3/9/17: Mora (Playoffs - Round 1)

Varsity: W (70-57)

Pine City Pioneer, Jesse Logan

The Section 6AA playoffs are underway and the Pine City boys basketball team is excelling. The Dragons have advanced to the section semifinals for the first time in nine years and did so in thrilling fashion. Running their record to 22-6, one of the top records in school history, this group of Dragons is riding high. With wins over Mora and Milaca in the opening rounds, Pine City is just two games away from making the State Tournament.

Pine City 70, Mora 57

The Dragons hosted the Mustangs on Thursday, March 9 after beating them just two weeks prior in the regular season. Mora defeated the Dragons twice last season, including in their playoff opener, so this game offered a chance at sweet redemption for the Dragons.

“Tough turnaround having just played Mora recently in a physical, gritty game,” said Coach Kyle Allen. “Mora is probably one of the better six seeds in the state. They’ve got some very talented ball players, most notably Cal Wright. Our boys stepped up to the challenge. They were excited but focused at the same time. We threw Jake Lunceford and Quentin Miklya at Cal Wright and I thought they did a good job.”

Although Wright did finish as the game’s leading scorer, Pine City used tough defense, solid effort on the boards, and timely shooting to advance to the section quarterfinal round. Pine City led 30-16 at the break and was able to withstand several Mora runs.

“Coming out right away we had three quick threes by three different players,” Allen said. “Then to start the second half, Clay Logan hit a really big three which was big for our momentum. Both teams were kind of feeling each other out in the first half but our scoring came on we came out with the victory. It was a lot of fun. So excited to see so much green in the crowd and a really loud crowd. Fun to have that for the boys, for the program and for the town. We want to give back to our fans, so we were happy to have a home playoff game.”

Logan led the Dragons with 20 points and made eight of 10 free throws down the stretch to preserve the lead. Nick Hansmann was the only other player in double digits with 13, while Jake Rademacher had seven points, six assists, and five rebounds.

The win propelled the Dragons to the next round and a date with Milaca at St. Johns University in Collegeville outside of St. Cloud. That semifinal game would come right down to the wire and Pine City would win in thrilling fashion.