‘Pure joy’: Bluejays defeat Belle Plaine for second straight year, 76-66; earn schools 13th trip to state

A decisive 76-66 win over Belle Plaine in the Section 2AA Championship game last week begs the question: Will anyone defeat the Bluejays boys’ basketball team? 

We’ll find out this week at the state tournament. 

“It's just a lot of pure joy,” Waseca Head Coach Seth Anderson described the win. “It's pure joy when you win the section, because you can never take it for granted. It's a precious thing and a special thing and a state tournament is a memory they can't ever take away.”

The Bluejays extended their streak of wins to 30 and section championship streak to two with a victory over the Tigers Thursday night at the Taylor Center in Mankato. 

Without question, the Tigers refused to be put away in this game, however, they never led in the contest. 

Four minutes in the Bluejays led 8-7, and four minutes later, a Deron Russell bucket put the Jays up 20-10. With six minutes left in the first half, another three by Russell extended the Jays’ lead to 14. 

Over the final five minutes of the first half, the Tigers clawed back with a 16-6 run. A jumper from Demarious Russell before the buzzer sent the Jays into halftime with a 38-32 lead.

After the break, the Jays quickly jumped out to their largest leads of the night, leading by as many as 21 points with six minutes remaining. A barrage of baskets saw the Jays lead cut to single digits in a matter of two minutes. 

A timeout from the Jays stopped their cold streak as Deron Russell laid it in with the assist coming from brother Demarius Russell. 

From that point on, the Bluejays made their free throws and kept pace as they put down the Tigers for the second straight year. 

“Holy cow,” coach Anderson said after the game. “It went from a twenty-one point lead to eight pretty fast there. Credit our guys. They just held on until the end. It wasn't pretty. We had some ugly turnovers, but we held on and it was enough.”

“We just gotta stay composed,” Senior Demarius Russell said of the moment. “We knew we were gonna go against adversity sooner or later. As long as we stay composed, do our thing, and listen to coach, we know we’re gonna come out on top.”

Asked the question of whether anyone will beat them this year, both Russell and Anderson gave the same response: “One game at a time.”

Individually for the Bluejays versus Belle Plaine: Deron Russell 31 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals; Isaac Feldkamp 12 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block; Demarius Russell 11 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals; Carson Ohnstad 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals; Ethan Hiller 9 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal; Caden Danner 2 points; Cyrett Long 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist. 

The Bluejays (30-0), seeded number 2, played Tuesday night against 7-seed Pequot Lakes (23-7). A season ago the Patriots ended the Bluejays’ season in the consolation semifinals with a 51-48 victory. 

The winner of Tuesday night’s game plays at 6 p.m. Friday night at Williams Arena against the winner of 3-seed Breck (19-10) and 6-seed Montevideo (25-4). A year ago, Waseca lost to Breck 76-42 in the state quarterfinals. The loser of Tuesday night’s game plays Wednesday night at either 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center, Concordia University in St. Paul. On Saturday the 3rd place game will be played at 2 p.m. at Concordia. The State Championship game will be Saturday at 5 p.m. at Williams arena. 

After last week’s game, coach Anderson and senior Demarius Russell were asked some questions.

Anderson

Was this the most difficult game you guys have played all season?

“Yeah, for sure. Anytime you're in a section final against a good team, that's always the hardest game. There's just so much more pressure and higher stakes when you play a game like this, definitely making it the toughest game. You have to be able to handle adversity. You have to be able to handle pressure. I thought our guys held on just enough to be able to get those things done tonight.”

Coming into this season, what was the expectation? Is the pressure the same or different with higher expectations? What does it feel like to return to the state tournament this year and was that the expectation or goal coming in?

“You always feel pressure. If you don't feel pressure, you know, it's probably time to get out of coaching and that's kind of why coaches don't live to be 100 years old. There is a lot of stress in the job and there's just so much unknown all throughout the season. You have to be able to stay healthy. You have to have a few breaks go your way, and you have to be good. You have to be able to prepare for the moment…I couldn't be more proud. I thought our guys prepared great.”

How do you keep the boys mentally strong going into a game like this? 

“I think it's something that you talk about all year long. You're preparing for the moment and you know that you're going to hit adversity at some point, and you hit it throughout the season. You have to find different moments. And we've struggled with it. We haven't done everything correctly all the way through, but it's a learning process, and I thought our guys handled it well tonight.”

What does it mean for you, for the team and the school? Does this ever lose any of its excitement?

“It never gets old. You never lose that heartbeat and stress and excitement when that final whistle blows and your team gets it done and the final score on the scoreboard has the Bluejays ahead one more time.”

What do you guys have to do going forward to succeed? 

“We have to continue to defend and rebound the basketball. Those are two big things. Offensively we've been pretty good most of the year. I think we can score, but we've got to continue to defend without fouling. Fouls really got us in trouble late in the game tonight.”

Are you the favorite going into the state tournament? 

“One game. We just play one game. We figure out who the first opponent is, and we try to beat them and we go from there.”

Demarius Russell

How are you feeling about going back to your second state tournament this year, coming off tonight's victory?

“I just wanted to give thanks to my Lord and savior Jesus Christ. It's just a blessing. We come and we work day in and day out at practice. The goal is always to come back to the state tournament, and that's what we're doing right now. When we get there, we're gonna keep working and keep working and hope to get some wins up there.”

What does it mean to you to represent Waseca at state? What are the expectations like going in? 

“Expectations are we want to come in and we want to win. Last year we had a first-round loss and we don't want that this year. We want to come out and win. Show our state that we really want to come out and we want to win it all.”

Is anybody going to beat you guys this year? 

“We'll see. One game at a time, that’s all we think about.”