Upsala Cardinals Aim For Upset In State Basketball Quarterfinals

The Upsala Cardinals take a 12-game win streak to the Class A Boys Basketball State Tournament quarterfinals Thursday March 26 at 11am against #1 seed Henning at 11am at Target Center in Minneapolis.  The Cardinals are 24-6 this season and seeded #8 in the 8-team field.  Upsala Head Coach Tom Riitters joined me on WJON to talk about the team.

Tough Start to the Season

Upsala started on the season 4-5 due to a tough schedule which Riitters says may have helped the team grow.  He says they've lost just 1 game since Christmas break so they are "on a pretty good run".  Upsala lost in the section final last season and lost 3 starters from that team.  Riitters says early season challenges helped them learn what they had.

Changed Up Their Approach

Riitters was confident they would be good this season, he just wasn't sure how good they would be.  Upsala lost 6'5 and 6'4 kids last season and didn't have the height to replace them so they had to change up what they do.  The tallest player on this year's roster is 6'2.

Depth and Top Players

Upsala plays 10 players in their regular rotation and Riitters says they are led by 3-year starter junior, Sam Laliberte who's averaging 14 points a game, and Quinn Guthrie, who had been coming off the bench, leads the team averaging 15 points a game.  Riitters inserted Guthrie in the starting lineup prior to the playoffs.  Guard, Calvin Leners averages 12 points a game.  Austin Klein is the lone senior in their starting lineup and Riitters appreciates his on ball defense.

Tough Opponent

Upsala is an underdog against top seeded and unbeaten (30-0) Henning next Thursday.  Riitters says Henning is a great team with one of the best players in the state in Senior guard Kale Misegades.  He isn't surprised this is the matchup they were given and they've spend the last few days preparing for the challenge.  Riitters says they've knocked off #1 seeds before and can do it again.

Support

Upsala basketball has received a ton of support from the community and Riitters expects the majority of the community to come out and support the team next week.  Upsala will be making their first state tournament appearance in boys basketball since 2013.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Tom Riitters, click below.