Cass Lake-Bena Panthers topped by Minnesota Transitions

In what is certainly a first for Minnesota, and perhaps a first in the nation, a charter school will play for a state boys' basketball title.

The Minnesota Transitions Charter School Wolves (28-4), a school with an enrollment of 178 and located in south Minneapolis, defeated the 2007 Class A runner-up Cass Lake-Bena Panthers (28-4) for the chance to make even more history.

The Wolves held a two-point halftime lead over the Panthers, but began to pull away shortly into the second half. Ninth-grader Kyle Noreen was deadly from long range, going 5-for-7 on three-pointers in the first half alone, and scoring all but two of his 23 points beyond the arc. Senior Wolf Virgil Baker led all scorers with 26 points. Sophomore Kevin Noreen had a double-double with 10 rebounds and 15 points.

Both teams had four players in double figures. Senior Nate Salscheider led the Panthers with 24 points and sophomore teammate Martin Wind added 14 points and had 10 rebounds.

MN TRANSITIONS CHARTER 87, CASS LAKE-BENA 77

MN TRANSITIONS CHARTER (28-4)

Baker, Virgil 10-21 5-8 26; Noreen, Kyle 8-12 0-0 23; Williams, Kavarian

8-11 2-2 20; Noreen, Kevin 5-12 5-7 15; Jackson, Jaron 1-4 0-0 2; Wigfall,

Antonio 0-0 1-2 1; Harrison, Deonte 0-0 0-0 0; Marshall, Montrail 0-0 0-0 0;

Hildebran, Shabar 0-0 0-0 0; Freeman, Divelia 0-0 0-0 0; Lewis, Carlos 0-1

0-0 0. Totals 32-61 13-19 87.

CASS LAKE-BENA (28-4)

Salscheider, Nate 7-13 7-9 24; Salscheider, Joel 9-16 0-0 19; Wind, Martin

6-18 1-3 14; Howard, Nate 3-7 5-8 12; Wilson, Joe 3-6 0-0 6; O'Brien, Jeromy

1-4 0-0 2; Lemon, Ryan 0-0 0-0 0; Huesers, Travis 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 29-67

13-20 77.

MN Transitions Charter........ 47 40 - 87

Cass Lake-Bena................ 45 32 - 77

3-point goals--MN Transitions Charter 10-24 (Noreen, Kyle 7-11; Williams,

Kavarian 2-4; Baker, Virgil 1-8; Noreen, Kevin 0-1), Cass Lake-Bena 6-26

(Salscheider, Nate 3-7; Howard, Nate 1-4; Wind, Martin 1-7; Salscheider,

Joel 1-4; Huesers, Travis 0-1; O'Brien, Jeromy 0-2; Wilson, Joe 0-1). Fouled

out--MN Transitions Charter-None, Cass Lake-Bena-None. Rebounds--MN

Transitions Charter 35 (Noreen, Kevin 10), Cass Lake-Bena 38 (Wind, Martin

10). Assists--MN Transitions Charter 13 (Williams, Kavarian 6), Cass

Lake-Bena 11 (Salscheider, Nate 4). Total fouls--MN Transitions Charter 16,

Cass Lake-Bena 15. Technical fouls--MN Transitions Charter-None, Cass

Lake-Bena-None.