Staff photo by Ari Selvey Springfield’s Ben Potter goes for a reverse layup during the Section 2A, South Subsection Boys Basketball Finals Monday at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

ST. PETER — Springfield cut a 15-point second-half deficit down to 5 points with a minute of game to play, but the Tigers were unable to complete the comeback as Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey won 82-74 Monday in the Section 2A, South Subsection Boys Basketball Finals at Gustavus Adolphus College.

“They’re a group of almost all seniors,” Springfield head coach Lance Larson said of MLA/C. “They’ve been together, played together for three or four years. They’re athletic, they’ve got kids that can shoot it, so they’re hard to guard. They work hard, play good defense. All in all, I thought we did OK in spurts, but we just had a few moments where we had some lapses and let them get that 10, 13 points lead, and couldn’t get it back.”

Bryan Buerkle led the Tigers with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Ben Potter had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Brayden Sturm had 16 points, five rebounds and eight assists for the Tigers, while Noah Vogel had 11 points.

MLA/C’s perimeter defense was particularly strong in the first half, holding Springfield to zero made 3s and 24 total points. The Tigers trailed 37-24 entering the second half, and the Wolverines got up by as much as 45-30 early in the second.

Vogel took the lid off the hoop for the Tigers, hitting the team’s first 3-pointer with 14:06 to play in the game. This began a surge for Springfield, which outscored MLA/C 8-4 after a pair of free throws by Buerkle.

Springfield continued to push, but good offense by the Wolverines kept the lead around 10 points for several minutes. Potter hit a 3-pointer to come within 11 with 1:41 to play, followed by a 3 by Sturm and a converted and-one by Buerkle to cut the lead to 77-72 with 1:08 to play.

Springfield was unable to maintain the scoring, however, and a pair of free throws by Isaac Fredin-Jensen were the only points the Tigers could muster in the final moments of the game, despite the Wolverines going 5 for 10 on their bonus free throws.

Despite ending the season on a loss, Larson said that the team had exceeded their expectations from the beginning of the year after improving eight wins from a season ago and winning a share of the Tomahawk Conference title.

“I just talked to the kids, and I asked them if they were being honest with themselves if any of them thought we would be 21-8, and there wasn’t a person who raised their hand,” Larson said. “All in all, our season was good. We fought through injuries and fought through a late start. We had some kids step up, and some not play the roles that they wanted, but that’s part of basketball. You only get to play five … The season was successful. We took a step forward, we’ve got a good core coming back, so we’ll see what that future brings.”