Falls to face Deer River in quarterfinals
A rematch of the regular season finale is set for 1 p.m. today in the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Romano Gymnasium when the No. 3-seeded International Falls boys basketball team will face the No. 2 seed, Deer River, in a second-round Section 7AA Tournament game.
The Broncos opened the tournament at home Wednesday night with a 77-48 victory over the No. 6 seed, Eveleth-Gilbert.
Falls head coach Derek Dowty said the Golden Bears played better in the tournament game than when the Broncos defeated them by at least 50 points in the two regular season contests.
“(Eveleth-Gilbert) shot the ball very well,” Dowty said. “They kept themselves in the game, and we just kept pushing and pushing and finally pulled it out.”
The Broncos led by only three, 15-12, after the Golden Bears’ William Olson sank a 3-pointer. Falls then called timeout with 10:16 before halftime and went on a 10-0 scoring run capped off by a field goal from John Bartkowski.
Eveleth-Gilbert responded with a 7-0 run to trail by six, 25-19, but could come no closer.
The Broncos then pulled farther ahead, leading 37-22 at halftime and extending that lead in the second half.
“(The Golden Bears) just matched all of our runs (in the first half),” Dowty said. “We couldn’t quite get over that hump, and finally in the second half, (we) made a couple of baskets, got on a nice run and shut them away.”
Josh Owen led three Bronco players in double figures with a game-high 26 points, followed by Ben Humbert with 17 and Gunnar Anderson with 10.
Zach Wood and Austin Hujunen led Eveleth-Gilbert by each scoring 12 points.
Falls’ quarterfinal opponent, Deer River, also won big at home Wednesday against the No. 7 seed, Two Harbors, 78-46.
Falls and Deer River faced each other in the FHS gym on March 2 when the Warriors edged out the Broncos, 68-65.
Dowty said a lot of the Bronco players on Wednesday were overlooking the tournament opener against Eveleth-Gilbert and already focusing on facing Deer River again in the quarterfinals.
“(Playing Deer River in the tournament has) kind of been a rivalry over the last couple years,” he said. “I know the boys will be ready to go, and hopefully we can pull that one off.”
The winner of today’s quarterfinal game will advance to the Section 7AA semifinals being held Thursday at UMD.
I. Falls 77, E-G 48
E-G 22 26 — 48
I. Falls 37 40 — 77
E-G: William Olson 9, Zach Wood 12, Dane Beise 5, Charley Kennedy 8, Austin Hujunen 12, Brandon Masters 2. 3-pointers: Hujunen 2, Olson, Kennedy. Free throws: 4-5. Fouls: 11.
I. Falls: Andre McMillion 8, John Bartkowski 6, Gunnar Anderson 10, Ben Humbert 17, Ryan Kilbride 2, Josh Owen 26, Forrest Arch 3, Matt Buhl 3, Dillon Cordts 2. 3-pointers: McMillion 2, Anderson 2, Owen, Buhl. Free throws: 12-13. Fouls: 11.
