BOYS BASKETBALL: Cass Lake-Bena dominates Red Lake 77-31 for 8A East championship

Mar. 24—CASS LAKE — It's often said that basketball is a game of runs. The Cass Lake-Bena boys basketball team made the most of that statement, going on what felt like a game-long run in a 77-31 thumping of Red Lake in Tuesday's Section 8A Tournament semifinals in Cass Lake.

"We've been waiting to feel like this all season," CLB junior forward Leroy Fairbanks said. "When we're rolling, it seems like we're unstoppable."

The Panthers booked their place back in the Section 8A championship game behind an offense that never slowed down, a defense that didn't let up and a dominance that couldn't be matched.

Tuesday's 46-point margin was Cass Lake-Bena's second-biggest win of the season and Red Lake's worst defeat since a 47-point loss to Minneapolis North in the 2017 state tournament.

"The boys bought in to the game plan," CLB head coach John Wind said. "With our full team, when they follow the game plan and they play good defense, we play well. We played well for both halves, the first half into the second half."

The Panthers clinched their fourth straight East subsection title with the victory. Cass Lake-Bena will meet Badger/Greenbush-Middle River, the West's No. 2 seed, for the Section 8A championship at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls.

"Last year, we were pretty happy we made (the section final), but the pandemic stopped it, of course," Fairbanks said. "Being back here again, it feels great. ... We just want to put another banner up on the wall."

The top-seeded Panthers (18-3) and third-seeded Warriors (12-8) took a little time to settle into things. Red Lake led 7-6 through five minutes on Joshua Graves' press-breaking layup, but Fairbanks answered with a 3-pointer, and Cass Lake-Bena never looked back.

The Fairbanks triple sparked a 13-1 run that put CLB in front 19-8, but the biggest burst was still to come. Over a six-minute stretch late in the first half, the Panthers scored 19 straight points.

"The thing with Red Lake is they were focusing on Leroy," Wind said. "Leroy is our leading scorer, and he can pretty much hit from wherever if you leave him wide open. I think they focused on him too much, and they left our shooters open. Then they focused on our shooters, and that left these guys who usually don't score a lot wide open. Our guys found them."

Fairbanks had eight points during the decisive run, while five others contributed during the stretch. When it was all said and done, the scoreboard read 41-13, soon followed by a 43-16 halftime score.

"When we're rolling, it feels good, playing as a team and scoring and scoring," Fairbanks said. "It just all starts with defense, and then defense turns into offense, fast-break layups and playing with energy together as a team."

Things never tightened up in the second half, either. An early 10-2 spurt gave Cass Lake-Bena a 56-22 edge, and the difference hit 40 when Dominic Fairbanks converted a steal into a layup for a 68-28 ballgame.

Tateyn Boswell added a layup at the buzzer, giving the Panthers their largest lead all night in the 46-point drubbing.

Dominic Fairbanks and Leroy Fairbanks shared the scoring lead with 18 points apiece. Timmy Smith and Damien Lanham joined them in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Red Lake got a team-high 11 points out of Graves. The Warriors graduate seven seniors in James Beaulieu, Aaron Chaboyea, Riley Chaboyea, Andre Harrison, Delwyn Holthusen III, Brycen Lussier and Clinton White.

No. 1 Cass Lake-Bena 77, No. 3 Red Lake 31

RL 16 15 — 31

CLB 43 34 — 77

RED LAKE (12-8) — Graves 11, D. Holthusen 6, White 5, Harrison 3, T. Holthusen 3, Beaulieu 2, Thompson 1.

CASS LAKE-BENA (18-3) — D. Fairbanks 18, L. Fairbanks 18, Ti. Smith 11, Lanham 10, K. Lee 6, T. Lee 5, Sargent 5, Boswell 2, Ty. Smith 2.