minneota 10.

No. 2 DB 62,

No. 7 CMCS 51

The No. 2 seed Dawson-Boyd boys basketball team opened its section tournament with a matchup against the No. 7 Central Minnesota Christian Bluejays, who had advanced after defeating No. 10 YME on Thursday. The Blackjacks and Bluejays were locked in a close game right from the start, with Dawson-Boyd going up 7-4 before CMCS took the lead on a 3-pointer from Simon Van Dyken. The Blackjacks would cut the deficit to two at 18-16 with seven minutes left before a 3-pointer from Romell Horton gave Dawson-Boyd a 21-18 lead.

Both teams would trade points throughout the rest of the first half as Dawson-Boyd took a slim 30-27 advantage at the break. In the second half, the Bluejays would get things started with a 5-0 run to take a 31-30 lead before a pair of free throws from the Blackjacks gave Dawson-Boyd a 35-34 lead with 11:21 left.

The two teams would trade points over the next several minutes before Dawson-Boyd got a string of stops on defense that led to a 44-37 advantage for the Blackjacks with 7:14 left. CMCS would cut the deficit to as close as 11 on a pair of occasions but Dawson-Boyd sealed the game at the free-throw line en route to the 62-51 victory.

Alex Swenson led the way for the Blackjacks with 22 points while Jake Lee added 17 and Horton and Bentley Boike each had eight. Colton Husby led in rebounds with 15 while Swenson led in assists with three.

Dawson-Boyd coach Cory Larson said their key on offense was their movement without the basketball, especially in the second half.

“In the second half we started to just get better movement without the basketball. We just played CMCS a week and a half ago and had our way in the post but they did a better job of taking that away this time,” Larson said. “We ended up getting some curl cuts and some dives to the basket that helped us pushed that to a double-digit win.”

Dawson-Boyd (20-6) will face Lakeview in the semifinal round on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at SMSU. Larson said it’s a completely different atmosphere come playoff time so now that they’ve gotten a victory under their belts, they can move on and prepare for the next opponent.

“We’ve got that first one out of the way. It’s a completely different season now and you don’t know how long it’s going to last,” Larson said. “So you always come out in that first one and play a little tight and maybe relieve that pressure a little bit and you advance and you’ve got to show up and play basketball.”

CMCS 27 24 – 51

DB 30 32 – 62

Scoring: Dawson-Boyd 19-51, 37 percent (Swenson 5-11, 11-14 22; Lee 6-10, 2-2 17; Horton 3-15, 1-1 8; Boike 3-5, 2-4 8; Husby 1-4, 3-8 5; Schuelke 1-2, 0-0 2).

Rebounds: Dawson-Boyd 39 (Husby 15; Horton 9; Boike 8; Swenson 6; Schuelke 1).

Assists: Dawson-Boyd 8 (Swenson 3).

Steals: Dawson-Boyd 8 (Husby 4).

Blocks: Dawson-Boyd 1 (Swenson).

Fouls: Dawson-Boyd 13.

Turnovers: Dawson-Boyd 13.

No. 3 Lakeview 62, No. 6 KMS 49

The No. 3 Lakeview boys basketball team closed out the afternoon’s set of games with a matchup against No. 6 Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg and used a complete and balanced scoring attack before holding off a late Saints rally to advance in the Section 3A Tournament with a 62-49 win.

The Lakers got out to a quick start on offense, using a 9-2 run to kick off the scoring, before KMS answered with a 6-0 run of its own to cut it to 9-8 with 12:30 left. The two teams would trade points over the next few minutes, as Lakeview got a 3-pointer from Parker Hoffman and a layup from Aaron Loe to give the Lakers a 14-12 lead with nine minutes to play.

Neither team would build a lead greater than a couple of points throughout the majority of the half, with the Lakers and Saints have an answer for each basket that went through. A 3-pointer from Jarod Goepferich of the Lakers made it 25-20 with three minutes to go before Lakeview took a 27-22 advantage at halftime.

Unlike its opening counterpart, the second half got out to a slower start, as neither team could find the scoring groove before a Tyler Imes 3-pointer gave Lakeview its first double digit lead of the night at 34-22.

The Saints, who had been held scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half, got a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 15 at 45-30 with 9:30 to go before pulling to within 12 a minute later. KMS continued to chip away at Lakeview’s lead down the stretch, getting to within 10 with two minutes left before making it a single-digit game at 53-44 with 1:15 remaining. The Lakers remained calm, though, and shut the Saints down the rest of the way while capitalizing on their trips to the free-throw line to hang on for the 62-49 victory.

Lakeview coach Jared Keaveny said he was extremely pleased with the effort from his team and thought they played a hard-fought, complete game.

“The effort was fantastic; from start to finish that was probably the most complete 36 minutes that we’ve played all year. KMS is a great team and they’ll be even better as the years go on,” Keaveny said. “I thought we just played hard and got some bounces here or there and were able to disrupt their rhythm and hold them off down the stretch.”

Jon Wyffels led the way for the Lakers with 15 points while Tate Varpness and Imes each added 11. Varpness led in rebounds with 12 while Goepferich led in blocks with five.

Lakeview (17-9) will face Dawson-Boyd next week in the semifinal round. Keaveny said their biggest takeaway is just to keep on improving with each day.

“We’ve just got to improve on everything. I thought we played a very good game but we can always be better and focus on the things that we did and continue to make them better,” Keaveny said. “That’s how you continue to win in the playoffs.”

KMS 22 27 – 49

Lakeview 27 35 – 62

Scoring: Lakeview 22-51, 43 percent (Wyffels 3-12, 7-8 15; Varpness 5-13, 1-6 11; Imes 4-8, 0-1 11; Loe 3-6, 0-0 7; Hoffman 2-2, 0-0 6; Goepferich 2-6, 0-1 5; French 2-3, 0-0 4; Fenske 1-1, 0-0 3).

Rebounds: Lakeview 36 (Varpness 12; French 9; Goepferich 5).

Assists: Lakeview 10 (Varpness 5; Wyffels 2).

Steals: Lakeview 4 (Wyffels, French 2).

Blocks: Lakeview 6 (Goepferich 5; Varpness 1).