Caledonia junior Austin Bauer scored 21 of his game-high 28 points in the first half, as the fourth-seeded Warriors overcame a shaky start to beat St. Paul Academy 73-53 in the Class 2A quarterfinals Wednesday night at Target Center.

Caledonia (28-2) hit 14 three-pointers — seven from Bauer and another five from eighth-grader Owen King — and shot 47.2 percent overall.

King finished with 21 points.

Making its first state tournament appearance in 17 years, Caledonia started the game 0-for-5 from the field and trailed 8-0 when head coach Josh Diersen called timeout.

He had a simple message for his team: Keep shooting.

Bauer hit three-pointers on the Warriors’ next four possessions. Caledonia went on a 14-0 run in a 2-minute,17-second stretch.

“We know we can make shots,” Bauer said afterward. “We knew that we had to just keep doing what we’re doing and trust what got us this far. And it just clicked.”

St. Paul Academy (20-9) hung with Caledonia for much of the game, five times cutting the Warriors’ lead to a single point in the second half.

Eventually, though, Caledonia’s shooting simply wore the Spartans down. Caledonia went on a 19-2 midway through the second half to pull away.

Dalante Peyton, Harrisen Egly and Kent Hanson each had 12 points for St. Paul Academy.

BRYCE EVANS


Photo gallery: Caledonia vs. St. Paul Academy