ST. PAUL— Caledonia bounced back from a loss in the state semifinals to capture third place at the Class AA boys basketball state tournament on Saturday.
Fourth-seeded Caledonia closed its season on a winning note, topping Fairmont 79-65 in the third-place game at Concordia College. Caledonia had dropped a tight 81-76 game to top-seeded Annandale in the semifinals.
Caledonia senior guard Austin Bauer had 19 of his 21 points in the second half as the Warriors pulled away in the final 18 minutes. Bauer, who made seven 3-pointers in a state quarterfinal victory, was 4-for-6 from behind the arc against Fairmont.
Kyle Sorenson, a 6-foot-7 junior,made his presence known inside with his second straight double-double at state. He had 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Colton Lampert came off the bench to score 18 points for the Warriors while 6-3 senior center West Spier chipped in with 16 points, on 6-for-9 shooting, and seven rebounds.
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The Warriors led 30-23 at the half before stretching their lead to as many as 20 points in the second half. They shot 46.3 percentfrom the field and held a 40-31 rebounding advantage. Caledonia was 22-for-27 at the line, including a 10-for-11 effort by Sorenson. Lampert was 5-for-6 at the line.
Fairmont was led in scoring by a trio of players, Mitch Pfingsten, Jay Ruen and Josh Eversman with 16, 15 and 14 points. Ruen had eight rebounds. Fairmont shot 38.6 percentfrom the field.
Caledonia finishes the season 29-3.
Bauer and Sorenson were both named to the Class AA All-Tournament team.
Caledonia 79, Fairmont 65
FAIRMONT (59)
Mitch Pfingsten 16, Luke Becker 9, Josh Eversman 14, Jay Ruen 15, Nick Roggow 6, Parker Monsen 1, Taylor Beebe 2, Derek Hunwardsen 2.
Other stats:13 turnovers.
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No. 4 CALEDONIA (79)
Josh Nord 3, Colton Lampert 18, Kyle Sorenson 18, Austin Bauer 21, Owen King 3, West Spier 16, Justin Burg 0, Tanner Gran 0, Henry Russert 0, Ethan DuCharme 0, Gavin Schroeder 0, Tristin Ott 0.
Other stats:13 turnovers.
Halftime:CAL 30, FAIR 23.
Free throws:FAIR 14-22, CAL 22-27. Field goals:FAIR 22-57, CAL 25-54.
Three-point goals:FAIR 7-26 (Becker 3, Ruen 2, Pfingsten 1, Eversman 1), CAL 7-18 (Bauer 4, Nord 1, King 1, Lampert 1).
Rebounds:FAIR 31 (Ruen 8, Pfingsten 6), CAL40 (Sorenson 10, Spier 7, Lampert 4, Burg 4). Assists:FAIR13 (Pfingsten 5), CAL 11 (Bauer 2, King 2, Nord 2, Spier 2).
