Leach leads Rebels to OT win for state tourney berth

DETROIT LAKES — Owen Leach delivered a magical performance for the Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Rebels in the Section 8-2A finals on Friday.

The No. 3 seed Rebels upset No. 1 Thief River Falls Rebels 77-67 in overtime at Detroit Lakes High School and claimed a spot in the Minnesota boys basketball state tournament for the first time since 2006.

Leach dominated the game with 50 points and said his body is feeling the longevity of the season with plenty of ibuprofen and BioFreeze in his future.

"It feels unbelievable," Leach said. "I've just been dead for the last week."

DGF head coach Mike Clark that Leach is just doing what stars do.

"You put the ball in his hands and special things are going to happen," Clark said. "The best thing about (Leach) is he's the most humble kid there is."

The 6-foot-6 senior said he and the rest of the Rebels team earned the win and used last year's 54-40 loss to the Perham Yellowjackets in the 8AA championship as motivation.

"Coming from last year's loss, it's hard to come out of that," Leach said. "But it means everything and we're excited for the state tournament."

DGF led throughout the first half and led 36-30 at halftime. Leach scored 20 points in the first. He then controlled the action, from the field and the free throw line, down the stretch.

TRF's Jack Rosendahl drilled a 3-pointer to cut DGF's lead to 56-55 with 5:45 left in regulation. The rest of the game belonged to Leach.

From that point on, Leach scored 19 of the Rebels' last 21 points, hitting two 3-pointers and making 13 of 16 free throws.

Rosendahl made a free throw 11 seconds into overtime to give the Prowlers their only lead of the game at 67-66. It was the last point they'd score. Leach banked in an off-balance, one-handed push shot for 3 that gave the Rebels a 69-67 lead with 2:50 to go, then hit 7 of 8 foul shots in the final 2:13 to help seal the deal.

"They were unbelievable," Leach said on his team's overtime defensive takeover. "I'm giving all of the credit to my teammates. Man, they played a heckuva defense at the end."

DGF's Austin Anderson scored six points. Peyton Aas finished with five. Grant Anderson, Brody Friend and Karson Steichen each had four points.

The Prowlers' Jack Rosendahl scored 23 points, Jack Manning scored 18 and Caleb Rosendahl had 15 points.

Thief River Falls head coach Jonathan Hamms said his team will miss the four departing seniors and will look to use this loss as a tool to motivate the "young guys," who will make up next year's starting five.

"I hope it puts a hunger into some of the underclassmen," Hamms said. "I hope those younger guys see what it's going to take to get to that next level and maybe get a chance to (make the section finals) again."

Now that his team has made the state tournament, Clark has his eyes set on another goal.

"I think we're playing our best basketball right now," Clark said. "We've got to convince the kids that it's not going to be good enough to make the state tournament. Let's go down there and compete and enjoy the whole experience."

Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 77, Thief River Falls 67 (OT)

Half: D-G-F 36, TRF 30

Reg: D-G-F 66, TRF 66