The Minnewaska Area boys basketball team is running out of time to earn its second win of the season.  The Lakers had one of their best chances during a game at Benson last Tuesday night, but the Braves picked that night to score a season-high 79 points to beat the Lakers, 79-54.  Two nights later, Minnewaska dropped to 1-20 overall with a 76-54 loss at Morris Area-CA.

The Lakers, who are also 0-12 in the conference, have five regular-season games left, including a game at EV-Watkins, Monday (today) and home games against Breckenridge, Tuesday (tomorrow) and West Central Area, Friday.

Benson 79, Minnewaska 54

The Lakers had 11 players hit the scoring column, but still loss a WCC matchup at Benson last Tuesday night, 79-54.  The Braves, who hit 15 3-pointers on the night, led 32-21 at intermission before outscoring the Lakers 47-33 in a high-scoring second half.

Landon Skarsten had five 3-pointers in the first half and 24 points for the game, while Benson’s leading scorer, Juan Espinoza, was held to just one point in the first half before erupting for 15 in the second half.

The Lakers shot 33 percent from the field (22-for-66), but only 3-of-29 on three-pointers and 8-of-16 from the line.

Alex Panitzke was the only Minnewaska player in double figures, scoring 11 points and adding two assists and five rebounds.  Hunter Kloos had nine points and three boards, but no other Laker had more than five points.

The Lakers have scored 60 or more points only five times this year including only twice in the last 12 games.

Marc Gruber and Owen Meulebroeck both scored five points for the Lakers, while Luke Danielson, Tenzin Dahl, Zach Palmer and Dylan Alexander each had four points, PJ Johnson and Noah Palmer both had three, Levi Johnson had two and Connor Frey had one.

Alexander also led the Lakers with four assists, both Frey and Alexander had a team-high of two steals, and PJ Johnson and Alexander led the Lakers with six rebounds each.

Morris Area 76, Waska 54

The Lakers lost at Morris Area-CA, Thursday night, 76-54 after trailing 40-26 at halftime.  Minnewaska Area shot 45 percent from the field (19-for-42), but got off only 42 total shots in the game compared to 66 the previous game.

The Lakers, who were 7-of-18 from three-point range and 9-of-14 from the line, also turned the ball over 20 times and committed 16 fouls.

Morris Area, which was 16-of-20 from the line, had five players score in double figures, including Charlie Hanson with 17 and Riley Asmus with 16.

Minnewaska Area was led by Hunter Kloos, who had 18 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots, and PJ Johnson, who had 15 points, five assists, five boards and two steals.

After having 11 players score in the previous game against Benson, only five Lakers hit the scoring column against the Tigers.  Tenzin Dahl chipped in with eight points and two rebounds, Marc Gruber had seven points and Dylan Alexander added six points, three assists and four rebounds, while Alex Panitzke had three assists and five boards. 

at Benson 79, Waska 54

Minnewaska (1-19) 21 33 — 54

Benson 32 47 — 79

WASKA stats:  22-66 FG (3-29 3pt); 8-16 FT; 13 assists; 27 rebounds; 7 steals; 17 fouls; 7 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Alex Panitzke 11, Hunter Kloos 9, Owen Meulebroeck 5, Marc Gruber 4, Dylan Alexander 4, Zach Palmer 4, Tenzin Dahl 4, Luke Danielson 4, PJ Jonson 3, Noah Palmer 3, Levi Johnson 2, Connor Frey 1 . . . Rebounding:  Alexander 6, PJ Johnson 6, Panitzke 5, Kloos 3, Dahl 2, Gruber 2 . . Assists:  Alexander 4, Panitzke 2, PJ Johnson 2 . . . Steals: Alexander 2, Frey 2

BENSON:   Scoring:   Landon Skarsten 24, Juan Espinoza 16, Blake Brehmer 11, Harold Habben 8 . . . Other stats NA

—————————————–

at Morris-CA 76, Waska 54

Minnewaska (1-20) 26 28 — 54

Morris Area 40 36 — 76

WASKA stats:  19-42 FG (7-18 3pt); 9-14 FT; 15 assists; 25 rebounds; 4 steals; 16 fouls; 20 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Hunter Kloos 18, PJ Johnson 15, Tenzin Dahl 8, Marc Gruber 7, Dylan Alexander 6 . . . Rebounding:  Kloos 8, Johnson 5, Alex Panitzke 5, Alexander 4, Dahl 2 . . Assists:  Johnson 5, Panitzke 3, Alexander 3, Dahl 2 . . . Steals:  Johnson 2

MORRIS stats:   Scoring:   Charlie Hanson 17, Riley Asmus 16, Drew Huebner 12, Kyle Frey 11, Tyler Berlinger 10 . . . Other stats not available

Check out more photos in our photo gallery!