Photo by Samantha Davis Wabasso's Caden Frericks grabs a defensive rebound in the second half against Minneota on Saturday in the Section 3A North subsection quarterfinals at Montevideo High School. The Rabbits defeated the Vikings 81-60. 

Courtesy of Samantha Davis

sdavis@marshallindependent.com

MONTEVIDEO — Caden Frericks broke a school record with 34 rebounds while Brayden Guetter went off for 32 points to lead the No. 3 Wabasso boys basketball team to an 81-60 postseason-opening win over No. 6 Minneota on Saturday in the Section 3A North Subsection quarterfinals.

The loss ends the Vikings’ season 8-19, who will graduate five seniors.

“[The win] feels good,” Wabasso head coach Scott Leopold said. “I always like to come in and win, and that’s our goal. It’s been our goal. We are counting it down, so hopefully we can keep that countdown going. I think that’s what we always try to do [getting off to a fast start]. We always try to get out, get energy, and we came out and played really well those first five, six minutes, and that made it work for us.”

Frericks’ 34 boards broke Wabasso’s single-game rebounding record, noted by Leopold, who also finished with 20 points on 9 of 12 shooting. Guetter tallied a double-double as well, grabbing 10 rebounds.

“It feels really good,” Frericks said of the accomplishment. “It’s [team effort] been strong the whole season, everybody’s done their part. If one person’s not doing good that night, another person steps up, and that’s what we need to keep doing through the whole season.”

Notably, the Rabbits dominated the boards and outrebounded the Vikings 67-26.

Wabasso didn’t trail the entire night, sparked by a 6-0 run to begin the game, and led by 19 points at the break. Minneota was able to force a string of turnovers from its full-court press, but ultimately wasn’t able to overcome the early deficit and slow down Wabasso’s offensive power.

“We definitely play with composure. Some of that got away from us a little bit, but normally we like that fast pace. We like when other teams come and get up in our face,” Leopold said. “So, them [Minneota] pressing just kind of worked out in our favor, we liked it. We handled it really well.”

Following Wabasso’s start with 6 unanswered points, Minneota’s Landon Esping found a cutting Tristen Sussner for a layup to get the Vikings scoring started a few possessions in.

Ian Myhre hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to cut into an 8-5 deficit, but Wabasso began to take control from there with the help of a 14-0 run for a 22-5 lead in the game’s first seven minutes.

Frericks got the run started with an and-one, and a few baskets each from Guetter and Jack Burns followed as the Rabbits continued to capitalize.

Wabasso also has a sizable height advantage, notably with Guetter standing at 6-foot-7 who continued to use his length for an efficient shooting performance.

Frericks and Jayden Remiger also stand at 6-foot-2 and 6-foot-4, respectively. Minneota’s tallest players getting significant time was Esping at 6-foot-4 and Leo Hennen at 6-foot-2.

Minneota got a spark going again after Esping got his own rebound to stop Wabasso’s run, along with a much-needed 3-pointer from Tristen Sussner to cut into a 22-12 deficit.

Easton Johnston scored following a forced turnover off Minneota’s press, along with another steal from Evan Jerzak and 3 from Jase Sorensen forced the Rabbits to call a timeout to regroup, leading 34-21.

“To maintain our lead, we just had to calm down in some spots,” Frericks said. “Calm down, then when we had the ball and the opportunity to go, we could run and do what we do.”

From the jump, Frericks was a monster on the boards, as he has been throughout the entirety of the season. He was a difference maker in consistently getting Wabasso more offensive opportunities.

“We had to come out fast and start out strong,” Frericks said. “Get them [Minneota] off their [feet] … So that we could get our momentum going, and just keep moving through the game.”

Wabasso ended the half with a pair of Guetter layups, along with a steal from Burns and Drew Kemp free throw to head into the locker room with a 47-28 advantage.

Kemp and Burns also finished in double-figure scoring for the Rabbits, with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Sussner led the way for the Vikings with 12 points, along with Myhre’s 11 and Esping’s team-high six rebounds.

The Rabbits kept up much of the same control and tempo throughout the second half, and while Minneota again had a handful of strong defensive stops, Wabasso in return made a habit to continue contesting the Vikings’ shots and limit their chances at a comeback.

Guetter in particular continued his hot hand and dominated the interior, with missed shots becoming scarce for him through the rest of the half. He finished the night shooting 12 of 22 from the field and 6 of 8 from the foul line.

“He [Guetter] is kind of our leader. I mean, he’s our guy that goes and gets us a bucket when we need it,” Leopold said. “He has always done it for us, and gets us going.”

The Wabasso boys basketball program is continuing to make strides under Leopold, in his second year leading at the helm. The Rabbits spent a large part of this season either state-ranked in the top-10 Class A coaches poll, or have been receiving votes.

Additionally, Wabasso made it two rounds further to the subsection semifinals in last season’s Section 3A Tournament than the year prior, and finished 15-12 overall in Leopold’s first year, which was an impressive 10 more wins than the Rabbits’ 2023-24 campaign with a 5-22 finishing record.

Again trending in an upward direction, Wabasso has added another 10 wins so far to its record this season, which now moves to 25-3 overall.

Wabasso is now set up for a competitive rematch with No. 2 Dawson-Boyd (21-5), the reigning section and Class A state champions, in the subsection semifinals on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. back at Montevideo.

The two met earlier this year on Jan. 29, where the Blackjacks came away with an 82-72 victory.

“We played them earlier in the year, and it was a close game. We definitely believe we can make a run at it and go after them,” Leopold said of Tuesday’s matchup. “We just need to compose ourselves, not give up all the turnovers and just take care of the ball.”