Hawks Fall Down The Stretch

Dwight Cadwell – NSO

Photos By: Carley Cadwell

St. Paul Johnson advanced to the Class AAA Semifinals with a 59-56 win over Hermantown, but it was a game that the Governors will not forget as the unseeded and unraked Hawks pushed the Governors to the brink but fell just short on Wednesday at Williams Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

The #2 seeded Governors were taking on a first time opponent in Hermantown who was un-ranked and not much was known about Hermantown from their perspective, Head Coach Vernon Simmons told Northland Sports Online “this was a very good team a solid team and they deserved to win as much as we did.” He also added “We thought we could use our speed and quickness more to our advantage but we didn’t shoot well from the outside.”

The Governors ended the game with 18 steals, but the biggest factor was St. Paul Johnson being able to score 40 of their 59 points in the paint despite the Hawks size advantage.

St. Paul Johnson was also able to outscore the Hawks with 18 points off off turnovers while Hermantown managed only 9 points off of errors from the Governors.

Seniors Jalen Mobley and Eric Elliott paced the Governors with 16 points apiece as St. Paul Johnson forced 30 Hermantown turnovers in the win.

Junior Thomas Madison scored a game-high 20 points and senior Kole Zuidmulder added 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks.

Neither team was able to build much of a lead in the first half as there were eight ties and 11 lead changes during the period. St. Paul Johnson maintained a slight advantage until the 10:25 mark when Hermantown took their first lead at 16-15. The two teams traded buckets for much of the rest of the half as the Governors took a 32-31 advantage into the break.

After Hermantown took the lead early in the second half at 36-34 at the 15:07 mark, St. Paul Johnson took control as they didn’t allow the Hawks back in for the next 10 minutes. The Hawks bounced back as they used a 6-0 run to turn a 50-45 deficit into a 51-50 lead with 4:21 to go.

After the lead changed hands several times in a wild final few minutes, Sedrick Clark hit a free throw with 52 seconds left and Jalen Mobley hit two more to give Johnson the decisive 59-56 lead.

Madison launched a three at the buzzer for Hermantown that would have tied the game but it rimmed out as the Governors claimed the victory.

#2 St. Paul Johnson will face Waconia (17-13) on Thursday, March 12 at 2 p.m. at Target Center.

Hermantown vs St. Paul Johnson

3/11/15 2 pm at Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minn.)
At Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minn.)
ST. PAUL JOHNSON 59, HERMANTOWN 56

HERMANTOWN (24-6)

Madison, Thomas 5-18 7-8 20; Zuidmulder, Kole 5-13 0-0 13; Hedstrom, Daniel
1-2 5-9 7; Brendon, Zack 3-6 0-0 6; Soumis, Nate 0-1 3-4 3; Steinert, Caleb
1-4 0-0 3; Bostrom, Nick 1-3 0-0 2; Zierden, Zach 1-2 0-0 2; Comstock,
Christian 0-1 0-0 0; Stoyanoff, Sam 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-50 15-21 56.

ST. PAUL JOHNSON (26-3)


Mobley, Jalen 6-20 4-4 16; Elliott, Eric 5-10 6-11 16; Smith, Andre 2-14 2-2
6; Jones, Malik 1-6 4-4 6; Parker, Saivon 1-4 2-3 4; Benton, Savion 2-9 0-0
4; Clark, Sedrick 1-1 1-3 3; Murphy, Justus 1-4 0-0 2; Siedschlag, Derek 1-1
0-0 2; Clarke, Carlin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-70 19-27 59.

Hermantown....................   31   25  -   56
St. Paul Johnson..............   32   27  -   59

3-point goals--

Hermantown 7-18 (Madison, Thomas 3-8; Zuidmulder, Kole 3-6;
Steinert, Caleb 1-1; Soumis, Nate 0-1; Bostrom, Nick 0-1; Comstock,
Christian 0-1)
 
St. Paul Johnson 0-10 (Mobley, Jalen 0-2; Elliott, Eric 0-1;
Smith, Andre 0-4; Jones, Malik 0-2; Parker, Saivon 0-1). 

Fouled out--Hermantown-None, St. Paul Johnson-None. 

Rebounds--

Hermantown 50
(Hedstrom, Daniel 13; Zuidmulder, Kole 13), 

St. Paul Johnson 43 
(Mobley,Jalen 11). 

Assists--

Hermantown 9 
(Zuidmulder, Kole 4), 

St. Paul Johnson 10
(Benton, Savion 3). 

Total fouls--Hermantown 17, St. Paul Johnson 16.
Technical fouls--Hermantown-None, St. Paul Johnson-None.
2015 MSHSL Boys' Basketball Class AAA State Tourney Quarterfinals