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No. 3 Waconia upsets No. 1 Benilde-St. Margaret's

By Andrew Baker, Special to the Star Tribune, 03/17/11, 11:13PM CDT

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Class 3A, Section 6 championship is a thriller

Waconia had every reason to be intimidated heading into Thursday’s Class 3A, Section 6 championship against Benilde-St. Margaret’s.

After all, when the teams last played Dec. 30, the Red Knights cruised to a 30-point home victory.

On Thursday, though, the No. 3 seed Wildcats seemed to suffer from amnesia, smacking No. 1 seed Benilde 62-60 in a thriller at Chanhassen High School.

Waconia guard Bronson Scheff attacked the rim, sending a message that Waconia had no interest in rolling over for the 22-4 Red Knights, regardless of what happened in December.

“I think sometimes you go through a season where  you might have a signature win,” Wildcats coach Pat Hayes said, explaining how the December loss was a turning point for his team. “Sometimes you also have a signature loss. I think for us that was the Benilde game.”

Scheff led the Red Knights with 21 points, 14 in the first half.

Though Waconia led by seven at halftime, Benilde was far from finished.

The second half was a boxing match, and Red Knights guard Isaiah Zierden landed a haymaker with 41/2 minutes to go, knocking down a three-pointer to put the Red Knights up 56-55.

The Wildcats kept their composure and did not allow the lead to increase, but the Red Knights would not go away.

Finally, down 62-60 with 6.3 seconds to go, Benilde inbounded the ball under its own hoop, then threw it away to Waconia guard Ben Kortuem — and that was it.

“I still don’t know if I believe it,” Kortuem, who finished with 17 points, said of the victory. “I mean, it says it on the scoreboard up there, but … It’s just a long journey and all those practices and [all the] hard work, it finally pays off.”

-- Andrew Baker is a University of Minnesota student reporter on assignment for the Star Tribune.

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