Area boys basketball roundup from Tuesday evening

The Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms boys’ basketball team was on the road Tuesday night for a crucial Gopher Conference matchup with first-place Waterville/Elysian/Morristown, who is ranked No. 5 in the state in Class A.  The Blossoms were looking to avenge a 64-60 defeat at the hands of the Buccaneers in Blooming Prairie on January 10th, and a layup from Gabe Hagen with 8.7 seconds left gave the Blossoms a 52-50 lead.  However, Grant McBroom’s three-pointer at the buzzer lifted WEM to a 53-52 win and a share of the conference title.

Hagen wound up with 19 points in the game to lead the way for Blooming Prairie, while Kaden Thomas added 18 points and Drew Kittleson chipped in 11 for the Blossoms, who fell to 8-2 in the conference and 17-3 overall on the season.  Blooming Prairie will be back on the road Thursday night in Wells to take on United South Central, with the varsity tip-off at 7:15 p.m.  After Thursday night’s game, the Blossoms will wind up the regular season with a three-game homestand that will feature games against Medford, Maple River and United South Central again.

Another game that went down to the final seconds was played last night in Hayfield, as the Vikings hosted United South Central in another Gopher Conference matchup.  Hayfield trailed 55-54 with under :10 left, but Luke Dudycha’s two free throws with five seconds left lifted the Vikings to a thrilling 56-55 win.

Ethan Slaathaug, who scored 27 points to lead the way point-wise for Hayfield personally tied the game late in the second half when he scored seven straight points to rally the Vikings from a 55-48 deficit.  Dudycha added 13 points in the game, while Patrick Towey scored eight points and Isaac Matti chipped in six for Hayfield, who moved to 8-4 in the conference and 17-5 overall on the season.  The Vikings return to action at home Thursday night against Mabel/Canton, with the varsity tap at 7:15 p.m.

The Southland Rebels kicked off a four-game homestand Tuesday night in Adams against the Chatfield Gophers in the Three Rivers Conference, and it was the Gophers handing the Rebels their fourth straight loss by a score of 74-58.

Nick Boe led Southland in scoring with 17 points, while Eli Wolff scored 12 points, Harrison Hanna added 11, Brendan Kennedy chipped in eight points, while Daniel Boe added seven points and Carter Schmitz six for the Rebels, who fell to 4-9 in the conference and 8-12 overall on the season.  Southland will host Lyle/Pacelli Thursday night in a non-conference game that you’ll hear on AM 1480 KAUS, streaming world-wide at myaustinminnesota.com and on the I Heart Radio app.  Pre-game will come your way at 7:15 p.m., and the varsity tip-off will be at 7:30 p.m.