ST. PAUL — Securing a home playoff victory, the St. Paul Indians boys grounded the Altoona-Midway Jets, 77-40, in the first round of its Class 1AII Sub-State Tournament on Monday night.
“I thought we did a good job rebounding and doing the little things,” St. Paul head coach Trey Johnson said. “We came out early and struggled to shoot, but we got our layups and ran the court. We did those little things that let us get an early lead.”
St. Paul cruised through most of the night, building a 41-16 advantage by halftime.
Kingsten McRay led St. Paul with 28 points, with 25 coming in the first half.
“He had a great first half,” Johnson said. “That always makes things easier.”
Brec Norris added 20 points for St. Paul, with 12 coming on four 3-pointers in the second half.
“He took over in the second half and helped us finish our dub,” Johnson said.
St. Paul, the No. 8 seed in the substate tournament, earned its seventh win of the year. A home playoff win punctuated a bounce-back season after St. Paul played all last year with five players.
“We’re really young,” Johnson said. “I’ve only got one senior and a couple of juniors. So we’ve had to develop and we’ve gone throughout the year. We’re starting to get things to click. We’re starting to find our shot.”
Chance Carter led Altoona-Midway with 15 points while Chance Mustain and Kage Beck added 10 apiece. The Jets’ season comes to a close with a 5-19 overall record.
Up next
St. Paul travels to Hartford for the sub-state semifinals on Saturday.
“We’ll get prepared for them,” Johnson said. “They’re definitely a tough team. They’re No. 1 in our region for a reason. So we’ll have to play like we’re capable of or we’re coming home.”
