Basketball: Trojans Host 3-Coops Tourney

Rushford-Peterson hosted a six school boys/girls holiday basketball shindig which also featured Spring Grove.  The Trojans, Lions, Dawson-Boyd, Higher Ground Academy, Annandale, and West Lutheran competed. Joe Hatch’s Trojan girls got back to .500 with a couple wins.  R-P downed West Lutheran handily, 67-30.  R-P got four girls in double figures, Kaylee Ruberg (16 pts, 5 rebs), Nevaeh Happel (16 pts, 4-6 FTs, 6 rebs), Ellie Ekern (15 pts, 3-5 threes), and Tayler Helgemoe (13 pts, 3 blks).  The Trojans forced 29 turnovers.  A day later, R-P had it tougher versus Class AA Annandale.  The Trojans led most of the first half and 24-19 at intermission, but the Cardinals, which struggled to hit triples, hit three mid-second-half to lead 34-32.  R-P responded.  Ruberg hit a three and followed with a rebound-put-back basket.  Torryn Schneider scored in transition one possession.  The 7-0 run put R-P up 39-34.  Nevaeh Happel added a key score around the two-minute mark, making it 41-36.  Annandale found itself in the unique spot of having committed just one foul as the game waned. R-P ran off a lot of time late before having to go to the line.  Resultantly, they got the win 43-36.  Ruberg (18 pts, 4-7 threes, 11 rebs) and Ekern (11 pts, 3-6 threes, 5 rebs) combined for seven of R-P’s eight threes (8 of 18, 44%).   Annandale hit five of 21 threes (24%).  The Trojans won the boards also (31 to 25).  R-P is now 1-3 in the TRC, 5-5 overall.

R-P’s boys split their two games.  They downed St. Paul’s Higher Ground Academy 86-46 on Tuesday.  The win was R-P’s third straight.  Stand-outs Grady Hengel (27 pts, 11-13 FGs, 5 stls) and Dawson Bunke (26 pts, 8-14 FGs, 5-7 threes, 5-8 FTs, 10 rebs) combined to score 53 points.  Miles Anderson (9 pts, 4-7 FGs) and Caden Johnson (8 pts, 4-7 FGs, 4 stls) helped.  R-P was 8 of 11 from deep (73%) and 33 of 53 (62%) from the field.  On Wednesday, they ran a wall named Dawson-Boyd.  The Blackjacks were coming off a 66-57 win over a good Spring Grove team.  The Trojans started the game 9-0 but then fell victim to a ridiculous offensive spree.  The Blackjacks scored 41 unanswered points.  They hit 16 of 17 shots including 14 straight.  The run was done over 17 possessions.  The shots were from all over including six straight made threes.  From up 9-0 to down 41-9, R-P fell 68-35.  Bunke (14 pts, 4-7 threes) and Sampson Wilkemeyer (10 pts, 5 rebs) led the Trojans.  Hengel left the game with an injured ankle in the first half.  D-B was led by Brayson Boike (25 pts, 10-17 FGs, 8 rebs) and Keegon Wicht (22 pts, 4-8 threes, 9-13 FGs, 8 stls).   For the first half, Dawson-Boyd was 18 of 28 from the field (64%) and 7 of 15 from deep (47%).  Outside their big run, they were 2 of 11 shooting in the stanza.  The Trojans are 1-1 in the TRC, 4-3 overall.

Spring Grove’s boys went 1-1.  The Lions took on Dawson-Boyd on Tuesday.  The Blackjacks led the duration and by as many as 17.  SG trailed by nine at the end of the first half (41-32) and at the end of the game, losing 66-57.  SG had the Blackjacks lead cut to 61-55 with 3:06 to play, but got no closer.  Boike, a 6’7” guard (27 pts, 7 rebs), and Wicht (16 pts, four threes) were stellar for D-B.  Elijah Solum (18 pts, 5 stls), Tysen Grinde (15 pts), and Jaxon Strinmoen (11 pts, 7 stls) led SG.  D-B shot 58% from the field to SG’s 44%.  The Blackjacks were 81% from two-point range (22 of 27).  Each team made six threes.  D-B had 22 assists, SG 11.  The Blackjacks had 32 rebounds, SG 16.  The Lions then easily took down Higher Ground Academy, 83-39.   They did so without scoring the final ten minutes.  SG had 65 points by halftime (matching a program record).  Strinmoen (24 pts, 6 rebs) had a huge first half (22 pts).  Solum (19 pts, 6 rebs), Grinde (14 pts, 5 asts, 4 stls), and Caleb Griffin (11 pts) also hit double figures.  Jacob Olerud chipped in 8 (pts) and 5 (rebs).   SG is 2-0 in the SEC, 3-1 overall.  

The Lion girls also went 1-1.  On Tuesday, they fell to Class AA Annandale 60-34.  Leading 26-19, Annandale opened the second half scoring on 10 of 11 possessions to extend the lead to 48-26.  Siri Konkel (9 pts, 5 rebs, 3 asts, 3 stls) led the Lions.  Addyson McHugh and Kylie Hammel each chipped in 7 points.  Taylor Elton’s group then beat West Lutheran 58-43 on Wednesday.  After an early 11-point run, SG led most of the way by single-digits.  In the second half, the Warriors hit a trio of threes in succession to cut a 12-point Lion lead (46-34) to three (46-43).  It was their only three-point makes of the game.  But West Lutheran did not score the final five-plus minutes, as the Lions put up the last 12 points to win 58-43.  Hammel (18 pts, 8 rebs, 6 stls, 3 blks) and Konkel (13 pts, 9 asts) led the charge.  McHugh chipped in 10 (pts) and 5 (rebs).  The Lions are 1-3 in the SEC, 3-5 overall.