Red Lake advances to Section 8A final

THIEF RIVER FALLS - Top-seeded Red Lake took another step toward returning to the state tournament Tuesday.

The Warriors defeated defending Section 8A champions Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 73-53 Tuesday in their Sub-Section 8A East game at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls.

The Warriors, now 22-7, will take on Northern Freeze at 7 p.m. Friday in the Section 8A title game.

Northern Freeze beat Warren-Alvarado-Oslo 70-61 Tuesday in the Sub-Section 8A West game.

Red Lake led 34-28 at halftime and never looked back, outscoring the Wolves 39-28 in the second half.

Four different players scored in double figures for Red Lake, including Jeremy Martin (16), Ryan Holthusen (13), Russell Kingbird (12) and Trevenn Beaulieu (12).

W-H-A, which ends its season 23-5, was led by Chris Duff, who had a game-high 22 points. He was the only player who scored in double figures.

Red Lake played Northern Freeze once this season and lost to them 81-77.

Red Lake 73, W-H-A 53

W-H-A (53) - Richter 1 2-2 5; Widman 0 1-4 1; Ovitt 2 3-4 8; Anderson 0 0-0 0; Duff 6 8-10 22; Gross 3 0-0 6; Schneider 0 0-0 0; Fank 0 0-0 0; Hall 1 0-0 2; Swedeburg 3 0-0 7; Pikala 0 0-0 0; Deskeere 1 0-0 2; Sea 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 13-20 53.

Red Lake (73) - White 0 0-0 0; Mclain 2 3-6 7; Chaboyea 0 0-0 0; Jourdain 1 0-0 2; R.Kingbird 2 7-8 12; Holthusen 4 4-4 13; T.Beaulieu 4 0-0 12; Martin 5 6-8 16; Patterson 0 0-0 0; M.Kingbirg 3 2-2 8; Morrison 1 0-0 3. Totals 22 22-28 73.