Photo by Angie Meiners
Caledonia boys basketball stayed perfect on the year, dispatching of two solid TRC squads. They were led by the play of a trio of seniors. Versus Lewiston-Altura (9-2), the Warriors (11-0) overwhelmed a Cardinal team that started the year 9-0. Behind Jackson Koepke’s 20 first half points, Brad King’s group built a 44-29 halftime lead and cruised to an 83-57 win. The senior trio of Koepke (24 pts, 10 rebs), Eli King (18 pts, 9 rebs, 6 asts), and Ja’Shon Simpson (15 pts, 6 rebs, 4 stls) equaled L-A’s team scoring. Eleven Warriors scored. The Cards, minus guard Collin Bonow, were led by senior Thomas Menk (22 pts, 13 rebs). Cal then travelled to Chatfield (6-2). The teams competed hard. The first half was denoted by two things. First, Chatfield went scoreless for six possessions, then seven possessions (9 total turnovers), and Warriors out-scored the Gophers 21-0. Second, the Warriors started with six turnovers their first 11 possessions, then had one their next 34. Those things led to Caledonia first annulling an 11-3 deficit to lead 14-11, then annulling a 28-26 deficit to lead 36-28. King, Simpson, and Koepke scored 38 of 40 points in a 40-30 halftime lead. Chatfield was within seven in the second half (43-36), but the Warriors pulled away for an 82-61 win. King had 22 in the first half and finished with a season-high (34 points, 11-15 FTs, 18 rebs, 4 asts, 5 stls, 2 blks). Simpson (21 points, 9 rebs) and Koepke (15 pts, 3-9 threes) helped. The triad scored 70 of the Warriors 82 points. Chris Pieper chipped in 10 (5-6 FGs). Chatfield was led by Drew Schindler (22 pts, 5-11 threes). Eli Hopp (13 pts, 5 asts) and Sam Backer (10 pts, 7 rebs, 5 asts) helped. The Gophers hit nine of 25 threes (36%) but committed 24 turnovers to Caledonia’s 14. The Warriors (6-0, 13-0) lead the TRC-East over La Crescent/Hokah (5-1, 9-2). Chatfield (3-3, 6-3) trails PEM (6-0, 14-0) and L-A (5-3, 10-4) in the West.