Pequot Lakes Boys’ B-Ball Falls in State Quarterfinals After Late Push from Waseca

Pequot Lakes boys’ basketball is back at the Class AA state tournament for the fourth consecutive season, but in that stretch, the Patriots have been unable to get a quarterfinal victory.

This year, 7-seed Pequot Lakes wanted to get over that hump, but standing in their way was 2-seed Waseca, who entered the state tourney a perfect 30-0. The Pats ended the Blue Jays’ season last year in the consolation semifinals in a tight three-point game.

Tuesday’s game at the Target Center was another tight one, as Waseca would knock down their free throws in the final seconds, pushing them to a 49-45 thrilling come-from-behind victory over Pequot Lakes. The Patriots were in the driver’s seat late, but in the end, it was their 21 turnovers that made the difference.

“This year we were even closer [to winning],” said senior forward Harrison Kennen. “So it’s just basically a mental breakdown. The last four minutes, we just couldn’t keep our heads on.”

“It’s a whale of an opportunity, it’s a whale of an effort,” said head coach Rich Spiczka. “There’s a whole bunch of teams that are at home right now that, yeah, they don’t feel the pain we feel right now, but they didn’t have the opportunity that our guys have or the opportunity our guys are going to have tomorrow.”

For the fourth year in a row, Pequot Lakes is heading to the consolation semifinals. The last two years, they’ve won the consolation bracket, so they’ve got a chance to match that fifth place finish once again, and they’ll start again on Wednesday, March 19th against Montevideo. That game is the 8 p.m. late game at the Gangelhoff Center at Concordia St. Paul.