Orono hangs on vs. Hermantown in Class 3A boys basketball quarterfinals

Orono coach Barry Wohler anticipated this. His Spartans, the No. 2 seed in Class 3A. had played and defeated their quarterfinals opponent, Hermantown, by 16 points during the regular season. Wohler knew Tuesday's matchup with the Hawks would be much closer.

Orono built another 16-point margin, then had to hang on through a rousing Hermantown rally to escape with an 84-82 victory in the quarterfinals of the boys basketball state tournament at Williams Arena.

"Whoever said, 'Survive and advance,' there's no truer words," Wohler said. "There are no bad teams down here. They all made state for a reason."

Isaiah Hagen scored 35 points for the Spartans and Kyle Kallenbach added 20, including a three-pointer in the final two minutes that slowed the Hermantown comeback.

"We were all kind of going ahhh," Wohler said, covering his eyes with a smile, "… nice shot. But he has no fear."

Despite the margin of victory in their first meeting, Wohler said the tight game was no surprise. "Teams get better," he said. "The way [Hermantown] plays, they're never out of the game. They take care of the ball. And their number 10 couldn't miss."

Wohler was referring to Hermantown guard Abraham Soumis, who scored 34 points, making 10 of 17 shots.

"We were getting some good looks there at the end because we were starting to do the things that have made us successful all year," Hawks coach Andy Fenske said. "We just ran out of time there down the stretch."