The Minnewaska Area boys basketball dropped two games last week to fall to 2-21 overall and 2-11 in the WCC.  The Lakers lost a home game to KMS last Monday night, 93-57, and then fell at West Central Area, Friday, 75-55.

The Lakers are down to their final three regular-season games before commencing with the playoffs, Saturday, March 2.

Minnewaska Area was set to play at Melrose, Tuesday (tomorrow) before hosting Paynesville, Thursday, Feb. 22 and playing at Osakis, Monday, Feb. 26.

KMS 93, Minnewaska 57

The Lakers dropped to 2-20 overall with a 93-57 loss at home to KMS last Monday night.  It was the most points allowed by an opponent this season and the 46-point loss was the biggest margin of defeat this year.

DeAndre Holloway had 41 points and 11 rebounds to lead KMS, while Teagen Diederich added 13 points and 23 boards as the Lakers could do nothing inside against the Saints all night.

“We didn’t play very well tonight, especially on the defensive end,” coach Zach Traphagen said.  “There was very little communication, and not nearly enough energy and toughness. KMS has a very good player in (DeAndre) Holloway, but we didn’t make things tough enough for him. We need to regroup, get back to playing better team defense, and be ready to put forth a better effort against WCA on Friday.”

Holloway broke the scoring record at KMS as he ended the game with 1,431 career points, putting him just past the former record of 1,425 career points held by Chuck Lierman of Kerkhoven in 1956.

Marc Gruber had 17 points and two rebounds to pace the Laker offense, while Jack Majerus added 14 points.

It was Senior Night for the Lakers and before the game, seniors Austin Ballhagen, Alex Panitzke, Ryland Martin, Dylan Alexander and Jack Majerus were honored.  The five seniors also started the first and second halves.

The Lakers shot 41 percent from the field, but were only 26 percent (6-of-23) from three-point range and 5-of-9 from the line.  In addition, Minnewaska Area had just 22 rebounds all game.

Tenzin Dahl added eight points and five rebounds for the Lakers, while Connor Frey had six points, Alex Panitzke and Levi Johnson both had one 3-pointer for three points, Carter Meyer, Zach Gugisberg and Luke Danielson each had two points, and Dylan Alexander had three assists and four rebounds.

WCA 75, Waska 55

The Lakers trailed by only seven points at halftime (31-24) before WCA scored 44 points in the second half to win by 20.

“We played a great first half of basketball, but a veteran, talented team like WCA is a team that you can’t have multiple consecutive bad possessions against, especially defensively,” coach Traphagen said.  “We did a great job of forcing them into contested jumpers in the first half; then, it’s like we forgot how to play defense for the first 10 minutes of the second half. 

“It was a great effort to finish the final eight minutes of the game by our guys though; we never gave up.”

Ten different Lakers hit the scoring column, led by Tenzin Dahl with 11 points and three steals and Marc Gruber, who had 10 points, three assists and three boards.

The Lakers shot 41 percent from the field (21-for-51), including 6-of-20 from long range.  Minnewaska Area did record 16 assists on its 21 made field goals with Dylan Alexander dishing out a team-high five assists to go along with eight points and four rebounds.

Alex Panitzke added seven points, two assists and four rebounds, while Owen Meulebroeck had six points and five boards, Tristan O’Neil had four points, Zach Palmer and Luke Danielson both had three, Levi Johnson had two and Ryland Martin went 1-of-2 from the line for one point.

KMS 93, at Waska 57

KMS 47 46 — 93

Waska (2-20) 25 32 — 57

WASKA stats:  23-56 FG (6-23 3pt); 5-9 FT; 9 assists; 22 rebounds; 4 steals; 13 turnovers; 19 fouls . . . Scoring:   Marc Gruber 17, Jack Majerus 14, Tenzin Dahl 8, Connor Frey 6, Levi Johnson 3, Alex Panitzke 3, Zach Gugisberg 2, Carter Meyer 2, Luke Danielson 2 . . . Rebounding:  Dahl 5, Dylan Alexander 4, Gruber 2, Panitzke 2, Zach Palmer 2, Ryland Martin 2, Frey 2 . . . Assists:  Alexander 3, Panitzke 2 . . . Steals:  four with one each

KMS stats:   Scoring:   DeAndre Holloway 41, Jared Cortez 14, Teagen Diederich 13 . . . Rebounding:  Diederich 23, Holloway 11 . . . Other stats not available

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at WCA 75, Minnewaska 55

Waska (2-21) 24 31 — 55

WCA 31 44 — 75

WASKA stats:  21-51 FG (6-20 3pt); 7-10 FT; 16 assists; 22 rebounds; 9 steals; 10 fouls; 18 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Tenzin Dahl 11, Marc Gruber 10, Dylan Alexander 8, Alex Panitzke 7, Owen Meulebroeck 6, Tristan O’Neil 4, Luke Danielson 3, Zach Palmer 3, Levi Johnson 2, Ryland Martin 1 . . . Rebounding:  Meulebroeck 5, Alexander 4, Panitzke 4, Gruber 3, Dahl 2, Connor Frey 2. . . Assists:  Alexander 5, Gruber 3, Panitzke 2, Palmer 2, Dahl 2 . . . Steals: Dahl 3, Austin Ballhagen 2

WCA stats:   Stats not available

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