On Wednesday, March 5, Westonka boys basketball defeated the Delano Tigers, 77-75, in the Section 6AAA playoffs. The White Hawks advance to the Section semifinal game on Saturday, March 8, at Benilde-St. Margaret's. The game time is 2 p.m. 

• Ticket link for Saturday's game: https://gofan.co/event/3367604?schoolId=MN9749. BSM will also have cash sales - $9.00 for adults, students and senior citizens.
• Park TV will stream the game through YouTube.

On Feb. 25, the Hermantown Hawks made the long drive down to play the White Hawks. Westonka took control early and never looked back, winning 82-36.

White Hawks senior Max Kraay feasted, leading all scorers with 35. Senior Cole Drill added 16, which included three impressive two-handed dunks. The over-matched Hermantown team is having a down year with a 4-21 record after last year’s impressive 21-8 squad. This dip is due primarily to graduating seven key seniors from that team. Seven out of eight of Westonka's current rotation players are seniors.

The White Hawks played their last regular season game Feb. 28 at Delano. Despite losing their top scorer, junior Max Iversen, to injury, the Tigers are having a solid season and are always tough at home. Even before this game, it was understood that these two teams would face off in the first game of section playoffs on March 5. The importance of this final regular season game was huge, however, as the winner would get the benefit of hosting the section quarterfinal.

The Tigers started out on fire, while the White Hawks were cold early, helping Delano get out to a huge 16-4 lead. Westonka battled back behind some solid defense from seniors Jacob Orenge and Matthew Mobagi and several 3s from Kraay. The White Hawks took a 40-34 lead into halftime after an impressive comeback.

In the second half, the teams battled back and forth, with Delano leading with 3 minutes to go. In the final minutes, the White Hawks were able to pull away, closing on a 10-0 run for a hard-fought 79-73 victory.

Senior Lane Gordon was key to this victory, as he had his best game of his varsity career. Lane was outstanding at making cuts and always being in the right place to receive passes, and then finishing layups multiple times. In addition, he had several offensive rebounds, giving the Hawks second-chance scoring opportunities. Senior captain Max Kraay put his team on his back in the closing minutes with several athletic drives to the hoop and reverse layup finishes, willing the Hawks to victory, scoring 30 points.

As noted, the White Hawks will play Delano again on Wednesday, March 5 at 7 p.m., this time having the home court advantage. The winner will likely earn the right to play their next game at No. 1-seeded Benilde-St. Margaret's. Wednesday’s game against Delano will surely be another great battle, as it’s always difficult to beat a good opponent twice in a row. These boys deserve the Westonka community’s support, so let’s fill the stands!