Ava Gilbert made key plays on both ends of the floor down the stretch and Sarah Tangen led all scorers with 24 points to pace No. 4 Detroit Lakes to a 48-44 Section 8AAA girls basketball quarterfinal victory over No. 5 St. Cloud Tech Thursday, Feb. 27 at Ralph Anderson Gymnasium.
Gilbert and Tangen were both key shooters from the free throw line in crunch time as the Lakers sealed the win from the charity stripe.
Detroit Lakes won the game by getting to the line.
The Lakers made seven field goals in the second half and were 12 of 14 from the stripe after trailing 26-22 at halftime.
Tangen led in both halves scoring 10 in the first and 14 points in the final 18 minutes.
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Alex Bettcher added 10 points; the duo combined to score 71 percent of the Lakers’ total.
Genaya Murray led the Tigers (6-21) with 18 points. Emma Imdieke contributed 11.
Detroit Lakes (15-12) advances to the 8AAA semifinals to face No. 1 Alexandria (20-7) at Alexandria Area high school Saturday, Feb. 29 at 7 p.m.
The Cardinals swept the season series winning in DL 54-30 in early January and 54-27 at home in mid-December. Alex advanced by blowing out No. 8 Little Falls 57-18. No. 2 Bemidji defeated No. 7 St. Cloud Apollo 58-34 and will host No. 3 Sartell-St Stephen, 75-60 winners over No. 6 Sauk Rapids-Rice.
The Lakers’ playoff victory was the first for the program since 2016-17.
Section 8AAA Quarterfinal
Detroit Lakes 48, St. Cloud Tech 44
SC 26 18 - 44
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DL 22 26 - 48
SC - Genaya Murray 18, Emma Imdieke 11, Hailie Christiansen 6, Rachael Kaczor 5, Emma Borchert 2, Sarah Harris 2.
DL - Sarah Tangen 24, Alex Bettcher 10, Maddy Bowers 5, Ava Gilbert 4, Sophie Gunderson 2, Abby Larson 2, Kylee Price 1.
