Waseca's Ryan Dufault (12) passed the ball to teammate Kyreese Willingham (1) as Austin players defended in the first half of the Class 3A semifinal Thursday at Target Center. Photo: CARLOS GONZALEZ • cgonzalez@startribune.com
Waseca senior guard Malik Willingham became the program’s all-time leading scorer this season, but Thursday was all about capable sophomore teammates Andrew Morgan and Ryan Dufault.
The duo came through on an off day for Willingham (0-for-7 from the field), scoring a combined 53 points in the No. 2 seed Bluejays’ 79-69 victory against No. 3 Austin.
“Whenever one of our teammates is going off like that, we just try to find a way to get them the ball,” said Willingham, who scored all eight of his points on free throws. “And Ryan and Andrew both did their parts today. They felt on fire.”
No one burned brighter than Dufault. During a stretch late in the second half, he scored 10 consecutive points for his Bluejays (30-1). He finished with a game-high 30 points.
“He’s a great shooter,” Austin coach Kris Fadness said. “We just lost him.”
No. 2 seed Waseca pulled away down the stretch for a 79-69 victory against No. 3 Austin in the Class 3A semifinal Thursday at Target Center.
Ryan Dufault led the Bluejays with 30 points and teammate Andrew Morgan added 23 and had 15 rebounds.
The Bluejays (30-1), who led 36-34 at halftime, advance to Saturday’s championship game against No. 1 DeLaSalle.
Medi Obang of Austin (24-6) led the Packers with 28 points.
Check back later for more on the game.