The Minnewaska Area boys basketball team fell to Montevideo last Tuesday night in the conference opener for the Lakers, 64-56.  Minnewaska Area fell to 5-2 overall and 0-1 in the WCC after the loss.

The Lakers were also set to play at  EV-Watkins, Thursday, and host Melrose Area, Friday.  However, the EVW game was postponed to Jan. 24 and a recap of the Melrose game will appear in next week’s paper.

In the results that follow is also information about the Lakers’ 91-41 home win over Menahga from Dec. 13.

The Lakers have one game scheduled during the holiday break.  Minnewaska area is set to play Pipestone, Monday, Dec. 30 at SMSU during a Holiday Tourney.

Waska 91, Menahga 41

The Lakers improved to 5-1 with a 91-41 home win over Menahga last Friday night.  Minnewaska Area took a 55-22 halftime lead before cruising to the 50-point win.

Fifteen different Lakers hit the scoring column, including five that scored in double figures.

“After a sluggish start to the game, we finally got it going with about five minutes left in the first half,” coach Zach Traphagen said.  “We’re happy to be 5-1, but we also know that much better basketball can be played moving forward.  It was great to get a lot of guys extended minutes tonight and we had really balanced scoring because of that.  I’m really proud of our seniors and happy for them.”

Tenzin Dahl led the Lakers in scoring with 14 points along with four rebounds, while Kaiden Harvey was 5-of-6 from the field on the way to 12 points and three boards, Tristan O’Neil was 6-of-6 from the line while scoring 12 points, three assists, four rebounds and seven steals, Marc Gruber had 10 points, four assists and four rebounds, and Jacob Mrnak added 10 points, two assists and five boards.

The Lakers shot 46 percent from the field (33-for-71), including almost 50 percent from three-point range (7-of-16).  Minnewaska Area was also 18-of-29 from the line.

Oliver VanDer Hagen added six points and four rebounds for the Lakers, going 3-of-4 from the field, while Zach Palmer filled the stat sheet with five points, five assists, five rebounds and 10 steals, and Levi Johnson also had five points.

Also scoring for the Lakers were Luke Danielson, Connor Frey, Drew Bleick and Connor Erickson with three points each, Carter Meyer and Riley Week with two points apiece and Owen Meulebroeck with one point.  Meyer also had four rebounds, while Danielson had three boards and Frey and Bleick both had two assists.

The Lakers forced Menahga into 34 turnovers, including 24 via steals by Minnewaska Area.

Monte 64, Waska 56

The Lakers lost for just the second time this season with a 64-56 loss at Montevideo last Tuesday night.  Minnewaska Area trailed by two points (31-29) at halftime before being outscored 33-27 in the second half.

“We played very good basketball for 32 minutes tonight,” coach Traphagen said.  “The last two minutes of the first half and the last two minutes of the second half killed us. We are close, but against really good teams you can’t have those one or two bad possessions at the end of the halves.”

Minnewaska Area kept things close despite being outrebounded 33-25 and not making any free-throws all game.

Tenzin Dahl and Marc Gruber led the Lakers with a combined 25 points.  Dahl had 13 points, three assists, six rebounds and three steals, while Gruber added 12 points, two assists and four boards, going 4-of-5 from three-point range.

The Lakers shot 42 percent from the field (23-for-54), including 10-of-21 from long range.  Dahl was also 3-of-7 on 3-pointers.  However, Minnewaska Area was 0-of-1 at the line compared to 14-of-19 for the Thunderhawks.

Connor Frey added eight points and two assists for the Lakers, while Owen Meulebroeck had six points and three boards, Luke Danielson had six points, five rebounds and two steals, and Levi Johnson had five points and two boards.

Also scoring for Minnewaska Area were Zach Palmer with four points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals, and Tristan O’Neil with two points and two steals.

Montevideo, which ended the Lakers’ season last year in the Section 3AA Tourney, is one of the top teams in the area so the Lakers have to feel good about keeping things close.

“I’m super proud of our effort. It was a heck of a ball game and both teams got better tonight,” coach Traphagen said. 

Montevideo coach Derek Webb was also impressed with the Lakers’ play. “They’re physical, they’re quick,” Webb said to the West Central Tribune.  “It was a tie game with 2 1/2 minutes to go.  They scratch and claw.  They hit some big buckets when they needed them.  They’re vastly improved, no doubt.”

at Waska 91, Menahga 41

Menahga 22 19 — 41

Minnewaska (5-1) 55 36 — 91

WASKA stats:  33-71 FG (7-16 3pt); 18-29 FT; 22 assists; 2 blocks; 42 rebounds; 24 steals; 15 fouls; 12 turnovers. . . Scoring:   Tenzin Dahl 14, Tristan O’Neil 12, Kaiden Harvey 12, Jacob Mrnak 10, Marc Gruber 10, Oliver VanDerHagen 6, Zach Palmer 5, Levi Johnson 5, Luke Danielson 3, Connor Frey 3, Drew Bleick 3, Connor Erickson 3, Riley Week 2, Carter Meyer 2, Owen Muelebroeck 1 . . . Rebounding:  Palmer 5, Mrnak 5, O’Neil 4, Gruber 4, Meyer 4, Dahl 4, VanDerHagen 4, Harvey 3, Danielson 3, Week 2, Caden Larson 2 . . . Assists:  Palmer 5, Gruber 4, O’Neil 3, Frey 2, Mrnak 2, Bleick 2 . . . Steals:  Palmer 10, O’Neil 7 . . . Blocks:  two with one each

MENAHGA stats:   16-44 FG (5-18 3pt); 4-9 FT: 21 rebounds; 19 fouls; 34 turnovers . . . Other stats not available

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at Monte 64, Waska 56

Minnewaska (5-2) 29 27 — 56

Montevideo 31 33 — 64

WASKA stats:  23-54 FG (10-21 3pt); 0-1 FT; 18 assists; 25 rebounds; 13 steals; 15 fouls; 18 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Tenzin Dahl 13, Marc Gruber 12, Connor Frey 8, Owen Meulebroeck 6, Luke Danielson 6, Levi Johnson 5, Zach Palmer 4, Tristan O’Neil 2 . . . Rebounding:  Dahl 6, Danielson 5, Palmer 5, Gruber 4, Meulebroeck 3, Johnson 2 . . Assists:  Palmer 7, Dahl 3, Frey 2, Gruber 2 . . . Steals  Palmer 3, Dahl 3, Danielson 2, O’Neil 2

MONTE stats:   24-53 FG (2-12 3pt); 14-19 FT; 33 rebounds; 11 steals; 4 fouls; 15 turnovers . . . Scoring:  Brody Dack 17, Adam VanBinsbergen 14, Jackson Koenen 13, Gannon Reidinger 13 . . . Rebounding:  Reidinger 10, Griffin Epema 9 . . . Other stats not available

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