The Paton-Churdan boys have advanced to the Class 1A District 13 semi-finals with a 59-47 win over the Audubon Wheelers in Coon Rapids Thursday night. Audubon had beaten CAM to play the Rockets, who had a bye in the first round of tournament play.
The Rockets took the lead early, as the Wheelers played the first four minutes without scoring. The score at the end of the first quarter was 16-7 for the Rockets. The Wheelers kept up with the Rockets in the second quarter but the damage was done. Score at halftime was 26-18.
The Wheelers outpaced the Rockets in the third quarter also, scoring 16 points — 12 of them coming as 3-point baskets — to the Rockets’ 14. The Wheelers came close midway through the quarter and shortened the lead to only three points, 31-28, with four minutes to pay in the quarter. The Rockets scored four unanswered points to regain a seven point lead. Score after three quarters was 40-34.
The Wheelers again tightened the deficit to five points at 46-41 with five minutes left to play in the game, but in the next two minutes the Rockets scored seven points to the Wheelers’ two. The Rockets scored their last six points at the free throw line, and the final score was 59-47.
Noah Juergensen led the Rockets in scoring with 18 points. Colton Fitzpatrick scored 14 points with one 3-pointer, and Jake Carey scored 12 points with one three-pointer. Dylan Burgart scored 10 points and Joe Towers added five points.
The district semi-final will be played next Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 6:30 pm in Guthrie Center against Adair-Casey in Guthrie Center. A-C won 49-48 over Coon Rapids-Bayard to advance to the semi-final. The Rockets have beaten A-C twice this season: by 16 points in January in Adair and by 15 points in February in Churdan.
