Third ranked Hornets to face sixth ranked Ada-Borup West

Noah Umland takes a contested shot in the lane during the second half of Saturday’s sub section semi-finals game in Perham.

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

In one of the best sub sections in Class A, let alone one of the top sections in the state, the road to the state tournament would be nothing short of a grind. 

Logan Kostelecky posted a pair of double-doubles during the opening two rounds of the sub section tournament last week. The Hornets defeated both the Underwood Rockets and Park Christian Falcons to advance to Wednesday’s sub section finals against Ada-Borup West.

With a pair of wins last week, including a commanding 67-29 win over Underwood and a 62-58 grind out win over Park Christian on Saturday, the Hornets are now two tough games away from the state tournament. The Hornets win over the Falcons on Saturday featured two teams who have been ranked among the top 10 teams in the state almost all season, a matchup more commonly seen in a section final, let alone the sub section semi-finals.

The win over the Falcons on Saturday now sets up a rematch from last year’s sub section championship between the Ada-Borup West Cougars and Henning Hornets. Last season the Cougars defeated the Hornets by a score of 69-55.

This time around the third ranked Hornets, who are 25-3 on the season and ranked 15th in the QRF, will hope to get a bit of revenge against the sixth ranked Cougars, who are 24-5 on the season and ranked seventh in the QRF

Ada-Borup West defeated Hillcrest 60-45 to advance to the sub section finals.

Eli Reinbold scored five points in Saturday’s 52-48 win over Park Christian in Perham.

The sub section finals will be held on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Perham, while the winner of the game will take on the winner of West Central Area, who is 20-8 on the season, or Benson, who is 18-10, in the Section 6A finals at Concordia College in Moorhead on Friday night. Friday’s game will begin at 7 p.m. 

Thursday

One week after needing a thrilling second half comeback to knock off sixth seeded Underwood in the regular season finale by a score of 81-71, the Henning basketball team pulled off a commanding 67-29 win over the Underwood Rockets in the sub section quarterfinals on Thursday night. 

In front of a packed crowd, which featured standing room only, the Hornets jumped out to a 26-12 lead at halftime and continued to pour it on in the second half as they advanced to the sub section semi-finals on Saturday.

Trevor Arndt lines up a shot late in Thursday’s sub section quarterfinals game against Underwood.

“Great atmosphere tonight in front of a packed house in Henning. Playoff basketball has a different feel and tonight was no exception,” said head coach Randy Misegades.

The Hornets shot 42 percent from the field and knocked down an impressive 13-29 shots from behind the 3-point line. They also finished with 15 assists on 24 made shots from the floor.

As well as the Hornets played on offense it was their defense that led the charge. Henning forced 16 turnovers and held Underwood to just 18 percent shooting on 9-49 from the field. 

“Our guys put together a really solid defensive game tonight. That end of the floor is what wins games in March,” said Misegades. 

Logan Kostelecky led the way offensively with a solid night from the floor as he went 9-13 shooting to finish with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Kale Misegades scored 19 points to go along with six rebounds, while Noah Umland hit three 3-pointers to finish with nine points and Ryan Despard went a perfect 3-3 from the floor to finish with eight points.

Dawson Bushman and Mason Samuelson defend a pair of Underwood ball handlers during Thursday’s game in Henning.

Teigan Bjerke scored four points, Beck Thorson and Eli Reinbold each scored three points and Dawson Misegades rounded out the scoring with one point.  

POINTS: Thorson 3, Bjerke 4, Despard 8, Reinbold 3, Misegades 19, Umland 9, Kostelecky 20, Misegades 1

ASSISTS: Bushman 1, Bjerke 3, Despard 2, Reinbold 3, Misegades 3, Kostelecky 1, Misegades 2

REBOUNDS: Bjerke 5, Despard 1, Reinbold 4, Misegades 6, Umland 1, Kostelecky 15, Bjerke 1, Samuelson 1, Misegades 3, Grabe 1

STEALS: Bjerke 1, Despard 1, Reinbold 1, Misegades 3, Umland 1, Kostelecky 1, Bjerke 2, Misegades 2

Saturday

Devan Wiederich tries to drive to the basket during Thursday’s game in Henning.

In a sub section that features three teams among the top ranked teams in the state, the route to the sub section finals and a rematch against Ada-Borup West in the sub section finals went through Park Christian on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons came into the game with a record of 23-4 overall and were ranked 21st in the QRF. In the regular season finale the Falcons defeated Nevis, who was ranked fifth in the state and is the top seed in Section 5A.

The Hornets led 10-2 early in the first half, only to have the Falcons claw back into the game and briefly take a lead, before Henning was able to take a 27-19 lead at halftime.

In the second half the Hornets pushed their lead to 22 points at one point, before Park Christian got hot from the 3-point range late in the half when Henning was trying to run out the clock. Henning went on to defeat Park Christian by a score of 62-58 to advance to the sub section championship game against Ada-Borup West.

“Great win for our guys against one of the best teams in Class A basketball,” said head coach Randy Misegades. “We’ll take a win any way we can in March and we’re looking forward to practicing again on Monday.”

Henning struggled a bit from the field as they shot just 42 percent on 21-49 shooting and hit just 6-19 shots from the 3-point line. The Hornets also missed a number of free throws down the stretch and shot just 14-24 from the charity stripe.

Despite the slow night shooting, the Hornet defense proved to be too much for Park Christian to overcome as Henning the Falcons to just 36 percent shooting and forced 13 turnovers.

“Even though we weren’t sharp on the offensive end, we were really locked in defensively for most of the game. We stretched our lead to 22 at one point before things got a little weird late in the game. We missed some free throws and Park Christian banked in a few 3’s to make it interesting,” said Misegades. 

The Hornets were led offensively by Kale Misegades who scored 20 points. He also pulled down 10 rebounds and led the way with six assists.

Logan Kostelecky also finished with a double-double as he scored 14 points to go along with 13 rebounds, while Teigan Bjerke scored 11 points and finished with six assists. 

Noah Umland knocked down a pair of key 3-pointers to finish with nine points, while Eli Reinbold was a perfect 2-2 from the field to finish with five points and Ryan Despard rounded out the scoring with three points.

POINTS: Bjerke 11, Despard 3, Reinbold 5, Misegades 20, Umland 9, Kostelecky 14

ASSISTS: Bjerke 6, Misegades 6, Umland 1

REBOUNDS: Bjerke 3, Reinbold 3, Misegades 10, Umland 2, Kostelecky 13, Misegades 1

STEALS: Misegades 4, Kostelecky 3