•  Dragons hold off Lakers to drop Minnewaska Area’s overall record to 7-6

The Minnewaska Area boys basketball team went 1-2 last week, beating Paynesville last Tuesday night (71-60), before losing to West Central Area (72-55) and Litchfield (63-57) later in the week.

The Lakers dropped to 7-6 overall with the two losses and 1-3 in the conference.

Minnewaska Area has just one game this week.  The Lakers are set to host BOLD, Friday.

Waska 71, Paynesville 60

Marc Gruber hit five 3-pointers on the way to 20 points to lead the Lakers to a 71-60 win at Paynesville last Tuesday night.  Minnewaska led 40-28 at halftime and the two teams were mostly even in the second half.

Gruber also had five assists and three steals for the Lakers, who improved to 7-4 overall.

It was a great section win for us tonight against a Paynesville team that is really hard to put away,” coach Zach Traphagen said.  “They shoot the ball so well from the perimeter that a 20-point lead can get erased in a matter of minutes and that’s exactly what happened in the second half tonight.”

Three players added nine points each for the Lakers as Tristan O‘Neil had nine points, four assists, two rebounds and three steals, Levi Johnson had nine points and three assists, and Tenzin Dahl had a big game with nine points and eight rebounds.

The Lakers committed 22 fouls during the game, helping Paynesville go 15-of-24 from the line.  The Bulldogs also hit nine 3-pointers, giving Paynesville 42 of its points on 3-pointers and free-throws.

Luke Danielson also had a big game with seven points, 10 rebounds, two steals, three assists and three bocked shots, while Zach Palmer chipped in with six points, three assists, three boards and two steals, Connor Frey had five points, three assists and three rebounds, Kaiden Harvey had four points, and Owen Meulebroeck had two points, two boards and two steals.

“We didn’t help ourselves at times with foul trouble and some empty offensive possessions, but I’m so proud of the guys for sticking together and finding a way to win,” Traphagen said  “We are still learning how to finish games, and tonight was a great learning experience for us that still ended up in a win, which is the extra bonus.”

WCA 72, Waska 55

The Lakers played a good first half, but WCA surged ahead at the end of the first half and then controlled the second half on the way to a 72-55 conference win, Thursday night at home.

Minnewaska dropped to 7-5 overall and 1-3 in the WCC after the loss.  The Lakers shot well from the field (40 percent), but the Knights shot just over 60 percent (26-for-43) and also held a slim 26-22 rebounding edge.

“We didn’t defend well enough tonight to give ourselves a chance to win,” coach Traphagen said  “Credit to WCA for executing at a high level tonight. We did not execute well enough on either side of the ball, but defensively was extremely disappointing.”

Marc Gruber led the Lakers with 18 points, two assists and two rebounds, going 4-of-8 on three-pointers, while Connor Frey had 10 points and two steals while hitting a pair of 3-pointers for Minnewaska.

Tenzin Dahl added eight points, two assists and a team-high seven boards, while Tristan O’Neil had six points and Levi Johnson totaled five points and a team-best four assists.

The Lakers trailed 31-30 late in the first half before WCA went on a 4-0 run to end the first half with a 35-30 lead and then outscored the Lakers 37-25 in the second half.

“If a team can shoot 60 percent from the field, it’s usually the result of guys being out of position defensively,” Traphagen said.  “That’s out of character for us; that’s not us.  We need to regroup quickly, and have a much better showing tomorrow night in Litchfield.”

The Lakers also got four points, three rebounds and three steals from senior guard Zach Palmer, while Luke Danielson had two points and two boards, Owen Muelebroeck had two points and three rebounds, and Kaiden Harvey added two rebounds.

Litchfield 63, Waska 57

The Lakers ended the week with a 63-57 loss at Litchfield, Friday night.  Minnewaska led 31-30 at halftime before being outscored 33-26 in the second half.

It was the sixth time the Lakers have been held under 60 points this season and all six games have been losses for Minnewaska.

Tenzin Dahl led the Laker offense with 15 points and six rebounds, while Levi Johnson had a season-high 13 points and Tristan O‘Neil added nine points and two rebounds.

The Lakers shot 35 percent from the field (20-for-56), including 8-of-24 on three-pointers, and were also 9-of-13 from the line.

Marc Gruber chipped in with seven points and two assists, while Connor Frey had a pair of 3-pointers on the way to six points, Kaiden Harvey had five points and two steals, Owen Meulebroeck had two points, four assists and two rebounds, and Zach Palmer had four assists, five boards and two steals.

Litchfield, which dominated the boards with a 33-20 edge, got 25 points from Matthias Bruning and another 11 points and 12 rebounds from Noah Dietel.

Waska 71, at Paynes 60

Minnewaska (7-4) 40 31 — 71

Paynesville 28 32 — 60

WASKA stats:  27-64 FG (10-28 3pt); 7-15 FT; 22 assists; 31 rebounds; 14 steals; 22 fouls; 15 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Marc Gruber 20, Tristan O’Neil 9, Levi Johnson 9, Tenzin Dahl 9, Luke Danielson 7, Zach Palmer 6, Connor Frey 5, Kaiden Harvey 4, Owen Meulebroeck 2 . . . Rebounding:  Danielson 10, Dahl 8, Palmer 3, Frey 3, O’Neil 2, Meulebroeck 2 . . . Assists:  Gruber 5, O’Neil 4, Palmer 3, Johnson 3, Danielson 3, Frey 3 . . . Steals:  Gruber 3, O’Neil 3, Palmer 2, Danielson 2, Meulebroeck 2 . . . Blocks:  Danielson 3

PAYNES stats:   18-45 FG (9-22 3pt); 15-24 FT; 30 rebounds; 13 fouls; 22 turnovers . . . Scoring:  Carter Flanders 27, Reed Johnson 16,  Sam Brunner 9, Matthew Hemingson 3, Easu Nelson 3, Derek Mergen 2 . . . Other stats not available

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WCA 72, at Waska 55

WCA 35 37 — 72

Minnewaska (7-5) 30 25 — 55

WASKA stats:  22-55 FG (7-20 3pt); 4-7 FT; 12 assists; 22 rebounds; 10 steals; 17 fouls; 14 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Marc Gruber 18, Connor Frey 10, Tenzin Dahl 8, Tristan  O’Neil 6, Levi Johnson 5, Zach Palmer 4, Luke Danielson 2, Owen Muelebroeck 2 . . . Rebounding:  Dahl 7, Palmer 3, Meulebroeck 3, Kaiden Harvey 2, Danielson 2, Gruber 2 . . Assists:  Johnson 4, Gruber 2, Dahl 2. . . Steals:  Palmer 3, Frey 2

WCA stats:   26-43 FG (7-18 3pt) 13-21 FT; 26 rebounds; 12 fouls; 17 turnovers . . . Other stats not available

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at Litchfield 63, Waska 57

Minnewaska (7-6) 31 26 — 57

Litchfield 30 33 — 63

WASKA stats:  20-56 FG (8-24 3pt); 9-13 FT; 14 assists; 20 rebounds; 8 steals; 19 fouls; 8 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Tenzin Dahl 15, Levi Johnson 13, Tristan  O’Neil 9, Marc Gruber 7, Connor Frey 6, Kaiden Harvey 5, Owen Meulebroeck 2 . . . Rebounding:  Dahl 6, Zach Palmer 5, Meulebroeck 2, Luke Danielson 2, O’Neil 2 . . . Assists:  Palmer 4, Meulebroeck 4, Gruber 2. . . Steals  Palmer 2, Harvey 2

LITCH stats:   21-42 FG (6-15 3pt); 15-21 FT; 33 rebounds; 10 fouls; 20 turnovers . . . Scoring:  Matthias Bruning 25, Noah Dietel 11, Anthony Taylor 9, Alex Medina 7 . . . Rebounding:  Dietel 12 . . . Other stats not available

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