In the end, host Eagan was too tall for the visiting Park Wolfpack.
Top-seeded Eagan advanced to the Class 4A, Section 3 finals Friday with a hard-fought 69-57 win over fourth-seeded Park in a Section 3 semifinal.

The Wildcats (20-8) will now host Apple Valley (18-10) for the section championship and a state tournament berth on Thursday, March 19. Thirds-seeded Apple Valley upset second-seeded and host Rosemount in the other section semifinal, winning 78-66.

Park ends the season with a 12-16 record and sees the departure of six seniors. Including starters Peyton Faber, Brandon Bihm, Aaron Sandin and Caleb Sweet, and reserves Lex Hidlebaugh and Wilson Weber.

Faber, with 21 points, and Bihm, 15 points, especially went in style for the Wolfpack.

“I thought we played really hard,” said Park head coach Isaiah Wallfred. “They did everything we asked them to do. We competed; we battled. It was a 12-point game, but it was closer than that in my mind. They were so much better at every position, so much longer. They have two guys that are going to go Division II, play college basketball and both those guys really hurt us tonight. We tried to neutralize them. Their length and their height was just too much offensively and it affected us defensively too. They’re a very good defensive team. The last game they played they held them (Bloomington Jefferson) to 25 points.”

That was true in the end. But in the first and middle parts of the game the Wolfpack gave the much taller Wildcats a much tougher battle than perhaps Eagan fans might have expected. Eagan started 6-9 center Kevin Kemp (6 points) and two 6-5 forwards in Donjae Knox (9 points) and Alex Schroepfer (22 points) and that height advantage made a key difference at times as the Wildcats often controlled the boards, especially on offense.

That advantage was also evident on fouls (Park 24, Eagan 11) and at the free throw line where the Wildcats made 23 of 30 free throws compared to just 6 of 9 for the Wolfpack. Schroepfer by himself outscored Park at the line, making 11 of 13 free throws.

Still, the Wolfpack gave the Wildcats a battle royal for most of the game.

“We battled, we played hard and we competed and so I’m really proud of these guys, it’s a great group of guys,” Wallfred noted. “They’re fun to coach. They did everything we asked them to do. They’re super great people. They’re great students. I mean it’s a great group of guys and I just wish we could have gotten one more.”

It was obvious early that the Wolfpack could play with the Wildcats. Eagan held early leads of 13-12 23-21 with 2:27 to play in the first half before taking a 30-24 halftime edge.

But Faber scored Park’s first eight points of the second half enroute to his 21-point night and all of a sudden Park had a 32-30 lead 16:35 into the second half. Park led 47-45 at the 10-minute mark following a 3-point play by Bihm.

“Peyton was unbelievable,” Wallfred said. “He came out firing with confidence. He played great. I thought Brandon played great. He battled all year but this last two weeks he’s been unbelievable. All year long we’ve had multiple guys that have stepped up. All our seniors have been great and we’re going to miss them.”

But little by little over the last 10 minutes of the game the Wildcats took control. Eagan used its superior height to dominate the glass, especially on the offensive rebound side of things. Eagan led 56-49 with 4:40 to play and kept inching further away the rest of the game.

Faber has five three-point field goals among his 21 points. Bihm scored 15, Sandin 9 and Ebbers 6.

SEC playoff results

 Cretin-Derham Hall (23-5) beat fourth-ranked East Ridge 60-52 in the Section 4 semifinals and will play at Tartan on Thursday for the section championship. The seventh-ranked Raiders are the only SEC team still alive in the playoffs.
n Stillwater lost to St. Paul Central 80-63 in a Section 4 quarterfinal.

 Mounds View edged Roseville 49-47 in a Section 5 quarterfinal, the lost to Maple Grove 77-41 in the semifinal.

 Irondale lost 81-46 to Osseo in a Section 5 quarterfinal.

 White Bear Lake lost to East Ridge 77-51 in a Section 4 quarterfinal.

 Woodbury lost to Cretin 80-48 in a Section 4 quarterfinal.

 Forest Lake lost to Blaine 83-67 in a Section 7 quarterfinal.