Class A: Championship Night Preview
CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP:
No. 2 Madison vs. No. 5 Tea Area 8 p.m.
It’s here. Class A State Championship. Rematch. Redemption. Repeat. Defend.
Those are a couple of the keywords centered around this state championship game. Tea Area vs. Madison for the State Championship, it’s a rematch of the title game from last year. Tea Area got the best of the Bulldogs in the game that mattered.
Earlier this year when they played, Madison started out hot and continued to stay hot en route to a 76-59 win. No. 1 prospect in the class of 2019 Noah Friedel injured his knee in the second half. He returned but only for a couple of minutes before he left the game for good.
This game is sure to be a closer game than the one played in Madison, both teams are coming off exciting second-round games last night.
For Tea, they upset the favorite and undefeated Sioux Falls Christian. This is only the second time Tea has defeated the Chargers since coach Fechner took the reins seven years ago. They out-hustled, out-played and outshot the Chargers last night. They used a huge third quarter to open up at one time a 17-point lead and eventually won 76-68. Four starters were in double-digits in scoring led by Noah Friedel with 29.
For Madison, they dominated much of the game leading by 17 at one point. Then Sioux Valley was able to get their big guy Trevor Hanson touches down low. The Cossacks made a run towards the end of the third quarter thanks to an eight-point quarter from Trevor Olson. They cut the lead all the way down to two points, but costly turnovers down the stretch doomed Sioux Valley and Madison escaped with the 58-55 win.
Keys: Plain and simple if the Titans share the ball and create open shots like they did last night they are hard to beat. As usual, if Friedel stays healthy the Titans are in good shape to repeat. Justin Hohn needs to stay out of foul trouble, he did an excellent job of staying in the game last night. If they hit their three’s as efficient as they did last night that will be a crucial part as well (42%).
For Madison, they need the big three (Janke twins & Aaron Fiegen) to perform at their best tonight. In most games they can use their quickness, but not against Tea. They have a high advantage with Fiegen down low, it’ll be interesting to see how they use him.
Prediction: Tea Area defends their title.
No. 1 Sioux Falls Christian vs. No. 3 Sioux Valley 6 p.m.
One day after losing their perfect record the Chargers will look to end the season on a high note.
Sioux Valley looked to have no energy for three-fourths of the game last night against Madison, but made a late run and almost capped off an amazing comeback before a few costly turnovers late losing 58-55.
Sioux Falls Christian was in a dogfight the whole entire game after trading the lead several times in the first half the Chargers didn’t even sniff a lead in the second half as they trailed by 17 at one point. They tried to make a comeback amping up their full-court pressure but the closest they ever got was eight or nine points. Several clutch free throws by Friedel sealed the win for the Titans.
Keys: For Sioux Falls Christian, they need to go back to playing Chargers basketball, it looked like they were out of their element last night. Feed it into Mitchell Goodbary he had 30 the night before. If they press full court Sioux Valley might have trouble bringing the ball up which could turn into several transition layups.
For Sioux Valley, they have a considerable height advantage. Things started to go right for them last night when they started giving touches to Trevor Hanson down low. Trevor Olson and Max Nielson need to help out Hanson in the scoring department as well. Another huge thing will be rebounding and limiting turnovers if Sioux Falls Christian decided to put on the pressure.
Predicition: Sioux Falls Christian