Packers will face a tall task in DeLaSalle
Published 9:07 pm Thursday, March 21, 2013
After they held off the Tigers 68-65 in overtime, the Packers boys basketball team kept is celebrations to a minimum.
There’s still one more game to go for the Packers before they can complete their biggest goal of the season — winning a state title.
To do that, Austin (30-0 overall) will have to go through what is widely considered one of the top teams in the entire state of Minnesota — the top-ranked DeLaSalle Islanders (29-1 overall).
DeLaSalle beat St. Paul Johnson 86-59 Thursday as Reid Travis poured in 30 points on 12-of-15 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds.
“We’ve got to stop Reid first and foremost,” Austin guard Zach Wessels said.
The Islanders have outscored their opponents 80.4 to 50.0 points per game this season and their lone loss was to Blue Valley Northwest, Kansas by a score of 57-52 and they have wins over teams from Iowa, New York, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Austin senior Joe Aase knew the state title would have to go through DeLaSalle, which won the ‘AAA’ title last season, and he’s ready for the challenge.
“It’ll be nice to be the underdog for once,” Aase said. “Even though we’re undefeated, everybody expects them to walk over us. We’ll go play our game and hopefully come out on top.”