Boys Basketball Wrap: Panthers slow down Knights for HVL victory
Pine Island's Carter O'Reilly (30) puts up a shot over Kenyon-Wanamingo's Keegan McCorkell during the first half of Friday's Hiawatha Valley League game in Kenyon. O'Reilly had 10 points in the Panthers' 51-31 victory. Joe Brown / RiverTown Multimedia
Amid a pack of Pine Island defenders, Kenyon-Wanamingo's Jack Beulke puts up a runner during the first half of Friday's Hiawatha Valley League game in Kenyon. Beulke finished with a game-high 19 points. Joe Brown / RiverTown MultimediaFriday
Pine Island 51, K-W 31
KENYON — With a defense that held Kenyon-Wanamingo to 29 percent shooting, including 2 of 12 from 3-point range, Pine Island cruised to a 51-31 Hiawatha Valley League road victory on Friday.
Jacob Weber led the Panthers’ efforts with 17 points (with three 3-pointers), four assists and four rebounds. Behind him was Carter O’Reilly, who added 10 points. Josh Navratil came up with eight points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.
For the Knights, Jack Beulke had a game-high 19 points along with five rebounds in a losing effort. Micah Johnson had six points, and Chance Washburn corralled six rebounds.
Pine Island (3-7, 2-4 HVL) will host Goodhue on Jan. 16 while K-W (1-14, 1-5 HVL) ends a three-game home stand on Jan. 16 against Lake City.
Lake City 83, Hayfield 32
Lake City could not have asked for a better start to Friday’s Hiawatha Valley League game with Hayfield, jumping out to a 32-7 lead before closing out the contest with an 83-32 home victory.
Marc Kjos and Nathan Heise both hit three 3-pointers on the night, finishing with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Reid Gastner added 11 points for the Tigers.
Ryan Risius had a team-high 12 points for the visiting Vikings.
Lake City (10-3, 6-1 HVL) heads to Kenyon-Wanamingo on Jan. 16.
Byron 44, Goodhue 38
Byron trailed by two at halftime but managed to outscore Goodhue 26-18 in the second half en route to a 44-38 Hiawatha Valley League win Friday in Goodhue.
Sam Opsahl was the Wildcats’ top performer with 14 points, four assists and three steals. Mitchell Schrimpf added 11 points, and Mitchell Hemenway came up with six points and six rebounds in a losing effort.
As a team, Goodhue converted just 37 percent of its shots (13 of 35) and 46 percent of its free throws (7 of 15).
The Bears had just one player in double figures as Bjorn Knutson closed out the night with 19 points on 8 of 10 shooting. He also had four steals in the victory.
The Wildcats (8-5, 4-2 HVL) travel to Pine Island on Jan. 16.
Tuesday
Z-M 75, Triton 50
Zumbrota-Mazeppa got 24 points from Isaiah Nolte in an easy 75-50 victory over Triton on Tuesday.
Nolte also had seven rebounds while Jacob Niebuhr (15), Willy Heitman (13) and Robvon Jackson (11) all hit double-digits in scoring. Niebuhr also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and also had half of the team's 10 steals.
The Cougars (11-2) host Rochester Lourdes on Friday.
Goodhue 50, Hayfield 48
Goodhue's five points in overtime were just enough to beat Hayfield on Tuesday, 50-48.
Sam Opsahl scored 16 points for the Wildcats, while also pulling down 10 rebounds and dishing out six assists. Dawson Evenson finished with 13 points and five rebounds in the win.
Goodhue (8-4) is on a three-game winning streak with Fillmore Central visiting on Thursday and Byron coming on Friday.
Byron 57, Lake City 55
Lake City had three players score at least 11 points, but Byron countered with three with at least 13 in a 57-55 Bears victory on Tuesday.
Nathan Heise had a game-high 23 points for the Tigers, followed by 12 for Zach Bremer and 11 for Marc Kjos. Micahel Coble and Bjorn Knutson each had 15 for Byron, and Kaden Koski added 13 in the win.
Free throws were a key to the game as the Bears hit 8 of 13 while Lake City made just 4 of 10.
The Tigers (9-3) host Hayfield on Friday.