East Ridge boys basketball: Raptors upended by Apple Valley, season ends

The East Ridge boys basketball team’s season came to an end in the first round of the Section 3AAAA tournament with a 72-51 loss to fifth-ranked Apple Valley.

In the quarterfinal, on Wednesday, March 7, in Apple Valley, the second-seeded Eagles (23-5) jumped out to a 36-19 halftime lead on seventh-seed East Ridge, then held on, outscoring the Raptors 36-32 in the second half.

In the game, East Ridge (9-18) held Apple Valley standout Tyus Jones to 18 points, well below his 28.7 points per game average. However, Dustin Fronk led all scorers with 24 points for the Eagles.

For East Ridge, senior guard Justin Pahl scored a team-high 17 points and junior guard Nate Roese added 10 points.

Apple Valley went on to beat Cretin-Derham Hall in the semifinal and will face top-seed and third-ranked Eastview in the section final.

On the year, Pahl led the team in scoring at 19.8 points per game. Junior center Conrad Sexe was second in scoring with an 8.8 points per game average, followed by sophomore forward Brian Ishola at 8.6 points per game.

East Ridge graduates two seniors, Pahl and forward Nnamdi Nwokolo, bringing back 14 players from this year’s roster.

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