Medford boys win Pacesetter Great Five-State Championships at Target Center

The Medford Basketball Booster Club team won the seventh grade boys bracket in the Pacesetter Great Five-State Championships at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Sunday, July 23.

The “Great State” playoff system includes Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Iowa. The seventh-grade boys tournament Sunday included Medford, Brookings, S.D. and three teams from Minnesota –– Sleepy Eye, Barnum and a combined team from Tri-County, Marshall County Central and Grygla-Gatzke.

The tournament began with pool play Sunday morning at Maple Grove Middle School, which consisted of mini games lasting eight minutes. Medford and Barnum both posted 3-1 records in the round-robin pool play, but Medford won the tiebreaker for the top seed in the championship bracket based on its last-second win over Barnum.

After a first-round game and semifinal game at the middle school, the championship bracket moved to the Target Center with all teams guaranteed to play at minimum of one game on the main floor.

Medford beat fourth-seeded Brookings 41-27 in the semifinal game played at the Target Center and then, late in the afternoon, met second-seeded Barnum for the championship. Medford built a double-digit lead late in the first half, but Barnum rallied to pull within 32-30 before Medford closed the game out on an 11-2 run to take the title 43-32.

All players, coaches and team spectators attended the Minnesota Lynx WNBA game on Saturday afternoon against the Las Vegas Aces as part of the weekend experience, which was coordinated in cooperation with the Lynx and the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves.

Medford qualified through the Pacesetter Wisconsin state playoffs held in Wausau in March.