State power DeLaSalle ends Stewartville's hopes of a state title in boys basketball

Mar. 21—MINNEAPOLIS — There will be no state championship for the Stewartville boys basketball team, but the Tigers can pride themselves on the stellar season they've had.

Unseeded Stewartville had a solid start in Class AAA state quarterfinal action on Tuesday, but the Tigers couldn't maintain that play against a strong DeLaSalle squad, the No. 3 seed.

DeLaSalle has won four Class AAA state titles since 2015 and the Islanders showed their 2022-23 squad is a championship contender too as they held off Stewartville 71-66 in the state opener at Williams Arena.

"I've got a bunch of hard-working kids and they give 100 percent effort all of the time," Stewartville coach Parker Lyga said.

While Stewartville was playing in its first state tournament, DeLaSalle has the expectation of making deep tournament runs nearly every year.

"Our coach talks about it all the time," Islanders senior Riley Blaylark said. "We think it's a power that lifts us up, the legacy that has been created before us, and we just feel it's our job to carry the torch."

Stewartville might have been playing in its first state tournament in boys basketball, but the Tigers made a strong showing. And that came after the team started the season 2-3 and had to think about what they wanted to accomplish this season.

"We started pretty poorly; I think we lost three of our first five games," Stewartville junior Henry Tschetter said. "We knew that wasn't us and we've only lost one game since until tonight. So we've really taken off."

In the state quarterfinals, the Tigers got off to a flying start. They led 13-5 seven minutes into the game. But the Islanders started knocking down 3-pointers and getting strong inside play from 6-foot-6 PJ Pounds to go on a 19-2 run for a 24-15 lead.

"The last 8 minutes (of the half) we played their style of basketball and they kind of got us to a point where we couldn't execute," Lyga said.

Pounds was a big force for DeLaSalle. He came off the bench to score 20 points, 12 in the first half, as the Islanders took a 35-23 lead at the break.

"Coming into the game I just knew my team needed a spark so I just tried to deliver," Pounds said.

Stewartville (25-5) battled DeLaSalle tough the entire second half and was in the game down the stretch. The Tigers trailed just 57-54 with 5 minutes to play.

"Stewartville is well coached and they brought it today," DeLaSalle coach Todd Anderson said.

"I thought we did a good job of handling their press for the most part, especially in the second half when we needed to take care of the basketball," Anderson added.

The Tigers could just never get a big steal against DeLaSalle (25-5). The Islanders held tough against Stewartville's pressure and made 6 of 8 free throws in the final minute of play to seal the win and move to the state semifinals.

"I guess we needed a big play there at the end," Tschetter said. "I thought we made some, but we needed a big one but didn't get it. It wasn't because of a lack of effort. They're a good team and handle the ball well."

Anderson said there were a couple of very close plays that if the Tigers had come up with the ball, it could have turned the tide in their favor. But the Islanders turned the ball over just 10 times compared to 17 for Stewartville.

Stewartville held Islanders guard Nasir Whitlock, a Division I recruit, to six points in the first half. But he scored 12 in the second half and finished with 18 points and 10 assists.

"I just came out and played my game and took what the defense gave me," Whitlock said.

Tegan Malone, Tschetter and sophomore Parker Wangen all scored 14 points for Stewartville.

The Tigers will play Hermantown in the consolation semifinals at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Concordia University, St. Paul.

"We're definitely not going to give up and we're going to try and get two more wins on the season," Wangen said.

One more win would give the Tigers the most wins in a single season for Stewartville boys basketball. Despite Tuesday's loss, the Tigers have won 23 of their past 25 games.

"That's a testament to how hard these guys work and how much they buy in," Lyga said.

DeLaSalle 71, Stewartville 66

No. 3 DeLaSALLE (71)

Nasir Whitlock 18, 4 R, 10 A, 2 3-PT; Isreal Moses V 13 P, 1 3-PT; Jaden Morgan 6 P, 2 3-PT; Riley Blaylark 6 P, 4 R, 5 A, 1 3-PT; Aidan Higgins 2 P; PJ Pounds II 20 P; De'Von Irvin 6 P.

STEWARTVILLE (66)

Parker Wangen 14 P, 5 R, 1 3-PT; Henry Tschetter 14 P, 7 R, 4 A; Brady Pickett 4 P, 1 3-PT; Tegan Malone 14 P, 4 R, 6 A, 3 3-PT; Jason Shindelar 3 P, 1 3-PT; Caleb Jannsen 9 P; Ayden Helder 8 P.

Halftime: DLS 35, STEW 23.

Free throws: DLS 19-25, STEW 11-19.

Three-point goals: DLS 8-15, STEW 7-14. Field goals: DLS 22-44, STEW 24-47.

Rebounds: DLS 19, STEW 27. Turnovers: DLS 10, STEW 17.