The Minnewaska Area boys basketball team ended a mini losing steak with a 74-58 win at Eden Valley-Watkins, Friday night.

The Lakers also topped Hancock, Saturday at home, 71-55, lifting the team’s season record to 9-8, including a 1-5 mark in the conference.

Earlier in the week, the Lakers dropped a 63-46 decision at Sauk Centre last Tuesday.

After a busy week of basketball, the Lakers have just one game this week.  Minnewaska Area is set to host league-leading Montevideo, Thursday, Jan. 30.

Sauk Centre 63, Waska 46

The Lakers dropped a 63-46 decision at Sauk Centre last Tuesday night.  It was a cold night shooting for the Lakers, who shot just 29 percent from the field (19-for-65), including 6-of-26 from long range.

Connor Frey had 15 points to lead the Lakers, going 5-of-11 on three-pointers, while Zach Palmer added 12 points, three rebounds and three steals.

Two of Minnewaska’s top scorers this season did not score against the Mainstreeters, hurting the Lakers’ chances at pulling off the upset.

“We fell into an early 10-12 point hole early on again, and when you aren’t making shots at a high clip, it becomes very challenging to get ourselves out of those holes,” coach Zach Traphagen said.  “It’s frustrating; us coaches are frustrated and I know the players are frustrated, but things can change quickly.” 

The Lakers, who trailed 31-21 by halftime, also got six points, three assists and four rebounds from Tristan O’Neil, four points and three assists from Marc Gruber and four points, two assists and four boards from Owen Meulebroeck.

Minnewaska, which went 2-of-5 from the line, was also outrebounded by a 43-29 margin against Sauk Centre as the Mainstreeters dominated inside against the Lakers.

Also scoring for Minnewaska Area were Levi Johnson with three points, three rebounds and two steals and Kaiden Harvey with two points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Luke Danielson added three rebounds and Tenzin Dahl had two boards.

“We have guys who play their hearts out every night, but we’re just struggling to score consistently,” coach Traphagen said.  “I firmly believe that if we keep working, battling and competing, the stars will align for us and the boys will be rewarded for their hard work.”

Waska 74, EVW 58

Three nights later, the stars did align as Marc Gruber, Tenzin Dahl and Tristan O’Neil combined for 40 points to lead the Lakers to a 74-58 win at Eden Valley-Watkins, Friday night.  The win snapped a mini losing streak for the Lakers, who improved to 8-8 overall for the season.

“It was a much needed win for us tonight and the guys definitely earned it,” coach Traphagen said.  “We had three guys in double figures, and eight guys who had at least five points.  Shooting has been a struggle for us recently so for us to shoot 50 percent from the field was a very important stat.”

Gruber had 17 points, three assists and three rebounds to lead the Laker offense, while Dahl missed just one shot on the way to 12 points, three assists, four boards and three steals, and O’Neil added 11 points, two rebounds and two steals.

The Lakers forced EVW into 22 turnovers and took a commanding 46-28 lead by halftime.  Minnewaska Area shot 50 percent from the field (31-for-61), including 3-of-13 from long range.

Kaiden Harvey chipped in with nine points, three rebounds and two steals, while Connor Frey had two of his team’s three 3-pointers on the way to eight points, five boards and two steals.

“We gave up a few too many threes late in the game that allowed Eden Valley to stay in it longer than we would’ve liked. But all in all, the positives far outweighed the negatives tonight,” Traphagen said.  

Also scoring for the Lakers were Levi Jonson with six points and three assists, Owen Meulebroeck with six points and two boards and Luke Danielson with five points and four rebounds, while Zach Palmer added four assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Waska 71, Hancock 55

The Lakers stormed out to a 43-23 halftime lead on the way to a convincing 71-55 win over Hancock, Saturday afternoon at home.

A couple of Lakers had monster games as Tristan O’Neil and Luke Danielson combined for 42 points and missed just five total shots.

O’Neil scored a season-high 24 points, going 9-of-13 from the field including 4-of-5 from long range.  He also had five assists, three rebounds and three steals, leading the Lakers to an early 43-23 lead by halftime.

Danielson added 18 points, five rebounds and two steals.  He was 8-of-10 from the field, including 7-of-7 on two-point field goals.

“It was a great effort by our guys today,” Traphagen said.  “We played with a lot of energy, forced a lot of turnovers and scored in transition. Anytime you can come out and play with high energy on a back-to-back game, that speaks to the focus of our players.”

The Lakers shot just 34 percent from the field (27-for-78), but Minnewaska Area forced Hancock into 24 turnovers giving the Lakers 24 more field goal attempts.  Minnewaska held a 42-35 rebounding edge and recorded 17 steals on the night, including six by Zach Palmer.

Frey ended the game with eight points, three assists and four rebounds, while Kaiden Harvey had five points, three assists and three boards, Tenzin Dahl also had five points along with two assists, six rebounds and two steals, Levi Johnson had four points and two assists, Owen Meulebroeck had four points, two boards and two assists, and Marc Gruber had three points, three assists and a team-high nine rebounds, while Palmer added four rebounds and six steals.

“I thought our guys came out ready to play today and really played at a high level against a team that has played some very good basketball as of late,” Traphagen said.  “It was very nice to see Luke Danielson and Tristan O’Neil play at such a high level today. We are much better when those two athletes can play up to their potential.”

at Sauk Cen 63, Waska 46

Minnewaska (7-8) 21 25 — 46

Sauk Centre 31 32 — 63

WASKA stats:  19-65 FG (6-26 3pt); 2-5 FT; 12 assists; 29 rebounds; 8 steals; 17 fouls; 7 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Connor Frey 15, Zach Palmer 12, Tristan O’Neil 6, Owen Meulebroeck 4, Marc Gruber 4, Levi Johnson 3, Kaiden Harvey 2 . . . Rebounding:  Harvey 9, Meulebroeck 4, O’Neil 4, Palmer 3, Johnson 3, Luke Danielson 3, Tenzin Dahl 2 . . . Assists:  Gruber 3, O’Neil 3, Meulebroeck 2 . . . Steals: Palmer 3, Johnson 2

SC stats:   25-56 FG (5-20 3pt); 8-14 FT; 43 rebounds; 8 fouls; 13 turnovers . . .  Other stats not available

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Minnewaska 74, at EVW 58

Minnewaska (8-8) 46 28 — 74

EVW 28 30 — 58

WASKA stats:  31-61 FG (3-13 3pt); 9-16 FT; 17 assists; 28 rebounds; 14 steals; 17 fouls; 15 turnovers . . . Scoring:   Marc Gruber 17, Tenzin Dahl 12, Tristan O’Neil 11, Kaiden Harvey 9, Connor Frey 8, Owen Meulebroeck 6, Levi Johnson 6, Luke Danielson 5 . . . Rebounding:  Frey 5, Danielson 4, Dahl 4, Harvey 3, Palmer 3, Gruber 3, O’Neil 2, Meulebroeck 2 . . Assists:  Palmer 4, Johnson 3, Dahl 3, Gruber 3 . . . Steals:  Dahl 3, Harvey 2, Frey 2, Palmer 2, O’Neil 2

EVW stats:   19-51 FG (9-29 3pt); 11-15 FT; 21 rebounds; 7 steals; 11 fouls; 22 turnovers. . . Other stats not available

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at Waska 71, Hancock 55

Hancock 23 32 — 55

Minnewaska (9-8) 43 28 — 71

WASKA stats:  27-78 FG (8-29 3pt); 9-17 FT; 19 assists; 42 rebounds; 17 steals; 17 fouls; 11 turnovers. . . Scoring:   Tristan O’Neil 24, Luke Danielson 18, Connor Frey 8, Tenzin Dahl 5, Kaiden Harvey 5, Levi Johnson 4, Owen Meulebroeck 4, Marc Gruber 3 . . . Rebounding:  Gruber 9, Dahl 6, Danielson 5, Zach Palmer 4, Frey 4, Harvey 3, O’Neil 3, Jacob Mrnak 2, Meulebroeck 2. . . Assists: O‘Neil 5, Gruber 3, Frey 3, Harvey 3, Dahl 2, Johnson 2 . . Steals:  Palmer 6, O’Neil 3, Dahl 2, Meulebroeck 2, Danielson 2

HANCOCK stats:   21-54 FG (5-18 3pt); 8-17 FT; 35 rebounds; 16 fouls; 24 turnovers . . . Other stats not available

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