By PAUL GOTHAM
Zach Bantle surprised his teammates Friday night when the injured guard showed up prior to the Class C1 championship game. His presence on the sideline served as inspiration for a second straight title.
Tournament MVP Miles Brown recorded a double-double as the top-seeded Northstar Christian Knights defeated the No. 7-seed Gananda Blue Panthers, 55-50 to claim their second straight sectional title.
“Zach literally had ACL surgery yesterday and came in the locker room to support us,” Northstar coach JJ Garwood said. “It really inspired us. He’s the definition of a team player.”
Brown netted a game-high 20 points on 7-of-19 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds. The sophomore guard scored six and handed out an assist during the fourth quarter when the Knights pulled away from a gritty Gananda team.
Miles Brown goes end to end. After three Gananda 40 Northstar Christian 40. pic.twitter.com/K65D1j2U8T
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 3, 2017
“Gananda beat World of Inquiry who I thought was one of the top two teams in the class,” Northstar coach JJ Garwood said. “They beat Vertus twice, and we lost to Vertus. We knew they were going to come in and they were going to fight. That they were going to give us everything we could handle.”
After 12 lead changes and three ties through the first three quarters of play, Northstar scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to gain separation.
Tyler Blizzard finished a layup. Brown for Daniel Pickett behind the Gananda defense for two, and Mike Brown drove the lane for a bucket and a 46-40 Northstar lead.
When it was over, the Knights gathered around Bantle on the baseline near their bench.
“To show up 24 hours removed from an ACL surgery to be with his teammates was truly a measure of Zach’s leadership,” Garwood added.
Gananda’s Enrique Mosman scored four straight to pull Gananda within two at 46-44, but that was as close as the Panthers got for the remainder of the contest.
Mosman finished with 18 for Gananda. Jayden Castrechini added 12. Justin Chamberlain hauled in a game-high 14 rebounds.
Jayden Castrechini finishes on the break for Gananda. pic.twitter.com/tp5cuMRF8x
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 3, 2017
Northstar’s Tray Roberts scored 11 points.
The Knights outscored Gananda in the paint (28-24), off turnovers (14-13) and on second-chance points (12-6).
Mike Brown joined his twin brother on the All-Tournament team. Castrechini and Mosman represented Gananda with the honor. Taj Ball (Vertus) and Josh Laurie (Le Roy) also earned All-Tournament honors.
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