The Minnewaska Area boys basketball team faced three strong opponents last week and the Lakers lost all three games, lowering their season record to 1-18 and conference mark to 1-9.

After dropping a 72-58 decision against BOLD last Saturday, the Lakers had three games this past week, losing at home to Montevideo last Tuesday (78-42), at NLS, Thursday (73-50), and at Sauk Centre, Friday (63-35).

The Lakers have a great chance at another win this week with a game at Benson, Tuesday (tomorrow) followed by a game at home against Morris Area-CA, Thursday and a game at home against KMS, Monday, Feb. 12.

BOLD 72, Minnewaska 58

The Lakers played a great game against BOLD, Saturday, Jan. 27, but Minnewaska Area still came out on the losing end of a 72-58 decision.  The Lakers trailed 35-24 at halftime before staying even with BOLD in the second half.

“We battled hard for 36 minutes tonight, but we missed on some key baskets down the stretch,” coach Zach Traphagen said.  “I’m very proud of the effort; these guys work so hard. BOLD got to the free-throw line a lot, mainly when they would get offensive rebounds. So, that is something we will work on to clean up. We need to have this same effort and energy for when we play Montevideo, Tuesday.”

Marc Gruber led the Lakers with 15 points, two assists and three rebounds, while Dylan Alexander also scored in double figures with 12 points, six boards and two assists.

The Lakers shot 37 percent from the field (23-of-62), including 6-of-22 on 3-pointers.

Tenzin Dahl chipped in with nine points, four assists and five rebounds for Minnewaska Area, while Alex Panitzke had a pair of 3-pointers on the way to eight points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals, and Connor Frey added eight points.

Montevideo 78, Waska 42

Montevideo forced 18 Laker turnovers on the way to a 78-42 victory over Minnewaska Area last Tuesday night at home.

The Lakers, who shot 30 percent from the field (16-for-52), trailed 34-21 at halftime before being outscored 44-21 in the second half.

“We didn’t play our best game tonight, especially in the second half,” coach Zach Traphagen said.  “A lot of credit goes to Montevideo for coming out and sticking it to us in the second half.”

Marc Gruber and Alex Panitzke were the only Lakers to score in double figures.  Gruber had 10 points, two assists and four rebounds, while Panitzke added 10 points, three assists and two boards.

Hurting the Lakers’ chances at a comeback was 17 percent shooting from 3-point range (4-of-23).

Connor Frey added seven points and five rebounds for Minnewaska Area, while Tenzin Dahl had six points, two assists and six boards, Owen Meulebroeck had three points and two assists, and Dylan Alexander, Luke Danielson and Tristan O’Neil each had two points.

“Montevideo is very talented and they outworked us tonight, which is never going to be okay in our program,” coach Traphagen said.  “We need to refocus and have a great practice tomorrow to put forth a better effort on Thursday in New London.”

NLS 73, Minnewaska 50

Owen Meulebroeck had 20 points and seven rebounds to lead the Lakers during a 73-50 loss at NLS, Thursday.

Minnewaska Area trailed 42-25 at halftime before playing even with the strong Wildcat team in the second half.  The Lakers were playing without several regulars who were out for unknown reasons.

Meuelebroeck went 8-of-12 from the field on the way to his team-high point total which also included three blocks and 4-of-4 shooting from the line.  “The final score doesn’t indicate how well our guys played tonight,” coach Traphagen said.  “It was a physical game and we battled hard all game. But credit to NL-S for making some big shots especially from the three point line to hold off any comeback attempt by us. I’m very proud of our effort tonight. Guys competed their hearts out.”

Alex Panitzke also scored in double figures with 12 points, three assists, two boards and two steals, while Marc Gruber added eight points, two assists and four rebounds.

The Lakers shot 43 percent from the field (21-for-48), including 18-of-36 on two-point tries and 3-of-12 from long range.

Sauk Cen 63, Waska 35

The Lakers dropped their 18th decision of the season with a 63-35 loss at Sauk Centre, Friday night.  The Mainstreeters, who are one game back of WCA for the conference lead, led 37-16 at halftime before cruising to the 28-point win.

The Lakers, who shot 22 percent from the field (11-of-50), were outmatched by the talented Sauk Centre team.  Minnewaska was also 8-of-15 from the line and had just 22 rebounds for the game.

“We struggled shooting tonight,” coach Traphagen said.  “Most of that can be attributed to the very good defensive play of Sauk Centre. They played an excellent all-around game and we didn’t play our best.”

Nine different players scored for the Lakers, who were one off their season-low of 34 points, but none had more than seven.  Alex Panitzke led the way with seven points, while Tristan O’Neil added six, Marc Gruber and Connor Frey both had five, and Dylan Alexander had four points and a team-high five rebounds.

at BOLD 72, Waska 58

BOLD 35 37 — 72

Waska (1-15) 24 34 — 58

WASKA stats:  23-62 FG (6-22 3pt); 6-8 FT; 18 assists; 34 rebounds; 8 steals; 23 fouls; 21 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Marc Gruber 15, Dylan Alexander 12, Tenzin Dahl 9, Connor Frey 8, Alex Panitzke 8, Jack Majerus 4, Owen Meulebroeck 2 . . . Rebounding:  Meulebroeck 9, Alexander 6, Dahl 5, Panitzke 4, Majerus 3, Gruber 3, Zach Palmer 2 . . . Assists:  Panitzke 4, Dahl 4, Meulebroeck 4, Gruber 2 . . . Steals:  Alexander 2, Panitzke 2

BOLD stats:   Stats not available

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Monte 78, at Waska 42

Montevideo 34 44 — 78

Waska (1-16) 21 21 — 42

WASKA stats:  16-52 FG (4-23 3pt); 6-10 FT; 13 assists; 29 rebounds; 6 steals; 11 fouls; 18 turnovers . . . Scoring:  Alex Panitzke 10, Marc Gruber 10, Connor Frey 7, Tenzin Dahl 6, Owen Meulebroeck 3, Dylan Alexander 2, Luke Danielson 2, Tristan O’Neil 2 . . . Rebounding:  Dahl 6, Frey 5, Gruber 4, Alexander 3, Panitzke 2, Ryland Martin 2  . . . Assists:  Panitzke 3, Gruber 2, Zach Palmer 2, Dahl 2, Meulebroeck 2 . . . Steals:  six with one each

MONTE stats:   Scoring:  Devin Ashling 19, Griffin Epema 15, Gannon Reidinger 13, Cooper Dack 11. . . Rebounding:  Reidinger 7, Epema 5 . . . Other stats not available

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at NLS 73, Minnewaska 50

Waska (1-17) 23 27 — 50

NLS (9-9) 39 34 — 73

WASKA stats:  21-48 FG (3-12 3pt); 5-8 FT; 12 assists; 6 blocks; 29 rebounds; 8 steals; 9 fouls; 17 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Owen Meulebroeck 20, Alex Panitzke 12, Marc Gruber 8, Connor Frey 5, Dylan Alexander 3, Austin Ballhagen 2 . . . Rebounding:  Alexander 7, Meulebroeck 7, Luke Danielson 4, Gruber 4, Panitzke 2, Zach Palmer 2, Frey 2 . . . Assists:  Alexander 3, Panitzke 3, Gruber 2, Ryland Martin 2 . . . Steals:  Danielson 2, Panitzke 2

NLS stats:   Scoring:   Grant Paffrath 24, Gavin Radabaugh 23, William Danielson 10 . . . Rebounding:  Paffrath 9, Danielson 8 . . . Other stats not available

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at Sauk Cen 63, Waska 35

Waska (1-18) 16 19 — 35

Sauk Centre 37 26 — 63

WASKA stats:  11-50 FG (5-22 3pt); 8-15 FT; 6 assists; 22 rebounds; 2 steals; 11 fouls; 10 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Alex Panitzke 7, Tristan O’Neil 6, Marc Gruber 5, Connor Frey 5, Dylan Alexander 4, Jacob Mrnak 3, Levi Johnson 2, Owen Meulebroeck 2, Tenzin Dahl 1 . . . Rebounding:  Alexander 5, Meuelebroeck 4, Luke Danielson 4, Dahl 2, Jack Majerus 2, Kaiden Harvey 2. . . Assists:  six with one each . . . Steals:  two with one each

SC stats:   Stats not available

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