Perham Yellowjackets Fall 70-49 to Goodhue in Class 2A State Quarterfinals

Nathan Rustad, Cypress Thiel and Isaiah Farrell brought Perham back to the state tournament for the first time since 2022, but the Yellowjackets ran into a Goodhue machine that proved too deep and too dangerous on March 24 at Target Center in Minneapolis. Goodhue became the first Class 2A team to advance to Friday's semifinals after beating Perham 70-49.

The Wildcats never let Perham settle in, opening on a 6-0 run and leading 20-7 while shooting 50 percent from three-point range in the early going. Goodhue got an elite performance from its starting lineup, with four players scoring in double digits: Alex Loos recorded 20 points, Luke Roschen added 17, Cody Ryan 11 and Michael Roschen 10.

Luke Roschen, a Southwest Minnesota State University commit who surpassed 2,000 career points this season, was particularly dangerous from the perimeter, draining key step-back threes throughout the victory. Perham was led by 6-foot-4 Cypress Thiel, who averages a team-high 18 points per game, along with senior Nathan Rustad and sophomore Isaiah Farrell, who each add 14. Thiel finished with only five points against the Wildcats' defense, well below his season average.

The gap between the two programs' offensive averages told the story before tipoff. Goodhue averaged 83 points per game, while the Yellowjackets allow around 61 points per game. The Wildcats entered the tournament on a 22-game win streak with a 29-1 overall record. After winning back-to-back Class 1A titles, they made the jump to 2A competition, where they made their debut in Tuesday's quarterfinal.

Coach Grant Dierkhising had studied Goodhue carefully heading into the contest. "Goodhue has multiple players who can score at a high level and lead them on the defensive side of the floor," Dierkhising said. "Their role players can step up, too, so we have different scenarios where we are going to attack them defensively with different matchups and options as well."

Perham had used the week between the section championship and the state tournament to prepare, wrapping up a scrimmage against Section 6A champion Henning at the Hive on Thursday, March 19. The Yellowjackets got elite production from Rustad in the stretch run leading to state, including a 23-point performance in the section final against Staples-Motley that erased an 11-point deficit.

Despite the lopsided final score, Dierkhising chose to frame the season on its own terms. "We've had the pieces from the beginning of the season and even last summer that if we do our jobs as coaches we can produce something really special," he said. "We battled through injuries in January and February, but once we've been healthy, we've been a tough team to beat, so I'm proud of our guys and it's been a pleasure to coach them throughout this season."

The Yellowjackets went from being .500 midway through the season to being one of eight teams remaining in Class 2A, a turnaround built on defensive rebounding and transition buckets that carried them through the Section 8AA bracket. Dierkhising noted that four Perham players averaged seven rebounds or more per game, which he credited as a driving force in the team's late-season run. Tuesday's loss ended what was the program's sixth trip to state and its first since 2022, with Perham's only championship coming in 2011.