Two-time reigning champion Crane avenged its only loss of the season Wednesday by dominating Union 61-44 in the quarterfinals of the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 1A boys basketball tournament at Baker High School.
The top-seeded Mustangs (27-1), who lost at Union 58-46 in a nonleague game Dec. 7, came out strong and pulled away from the No. 8 Bobcats (22-8) in the wire-to-wire victory.
Crane took a 7-0 lead on a three-pointer by Carter Nichols and pushed the advantage to 21-3 on back-to-back triples by Nichols and Josh Zander. The Mustangs led 26-8 after one quarter and built the lead to 32-8 early in the second quarter.
Union got within 47-35 on a three-pointer by KJ Klebaum with 1:06 left in the third quarter, but could get no closer.
Cody Siegner, a 6-foot-7 junior, led Crane with 24 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Siegner made 11 of 13 shots from the field in playing the full 32 minutes.
Nichols added 12 points and seven rebounds and Zander had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Mustangs, who will play No. 4 Trinity Lutheran in a Friday semifinal as they bid to become the first team to three-peat in the state's small-school classification.
Union's Tee Ledbetter had 14 points, 12 rebounds and three steals. Trae Frank added 13 points for the Bobcats, who shot 31 percent from the field (18 of 58).
No. 4 Trinity Lutheran 78, No. 12 Crosshill Christian 33: Andrew Imhoff, a 6-4 junior wing, exploded for 40 points for the Saints (24-4) w,ho scored the game's first 18 points and blew out the Eagles (21-7).
Imhoff, who entered averaging 18.4 points this season, scored 30 points in the first half – making six three-pointers – to help Trinity Lutheran take a 48-20 lead. He finished 16 of 24 from the field, including 6 of 10 on three-pointers.
Jack Foley, a 6-4 junior guard, made 8 of 11 shots and added 17 points for the Saints, who advanced to the semifinals for the first time since finishing as runners-up in 2019.
Crosshill Christian, the runner-up last season, got nine points from Kyler Hemelstrand.
No. 11 North Douglas 56, No. 19 Elkton 37: Jayden Montgomery scored 15 points and Wyatt Reed added 13 points and seven rebounds, making three three-pointers, as the Warriors (24-5) defeated the Elks (19-7) to move into the semifinals for the second year in a row.
North Douglas opened a 16-4 lead over its Skyline League rival after one quarter, but Elkton came back to tie at 19-19 late in the second quarter on a jumper by Cael Boe.
The Elks scored the first seven points of the second half, pulling ahead 26-22 on a three-pointer by Bodee Block. But North Douglas took the lead for good at 29-28 on a Montgomery three-pointer, opening the fourth quarter with a 12-2 burst to lead 51-35.
Hunter Vaughn added 11 points and 10 steals for the Warriors, who had a 27-11 advantage in turnovers.
Boe had 12 points and 14 rebounds to lead Elkton but was forced into 10 turnovers.
No. 2 Nixyaawii 77, No. 7 Lost River 62: Weptas Brockie scored 23 points, making 7 of 12 three-point attempts, to lead the Golden Eagles (22-4) past the Raiders (23-5).
Nixyaawii led 50-49 in the third quarter before Brockie scored the first eight points of a 15-2 run – including two three-pointers – to open a 65-51 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Rylen Bronson scored 14 points and Baron Moses added 13 points, four rebounds, nine assists and four steals for the Golden Eagles, who shot 12 of 27 from three-point range.
Connor Dunlea made four three-pointers and scored 26 points for Lost River. Tate Freeman had 15 points and Chase McAuliffe added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
