Rising surge; LP upsets Wabasha-Kellogg in the Section 1A quarterfinals
Published 9:33 pm Wednesday, March 7, 2018
- Lyle-Pacelli’s Trinity Anderson moves around Wabasha-Kellogg’s Nick Meyer during the first half in the Section 1A quarterfinals Wednesday night in Rochester. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
ROCHESTER —Lyle-Pacelli senior Frederico Pulgarin wasn’t ready to be done playing basketball yet.
The 6-foot, 1-inch foreign exchange student from Colombia was highly active in every phase of the game as he led No. 11-seeded Lyle-Pacelli to an upset victory over No. 3 Wabasha-Kellogg 73-61 in the Section 1A quarterfinals Wednesday night at Mayo Civic Center.
Pulgarin logged in 27 points, 15 rebounds, two steals and three assists in the win.
“We have a good team and this was not going to be our last game,” Pulgarin said. “We had a rough start this year, but now I think we’re working really good as a group. I just want to thank the coaches and my team.”
LP (16-10 overall) has now won seven games in a row after slipping to one game below .500 earlier this season. The key to the team’s turnaround has been a simple boost in confidence.
Lyle-Pacelli’s Frederico Pulgarin goes past Wabasha-Kellogg’s Nick Meyer during the Section 1A quarterfinals Wednesday night in Rochester. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
LP had lost eight times this season when leading in the last two minutes of the game, but that didn’t happen against W-K as senior Trinity Anderson, who had 14 points, hit six straight free throws to clinch the win.
“It means a lot [to win]. Last year hurt when we got beat by Southland,” Anderson said. “Tonight we were dancing around in the locker room after the game. We were trying to let them know that there is a boys team here in Lyle-Pacelli.”
The Falcons (16-12 overall) never led in the second half and the closest they got was within 52-48 when Alex Avilez hit a three-pointer with 6:25 left in the game. L-P responded by scoring the next five points to go back up 57-48 with 4:39 left.
“We’ve finally started closing out games and we’re started to play with more confidence,” L-P head coach Scott Koenigs said. “Trinity and Frederico have stepped up and our freshman our gaining composure and playing with confidence. Freddy’s big every night. He’s hard to guard and he’s kind of a hidden commodity that we have. He plays big and he’s done tremendous things for us.”
Anderson echoed the appreciation for Pulgarin, who has fit right in with the Athletics from the start.
Lyle-Pacelli’s Zach Bollingberg spins away from the defense of Wabasha-Kellogg’s Zach Kjeseth during the first half in the Section 1A quarterfinals Wednesday night in Rochester. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
“We love Freddy,” Anderson said. “We met him around homecoming and when he started to go to open gyms and we knew we got lucky with him. He was an early Christmas present. He’s a great guy to be around and he’s been a great addition to the team.”
LP opened the second half on a 9-3 run to go up 42-28 with 13:19 left in the game.
The Athletics led 27-17 late in the first half after Anderson hit a runner, but the Falcons were able to pull within 30-25 at the break.
L-P’s Jed Nelson sat for much of the first half with two fouls and scored eight of his 10 points in the second half.
LP will play No. 2-seeded Spring Grove in the Section 1A semifinals at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
The Lions beat LP 61-57 on Jan. 30.
LP 30 43 — 73
WK 25 36 — 61
LP scoring: Frederico Pulgarin, 27; Zach Bollingberg, 15; Trinity Anderson, 14; Jed Nelson, 10; Joseph Maas, 7; rebounds: 38 (Pulgarin, 15); free throws: 73 percent (29-for-40); turnovers: 19