This year, the third-seeded Tigers finally got their redemption, taking on the team that knocked them out in last year’s playoffs and putting up a 93-63 statement win over second-seeded Madelia in the semifinals.

“This is awesome,” Springfield’s Bryan Buerkle said. “This was our team’s goal from the get go. Once we got here, we knew we wanted to beat them. We didn’t want to go home like last year. Two years now, leaving here, we wanted to make it to MSU, and we did. It’s exciting. Now we just have one more to go.”

Buerkle led all scorers with 31 points on the night, along with 10 rebounds and seven assists.

“Playing as a team,” Buerkle said. “We’re so fluent with the basketball and it’s just fun. It’s easy when I have teammates that I can rely on too. They crash, and I kick, and it’s team basketball and it’s fun.”

Staff photo by Ari Selvey The Springfield student section celebrates a 3-pointer made by Bryan Buerkle during a Section 2A Boys Basketball Tournament semifinals game against Madelia Monday at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Also for Springfield, Brecken Heiling had 20 points and five rebounds, while Madden Lendt had 16 points, 10 rebounds and five steals. Parker Kuehn added 9 points and four assists with five steals.

Kaydon Firchau led the Blackhawks with 20 points, while Tate Becker had 16 points. Dalton Tatro and Bryce Borkenhagen each had 12 points. The Blackhawks finished the season 22-6.

The now 23-6 Tigers play top-seeded Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton in the section finals at Minnesota State University, Mankato at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, with a state berth on the line.

The game was back-and-forth early, with a driving layup from Kuehn tying the game at 16. Borkenhagen and Firchau hit shots to take a 20-16 lead, but an acrobatic layup from Heiling cut the lead down to 20-19. Madelia went on a 11-2 run, led by 4 points each from Becker and Tatro, to go up 31-21, but after a timeout, Springfield started to turn it around.

“Defensively, it started in the first half when we were down 10 and we switched to a zone defense,” Springfield head coach Lance Larson said. “The goal was to make someone else other than Firchau take some shots, and we were fortunate enough that they weren’t hitting in a different arena. Make someone else do it, and once we got a few stops, all of a sudden you score on the other end, and it just snowballs a little bit. Luckily we were on the right end of it this time.”

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Madelia’s Kaydon Firchau throws down a dunk during the Section 2A Boys Basketball Tournament semifinals game against Springfield Monday at Gustavus Adolphus College. Firchau finished with 20 points to lead Madelia.

Springfield scored 18 points unanswered, with Kuehn hitting a layup and a 3, followed by a 3 from Dylan Simonson. Buerkle hit two shots in the paint as Aiden Moriarty and Kuehn each added a layup as Springfield took a 39-31 advantage. Buerkle capped off the first half with a reverse lay with English as Springfield took a 45-35 lead into the locker room.

Madelia made a push to start the second half, cutting the lead to 49-47 after 3s from Firchau and Becker. However, a putback from Moriarty got Springfield going again.

“It started in the first half with that 10-point lead we had before halftime,” Buerkle said. “We came out of the half, they went for the push, but we knew they had one more push. But ultimately we just had the final blow. We executed very well and played team basketball. It was very fun.”

The Blackhawks held on for a while, with a driving layup by Borkenhagen making it a 62-56 game, but Springfield went on a 12-2 run, hitting the boards hard for several second-chance points. Springfield got the lead out to 80-59 on a 3 from Lendt, and an and-one from Buerkle prompted a Madelia timeout with 3:59 to play. Springfield didn’t let up, however, and the final margin of victory was the biggest lead of the game as Springfield rolled to the victory.

The Tigers must now take down the top-seeded JWP on Wednesday to get back to state.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Springfield’s Madden Lendt drives in for a layup while guarded by Madelia’s Kaydon Firchau and Tate Becker (3) during a Section 2A Boys Basketball Tournament semifinals game Monday at Gustavus Adolphus College. Lendt had a double-double in the win for Springfield with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

“They’re a really good ballclub,” Larson said. “They really get the ball up and down the floor. It’s really going to have to be the stress point tomorrow in practice. Make sure we’re getting back on D, not giving up the easy layups. Then we’ve just got to hope they’re not shooting it like they can. If they’re knocking down 3s and getting up and down the floor, it’s going to be a long night. Hopefully we can keep it close at the end and see what happens.”