“I’m just happy for the guys to have won something like this,” said Roadrunners coach Mitch Ohmstead.
His team is made up of players from the same high school conference that encompasses the southeastern suburbs of Minneapolis. The team was the runner-up at the recent AAU Midwest Super Regional and has qualified for the AAU national tournament.
“They really came together this weekend. … We came in here with the idea we had a chance to win because in our area, we’ve played some of the best competition in the country,” Ohmstead said.
The Roadrunners fell behind early, but tied the score at 35-35 at halftime. Then they dominated the second half.
Mark Weiloch led the Roadrunners with 21 points, while Carlton Starr added 13, Johnie Sanders 12 and Alfred Jaryan 11.
The Barnstormers, who became a crowd favorite after post player Brady Zantingh collapsed in the team’s first game, had three of its six remaining players score in double figures. Eli Groenendyk and Cliff Warner had 16 points each, while Alex Walker scored 15. All 16 of Warner’s points came in the first half, Groenendyk was held to six points in the second half.
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The Roadrunners beat SWD Select of Kansas, 70-54, in the semifinals, while the Barnstormers had to hit a partially blocked 3-pointer to send the game into overtime where they beat the Alegent Crusaders I of Omaha, 83-81.
Creighton recruit Antoine Young of Bellevue West led the Crusaders with 30 points. Young, the leading scorer in the tournament, had three games of 30 or more points.
The Kearney Bearcats and the Runza Slamfest Stars were eliminated Saturday night in a pair of 3-point losses. The Kearney Bearcats lost to Minnesota Magic, while the Slamfest Stars lost to Midwest Trailblazers, another Nebraska team.
In the Miss Basketball Big Show, also played over the weekend, the Kansas Belles defeated the Minnesota Metro Stars 54-42 in the championship game.
A local team, Team Runza, lost in the quarterfinals to the Metro Stars, 69-43.
Ashley Axmann of Pleasanton and Katie Sokolowski led Team Runza with 10 points each.
In the tournament, Frankie Peterson of Cambridge averaged 10.8 points per game, while Axmann averaged 9.3.
MR
BASKETBALL INVITATIONAL
Championship
MSB ROADRUNNERS 71, IOWA BARNSTORMERS 60
MSB ROADRUNNERS — Mark Weiloch 7-13 2-2 21, Carlton Starr
5-12 1-5 13, Johnie Sanders 3-13 5-6 12, Alfred Jaryan 4-13
2-2 11, David Berthene 2-4 0-0 5, Tim Sauer 2-4 0-0 4, Nick
Ramsay 1-2 1-1 3, Jordan Gross 1-3 0-0 2. Total 25-63 11-16
73.
IOWA BARNSTORMERS — Cliff Warner 5-11 2-2 16, Eli Groenendyk
8-10 0-0 16, Alex Walker 5-12 2-2 15, Mike O’Neil 3-3 0-2 6,
Shawn Keizer 1-4 2-2 4, Jake Hughes 1-5 1-2 3. Total 23-45
7-10 61.
3-point goals — Roadrunners 10-26 (Weiloch 5-10, Starr 2-4,
Jaryan 1-4, Sanders 1-5, Bethene 1-2, Gross 0-1),
Barnstormers 7-18 (Warner 4-8, Walker 3-7, Keizer 0-2,
Groenendyk 0-1).
