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Perham prevails in state quarters
Published 10:52am Thursday, March 22, 2012Defending state champion Perham breathed a sigh of relief after winning in opening round action of the State Boys Basketball Tournament in Minneapolis. The Yellowjackets edged Worthington 51-47 in the quarter-finals of Class AA at Target Center.
Perham now advances to semi-final action at 6 p.m. Friday when the Yellowjackets take on Litchfield, a 51-40 winner over Watertown-Mayor in other quarter-final action. The finals are at 2 p.m. Saturday at Target Center.
Plainviiew-Elgin-Millville plays Braham in the other semi-final game, Friday at 8 p.m.
Perham, the top-seeded team in Class AA, had to battle a determined Worthington Trojans team all game long in quarter-final action. The Trojans held a two-point lead over the defending state champs at halftime.
Worthington led by as much as five points in the second half, but the Yellowjackets were determined to win the game. Perham took the lead and, with under five minutes left in regulation, forced Worthington to foul in order to regain control of the basketball.
Senior guard Jordan Bruhn led the Yellowjackets with 21 points and Perham senior guard Jordan Cresap added 13 points. Worthington senior center Mitch Weg had a game-high 24 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Otter Yellowjacket players in the scoring column were Mark Schumacher with eight points, Jordan Anderson with five and Mike Wiskow with four points. Schumacher led Perham with eight rebounds.
Perham was able to outscore Worthington 29-23 in the second half after being outscored 24-22 by the Trojans in the first half of action at Target Center.
Perham led by only 43-42 with 3:04 left in regulation, after Worthington’s Lucas Henning connected on a three-point basket.
Two clutch free throws by Perham’s Jordan Anderson gave Perham a 50-45 lead with only 21 seconds left in regulation. Anderson connected on another free throw with 10 second left to seal the victory.
