Jack Gilbertson’s second and third buzzer-beater shots of the postseason helped Wahpeton erase a nine-point deficit, but Beulah prevailed in Thursday’s state quarterfinal
The fifth-seeded Wahpeton Huskies fell to the fourth-seeded Beulah Miners, 56-51, in the opening round of the Division “A” State Tournament at the Fargodome Thursday.
Wahpeton opened the game on a 14-6 run, before Beulah scored 11 unanswered to build a 25-24 halftime lead. The damage would’ve been worse if it wasn’t for Jack Gilbertson’s buzzer-beater at the break.
Gilbertson inbounded the ball to Trey King, who shoveled it back to the guard at the opposing free-throw line. Gilbertson proceeded to race down the court and rattle home a full-speed three at the horn.
Gilbertson struck again with a three off the dribble moments before the third-quarter buzzer, helping the Huskies trim an eight-point lead to five and giving him three buzzer-beaters this postseason.
Cooper Koolmo started the fourth quarter and delivered his second straight clutch performance. The sophomore scored all six of his points in the final frame, including an isolation jumper to beat the shot clock. Koolmo and Aiden Bontjes connected to give Wahpeton a one-point lead on two separate occasions, but Beulah closed on a 7-2 run to win the ballgame.
In an anticlimactic finish to a hard-fought game, Beulah turned a 49-49 game with 59 seconds left into a four-point lead with consecutive trips to the foul line via non-shooting fouls. Wahpeton was whistled for a foul during a free-throw box out, and another for a hold when the Huskies thought they had poked the ball free in the backcourt.
Beulah buried 13 of 17 foul shots in the contest to secure the win, while Wahpeton shot 6 of 8 at the stripe.
The Miners were led by a big game from Philip Weidner, who collected 21 points and nine rebounds while making all seven of his free throws. Braylen Schirado added 17 points and Bennett Larson supplied 10 rebounds and four assists.
The Huskies were paced by Brayden Steffens’ 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting. The senior added a game-high three steals. Gilbertson posted 11 points, Bontjes tallied 10 and Alex Comings finished with eight rebounds and a game-high three blocks.
Wahpeton plays eighth-seeded Dunseith for a trip to the fifth-place game at 2:45 p.m. Friday on AM 1450 and KBMWNews.com.
