Boys basketball roundup: Litchfield regroups to defeat HLWW, 66-63
Feb. 2—LITCHFIELD — What looked like certain victory slipped away from the Litchfield boys basketball team on Thursday. Leading Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 13-0 to start the Wright County Conference game, the Lakers chipped away and tied the game at 30-all at halftime.
But instead of cowering, the Dragons were able to regroup and get the lead when it mattered most: at the end.
Litchfield got its second conference win of the year, beating HLWW 66-63 at Litchfield High School.
The Dragons are now 2-6 in the Wright County West Division. HLWW is 2-7 in conference play.
Jack McCann led Litchfield's efforts. The 5-foot-11 junior guard scored a team-high 22 points on 6 of 11 shooting. He was also 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. McCann also led the Dragons with seven rebounds.
Alex Draeger (14), Tyler Pennertz (11) and Garrison Jackman (10) also finished in double figures for Litchfield. The team shot 52% from the field, including 50% from 3-point range (8 of 16).
The game-opening 13-0 run began with back-to-back 3-pointers from Jackman and Draeger. McCann followed with a layup. Pennertz got two straight baskets with a 3-pointer and a post-up that made it 13-0 with 14:03 left in the first half. HLWW broke the scoring slump with a Cole Gilbert 3-pointer.
Gilbert was the Lakers' top scorer with 25 points. He made 5 of 11 3-pointers. Cody Stapel added 12 points and Cam Jones tacked on 10 points in the loss.
Litchfield plays at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Annandale.
HLWW (8-10) 30 33 — 63
Litchfield (6-12) 30 36 — 66
HLWW — Scoring: Cam Jones 10, Chase Dieter 2, Cole Gilbert 25, Drystin Greene 5, Trey Tondera 3, Cody Stapel 12, Marcus Burau 2, Alex Zimmerman 4 ... 3-point shots: Jones 2, Gilbert 5, Greene 1, Tondera 1, Stapel 2 ... Rebound leader: Zimmerman 8 ... Assist leader: Zimmerman 4 ... Steal leader: Deiter 1 ... Block leader: none
LITCHFIELD — Scoring: Jack McCann 22, Blake Aller 2, Tucker Liestman 2, Creighton Huhner 5, Tyler Pennertz 11, Alex Draeger 14, Garrison Jackman 10 ... 3-point shots: McCann 3, Pennertz 1, Draeger 3, Jackman 1 ... Rebound leader: McCann 7 ... Assist leader: Pennertz 5 ... Steal leader: Aller 1 ... Block leader: Aller 1
New to the Class AA state poll, 18th-ranked Paynesville won its seventh straight game, beating Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City in Paynesville.
Izaak Schultz and Brayden Pung led the Bulldogs' offense. Schultz had 17 points, followed by 16 from Pung.
The Falcons' Kyler Pickle scored a game-high 20 points. Thor Goerish followed up with 12.
Paynesville plays Royalton at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Paynesville. ACGC plays at 4 p.m. Saturday at Benson.
ACGC (5-10) 23 24 — 47
Paynesville (15-4) 28 29 — 57
ACGC — Scoring: Kyler Pickle 20, Sam Rouser 3, Tucker Johnson 1, Marcus Forsythe 2, Jonas Morrison 7, Thor Goerish 12, Carson Borchert 2 ... 3-point shots: n/a ... Rebound leader: n/a ... Assist leader: n/a ... Steal leader: n/a ... Block leader: n/a
PAYNESVILLE — Scoring: Izaak Schultz 17, Brayden Pung 16, Gus Johnson 2, Grayson Fuchs 3, Max Athmann 7, Abe Brunner 2, Bryce VanderBeek 3, Blayke Pung 7 ... 3-point shots: n/a ... Rebound leader: n/a ... Assist leader: n/a ... Steal leader: n/a ... Block leader: n/a
Kaden Pieper had 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals in Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa's victory at Brooten.
The Jaguars, who are ranked seventh in Class A, also got 14 points apiece from Luke Dingmann and Jamison Reed and 11 from Brady Schwinghammer.
Dawson Hofer led the Huskers with 12 points.
BBE plays Browerville at 4 p.m. Saturday at Belgrade.
Holdingford (4-10) 21 17 — 38
BBE (13-3) 41 34 — 75
HOLDINGFORD — Scoring: Brandon Hall 6, Jeffrey Hall 1, Lucas Provo 3, Tanner Tomasek 1, Dawson Hofer 12, Ryder Petersen 9, Connor Breth 6 ... 3-point shots: Petersen 1 ... Rebound leaders: Provo 5, Tomasek 5, Petersen 5 ... Assist leader: Petersen 2 ... Steal leader: Petersen 3 ... Block leader: B. Hall 1, Provo 1, Tomasek 1
BBE — Scoring: Kaden Pieper 21, Hayden Sobiech 3, Tanner Shelton 4, Sam Mastey 4, Luke Illies 4, Luke Dingmann 14, Brady Schwinghammer 11, Jamison Reed 14 ... 3-point shots: Pieper 3, Sobiech 1, Schwinghammer 3 ... Rebound leader: Pieper 8 ... Assist leaders: Pieper 4, Dingmann 4 ... Steal leader: Pieper 2 ... Block leader: Illies 1, Dingmann 1
BOLD improved to 12-5 overall with a non-conference home win over Yellow Medicine East in Bird Island.
The Warriors have now won 10 straight games.
Andrew Meyers led a trio of BOLD players in double figures with 19 points. He was followed by Jack Gross' 16 and Ryan King's 13.
Cody Dahlager and Bryce Sneller each paced the Sting with 10 points.
BOLD plays Melrose at 7:15 p.m. Friday at Bird Island. YME plays at 7:15 p.m. Friday at Minneota.
YME (5-12) na na — 46
BOLD (12-5) na na — 77
YME — Scoring: Cody Dahlager 10, Archie LaRose 9, Drew Almich 4, Adam Stengel 2, Ricky Enney 3, Bryce Sneller 10, Owen Torvik 2 ... 3-point shots: Enney 1, Sneller 1 ... Rebound leader: LaRose 4, Enney 4, Sneller 4 ... Assist leader: Sneller 2 ... Steal leader: LaRose 2 ... Block leader: none
BOLD — Scoring: Zane Boen 2, Jack Gross 16, Andrew Meyers 19, Ryan King 13, Daylen Weber 9, Brayden Gass 2, Mathew Jacobs 3, William Penkert 1 ... 3-point shots: Gross 2, Weber 3, Jacobs 1 ... Rebound leader: Meyers 6 ... Assist leader: Gross 2, King 2 ... Steal leader: King 2 ... Block leader: Meyers 1
