Mason's 41 lift MFL/Mar-Mac past Hudson and to state tournament

This story from the Waterloo Courier (www.wcfcourier.com)

CEDAR FALLS -- MFL Mar-Mac's C.J. Mason picked a good night to go off for 41 points. Unfortunately for the upset-minded Hudson Pirates, it came at their expense as Mason and the Bulldogs powered past them in the Class 2A sub-state championship game, 82-70, Saturday at the McLeod Center.

"We've been practicing for this since third grade," Mason said. "We knew (Hudson) was going to be a good team. We heard they were going to try to run with us and that's what we love to do."

The pesky Pirates, who upset third-ranked Denver in the district finals Tuesday, showed signs of life early in the second half turning a seven-point halftime deficit (41-34) into a 47-43 lead two minutes into the third quarter. But the Bulldogs crushed the Pirates' momentum with a 17-0 run that stretched for almost six minutes.

"We were able to get the lead back," MFL head coach Eric Dettbarn said. "We were able to get the guys refocused and played a little bit better defense. We were fortunate enough to hit some shots."

Carter Anderson finally stopped the bleeding for Hudson with a layup to make the score 60-49. Again, as he did all night, Mason sunk a pair of three-pointers to push the Bulldog lead back to 17. Hudson had no answer for the MFL run and struggled to score points, especially after sophomore guard Antwain Strong – who was the catalyst of Hudson's upset of Denver – picked up his fourth foul midway through the third quarter.

"We didn't guard anybody tonight," Hudson head coach Steve Miles said. "It was one of our biggest fears after we beat Denver, that we wouldn't play with (the same) intensity and we didn't."

MFL was able to get second chance points on several occasions as they dominated on the boards, out-rebounding Hudson 39-27. The Pirates had opportunities to keep themselves in the game as the Bulldogs piled up 27 team fouls. But Hudson hit just 13 of 21 free throw attempts. Strong, despite fouling out, led the Pirates with 14 points. Trey Uden also had 14 for Hudson.

AT MCLEOD CENTER

HUDSON (70): Tyler Way 1 2-2 4, Trey Uden 6 1-3 14, Sam Folladori 0 2-2 2, Isaiah Rustad 3 2-4 8, Connor Wrage 4 0-3 8, Justin Peterson 2 3-4 7, Tyler Krogh 2 0-0 4, Carter Anderson 3 3-4 9, Antwain Strong 3 8-12 14. Totals 23 13-21 70.

MFL/MAR-MAC (82): Carter Snitker 1 0-0 2, Jacob Dotzler 2 4-4 8, Dalton Dettbarn 3 0-0 9, CJ Mason 16 2-5 41, Jared Dotzler 0 2-3 2, Brandon Hertrampf 4 0-0 8, Blake Winter 3 0-0 6, Cody Mason 1 4-5 6. Totals 30 12-17 82. Hudson 14 20 17 19 - 70 MFL Mar-Mac 19 22 22 19 - 82.

3-point goals – Hudson 1 (Uden 1); MFL Mar-Mac 10 (Dettbarn 3, CJ Mason 7). Turnovers – Hudson 5; MFL Mar-Mac 10. Total fouls – Hudson 18; MFL Mar-Mac 27. Fouled out – Hertrampf (MFL), Snitker (MFL), Winter (MFL), Cody Mason (MFL), Uden (Hud), Strong (Hud).