MANKATO -- Hayfield executed the plan to near perfection, preventing a powerful St. James squad from racking up its average 75 points and running away with the Section 2AA championship.

But even after holding the fourth-ranked Saints to a season-low 38 points, Hayfield's boys' basketball team was still on the short end of a 38-35 finale Friday night at Bresnan Arena at Minnesota State University in Mankato.

Hayfield fought its way through what record-wise was a mediocre East Sub-Section, but the Vikings' valiant effort in Friday's section championship game could not be denied by even one of the top-ranked teams in the state.

St. James coach Steve Walker said Hayfield's plan to be deliberate and patient nearly prevented his Saints squad from a state tournament berth -- its first since 1974.

"Outstanding," was Walker's word. "We've had other teams try to do that, but they did a great job. They really spread it out and took care of the basketball in the first half."

Hayfield's offensive possessions lasted anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes and finished with efficiency. It was the only chance the Vikings had to get back to state with the glass slipper firmly afoot.

"Nobody expected us to get this far, just like the team that went to state two years ago," said Hayfield senior Tyler Kramer. "We were hoping it would be a Cinderella story again, but it's basketball and things just don't work out the way you want them to all the time."

Kramer was the only remaining member of that 2000 team that surprised the state with a runner-up finish to Hiawatha Valley League rival Kenyon-Wanamingo. The Vikings made it to last year's sub-section final before falling to eventual Section 1 representative Waterville-Elysian-Morristown.

"It feels good to know we actually had them beat," said Hayfield sophomore David Johnson. "I kind of feel sorry for Ty, he worked so hard over the years, him and the seniors. We all thought we could get to state this year."

Kramer scored 13 points to lead the Vikings in a pressure-packed section final. With the score as low as it was, every possession carried an increased sense of urgency to be flawless. Hayfield shot 4-of-5 from three-point range in the second quarter to overcome a six-point deficit with a 19-3 run.

Kramer, Drew Wanzek and Bryan Oelkers all hit three-pointers as St. James' 17-11 first-quarter lead turned quickly into a 25-20 Viking advantage.

"They were very frustrated," Walker said of his squad. "We're used to one, two, three passes, shoot it up, go to the other end and maybe get a steal, and that's the way we played all year. Hayfield took that away from us tonight, so we did get a little frustrated."

St. James scored just three points in the period, shooting 1-for-9 from the field and 0-for-6 on three-pointers.

"We executed it perfectly, they were getting frustrated," Pack said of the gameplan. "We knew if we could do it and do it well that they would get a little frustrated and starting forcing up some quick shots, which they did.."

Four straight points by Hayfield junior Weston Hanson ran the lead to 29-23 midway through the third period, to which St. James responded with the next nine points.

In the fourth, Alex Walker and Tyler Kaus knocked down three-pointers to push the Saints ahead 34-29 with 2:32 to play.

"I thought we really executed the gameplan well," said Hayfield coach Chris Pack. "We executed everything that we wanted to do until the fourth when they stepped it up and we made a couple key turnovers, and they hit some big shots down the stretch."

Kaus, who averaged 28 points per game going into Friday's section final, was limited to 11 by Hayfield's match-up zone and the occasional box-and-one look. Kaus scored the game's opening points with a three-pointer six seconds into the contest, but that fourth-quarter three was his only other field goal.

"We knew we had to slow down their fast-paced game," Kramer said. "We knew we just had to take our time on offense, get good shots, slow them down on defense and take the ball out of Kaus' hands.

"We wanted to go to state and we thought we had it there, but I think we left pretty much everything out on the court so that's gratifying. It's kind of disappointing a little bit. We knew from the beginning that we could make it here, it was kind of a dream here at the end."

St. James appeared to be the team of destiny with its fearless offense and full-speed approach. It was the Saints' defense, however, that stole Hayfield's shot at state.

"We got a few loose balls and some turnovers and we converted in the fourth quarter," Walker said. "We just needed to get after it a little bit harder, get on the floor a bit and take a few chances. We had to do something to pick the tempo up a little bit."

After playing the whole game in a delay-oriented offense, Hayfield had trouble shifting gears when faced with a five-point deficit and St. James' trapping half-court defense with time winding down. The Vikings made seven of their nine turnovers after halftime.

"We haven't been this kind of team to slow it up all year, we've always been a get-it-out-and-go team," Oelkers said. "But after playing like that, yeah, it was a little tough to get going."

St. James pressured the dribbler with double-teams and took away the skip pass Hayfield had used to evade trouble late in the first half. The Vikings still led 29-26 after the third quarter despite not scoring for the final 4:15 of the period.

The scoreless streak ran to 9:10 before Johnson knocked down the three-pointer to get Hayfield back to within two. Derek Lanoue netted two free-throws to up the lead to four, but Kramer cut it to one with an NBA-range three-pointer from the top of the key. It was his only points of the second half.

"We tried to do a good job on Kramer and I thought after the first half Nate Ewert was outstanding," Walker said. "(Kramer) made one shot and that was about a 30-footer in the fourth quarter."

St. James got a good look at a layup while trying to wind down the clock, and Scott Dorn converted for a 38-35 lead. Hayfield took a timeout to set up the final play with Kramer breaking loose near the top of the key. Ewert was in his face, which forced a long-range heave that hit off the front of the rim.

Johnson chased down the long rebound and attempted another three, which missed everything and fell into Hanson's waiting arms. Without any timeouts remaining, Hanson had to try for the putback that would be blocked by Dorn to end the final flurry.

"That one run they went on killed us when they scored like five unanswered," Johnson said. "We had them, we just had to make our open shots. It's so frustrating because we had them beat and we know we did."

St. James (25-2) advances into Tuesday's state quarterfinal game in Rochester against Section 1 representative Zumbrota-Mazeppa. The Cougars, ranked No. 8, hammered Lake City in Thursday night's championship game, 70-45, in Rochester. The Class AA quarterfinal is at 7 p.m. at the Mayo Civic Center.

"We knew it was going to be tough, we weren't kidding ourselves," Walker said. "I didn't think it'd be 38-35, but I knew it was going to be a tough game because Hayfield has been in this game or at this level the last three years and they've done very well. So it wasn't unexpected, we're just happy to be moving on."

Hayfield finishes the season 15-13 overall, graduating seven players from the final roster -- Kramer, Oelkers, Shawn Colucy, Brock Greenhagen, Ryan Sowers, Bradey Perrigo and Jeremy Ruhter.

Boxscore:

ST. JAMES (38) -- Tyler Kaus 2-12 5-8 11, Nate Ewert 0-1 0-0 0, Scott Dorn 6-10, 2-2 14, Derek Lanoue 2-6 3-3 8, Alex Walker 2-7 0-0 5, Joe Wojtalewicz 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Nordby 0-0 0-0 0.

HAYFIELD (35) -- David Johnson 2-9 0-0 5, Brock Greenhagen 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Kramer 5-12 0-0 13, Bryan Oelkers 2-3 0-0 5, Shawn Colucy 0-0 0-0 0, Weston Hanson 3-5 0-0 6, Drew Wanzek 2-4 0-0 6.

St.James173612--38

Hayfield111446--35

Three-pointers--SJ 4-17 (Kaus 2-9, Lanoue 1-3, Walker 1-5, Ewert 0-1); Hayfield 7-14 (Kramer 3-5, Wanzek 2-3, Oelkers 1-1, Johnson 1-5). Free-throws--SJ 10-13, Hayfield 0-0. Field goals--SJ 12-36, Hayfield 14-34. Rebounds--SJ 19 (Walker 7); Hayfield 26 (Johnson 11). Team fouls--SJ 8, Hayfield 12. Fouled out--none.