Braham became the last seeded team standing in the Minnesota Class AA boys basketball tournament after pulling off an extremely impressive 86-77 victory over top-seed and No. 1 ranked St. Croix Lutheran in the March 11 semifinals at the Target Center.
Sticking with their m.o. of pushing the ball to put pressure on the opposing defense and racking up fouls on the Crusaders, the Bombers edged ever so slightly ahead with a 39-33 half-time lead when John Larson scored 11, and both Ryan Larson and Alec Olson had nine points.
Braham opened up a 51-50 game when the Larsons traded buckets on a 9-0 run. A couple of Chris Olson ‘3s’ and Alec Olson scoring off the team breaking SCL’s press created more space. But Ade Murkey finished strongly for the Crusaders, including slamming down a highlight-reel offensive board as things remained tense until the final 24 seconds or so.
John Larson on the team confidence taking the Target Center court for the semifinals: “It was really high. I mean, we had Albany, we had these other good teams we played this season. And we were like, ‘Why not us? We’re good. We put the time in. We believe in each other.’ So we’re 30-2 now.”
The Bombers will take on either Jackson County Central in the Saturday, March 12 “AA” championship at the Target Center. The Huskies are led by 6’9″ Bodey Behrends and guard Matt Ringkob.
