By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The New York Mills Eagles were just 18 minutes away from picking up their third win of the season on Tuesday night.

NY Mills led the Verndale Pirates by 4 points heading into halftime in their final Park Region Conference game of the season. Unfortunately, it was a tale of two halves for the Eagles as Verndale was able to come out in the second half and took advantage of a few miscues on the defensive end of the court for NY Mills. As their shots continued to fall, Verndale was able to come away with a 61-53 win over the Eagles. 

Sam Kopveiler led the way offensively for the Eagles as he was just 1 rebound short of registering a double-double. He finished with 14 points and 9 rebounds. Teagan Lausten chipped in with 14 points, while Brayden Ehnert finished with 10 points in the loss. 

NY Mills put together another sold first half on Friday night as they trailed a very physical Panther team after the opening 18 minutes of action. The Eagles trailed by just 2 points at halftime, before they hit a roadblock in the second half, this time on the offensive end of the court. 

“For one of the first times this season, we were way too aggressive offensively and attacking repetitively, even when there weren’t great opportunities to do so. It’s a double-edged sword because we do need to attack with more aggression, but at the right times after we have gained an advantage through ball movement and player movement,” said head coach Mike Baune. “Hopefully, we can fine-tune that for the stretch run here.”

Ehnert led the way offensively with 11 points. 

This week the Eagles, who are 2-23 on the season, will travel to Rothsay on Tuesday night to wrap up their regular season.

The sub section playoffs will kick off next Monday with the pigtail games, before the first round kicks off on Thursday night at the high seed.