The biggest test of the season awaits the Litchfield boys basketball team Wednesday. Following a pair of victories in the section playoffs, the Dragons are set to face No. 2-ranked Minneapolis North in the Section 5AA semifinals at 6 p.m. at St. Michael-Albertville.
The Dragons have faced several state-ranked teams this season, but none of whom have been as highly regarded as the Polars.
"They've got some really good athletes," head coach Matt Draeger said. "They're just really athletic and they're tough physically, and they rebound really well. ... It'll be a tough challenge for us."
It's a rematch of last season's section quarterfinals, which saw the Polars beat the Dragons 75-30. North shot 57-percent from the field, and had a 32-point halftime lead. It also had a 17-5 turnover advantage, thanks in part to it's pressure defense.
"I think that type of pressure that we saw last year is the same type of pressure that we'll see again," Draeger said. "Hopefully our kids are better off handling it than what we did last year. Bottom line with them - we've got to stay composed, stay disciplined and you just got to play within yourself. You can't let them speed you up. You can't let them get you out of your game."
The Polars (19-9), who won back-to-back Class A state titles in 2016 and 2017, won the Minneapolis City Conference with a perfect 12-0 record. Ther high-octane offense averages a section-high 74 points per-game while playing a schedule littered with 3A and 4A schools. That offense will get a test against Litchfield, which boasts the top-scoring defense in the section at 50 point per-game, which is seventh in Class 2A.
"We're going to try to stay in front of them as much as we possible can and make them shoot over us," Draeger said. "Hopefully they have a poor shooting night and we can rebound it and make enough shots to stay in the game and have a shot to win at the end."
North entered the section tournament having won just two of its last six games due to facing larger ranked schools, but won its section opener 70-44 against Blake.
The rematch is the opening game of a doubleheader with the other section semifinal, with Litchfield joining three top-seven state ranked team in the section's final four. No. 4 Breck (21-5) and No. 7 Maranatha Christian (23-5) square off in the second game of the night.
Though a win against the Polars would be a statement victory for the Dragons, Draeger thinks that the team would know that there's work still to be done.
"If we beat North we're going to turn our attention to the next game and try to win that one," Draeger said. "I don't think you're going to see a whole lot of celebrating out of our guys. I think they'll feel good about it, but they've never talked about beating North as one of their goals. Their goal is to get to the state tournament."
Dragons handle early tests
Litchfield opened the Section 5AA playoffs with a roaring start, notching an 81-40 home victory Thursday against PACT Charter.
Litch started the game on a 12-0 scoring run, and led 20-5 five minutes into the game. The Dragons led 45-18 at halftime, and didn't back down in the second half to earn the blowout victory.
Owen Boerema led the team with 20 points and seven rebounds, along with five assists. Alex Gruenke had 16 points and five assists. A total of 13 different Litch players got into the scoring column, it shot 63 percent from the field.
It was the second most point scored this season by Litchfield, behind only the 83 points scored against ACGC on Jan. 5. It's also the Dragons' largest margin of victory since their section opener during the 2011-12 season.
Litchfield backed up that performance with another large offensive outing, earning a 77-50 victory against Watertown-Mayer in the quarterfinals Saturday at St. Michael-Albertville.
The Dragons led by 14 points at halftime, and added to their lead in the second half to defeat the Royals for the third time this season.
Boerema had a double-double with 28 points and 10 rebounds for Litch, along with five assists, while Gruenke added 15 points and five assists. The win was the third of the year for the Dragons over the Royals, a Wright County Conference West rival.
#4 Litchfield 77, #12 Watertown-Mayer 50 (Section 5AA quarterfinals, March 9)
Points - Owen Boerema 28, Alex Gruenke 15, Tyson Michels 8, Drew Kotzer 6, Jake Schneider 6, Ben Nelson 4, Bret Wendlandt 4, Avery Liestman 4, Josh Anderson 2
Rebounds - Boerema 10, Liestman 5, Michels 4, Nelson 4, Schneider 3, Gruenke 2, Conrad Yungk 2, Anderson 1, Wendlandt 1, Tanner Ziegenhagen 1
Assists - Gruenke 4, Michels 4, Schneider 4, Nelson 4, Boerema 3, Kotzer 2, Peterson 1, Anderson 1
#4 Litchfield 81, #13 PACT Charter 40 (Section 5AA first round, March 7)
Points - Owen Boerema 20, Alex Gruenke 16, Ben Nelson 8, Jake Schneider 6, Tyson Michels 5, Avery Liestman 5, Drew Kotzer 5, Ben Alsleben 5, Ben Nelson 3, Beau Weseloh 3, Tanner Ziegenhagen 2, Conrad Yungk 2, Tyler Peterson 1
Rebounds - Boerema 7, Michels 6, Gruenke 3, Nelson 2, Schneider 2, Liestman 2, Josh Anderson 2, Kotzer 2, Weseloh 1, Alsleben 1, Yungk 1
Assists - Boerema 5, Gruenke 5, Michels 5, Schneider 2, Liestman 2, Peterson 1, Ziegenhagen 1, Alsleben 1, Anderson 1