Eagles defeat Verndale for second win in PRC action
Sports | Published on January 27, 2021 at 12:25am GMT+0000 | Author: Chad Koenen
0NYM to host WDC Friday in conference action
By Chad Koenen
Publisher
New York Mills improved to 3-1 last week after splitting a pair of games against Verndale and Mahnomen-Waubun.
The Eagles opened the week with their second Park Region Conference win of the season against the Pirates by a score of 67-37, before falling to the Thunderbirds in non-conference action on Saturday by a score of 73-59.
This week the Eagles will travel to Sebeka on Tuesday, before hosting Wadena Deer Creek on Friday night in the teams home opener.
Thursday
Three Eagles reached double figures as the NY Mills was able to overcome a slow start and down the Verndale Pirates by a score of 67-37 on Thursday. NY Mills led by a score of 24-12 as the Pirates were able to keep a powerful Eagles offense in check for the opening 18 minutes of action.
“They zoned us and it gave us fits early on. Our defense helped us with some key transition baskets in the second half, but we’ll have to get better against zones. We expect to see the defense often this year,” said Head Coach Jason Boe.
The action picked up in the second half as the Eagles were able to outscore Verndale by a margin of 43-25 to pick up their second Park Region Conference win of the season.
Despite hurting his ankle midway through the second half, Tate Olson led the offensive charge for the Eagles with a double-double of 18 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists. Jonah Johnson also reached double figures with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, while Derin Gaudette chipped in with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
Also scoring on Thursday was 5 points and 5 rebounds; Noah Noffsinger 5 points and 4 rebounds; Breck Hensch 4 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals; Trey Gilster scored 4 points, Cale Rudolph chipped in with 3 points and 4 rebounds and Chase Keskitalo scored 3 points to go along with 2 rebounds.
Saturday
Due to injuries, NY Mills was a bit shorthanded on Saturday as the Eagles fell to Mahnomen-Waubun by a score of 73-59. Despite trailing by a 38-22 margin at halftime, the Eagles were able to cut the Mahnomen-Waubun lead to just 5 points midway through the second half, before ultimately falling to the Thunderbirds by 14 points in non-conference action.
While the Eagles outscored the Thunderbirds 37-35 in the second half, Head Coach Jason Boe said NY Mills needs to limit its turnovers if it wants to be successful this season. He said the team will learn from the loss and look to rebound this week.
“We turned the ball over way too much and dug too big a hole in the first half. We managed to cut the lead to only 5 points midway in the second but ran out of steam,” said Boe. “Despite being shorthanded, it was a game we could have won if we limited the mental errors, converted some easy baskets and shot better from the free-throw line. We missed a total 13 free-throws. We’ll learn from the loss.”
Breck Hensch led the way offensively as he scored 18 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Jonah Johnson also reached double figures with 17 points, 5 steals and 4 rebounds.
Isaiah Laudenbach chipped in with 8 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals; Derin Gaudette scored 7 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 5 assists; Trey Gilster scored 5 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals and Noah Noffsinger rounded out the scoring with 1 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.
“They zoned us and it gave us fits early on. Our defense helped us with some key transition baskets in the second half, but we’ll have to get better against zones. We expect to see the defense often this year.”
Head Coach Jason Boe.