The Minnewaska Area boys basketball team placed fourth at the Howard Lake-WW Holiday Tourney, Dec. 29-30.  The Lakers fell to the host team in the opener, 88-66, and then lost to Como Park in a low-scoring game the next day, 55-47.

One week later, the Lakers opened up the 2024 portion of their schedule with an 81-54 home loss to West Central Area, Friday night.

Minnewaska Area, which fell to 0-9 overall and 0-4 in the WCC, was also set to host Pipestone, Saturday, losing 68-49, but results of that contest will be highlighted next week.

On tap for this week are home games with Melrose Area, Tuesday (tomorrow) and against BOLD, Thursday, Jan. 11.

HLWW 88, Waska 66

The Lakers matched their season-high in points, but Minnewaska Area also allowed a season-high 88 points during an 88-66 loss to Howard Lake-WW during the HLWW Holiday Tourney, Thursday, Dec. 29.

The Lakers trailed 42-34 at halftime before being outscored 46-32 in the second half.  Coach Zach Traphagen was happy with his team’s offense, but not so much with the Laker defense.

“We played a great game offensively, but gave up way too many layups and second chance points defensively,” coach Traphagen said.  “Howard Lake is a nice team and they played very well, but we can never be okay with giving up 88 points in a game.”

The Lakers had three players score in double figures, including Connor Frey, who had a team-high 15 points and two assists, connecting on 3-of-7 three-pointers.

Tenzin Dahl added 13 points, five rebounds and two steals, while Marc Gruber had 12 points and three boards, going 3-of-4 from long range and 3-of-4 from the line.

The Lakers shot 41 percent overall from the field (23-for-56) and had 17 steals for the night, but Minnewaska Area also totaled just 22 rebounds for the game.

“Guys played with pretty good energy tonight but at the end of the day, we need to defend and rebound much better if we’re going to win games,” coach Traphagen said.  

Jack Majerus added eight points, two rebounds and three assists for the Lakers, while Dylan Alexander had seven points, two boards, four assists and three steals, Luke Danielson had four points and four boards, and Alex Panitzke had three points, three rebounds and team-highs of five assists and six steals.

Como Park 55, Waska 47

The Lakers fell to Como Park in a low-scoring third-place game at the HLWW Holiday Tourney, Dec. 30, 55-47.  Minnewaska Area struggled offensively, shooting 26 percent from the field (15-for-57) and also turned the ball over 32 times.

The Lakers trailed 25-20 at halftime and then were outscored 30-27 in the second half.

“We struggled with the athleticism and length of Como Park today,” coach Traphagen said.  “To turn the ball over as many times as we did and shoot as poorly as we did is not a recipe for winning basketball games.”

Dylan Alexander led the Lakers with a great all-around game of 14 points, four assists, seven rebounds and six steals, while Tenzin Dahl added eight points and seven boards, and Connor Frey hit two 3-pointers on the way to seven points and eight rebounds.

The Lakers were 12-of-27 on two-point field goals, but went just 3-of-30 on three-pointers.  “We did much better defensively and rebounding this game, but need to put it all together on both sides of the court for an entire 36 minutes,” Traphagen said.  

Alex Panitzke chipped in with six points, two assists, four rebounds and six steals, while Luke Danielson had five points and five boards, and Levi Johnson had four points and two assists.

WCA 81, Minnewaska 54

Minnewaska suffered its ninth-straight loss to open up the season, losing to the visiting WCA Knights, 81-54.

The Lakers trailed early 23-3 and 29-6 before climbing to within 45-23 at halftime against the strong WCA team, which is currently ranked fourth in state Class A.  

“We fell behind 23-3 to start due to some very poor execution on both sides of the court,” Traphagen said.  “While that was disappointing, what made it worse was that I thought WCA out-hustled us during that stretch as well.”

In the second half, the Lakers were outscored 36-31.  Minnewaska was playing without one of its starters (Luke Danielson) who was injured, and the Lakers also suffered another loss early when starting guard Alex Panitzke suffered an injury and left the game for good.

Thirteen different players hit the stat column, including Marc Gruber, who led the Lakers with 11 points and three boards.  

Connor Frey came through with 10 points, hitting 2-of-5 three-pointers, while Zach Palmer had nine points and two rebounds, Ryland Martin had six points, Dylan Alexander had with six points, two assists, four boards and two steals, Owen Meulebroeck added four points and Jacob Mrnak scored three.

“The guys did respond and played a more competitive second half, but we didn’t give ourselves a chance to make the game competitive because of that sloppy first half,” Traphagen said.

at HLWW 88, Waska 66

Waska (0-7) 34 32 — 66

HLWW 42 46 — 88

WASKA stats:  23-56 FG (9-25 3pt); 11-16 FT; 20 assists; 22 rebounds; 17 steals; 18 fouls; 22 turnovers  . . . Scoring:  Connor Frey 15, Tenzin Dahl 13, Marc Gruber 12, Jack Majerus 8, Dylan Alexander 7, Luke Danielson 4, Alex Panitzke 3, Levi Johnson 2, Austin Ballhagen 2 . . . Rebounding:  Dahl 5, Danielson 4, Panitzke 3, Gruber 3, Majerus 2, Alexander 2  . . . Assists:  Panitzke 5, Alexander 4, Majerus 3, Frey 2, Johnson 2 . . . Steals:  Panitzke 6, Zach Palmer 4, Alexander 3, Dahl 2

HLWW stats:   Stats not available

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Como Park 55, Waska 47

Waska (0-8) 20 27 — 47

Como Park 25 30 — 55

WASKA stats:  15-57 FG (3-30 3pt); 14-20 FT; 13 assists; 39 rebounds; 18 steals; 12 fouls; 32 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Dylan Alexander 14, Tenzin Dahl 8, Connor Frey 7, Alex Panitzke 6, Luke Danielson 5, Levi Johnson 4, Marc Gruber 2, Zach Palmer 1 . . . Rebounding:  Frey 8, Alexander 7, Dahl 7, Gruber 5, Danielson 5, Panitzke 4, Palmer 2 . . . Assists:  Alexander 4, Palmer 3, Panitzke 2, Johnson 2 . . . Steals:  Panitzke 6, Alexander 6, Palmer 2, Danielson 2, Gruber 2

CP stats:   Stats not available

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WCA 81, at Waska 54

WCA (8-2) 45 36 — 81

Waska (0-9) 23 31 — 54

WASKA stats:  22-59 FG (9-22 3pt); 1-3 FT; 11 assists; 26 rebounds; 6 steals; 15 fouls; 26 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Marc Gruber 11, Connor Frey 10, Zach Palmer 9, Ryland Martin 6, Dylan Alexander 6, Owen Meulebroeck 4, Jacob Mrnak 3, Carter Meyer 2, Tenzin Dahl 2, Jack Majerus 1 . . . Rebounding:  Alexander 4, Dahl 4, Gruber 3, Majerus 3, Meyer 2, Zach Gugisberg 2, Palmer 2, Austin Ballhagen 2 . . . Assists:  Dahl 3, Levi Johnson 2, Alexander 2 . . . Steals:  Alexander 2

WCA stats:   Stats not available

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