Southland Rebels boys basketball team falls to Randolph 59-51 in Section 1A tournament Thursday evening

In a game you heard on AM 1480 KAUS, the Southland Rebels boys basketball team, the No. 10 seed in a loaded Section 1A tournament field traveled to Randolph to take on the seventh-seeded Rockets in the tournament’s second round Thursday evening, and it was the Rockets advancing with a 59-51 win.

The Rebels held a 3-0 lead at the start of the game, only to see the Rockets go on a 9-3 run to take a lead they would not relinquish.  Three 3-point field goals from senior guard JJ Root, another from fellow senior guard Quinn Sabila and 10 first half points from senior forward Tyson Cooreman helped Randolph claim a 28-19 lead at the half, and the Rockets opened the second half on a 13-4 run to open up their biggest lead of the game at 14 points at 44-30.  Southland rallied back with a 10-2 run of their own to cut Randolph’s lead to two possessions at 46-40, but another 3-pointer from Root helped the Rockets respond with a quick 5-0 run to widen their lead back to 11 points at 51-40.  The Rebels again tried to rally and cut the lead to 56-47 with just over 2 minutes to play, but they were forced to foul to stop the clock, and the Rockets were able to do just enough from the free throw line to seal the win.

Senior guard Cale Wehrenberg led Southland in scoring Thursday evening with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, forward Nick Edland added 10 points, guard Jonas Wiste chipped in seven points, Noah Bauer tallied four points, Isaac Felten and Noah Goergen each scored three points and Gavin Nelson, Andrew Timm and Sam Boe all tallied two points apiece.

The Rebels season comes to an end with a record of 15-11, while the Rockets move to 16-10 on the season with the win, and they advance to play No. 2 seed Spring Grove in the Section 1A quarterfinals next Tuesday night at the Rochester Civic Center Auditorium, with tip off at 7:30 p.m. that evening.