After two prime high school sports nights were annulled by snowy and super cold weather, games recommenced. Lanesboro hosted a pair of boys affairs later in the week, with the home crowd leaving happy one night, the visitors the second. Chris Hanson’s Burros picked up their best win of the year on Thursday hosting LeRoy-Ostrander (8-8). Lanesboro trailed 12-5 early in the first half, but L-O scored just five points the rest of the stanza. Team orange and black finished on a prolonged 19-5 run for a 24-17 halftime lead. The lead got to 14 in the second half (35-21) and stayed around or better than double-digits the rest of the way. By a final of 63-48, Lanesboro got the victory. For a first time this year, the Burros got four to double figures; Carson Schwichtenberg (13 pts, 4-4 FTs, 5 rebs), 8th grader John Prestemon (career-high 12 pts, 4-5 FTs, 5 rebs, 4 asts), Connor Ruen (career-high 11 pts, 10 rebs > first double-double), and Greysen Higbe-Hurrah (season-high 10 pts, 4-5 FGs, 5 rebs). Riley Olson (19 pts) and Trey Hungerholt (17 pts) scored 36 of L-O’s 48 points. Lanesboro hit 13 of 20 free throws. L-O went 12 of 28. A night later, Houston came to town. The Burros tried to avenge an earlier meeting where the ‘Canes won 93-62. As expected, the re-match was much closer. The Burros used a 2-3-zone defense, and a Higbe-Hurrah scoring spurt (nine straight points), to take the lead in the first half. At intermission, Lanesboro led 33-26. At about the midway part of the second half, each team had a stretch of good offensive basketball. Houston hit six straight shots, while Lanesboro countered the later part of that run with back-to-back-to-back threes. The last, a Schwichtenberg trifecta, made it 51-48 Burros (under 7:00 left). But it would be Lanesboro’s last points. They went without a field goal over the last 6-plus minutes (0-6 FGs, six TOs). With it 53-51 ‘Canes (under 1:30), Burro Sawyer Johnson hit a three to seemingly put the home team ahead. The shot was annulled by a Burro foul under the basket. On Lanesboro subsequent possession (same score), Johnson had another open look but it didn’t fall. Houston’s Mikkel Schutte, who had a career-high 41 points the first meeting, hit two free throws with 0:22 left to make it a 55-51 game. Trent Vix’s group prevailed 56-51. Caiden Danielson (16 pts, 6-10 FGs, 3-6 threes), James Hongerholt (14 pts, 6-12 FGs, 13 rebs), Alex Van Gundy (11 pts, 6 rebs, 5 asts, 3 stls), and Schutte (7 pts, 9 rebs) led the victors. Schwichtenberg (14 pts, 4-9 threes, 5 rebs, 5 asts), Johnson (14 pts, 4-10 threes), Higbe-Hurrah (11 pts, 5-7 FGs), and Andrew Luck (8 pts, 7 rebs, 4 asts) led the Burros. Houston was 8 of 15 at the free throw line, Lanesboro 1 of 1. Houston also won the glass (38 to 26) and the offensive glass (16 to 8) for a 15 to 7 second-chance-points discrepancy. Lanesboro falls to 2-8, 6-12.
Photo by Paul Trende