The Minnewaska boys basketball team lost a pair of WCC games last week to fall to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the WCC.  

The Lakers lost a home game with Montevideo last Tuesday, 83-66, and also lost at Sauk Centre, Friday, 68-36.

The Lakers, who went 3-9 in the WCC and 4-23 overall last year, have two home games scheduled for this week.  Minnewaska Area, coached by Hunter Salathe, Dan Dahl, Nick Danielson and Brian Walker, was set to host New London-Spicer, Tuesday (tomorrow) and Morris Area-CA, Thursday.

Monte 83, Waska 66

The Lakers led the Montevideo Thunderhawks late in the first half, 27-21, and were clinging to a 29-27 lead a few minutes later before Montevideo went on an 11-2 run to go into halftime with a 38-31 lead.

The Thunderhawks continued their momentum into the second half, outscoring the Lakers 45-36 to earn an 83-67 victory during a WCC game at Minnewaska Area High School last Tuesday.

Gannon Reidinger led the winners with 21 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots, while Hunter Kloos led the Lakers with 20 points, five rebounds and three steals.  Kloos was 6-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-7 from long range.

The Lakers led early 8-3 after a three-pointer by Kloos, but the Thunderhawks used their edge on the boards to go up 18-12 with 11:14 left in the first half, causing the Lakers to call  time out.

Following the timeout, a pair of three-pointers by Kloos and Alex Panitzke kept the Lakers close before another three-pointer by Kloos put the Lakers up 20-18.

A three-point play by Blake Andreas gave Minnewaska Area its largest lead of the night at 24-18 with 7:44 left in the first half and another three-pointer by Panitzke kept the Lakers ahead at 27-21 a few moments later.

That’s about the time Montevideo took control of the game, going on to outscore the Lakers 62-40 the rest of the way to earn the 16-point win.

The Lakers did keep things close early in the second half as PJ Johnson hit a three-pointer to pull the Lakers to within 40-34, but on the next play, Kloos picked up his third foul and played with foul trouble the rest of the way.

Tenzin Dahl had 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots for the Lakers, while Panitzke had 12 points and three assists and Andreas had eight points, three boards and a team-high six assists.  While Kloos had 13 points for the Lakers in the second half, Dahl had 12 of his points in the second half.

Also scoring for the Lakers, who shot 37 percent from the field (24-for-64), including 28 percent on three-pointers (11-of-38), were PJ Johnson with five points and five rebounds, James Ward with three points, and Dylan Alexander and Levi Johnson with two points each.

Sauk Cen 68, Waska 36

The Lakers fell behind 34-12 and were never in the game during a 68-36 loss at Sauk Centre, Friday night.  Minnewaska Area shot 26 percent from the field, including just 4-of-16 on two-point field goal tries.

Hunter Kloos had 16 points and seven rebounds to lead the Lakers, while Tenzin Dahl added eight points and six boards and PJ Johnson chipped in with eight points, four assists and three rebounds.

Also scoring for the Lakers were James Ward with three points and Blake Andreas with one, while Noah Palmer added four rebounds and James Ward and Alex Panitzke had three boards each. 

The Mainstreeters made 13 three-pointers during the game, including nine in the first half.  In fact, Sauk Centre made only one two-point field goal in the first half on the way to the 34-12 halftime lead.

Damian Ahrens had 17 points to lead SC, hitting four 3-pointers in the first half, while Matthew Warring had 11 of his 15 points in the second half, and Ethan Riley had all 11 of his points in the first half.

Monte 83, at Waska 66

Montevideo 38 45 — 83

Waska (0-2) 31 36 — 67

WASKA stats: 24-64 FG (11-38 3pt); 8-9 FT; 16 assists; 23 rebounds; 10 steals; 13 fouls . . . Scoring:   Hunter Kloos 20, Tenzin Dahl 15, Alex Panitzke 12, Blake Andreas 8, PJ Johnson 5, James Ward 3, Dylan Alexander 2, Levi Johnson 2 . . . Rebounding:  Kloos 5, PJ Johnson 5, Alexander 4, Andreas 3, Dahl 3, Ryland Martin 2 . . . Assists:  Andreas 6, Panitzke 3, Dahl 3, PJ Johnson 2 . . . Steals:  Kloos 3, seven others with 1 each . . . Blocks:  Dahl 2

MONTE stats:  Scoring:   Gannon Reidinger 21, Mason Jerve 19, Devin Ashling 13, Samuel Knoop 12, Cooper Dack 10 . . . Rebounding:  Reidinger 17, Ashling 8 . . . Other stats not available

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at Sauk Cen 68, Waska 36

Waska (0-3) 12 24 — 36

Sauk Centre 34 34 — 68

WASKA stats: 12-45 FG (8-29 3pt); 4-7 FT; 11 assists; 33 rebounds; 1 steal; 13 fouls . . Scoring:   Hunter Kloos 16, Tenzin Dahl 8, PJ Johnson 8, James Ward 3, Blake Andreas 1 . Rebounding:  Dylan Alexander 7, Kloos 7, Dahl 6, Noah Palmer 4, James Ward 3, Alex Panitzke 3, Johnson 3. . . Assists:  Johnson 4, Panitzke 2, Alexander 2 . . . Steals:  Panitzke 1

SC stats:  Stats not available

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