Lakeview Christian drops opener at state basketball tourney

MINNEAPOLIS -- Anders Broman will return to Williams Arena in December when his future team, South Dakota State, plays the Minnesota Gophers.

Perhaps at that time, Broman's memories of the Barn will improve.

The Lakeview Christian Academy senior's final high school basketball memories weren't very pleasant as Rushford-Peterson ran away with a 72-54 victory Thursday afternoon in a Class A state tournament quarterfinal.

Broman scored 34 points -- far better than his 19-point flu-ridden effort a year ago -- but they were not nearly enough to push the fourth-seeded Trojans (27-3), who advance to play top-ranked Maranatha Christian Academy in today's semifinals.

LCA finished 20-11 and Broman completed his six-year varsity career as Minnesota's all-time leading scorer with 5,119 points. He made 13 of 24 field-goal attempts, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range, and ended the season with 1,285 points -- second-most in state history to the 1,311 he scored as a junior.

"It was kind of sad after the game, but I had a fun season and a fun career," Broman said afterward. "I just feel very blessed. It was a great experience all the way through."

As in the Lions' tournament debut against eventual 2012 champion

Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, Broman was forced to work for his shots against five talented defenders.

"It was a tough 34," Rushford-Peterson coach Thomas Vix said. "It wasn't like he had wide-open shots, he had to work hard for each shot. I don't know what more we could have done and he still scored 34 -- that's how good he is."

LCA coach Bob Newstrom said the Trojans' defense forced his team to take challenging shots much of the game.

"All five of their players defended well and their defensive rotation was strong," Newstrom said. "There's a reason why they've been down to the state tournament (six of the last nine years)."

While most of Lakeview's opponents have taken advantage of the Lions' lack of height inside, the Trojans chose to stick with their preferred perimeter game. Rushford-Peterson hit four 3-pointers in the opening 6 minutes -- two in an 8-0 run that broke a 7-all tie -- and seven overall in a first half that ended 42-27.

"We shoot a lot of threes -- about half our shots during the year were 3-pointers," Vix said. "We've shot as many as 21 in a half, so our kids are comfortable shooting them. We have some excellent shooters."

Charlie Krambeer hit four long-range jumpers in the first half, while Lakeview was unable to create open shots from outside.

"We didn't knock down some of the shots that we normally do," Broman said. "We knew they could shoot, but we didn't know they could shoot that well."

Seth Thompson finished with 19 points, Jorli Hauge added 18 and Krambeer had 14 for the Trojans, who shot 55.6 percent from the field.

"They didn't have any star players, but everyone did their job and played their role well," Broman said.

Nobody else scored in double figures for the Lions. That's a problem for a team that led the state in scoring at more than 88 points a game. Broman's teammates were a combined 8-for-31 from the field, including Bjorn Broman's 2-for-10, six-point performance, and the team never made a second-half run.

That only left postgame plaudits for the elder Broman, who will join a Jackrabbits team that lost to Michigan Thursday night in an NCAA tournament game.

"He's such a decent person and a hard-working guy who's impacted his teammates on such a positive scale," Newstrom said. "He's also had a profound impact on the way that basketball is seen as an extension of the mission of the school. I don't think you can ask for any more from a player."