The Packers got a big boost from their senior big man in a 65-55 win over Simley in the first round of the Section 1AAA boys basketball tournament in Packer Gym Wednesday.

Marcus Gunderson led the way for the Packers as he poured in 21 points and pulled down five rebounds. He took advantage of a small Simley front line as he got to the hoop early and often inside.

“That’s always a good thing (being the biggest guy out there),” Gunderson said. “We knew they weren’t gonna be very big coming in and we wanted to take advantage of that.”

After Simley’s Mena Muresuk hit a three to put the six-seeded Spartans up 34-32 with 12:53 left in the game, the three-seeded Packers scored the next nine points in a span of three minutes and Austin (18-7 overall) led the rest of the way.

Connor Gunderson started the rally by laying in an alley-oop pass from Marcus Gunderson, which he turned into a three-point play after being fouled. Connor Gunderson, who had six assists on the night, dished out three helpers for the Packers next three scores in the run.

After Austin took the lead, it got late threes from Nate Justice and Steven Rizzi to keep the Spartans at bay.

“We did a nice job of attacking the basket and Marcus got some nice touches inside,” Austin head coach Kris Fadness said. “Down the stretch Steven and Nate hit some big shots for us. It was a nice way for those seniors to go out on their home court.”

While Austin led throughout the last five minutes, they stayed aggressive on offense and looked to keep scoring.

“We definitely had to keep working and play every possession like it really meant something. None of the seniors wanted it to be our last game,” Marcus Gunderson said.

The Packers caught a break when Simley’s Tyler Nelson was in and out of the game with foul trouble. Nelson led the Spartans in scoring with 23 points when Austin beat Simley 69-68 in OT Dec. 23. Nelson fouled out late in the second half.

“He’s a good player but the foul situation took him out of the game. When he was in there I’m not sure he ever got into a rhythm and got comfortable,” Fadness said.

While Connor Gunderson usually is the Packers go-to-guy, he became more of a facilitator then a scorer as he drew double and triple teams on Wednesday.

“That’s probably what we’ll see the rest of the playoffs because team’s know Connor,” Justice said. “Hopefully that’ll leave a guy or two open.”

Will Felten dished out five assists for the Packers, who will now play No. 2 seeded St. Thomas Academy in Mayo Civic Center Saturday at 2:45 p.m. In all, Austin had 16 assists on 24 field goals.

“We’re a pretty good passing team,” Fadness said. “We run that motion offense and we rely on passing a lot. We’re the opposite of them. They’re a dribble drive team and we’re a screen, cut, pass team. Tonight it was pretty crisp and it was nice to have a size advantage inside.”

Simley 25 30 — 55

Austin 24 41 — 65

Austin scoring: Marcus Gunderson, 21; Nate Justice, 12; Connor Gunderson, 12; T.J. Fritz, 7; Steven Rizzi, 6; Will Felten, 4; Chris Jahr, 3; field goals: 53 percent (24-for-45); three-pointers: 31 percent (5-for-16); free throws: 75 percent (12-for-16); rebounds: 27 (Felten, 8); turnovers: 14

Simley scoring: Muresuk Mena, 26; Thomas Sims, 12; Tyler Nelson, 5; Jordan Lange, 4; Mike Verway, 3; Stefan Domeier, 3; Steve Johnson, 2; field goals: 44 percent (22-for-50); three-pointers: 31 percent (8-for-26); free throws: 38 percent (3-for-8); rebounds: 24 (Johnson, 9); turnovers: 16