International Falls’ ninth-grade boys basketball team dropped its first two games before winning the third-place consolation contest at Sunday’s Pacesetter Minnesota State Basketball Championship held in the Clemens Field House on the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph.
Falls opened the eight-team tournament with a 40-30 loss to Rushford-Peterson. Ben Humbert led the Falls in scoring with 18 points, followed by Jack Bartkowski with seven.
“We got down nine early, and never got closer than five the rest of the game,” said Falls coach Jay Bartkowski.
Rushford-Peterson scored most of its points behind the arc and ended up with eight 3-pointers.
Falls’ second game was in the consolation bracket, where the Falls lost to Melrose, 48-33.
Cole Miggins led the Falls with 14 points, while Humbert added six.
“Defensively, we just didn’t play very well the second game,” Jay Bartkowski said.
Falls won its third and final game in the third-place consolation contest by defeating Mound-Westonka, 46-34.
Humbert led the Falls with 22 points, followed by Miggins with eight and Jack Bartkowski with six.
“We played a little better that game,” Jay Bartkowski said. “We moved the ball a little better offensively.”
Jay Bartkowski coached Falls’ ninth-graders along with Cory Miggins.
“All in all, it was a fun weekend,” Jay Bartkowski said.
Hawley, which defeated Rushford-Peterson in the semifinals, went on to win the championship game, 27-14, over Barnesville.
Rushford-Peterson won the game for third place overall against Crookston, while Melrose won the consolation title game over Holy Family.
Both Hawley and Barnesville have qualified for this Saturday’s eight-team “Great Four-State Championships” to be played at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The six other teams include: Fargo Shanley and Rugby from North Dakota; Madison and Warner from South Dakota; and Collins-Maxwell-Baxter and Sioux City West from Iowa.
