Dalton Kleinschmidt erupted for 38 points and CM/Comfrey was never really challenged on the way to a 79-57 blowout victory over Nicollet Thursday night in a Section 2A-North Sub-Section semifinal match-up in Morgan.
With the victory the Cougars (18-7) will advance to face top-seed Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity Monday at 5 p.m. in St. Peter for the North Sub-Section championship.
The cinderella Raiders (16-10) kept things close early on, trailing just 12-11 midway through a sloppy, turnover-plagued first 10 minutes.
The high-powered Cougars (18-7) would come to life however pulling away late in the half - thanks in part to a herculean 24 point first half effort from Kleinschmidt - to lead 37-24 at the break.
In the second half the Cougars would cruise - upping their lead to as much as 30 points - as nine players would reach the scoring column for Head Coach Keith Klawitter.
Kleinschmidt was nearly unstoppable, going 17-of-20 from the floor and scoring easy bucket after easy bucket in the paint as guards Zak Pendleton and Nate Golden would find him underneath for easy lay-ins.
He would add nine rebounds and two steals before being pulled midway through the second half.
Golden had another productive night finishing with 16 points - including a thunderous dunk in the second half - to go along with seven rebounds, six steals and five assists.
Pendleton did a nice job running the show, adding eight points and five assists and Austin Koupal finished with five points and five steals.
Marcus Heiling chipped in with three points and seven rebounds off the bench.
As a team the Cougars shot 48 percent from the floor and were 13-of-23 from the charity stripe.
The Raiders meanwhile shot just 34 percent from the floor and were killed by 31 turnovers.
Redwood Falls, Minn. —
