ROCHESTER — Rosemount managed to survive Austin’s scoring surges, and the Irish countered with their own offensive attack to overtake the Packers, 59-43, in the Section 1AAA boys’ basketball semifinals Saturday night at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.

Monday, March 11, 2002

ROCHESTER — Rosemount managed to survive Austin’s scoring surges, and the Irish countered with their own offensive attack to overtake the Packers, 59-43, in the Section 1AAA boys’ basketball semifinals Saturday night at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.

The third-seeded Irish, behind a pair of talented post players and an all-around balanced effort, moved to 16-11 overall and into the Section finals versus top-seeded Red Wing (22-4) Friday night at 8:15 p.m. at the Civic Center. Austin, on the other hand, ended the careers of 10 seniors with the defeat.

"They’re a great group of kids," said Austin coach Kris Fadness. "And it’s frustrating that they have to be seniors."

"The end of the season is always hard because you just hate to see your seniors leave. Not that we had high expectations, but we thought if we played well, we thought we had the ability to do some things in the postseason."

Austin led by as many as five in the first quarter, but a 10-0 run by Rosemount to start the second spurred the Irish into the second half. The Packers, not to be totally outdone in the early going, scored the final six points of the period to close to within four, 24-20, at the break. Austin only scored one point in the first 5:30 of the second quarter, and the energy expended in the comeback proved costly.

After Austin got back to within two, 31-29, on back-to-back buckets by Tony Ball and Adam Kasper, Rosemount went on a 12-5 run to end the third with a 43-34 advantage. A three-pointer by Corey Christopherson in the closing moments kept the Packers inside double-digits before heading to the lockerroom.

"We had two droughts that killed us," Coach Fadness said. "Thankfully we got back and scored the last six points just before the half. We just missed a couple shots and we couldn’t get stops."

Rosemount controlled the boards in the second half, and 6-5 forward Dan Forkrud had a field day. Forkrud scored nine of his game-high 21 points in the third quarter and guard Kyle Marxhausen added five consecutive points to push the Irish into the Section finals.

"They really stepped it up and played well against us," Fadness said. "The better team won on that particular night."

Six-foot six-inch forward Andy Stein added 16 points and Marxhausen chipped in 11, while Ball led Austin with 12 points. Ball was held scoreless in the fourth quarter as Rosemount ran away with the win.

"They were as aggressive and athletic as two posts we’ve seen this year," Fadness said of Forkrud and Stein. "Aside from JM (Rochester John Marshall), Rosemount was the first team really able to pound us down low."

"They were just good."

The Irish had little difficulty handling Austin’s late full-court pressure, while Stein scored seven of his 16 in the fourth.

John Duren scored five of his 11 points in the fourth for the Packers, ending his first varsity season with a strong outing.

"It was a nice way to end the season on a high note for him," Fadness said. "He was a little more assertive offensively and that’s what we’ve been looking for from him."

Rosemount, who finished fourth in the Lake Conference, will face Red Wing Friday night for the rights to represent Section 1 at the 2002 Class AAA Boys State Basketball Tournament. Red Wing defeated Winona 75-64 in their semifinal match Saturday night.