Lake City Tigers Beat Melrose Dutchmen

Good news for basketball fans living near Lake Pepin.  Nsthsn Heise scored 18 points to lead the Lake City Tigers to a 60-44 win over the Melrose Area Dutchmen inn the Class AA quarterfinals Wednesday night at Target Center in Minneapolis.

It took awhile for both teams to begin the scoring.  Preston Keaveny would give the Dutchmen the early lead 1:50 into the first half.  Nathan Heise would score the Tigers first four points and Grant Moscho's basket would tie the game at four.  Lake City would vault into the lead on a couple of shots from Washington Ave. from Jake Wohlers and Reid Gastner before Rowan Nelson hit a three pointer to end the run for Melrose.  The Dutchmen also played outstanding defense in the first half, displaying a 2-1-2 zone.  Rowan Nelson would also get a three point play following some great inside passing.  Josh Matanich would score four consecutive points to tie the game at 12 and spark a 7-0 run that also had the first three pointer from Justin Wohlers.  .  He would hit a second three that included a 5-0 run.  Lake City would get into foul trouble when Matanich picked up his third foul with 5:18 left in the first half.  But Lake City didn't miss a beat when Ethan Heitman got a three point play on an inside pass from Nathan Heise.  The Tigers had balanced first half scoring when Brady Schurhammer became the seventh player to enter the scorebook.  Lake City led 33-25 at halftime.

The Tigers would come out strong to start the second half like a speedboat heading down Lake Pepin.  Lake City would open on an 8-0 run where Heitman would score four of the Tigers first six points.  The fans also saw a battle of three point shooting with Moscho hitting a pair for Melrose and Gastner,  Jake and Justin Wohlers extending te Lake City lead.  The Tigers would also score in the post as Heitman fed Nathan Heise and he scored on a left handed layup.  The Dutchmen suffered a blow when Moscho picked up his fourth foul with 7:57 left and fouled out 1:56 later.  Nathan Heise would go on another four point run as both teams cleared their benches.  Melrose would get production from their bench as Cooper Goerdt concluded the game with five straight points.

Justin Wohlers and Heitman were the only other Lake City players in double figures with 11 points apiece.  Keaveny led Melrose with 13 points and Moscho added 11.

The Tigers improved their record to 27-2 and will face the Minnehaha Academy Redhawks in the Class AA semifinals on Friday, March 22 at 6 PM at Target Center.  Melrose will play the St. Peter Saints in the consolation semifinals, also on the 21st at 6 PM at Ganglehoff Center on the Concordia University campus in St. Paul.