We got a team win, we played great collective defense, flying around, making the right plays and just a good collective win.”

Park senior guard Anthony Giadyu

The Wolfpack knew playing at top-seeded and eighth-ranked Apple Valley in the Section 3AAAA semifinals was going to be a challenge, and it was.

Apple Valley went to 22-6 on the season with an 80-63 win Friday. Park ends the season with a 12-16 record.

The top-seeded Eagles advanced to the section finals with the win and a date against second-seeded Eagan. Eagan edged third-seeded Hastings 70-69 in the other semifinal Friday. Apple Valley will host Eagan (17-11) for the section title and a trip to state on Thursday.

Park must replace four seniors for next season including its two top scorers in Anthony Giadyu (18.9 ppg.) and Miskir Esayas (14.9 ppg.), along with Mac Maluski (5.8 ppg) and Leo Eiden-Giel (4.2 ppg).

But the Wolfpack will return a solid foundation for next season with Brandon Bihm (8.7 ppg), Aaron Sandin (9.6 ppg), Justin Ebbers (6.4 ppg) and Caleb Sweet (5.3) all eligible to return.

Park 76, Rosemount 62

Park senior guard Anthony Giadyu put on a show and the Park Wolfpack played one of their best games of the season to stay alive in the Section 3AAA playoffs Tuesday.

“I’m feeling great,” said Giadyu. “We got a team win, we played great collective defense, flying around, making the right plays and just a good collective win.

Taking down a red-hot Rosemount team that came into the contest with six straight wins, Park left Rosemount with a rousing 76-62 victory.

“It was a great win, on the road, in a playoff game, against a really good team, a team which I think has won seven in a row, beating really good teams,” said Park head coach Isaiah Wallfred. “They came with a ton of confidence. They came out, they punched first, we were down big early and we fought and we competed, and it was a total team win. We had so many guys that made great plays.”

It was quite the night for Giadyu who broke 1,000 points scored and got hugs and congratulations from a small army of teammates, friends and family following the victory.

“It wasn’t all me man,” said Giadyu. “Thanks to my teammates, gave me open, give me good looks, stuff like that, hitting me on back doors, gave me to the line, gave me to the rim, stuff like that. I appreciate them very much.”

Park advanced to the semifinals, but Tuesday’s win was one the Wolfpack can savor.

All of the other top seeds in the section won Tuesday. Top-seeded Apple valley blew past eighth-seeded Bloomington Jefferson 89-61, second-seeded Eagan mauled seven-seeded Burnsville 73-47 and third-seeded Hastings edged sixth-seeded Eastview 66-60.

Both Park and Rosemount came into the contest with identical 11-15 records and the battle was fierce throughout. The Wolfpack grabbed 36-26 lead at the half, then fought off Rosemount rally after rally to prevail in the second half.

Giadyu led an extremely balanced Park scoring attack with 17 points. Caleb Swet had 15, Miskir Esayas and Aaron Sandin each scored 11, Justin Ebbers had 8 and Brandon Bihm 7. Park’s offensive balance contributed mightily to the Wolfpack win as the Irish defenders basically had to guard everyone on the court.

Park also had a terrific shooting night, including knocking down 12 3-point field goals, led by Sweet’s four tallies.

“Defense, just defense, said Sweet when asked what the team did well. “Every time they went on a run we were able to come back defensively and just shut them down.”

“We’ve had some young guys, it just took them a little while,” said Wallfred. “And now we’re nine, 10 deep. And so those guys are giving us a ton of great energy off the bench, shot making, great defense, just competitiveness. We were flying all over the place tonight.

The second half was competitive. Rosemount made charge after charge at Park’s lead and cut it down to a few points several times. But each time the Irish rallied, the Wolfpack had an answer.

“The guys just battled,” said Wallfred. “They didn’t wilt under the pressure. They were very resilient. They were super resilient, and they just competed. And they played great together.”

Rosemount outscored Park 12-7 to open the second half, cutting the Wolfpack lead to 43-38. But Park then went on a 9-4 run. Rosemount rallied again and closed to within 52-50 with 9:15 to play. Again Park had the answer and built the lead back to 61-52 with 6:13 remaining.

“We defended,” said Esayas. “That was the emphasis coming into this game, we need to play defense. We’re not even worried about our offense. We’ll let the offense come to us and we defended well. We forced them into bad shots. We played amazing team defense even when punched us and made a run we punched right back. We didn’t let it affect us. That was key for us tonight and it was a great team win.”

Rosemount’s Irish finally ran out of rallies and with Park leading 69-56 with 3:18 left the outcome was pretty much decided.

“It was a great win, on the road, in a playoff game, against a really good team, a team which I think has won seven in a row, beating really good teams,” said Park head coach Isaiah Wallfred. “They came with a ton of confidence. They came out, they punched first, we were down big early and we fought and we competed and it was a total team win.”