The Tigers one-upped the Rabbits in the end, ending Wabasso’s unbeaten run this season with a 74-72 victory in a Tomahawk Division boys basketball game.

The Tigers (11-3, 8-1) were led by Parker Kuehn, who finished with 24 points, five rebounds and five steals. Kuehn’s first half set the tone for the Tigers as he had 22 of his points come in the half and four of his baskets coming from the 3-point line.

Brecken Heiling added 12 points for the Tigers, while Aiden Moriarty had 10 points and five rebounds, Isaac Fredin had 9 points and Madden Lendt had 12 rebounds and three assists.

“It’s just nice to play a good, close, physical game,” Tigers head coach Lance Larson said. “We don’t have a lot of those on the schedule it seems and it’s just a good for both teams.”

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Wabasso’s Brayden Guetter goes up for a layup during the first half of Tuesday night’s Tomahawk Division boys basketball game against Springfield at Springfield High School.

Wabasso (14-1, 9-0) was led by Brayden Guetter, who had 24 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks. Caden Frericks had a double-double for the Rabbits also with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Drew Kemp had 9 points and Jack Burns had 8 points and five rebounds.

The Rabbits, ranked ninth in Class A, suffered their first taste of defeat this season after starting 14-0, but head coach Scott Leopold said his players were ready to respond.

“The guys have got a good attitude about it,” coach Leopold said. “Nobody wants to lose, but they understand that it doesn’t matter how many games you lose during the season as long as you’re ready when the time comes to take a run and make a run out of the playoffs. So, that’s our ultimate goal, try and go somewhere that way, and the conference is to the southeast, but the section is to the northwest. We’re looking ahead that way and trying to build for that down the road.”

Unlike the bucket-for-bucket first half that saw the Tigers pull ahead by 10 at the half, the second half slowed down a bit and became more of a physical battle. Guetter brought the Rabbits back within 1, 53-52, after converting on an and-one with 12:38 left in the game.

The Rabbits got within a point once after that, but the Tigers were able to do enough on the glass to get the job done and hold on, hitting some big shots when needed to preserve the win. One big shot came on a straightaway 3 from Fredin to make it 68-61.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Springfield’s Aiden Moriarty backs the ball into the lane while guarded by Wabasso’s Jayden Remiger during a Tuesday night Tomahawk Division boys basketball game at Springfield High School.

A free throw by Guetter in the closing minutes had Wabasso down 74-72. The Rabbits ended up with the final possession of the game, but Guetter missed a go-ahead 3 and a rebound and game-tying jumper by Burns was off the mark as the Tigers hung on.

Tigers senior Bryan Buerkle, who scored his 1,000th career point at home Monday in a 98-23 drubbing of BOLD, finished with 8 points, four rebounds and three assists on Tuesday. He missed the first seven games of the season and became the 17th boys player in school history to join the 1,000-point club Monday. The Tigers’ only three losses this season came during the first seven games without Buerkle taking the court.

While there are several games left in the season, Tuesday’s game was Buerkle’s biggest test since returning from a knee injury.

“I think the biggest thing we take away [from this game] is the experience,” Buerkle said. “This is a game that was close and it kind of had that playoff feel with the crowd and energy and stuff. So I think we take away from that and just we’re ready to play in that pressure and I think that was a good first game like that.”

Leopold said the Tigers having Buerkle back was an added challenge despite Buerkle coming off the bench yet.

“They’re definitely a little better at moving the ball with [Buerkle] in there,” coach Leopold said. “They spread the floor better, so we’re trying to make sure hat they had to drive instead of shoot 3s because they’re good shooters, but they hit some shots in the first half and to be expected.”

The first half was neck and neck until Guetter started getting involved in all areas for the Rabbits. First, he found Burns on the corner for a 3 to tie it up at 16-all before a block and overhead pass by Guetter down the court found Tavyn Larson inside for an 18-16 lead. Moments later, the Rabbits went up 23-18 on an and-one by Guetter. A 3 by Guetter later made it 27-20 and the Rabbits took their largest lead, 29-20, after a layup by Brooks Baune.

“I think they’ve improved,” Larson said. “The young guys that are coming off the bench now, the Baune twins are pretty solid, and they get some good inside play from guys that just work really hard. And then Brayden is a tough matchup at 6-7. He just handles the ball good enough and shoots it good enough that it’s just hard to guard.”

Kuehn answered Guetter, however, with a bucket inside, followed by back-to-back 3s to have the Tigers down 29-28 and force a Wabasso timeout with 5:46 left in the half. Buerkle then scored out of the timeout for a 30-29 Tigers lead.

Baune hit a 3 to put Wabasso back in front, but that 3 was answered on the other end when Fredin and Heiling each sank one for a 36-32 lead. The Tigers went on an 8-0 run near the end of the half, three buckets coming from Kuehn during it, before the Rabbits ended the half with a quick bucket in the lane by Jayden Remiger, making it a 48-38 lead for Springfield at halftime.

“I was happy with how we played,” Buerkle said. “I like how we finished the second half of the first half. I like that energy. It kind of lacked in the start of the second half, kind of the whole second half, but we just dug and dug and dug and I like how we came through.”

The Rabbits were without Nolan Leopold in Tuesday’s game due to an illness.

Springfield is at Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s on Thursday for another key Tomahawk game, while Wabasso hosts Sleepy Eye in Tomahawk action on Friday.