Minnesota State Tournament Finals Recaps

Four Minnesota state boys basketball champions were crowned at the Target Center Saturday with Ellsworth winning its second consecutive Class A title, AA champ New Lonsdon Spicer ruining a perfect season, Class AAA winner Benidle St. Margaret getting revenge and Class AAAA top seed Minnetonka making a great comeback.

Minnetonka, the No. 1 seed, rallied from a 22-point deficit to defeat Henry Sibley 68-59 in the Class AAAA title game. Henry Sibley scored the first 12 points of the game as the Skippers missed their first eight shots and committed six turnovers.

Sibley led 33-11 with 3:16 left in the first half, but didn't score the rest of the half. C.J. Erickson's three-pointer at the buzzer cut the margin to 33-20 at halftime. The Skippers were just six of 24 shots from the field in the first half.

Anthony Tucker hit a three-pointer to give Minnetonka its first lead at 43-42 with 10:52 remaining, a lead they would never surrender.

The Skippers were 18 of 27 (66.7%) from the field in the second half.

Tucker, who signed with Iowa, led all scorers with 27 points, including 20 in the second half. He made six of eight shots from the field in the second stanza and was 10-for-10 from the line.

Tyler Schilling, who is headed to Division II St. Michael's, added 14 and Erickson had eight points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.

Peter Leslie led Henry Sibley with 17 points as he made seven of 11 shots from the field. Maurice Hernandez had 13 points and reserve Kavon Martin added 11. Recent Wisconsin commit Mike Bruesewitz had nine points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Top Class AAA seed Benilde-St. Margaret got revenge for last year's 66-50 championship game loss to St. Thomas Academy with a 58-52 win.

Benilde-St. Margaret (29-3) jumped out to a 17-6 lead and was up 35-21 at halftime before the Cadets went on a 12-3 run to start the second half.

Wisconsin signee Jordan Taylor had 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Senior forward Armand Battle, who is headed to Tulsa, added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Senior center Alex Schneider, who will play football next fall at Holy Cross, had game-high 27 points and 12 caroms. The Cadets shot just 33.3 percent from the field.

New London Spicer rallied from a 30-26 halftime deficit to end Crosby-Ironton's perfect season with a 59-51 win in the Class AA title game.

New London Spicer was led by 19 points from Skylar Wachter.

Crosby-Ironton was paced by Joe McLaughlin with 13 points. Bryce Tesdahl added 12 points and Derek Swanhorst had 10.

Ellsworth (31-2) won their second straight Class A title with a 81-63 win over Minnesota Transitions (28-5).

Cody Schilling, who became the state's all-time leading scorer earlier this week, paced the Panthers with 31 points, including 24 in the second half. He made 13 of 16 free throws as he helped seal the victory. Schilling added 10 rebounds and seven assists in the win.

Adam Van Der Stoep added 15 points and Trevor Gruis had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the win.

Virgil Baker led Minnesota Transitions, which became the first charter school to ever advance to the state tournament, with a game-high 34 points. Sophomore Kevin Noreen finished with 17 points and 16 caroms.