Boys basketball: New London-Spicer Wildcats suffer a stunning loss

Mar. 12—MARSHALL — It was an in-bounds play they had practiced all season. With 1.5 seconds left and the Section 3AA-North championship on the line, there was no question about whether it would be run and who was going to get the ball.

The "who" was Wyatt Moehrle, with Noah Stommes as a decoy. The 6-foot-4 sophomore forward cut into the lane and flung up a 10-foot floater that sank as time ran out for the Eden Valley-Watkins boys basketball team.

It gave the Eagles a 56-54 victory over New London-Spicer on Saturday at the R/A Facility on the Southwest Minnesota State University campus.

"It's a play we've run all year in practice," said Eagles head coach Jake Anderson. "The kids knew how it was run. They knew how to execute it and it was all the kids, to be honest with you.

"It's the play the kids knew they wanted. It's all them."

The second-seeded Eagles advance to the Section 3AA final at 5 p.m. Wednesday at SMSU. Eden Valley-Watkins takes on Redwood Valley, which won 56-54 with some dramatics of its own at the end to beat Montevideo in the 3AA-South final.

It's Eden Valley-Watkins' first final appearance since 2018, when the Eagles lost to St. Cloud Cathedral in the Section 5AA championship.

For fifth-seeded NLS, this one hurt.

The Wildcats (16-13) rebounded a missed attempt by Eden Valley-Watkins as time was winding down. Two Wildcats — Aedan Andreasen and Grant Paffrath — came down with the rebound and in the scrum to secure it underneath the basket, were called for a travel.

That gave the ball back to Eden Valley-Watkins underneath the basket with 1.5 seconds to play. After each team took a timeout to set things up, Moehrle cut into the lane, where teammate Landon Neiman flung him the in-bounds pass. Moehrle sank the shot. Pandemonium erupted. Moehrle ran in the opposite direction of the basket and was mobbed by teammates, where the Eagles piled up on the floor.

"Honestly, it's these kids; they work their tails off," Anderson said. "They leave everything they have — their heart and soul —on the floor.

"Hard work and energy when you struggle in the relentless pursuit of a goal is what pays off. And today it paid off."

NLS had a 32-25 at halftime and led most of the way.

"They are an amazing team," Anderson of the Wildcats. "They've been playing really well lately and they've got guys that are just athletic. They have all the talent and they're well coached."

NLS struggled offensively in the second half. Wildcats head coach Skip Wright admitted it's been an issue down the stretch of an arduous schedule that included numerous back-to-back contests.

"We've kind of counted on our defense the last four or five games," Wright admitted.

It almost worked. The Eagles got their first lead of the second half with 8:09 to play, making a basket on their third try to go up 41-40 after trailing 36-29 at one point.

The teams traded baskets the rest of the way. NLS took a 54-50 lead with 3:07 to go on a drive by Mason Delzer, who finished with 19 points.

Eden Valley-Watkins scored the next two baskets, tying it up at 54-54 with 1:59 to go on back-door play that Moehrle laid in.

There was an Eagles' turnover, a missed NLS shot inside that included a lot of contact and then Eden Valley-Watkins wound up with the ball with 42.6 seconds to go. The Eagles' first attempt to win was missed. NLS momentarily had the rebound and then came the travel call.

"I thought there was a 98% chance we were going to overtime at that point," Wright said.

Instead, Moehrle won it for the Eagles and the Wildcats had a really tough loss.

"I really wanted to see these guys have that experience of playing for a championship," Wright said. "They fought and scratched and clawed their way all season long."I told the kids if we don't curl up in a fetal position we're going to be OK. ... It's tough. I'm really going to miss this senior class. The senior leadership was unbelievable. It's a real special group."

NLS (16-13) 32 22 — 54

EV-W (23-6) 25 31 — 56

NLS — Scoring: Brycen Christensen 13, Aedan Andresen 13, Mason Delzer 19, Grant Paffrath 4, Gabe Rohman 3, Nixon Harrier 2... 3-point shots: Andresen 1, Christensen 1, Andresen 1 ... Rebound leader: n/a ... Assist leader: n/a ... Steal leader: n/a ... Block leader: n/a

EV-W — Scoring: Nolan Geislinger 4, Noah Stommes 20, Wyatt Moehre 21, Landon Neiman 4, Parker Schultz 6, Myles Dziengel 1 ... 3-point shots: Moehrle 1 ... Rebound leader: n/a ... Assist leader: n/a ... Steal leader: n/a ... Block leader: n/a