ST. PAUL — The Stewartville boys basketball team took home a trophy in its first ever appearance at the state tournament.
The Tigers earned a fifth-place finish when they claimed the consolation title with a 56-55 victory over St. Francis on Thursday at Concordia University.
"It's nice to be one of the three teams in our division that gets to end the season on a win," Stewartville coach Parker Lyga said.
Sophomore Parker Wangen's late basket lifted Stewartville to victory. The Tigers were down 55-53 when Wangen drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 33 seconds to play.
"That was smooth, it was perfect," Lyga said of Wangen's winning basket.
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St. Francis then worked for a final shot, but the Tigers had a defensive stand to secure the victory.
Wangen also hit a 3-pointer from over halfcourt right before the buzzer to give Stewartville a 36-25 lead at the half.
"We played a better first half than a second half, but a win's a win," Lyga said.
Henry Tschetter paced the Tigers with 19 points while Ayden Helder had a strong overall game with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists. Wangen added nine points.
Matthew Bothun, a 6-foot-9 senior who will play college ball at Division I University of North Dakota, led St. Francis (18-14) with 24 points.
Stewartville finishes the season with a 27-5 record and the Tigers set a school record for most wins in a season.
No. 3 seed DeLaSalle (26-5) and No. Totino Grace (23-8) will play for the Class AAA championship on Saturday. DeLaSalle slipped past Stewartville 71-66 in the state quarterfinal round.
Stewartville 56, St. Francis 55
STEWARTVILLE (56)
Parker Wangen 9 P, 2 R, 2 3-PT; Henry Tschetter 19 P, 3 R; Tegan Malone 6 P, 4 R, 2 3-PT; Jason Shindelar 5 P, 5 R, 1 3-PT; Caleb Jannsen 5 P, 2 R; Ayden Helder 10 P, 6 R, 5 A; Caleb Bancroft 2 P, 1 R.
ST. FRANCIS (55)
Matthew Bothun 24 P, 2 3-PT.
Halftime: STEW 36, ST 25.
Free throws: STEW 3-7, ST 15-21.
Three-point goals: STEW 5-10, ST 8-19.
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