Eagles enter playoffs with an 11 game winning streak
Sports | Published on March 17, 2021 at 5:14am GMT+0000 | Author: Chad Koenen
0NYM seeded second in sub section tournament
By Chad Koenen
Publisher
New York Mills ended its season with a pair of statement wins in the Park Region Conference, and in the process, pushed its winning streak to 11 games.
After securing a 76-75 win over Pillager last Monday night, the Eagles defeated Bertha-Hewitt by a score of 89-35 to round out their regular season with a record of 15-2 overall and 12-1 in the conference. The Eagles are currently ranked second in the QRF and trail just Mahnomen-Waubun in the QRF rankings.
The Eagles will open the sub section tournament on Thursday night as the second seed and will host Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal in the opening round of the sub section tournament. The winner will play either third seeded Henning or sixth seeded Lake Park-Audubon on Saturday at the high seed.
On the other side of the bracket, top seeded and top ranked Mahnomen-Waubun will host either eighth seeded Park Christian or ninth seeded Underwood in the opening round. Fourth seeded Hillcrest Lutheran Academy will host fifth seeded Rothsay.
The Eagles enter the playoffs averaging 73.5 points per game on offense and give up just 52.5 points per game on defense.
In addition to the varsity team, the NY Mills JV ended their season with a record of 13-4 overall and the C-squad wrapped up a successful season with a record of 9-3.
Monday
In a season full of double-digit games, NY Mills had a game end in single digits for just the second time all season last Monday night. This time around the Eagles erased a 39-36 halftime deficit to Pillager to secure a 76-75 win over the Huskies on the road.
The only other time the Eagles were in a single digit game was on Jan. 29 when they fell to Wadena-Deer Creek by a score of 59-55. Head coach Jason Boe said the close game will help the team as they head into the playoffs.
“It was tight the whole way and a very physical game. We needed a close game like this as we go into the playoffs,” said Boe. “Our boys earned this win.”
Tate Olson led the way offensively as he finished with a double-double of 26 points, 15 rebounds and 2 steals. Jonah Johnson also reached double-figures with 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists; while Noah Noffsinger scored 12 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists and Derin Gaudette also reached double-figures with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assist.
Breck Hensch chipped in with 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals; Isaiah Laudenbach scored 4 points, 3 rebounds and Jace Rudolph rounded out the scoring with 2 points and 2 rebounds.
Friday
NY Mills capped off its season with a resounding 89-35 win over Bertha-Hewitt on Friday night. The Eagles held the Bears to just 9 points in the second half, after outscoring Bertha-Hewitt by a 47-26 margin in the first half.
In addition to improving to 15-2 overall, and 12-1 in the conference, the game allowed the Eagles to honor its seniors with some extended playing time heading into the post season.
“We were able to play everyone and celebrate our seniors. It was a good night for our program,” said head coach Jason Boe.
Tate Olson led the way offensively with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals.
Derin Gaudette scored 14 points, 3 assists, 2 steals; Jace Rudolph also reached double-figures with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals; Cale Rudolph finished with 10 points 2 rebounds, 2 assists; and Chase Keskitalo was the fifth Eagle to reach double-figures with 10 points and 4 rebounds.
Isaiah Laudenbach scored 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists; Noah Noffsinger scored 6 points, 3 assists, 1 steal; Trey Gilster scored 6 points, 4 steals, 1 assist; Jonah Johnson scored 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal; Breck Hensch scored 3 points, Bryan Bohn scored 3 points and Brayden Ehnert rounded out the scoring with 2 points and 1 block.