Prep boys basketball: Depth lifts Cherry to state semifinals with win over Border West

MINNEAPOLIS — Playing without star point guard Isaac Asuma for long stretches of their quarterfinal matchup with Border West due to foul trouble, No. 4 seed Cherry didn’t flinch in the face of adversity.

Instead, leading-scorer Noah Sundquist helped rally the Tigers to a 68-55 victory over the fifth-seeded Buccaneers in the Class A state tournament at Williams Arena on Wednesday afternoon.

Sundquist finished with a game-high 30 points on a nearly immaculate 14-for-15 shooting performance with additional contributions from Carson Brown, Noah Asuma, Isaiah Asuma, Landon Ruotsalainen and Carson Brown.

The unit never wavered in its confidence despite the absence of Asuma, according to Sundquist.

“Everybody just kind of knew their role and I feel like we all did it really well,” Sundquist said. “We all stayed composed and we didn’t let anything get to us.”

Coach Jordan Christianson said the standout performance by Sundquist is nothing new, as the sophomore put up a similar statline in their matchup with Minnehaha Academy earlier in the season when Asuma ran into foul trouble against the Redhawks.

“He’s been doing this all year,” he said. “It was nice to (see him) put this on a bigger stage and on display because there’s going to be a lot of people (asking) who is this Sunduist kid?”

The win pushes the Tigers into the semifinals where they will take on top-seed Russell-Tyler-Ruthton on Friday at noon at the Target Center.

Cherry’s path to reaching the next round for a second-straight season required patience early on as Border West senior Clint Determan propelled the Buccaneers to an early advantage with all seven of the team’s points in a 7-4 game just past the three-minute mark of the first half. Determan finished the half with a team-high 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting to go along with three rebounds.

The play of Determan and the rest of the Buccaneers drew the praise of head coach Jordon Roos, who appreciated the intensity shown by his team throughout the contest.

“I just thought we played extremely hard. I don’t think we could’ve played much harder,” Roos said. “They’re (Cherry) just such a talented group offensively with five weapons that it’s just really hard to try to pick something apart where we can slow them down. We just couldn’t really get them off their offensive game.”

The Tigers quickly rallied back behind efficient shooting efforts from Isaac Asuma and Noah Sundquist to take the lead for the first time at 9-7, before extending their lead to 18-12 after a 3-pointer by Ruostalainen moments later.

Sundquist went on to lead all scorers with 15 points in the first half on 7-for-8 shooting from the field.

Cherry hung on to its slim-advantage into the break with a 34-28 lead despite having to go without Isaac Asuma, who was forced to sit for the last 7:40 worth of game time after picking up his third foul.

In his absence, the Tigers leaned on Sundquist, Noah Asuma and Isaiah Asuma, who combined for 16 points down the stretch.

The overall depth possessed by Cherry was a surprise for Border West senior Dylan Bainbridge.

“The main focus going into the game was slowing down Isaac, and then we slowed them down and found out they had five or more other guys that can straight up ball, too,” he said. “They’re a phenomenal team.”

Both teams shot over 50% from the field in the first half with Cherry going 15-for-25 (60%) while Border West finished 10 of 20.

Isaac Asuma’s return to the floor paid immediate dividends early in the second half as the University of Minnesota-bound junior scored the opening basket out of the break before assisting with a drive and kick pass to Sundquist for a made 3-pointer.

The fast start was quickly spoiled, however, as Isaac Asuma picked up his fourth foul at the 12:36 mark and remained sidelined until the five-minute mark.

Taking over as point guard in his place was eighth-grader Isaiah Asuma, who navigated the Tigers through a brief push by the Buccaneers, which brought them to within four points of tying the game in a 45-41 score.

A timeout by Cherry provided the club with a renewed focus as the team settled in for the remainder of the game.

“He was being a little too fast. He was speeding the game up a little bit, and I told the whole team as a group to just slow down a little bit, meet the ball, meet the passes and just play our style of basketball,” Christianson said.

Isaac Asuma returned to the floor with five minutes remaining with the Tigers clinging to a 52-50 lead. Cherry closed out the game on a 16-3 run to seal the win.

Border West 28-27--55
Cherry 34-34--68

Border West — Cole Gilsdorf 7, Clint Determan 19, Dylan Bainbridge 12, Holden Rinke 2, Andrew Walker-Hannerman 5, Brayden Hofer 2, Grant Dawson 8. Totals 20 11-15 55.

3-point goals — Gilsdorf 1, Determan 2, Hannerman 1.

Cherry — Isaac Asuma 11, Noah Asuma 6, Carson Brown 8, Noah Sundquist 30, Isaiah Asuma 7, Landon Ruotsalainen 6. Totals 29 2-3 68.

3-point goals — Sundquist 2, Noah Asuma 2, Brown 1, Ruotsalainen 2, Isaiah Asuma 1.