The Lakers’ historic season came to an end on Friday night against St. Cloud Tech, falling 76-70 at the Lakeshirts Fieldhouse in Detroit Lakes. The Tigers took the lead with under five minutes to go in the first half and never trailed again, going on a 14-0 run. The Lakers cut the deficit to one point with just over a minute to go in regulation, but the Tigers converted on a three-pointer and were able to outlast the Lakers. Star player Tameron Ferguson scored 43 points for the Tigers, leading the state in scoring with 1,009 points this season alone. Ferguson entered the game averaging over 35 points per game and his offense was the difference in the winning effort. Mekhi Edwards also gave the Laker defense problems, finishing with 17 points. Devon Berg led the Lakers with 23 points in the loss. Mason Carrier chipped in 19 points with four made three-pointers. Brandton Marsh had a quiet first half but had a strong second half to finish with 15 points. The loss drops the Lakers from the postseason, finishing the year with a record of 24-4. The 24 wins are the most in program history. The Lakers will graduate seven seniors from this year’s team, including Carrier, who broke the career record for points scored and rebounds, and Berg, who finished his career with over 1,000 points and is the career assists leader in program history. The Lakers will also lose Brandton Marsh, Isaac Cariveau, Isaac Sweep, Reece Borgmann, and Noah Larson to graduation. With their win, St. Cloud Tech advances to the section championship against the number one-seeded Alexandria Cardinals, to be held on Thursday, March 14th, at Willmar High School. The winner of that game will represent section 8 at the state tournament in the Twin Cities. St. Cloud Tech and Alexandria split their games during the regular season, with Alexandria winning their most recent game on February 13th, 77-54.