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  • Sibley East's Marshall Bjorklund leaps over a pair of Foley defenders during the first half of their Section 5AA championship game Friday in St. Cloud. Pat Christman

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  • Sibley East's Ian Berg is fouled on his way to the basket by Foley's Nick Jansen during the first half of their Section 5AA championship game Friday in St. Cloud. Pat Christman

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  • Sibley East's Tony Haefs (left) and Justin Rettmann try to pin Foley's Jason Niemann during the first half of their Section 5AA championship game Friday in St. Cloud. Pat Christman

    Sibley E b hoops3_3-19.jpg

March 20, 2010

Heavy dose of Bjorklund leads Sibley East to 5AA title

North Dakota recruit good for 30 points, 17 rebounds in rout over Foley

By Chad Courrier Free Press Sports Editor

ST. CLOUD — Foley really had no chance.

Sag inside to stop Sibley East’s 6’8” center Marshall Bjorklund and allow the perimeter shooters to get open looks or take away the perimeter and let the future Division I center dominate the lane.

As it turned out, neither plan worked much as Sibley East rolled past Foley 76-57 in the championship game of the Section 5AA boys basketball tournament Friday at St. Cloud State’s Halenbeck Hall. Bjorklund, who is headed to North Dakota State, had 30 points and 17 rebounds, and the Wolverines made eight 3-pointers.

“This is great,” Bjorklund said. “We’ve been dreaming about this since we started playing together in fourth grade. It doesn’t feel any better than this, to see all our hard work pay off.”

Sibley East had its share of close calls in the section tournament, winning 58-57 in overtime against Watertown Mayer and 57-55 against Minnesota River Conference rival Mayer Lutheran, who defeated the Wolverines twice in the regular season. In both games, the Wolverines faced deficits in the final minute.

But Friday, there were no worries.

“This was a different feeling,” coach Todd Warzecha said. “But those close games will help us in the state tournament. I believe those things happen for a reason.”

Sibley East made its first five shots, only one by Bjorklund, to lead 15-5. However, Bjorklund assisted on three of the baskets. With the defense wary of the shooters, Bjorklund scored Sibley East’s next 12 points to boost the lead to 27-13 with 8 minutes remaining in the half.

The Wolverines continued to find the perfect mix of Bjorklund and the shooters through the first half, hitting seven 3-pointers, three each by Ian Berg and Justin Rettmann, to go with 18 points and six rebounds from their center, who was 9 of 9 from the field, to lead 47-22 at halftime.

Sibley East shot 62.1 percent in the first half, including 53.8 percent from 3-point range. Foley shot just  32.1 percent and made 2 of 10 3-point attempts.

“We knew they couldn’t match up with Marshall, like most teams can’t,” Warzecha said. “We expected them to collapse so we worked on that in practice. We knew we’d get the (perimeter) shots, we just had to make them.”

The second half was more of the same as Bjorklund scored eight points and Rettmann canned another 3-pointer to get the lead to 59-28 within five minutes. Foley got as close as 21 in the final minutes, but the celebration began well before the final horn.

“We’re tough for anybody to match up with,” Berg said. “We have guys who can shoot the lights out.”

Rettmann finished with 20 points, and Berg had 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. Lucas Herd had seven assists as the Wolverines shot 56.5 percent. Sibley East also had a 42-27 advantage in rebounding.

Sibley East (23-4) plays in the Class AA tournament against Braham at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the University of Minnesota’s Williams Arena. It’s the first state-tournament appearance since 1998.

“I’ve seen these kids develop since they were freshmen,” Warzecha said. “I’ve seen them be nervous in these games and fail sometimes, but I can’t say enough about these seniors. They provided the guidance and leadership to get us here.”

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