Hayfield downs Blooming Prairie in 2020 Section 1A title game rematch 81-43

The Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms boys’ basketball team played host to Gopher Conference rival Hayfield Tuesday evening in a rematch of last year’s 2020 Section 1A title game, which saw the Blossoms win 59-51 to advance to a State Class A tournament which, sadly, did not take place due to COVID-19.  The story was different Tuesday evening, though, as Isaac Matti led three Vikings in double figures with 19 points and Hayfield cruised to an 81-43 win.

Hayfield started to pull away at the end of the first half when they closed with an 8-0 run to lead 36-27.  Blossoms head coach Nate Piller stated that the Vikings then picked up their intensity significantly in the second half, thanks largely to a full-court press as they built a commanding lead on their way to the win.

Mitchell Fiebiger and Alex Miller led BP in scoring Tuesday evening with 12 points apiece, while Chris Naatz added 11 points and Luke Larkoski chipped in five points.  Besides Isaac Matti with 19 points, Ethan Slatthaug drilled three of Hayfield’s 10 3-pointers in the game in tallying 18 points, Easton Fritcher added 17 points, Isaiah Templ scored nine points and Eric Bungum chipped in eight points for the Vikings, who moved to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in Gopher Conference play with the win.  Hayfield returns to action at home Friday night versus United South Central.

With the loss, Blooming Prairie falls to 0-2 on the young season, and the Blossoms are back on the court Friday night in Mapleton versus Maple River in the Gopher Conference, with the varisty tip-off at 7:15 p.m.