ROCHESTER -- Being the No. 1 seed does not guarantee anything, and fourth-ranked LeRoy-Ostrander found out why.

The Cardinals, the top seed in Section 1A East Sub-Section boys' basketball, nearly gave way to seventh-seeded Lanesboro's unbelievable comeback in the fourth quarter of L-O's 59-55 quarterfinal victory. The Burros scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to erase a 14-point deficit and nearly knock off the defending sub-section champions.

In last year's playoffs, third-seeded LeRoy-Ostrander beat top-seeded Spring Grove in the sub-section finals. Lanesboro came five points away from eliminating this season's top-seed in the first round.

"Lanesboro came to play," said L-O coach Russ Foster, who was discouraged by his team's play but confident in a strong comeback. "I'm not happy at all with our performance as far as the team goes, but we got through it. It's a win.

"It needs to be better before Tuesday, and it will, or we'll be out."

The Cardinals (22-2) play fifth-seeded Chatfield Tuesday night at 8 p.m. at the Mayo Civic Auditorium. Chatfield defeated No. 4 Spring Grove, 56-38.

"We were lucky, but we made enough plays to win and we survived," Foster said.

L-O senior center Chad Orum scored 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to guide the Cardinals through a rough postseason opener. Dustin Thorson chipped in 16 as no other L-O player scored more than five points.

Lanesboro (7-15) ended the season with its closest of three games against LeRoy-Ostrander, which won two Southeast Conference pairings during the regular season by a combined 45 points.

"Our kids came out flat in the third quarter, missed some makeable shots, and that was probably the difference," said Lanesboro coach John Smith. "They battled back, they didn't give up. We finally hit a couple threes."

The Burros hit all four of their three-pointers in the fourth quarter, two each by Brad Dybing and Ryan Benson. Coupled with off-balance jumpers from Ben Petersen, Lanesboro fought its way back into the game. The trio scored all but two of its team's points in the fourth quarter.

Benson and Dybing buried three-pointers to bring the Burros within 11, and L-O's offense went cold. Benson hit another three, a pair of free-throws, and a fadeaway jumper to get within 56-52. In the meantime, L-O went 0-4 from the free-throw line.

Dybing hit a three-pointer with 30 seconds left, but Ben Adams hit a pair of freebies to get the lead back up to three. Benson and Petersen both missed three-pointers with time winding down, and Orum made 1-of-2 free-throws to ice the win.

Orum scored 16 and 15 in consecutive halves, providing LeRoy-Ostrander with a consistent offensive punch. Thorson netted 11 of his 16 in the second half.

"We wanted to make (Orum) take bad shots, but he doesn't do that," Smith said. "He's been their guy all year."

Boxscore:

LANESBORO (55) -- Ben Petersen 12, Ryker Bergo 2, Ryan Benson 16, Nick Bakke 2, Brad Dybing 15, Dustin Flattum 4, Andy Kingsbury 2, Cory Hungerholt 2.

LEROY-OSTRANDER (59) -- Andrew Knight 2, Chad Orum 31, Jacob Rowe 1, Dustin Thorson 16, Ben Adams 5, Kirk Olson 0, Chris Newton 0, Shane Bunne 0, John Hanks 2, Neil Bucknell 2.

Lanesboro1110628--55

LeRoy-Ostr.11151518--59

Three-pointers--Lanesboro 4 (Dybing 2, Benson 2); L-O 2 (Orum 2).

Free-throws--Lanesboro 5-7, L-O 13-26.

Rebounds--Lanesboro 15, L-O 24 (Orum 12, Thorson 6).

Section 1A

East Sub-Section

First round

Tuesday, Feb. 25

(9) Lanesboro 50, (8) Elgin-Millville 45

(7) Mabel-Canton 61, (10) Grand Meadow 50

Quarterfinals

Thursday, Feb. 27

At Mayo Civic Arena

(1) LeRoy-Ostrander 59, Lanesboro 55

(5) Chatfield 56, (4) Spring Grove 38

At Mayo Civic Auditorium

(2) Rushford-Peterson 59, Mabel-Canton 25

(3) Fillmore Central 65, (6) Houston 46

Semifinals

Tuesday, March 4

At Mayo Civic Auditorium

Rushford-Peterson vs. Fillmore Central or , 6:30 p.m.

LeRoy-Ostrander vs. Chatfield, 8 p.m.

Finals

Saturday, March 8, 8:30 p.m.

At Mayo Civic Auditorium