Hein gets 1,000th as Blossoms win at Southland
Blooming Prairie’s Gabe Hein leaps up for a contested jump shot against Southland. Hein scored his 1,000th point as an Awesome Blossom in Blooming Prairie’s 47-46 win over the Rebels. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
Blooming Prairie boys basketball took down Southland 47-46 tonight for its biggest win of the season, and making matters even sweeter was senior Gabe Hein scoring his 1,000th point early in the first half.
Hein - who’s been the team’s leading scorer this season - was honored with an official’s timeout to celebrate the moment on the court with his team.
“Honestly, I hit that three and I just thought they called timeout to slow down the momentum. Then I looked over and everyone was holding up 1,000. I forgot that was going to happen tonight, but the support was unreal,” said Hein.
Blooming Prairie trailed 13-2 early on after a quick opening run by Southland but battled to trail just 25-18 at the half.
The second half was dogfight, but Blooming Prairie was able to take its first lead of the game at 42-40 with just over three minutes remaining in the second half.
The Awesome Blossoms went on to close out the game with some clutch shooting at the free-throw line to win 47-46.
“This was a good win for us. We haven’t had too many games like this this year. The biggest takeaway is that we can hang with these teams. They just beat Spring Grove twice and Spring Grove was a top-three-ranked team. To come here and beat them, this was a huge win for our guys,” said Blooming Prairie head coach Cam Rutledge.