Blossoms blow out Knights 72-47
Blooming Prairie point guard Gabe Staloch fires a three right in front of the Awesome Blossoms’ student section. Staloch nailed the shot to help build Blooming Prairie’s second-half lead. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
No. 1 Blooming Prairie boys basketball rallied back from a slow first half to put a 25-point beating on No. 8 Kenyon-Wanamingo and advance to the Section 1A quarterfinals.
Kenyon-Wanamingo utilized some sharp three-point shooting to keep the game close in the first half and took a lead at 33-32 as time expired on a buzzer-beater shot from the left wing.
“The message was to stick to the game plan. The guys we were letting shoot were making shots. I have to give credit to the boys. They stuck to the game plan and started taking really good shots in the second half, and that was the difference,” said Blooming Prairie head coach Cam Rutledge.
The two sides kept the game close in the opening minutes of the second half, but it was Blooming Prairie that jumped out to the first solid lead.
The Blossoms controlled the game by eight points just seven minutes into the second half, and a combination of stingy defense and lights-out three-point shooting was enough to build the lead to 25 points when the final buzzer sounded.
Blooming Prairie will now advance to play the winner of No. 4 Southland and No. 5 Kingsland, which will be decided later tonight.