Lakeville North derailed Osseo's run to perfection in the Class AAAA semifinals of the boys state basketball tournament Thursday night at Target Center.
The Section 1AAAA champion Panthers beat the top-seeded Orioles 60-56, handing Osseo (30-1) its first loss of the season. The win moves No. 5 Lakeville North (26-5) into Saturday's state title game for the third time in five seasons.
The contest went back and forth in the final minutes, until Lakeville North made a couple of defensive plays that turned the tide. The first came with Osseo leading 53-52 with less than two minutes to play. Osseo senior guard Demario Armstrong stole the ball and went to the rim on a fast break with a chance to expand the Orioles' lead to three.
The only problem was that Panthers' 6-foot-10 junior forward Nathan Reuvers was in hot pursuit. Reuvers blocked the shot and senior guard Nick Fossey scored on the next possession to give Lakeville North a lead it wouldn't surrender.
Osseo had the ball while trailing by two points with less than 10 seconds to play and a chance to tie or win the game, but Fossey intercepted the inbounds pass, was fouled and hit two free throws to seal the upset.
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• Hopkins 84, Apple Valley 60: What was supposed to be the marquee matchup of the Class AAAA tournament turned out to be a lopsided contest. Hopkins led by just a point, 34-33, at halftime, but the Royals dominated the second half, outscoring the Eagles 50-27 to improve to 30-1. Xavier Johnson led Hopkins with 24 points and six rebounds. Amir Coffey added 16 points and eight rebounds. Gary Trent Jr. paced Apple Valley with 23 points.
CLASS AAA
• DeLaSalle 59, Monticello 45: The DeLaSalle boys basketball team is one victory away from a record fifth consecutive state championship. Goanar Mar scored a game-high 20 points to send the No. 1-seeded Islanders to the state title game with a 59-45 victory over No. 5 seed Monticello in a semifinal game Thursday at Target Center. DeLaSalle (23-4) will look to win its 10th title in school history on Saturday against Fergus Falls.
CLASS A
• Minneapolis North 80, St. Clair 27: North ran out to a big early lead and pulled away for a big victory. North held St. Clair to just nine points in the second half. North had five players finish in double figures in scoring, led by Tyler Johnson with 14 points. Isaac Johnson added 10 points and eight rebounds.
• Red Lake 66, Browerville 52: No. 5-seeded Red Lake built an 11-point halftime lead against Browerville then held a consistent double-figures lead throughout the second half. Kendall Whitefeather scored a game-high 18 points for Red Lake, while Rob McClain added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Bryce Irsfeld led Browerville with 14 points.
• Central Minnesota Christian 50, Mountain Iron-Buhl 32: CMC's defense was at its best from the start of its Class A state quarterfinal. It held Mountain Iron-Buhl to 11 first-half points and rolled into the state semifinals with an 18-point victory. Ethan Brouwer led the way with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Taylor Slagter had a double-double, with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
