Eagles receive fourth seed, to host Park Christian in Section 6A opener

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

New York Mills is hitting its stride just in time for the start of the playoffs later this week. The Eagles increased their winning streak to six games as they improved to 9-1 in their past 10 games last week. 

After defeating Battle Lake at home in non-conference action on Monday by a score of 60-37, NY Mills hit the road on Tuesday and defeated a tough Browerville team by a score of 50-41. The Eagles wrapped up their regular season on Friday when they traveled to Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal and picked up a 61-46 win.

With the wins, NY Mills has improved to 18-8 overall, but they are an impressive 17-3 since the start of the 2023 portion of their schedule. 

NY Mills secured the fourth seed in the extremely competitive Section 6A North sub section as they will take on fifth seeded Park Christian in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday in NY Mills. The Eagles defeated the Falcons on Dec. 1 by a score of 58-47 in their only meeting of the season. Park Christian comes into the game with a record of 18-5 overall. 

The winner of the game will take on either eighth ranked and top seeded Underwood, who comes into the tournament with a 22-3 record, or the winner of eighth seeded Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal (9-15 overall) and ninth seeded Lake Park-Audubon (10-16 overall) on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Perham High School. 

On the other side of the sub section, ninth ranked and second seeded Henning will take on either seventh seeded Rothsay or 10th seeded Ada-Borup West and third seeded Breckenridge will take on either sixth seeded Hillcrest or 11th seeded Battle Lake. 

Monday

Maya Radniecki hit three 3-pointers, while Bella Bauck and Ayla Olson each hit one apiece as the NY Mills Eagles defeated Battle Lake by a score of 60-37 on Monday night.

The Eagles jumped out to an early lead by holding the Battlers to just six made field goals in the first half. After leading by a score of 30-15 at halftime, the Eagles were able to finish strong with another 30 points in the second half.

Bauck led the way offensively with 17 points, while Ayla Olson scored 13 points, Kali Olson scored 12 and Radniecki finished with 9 points. Alayna Baune scored 6 points, Aidyn Baune scored 2 points and Kailey Keskitalo rounded out the scoring with 1 point. 

Tuesday

In a tight contest from the opening tip, the Eagles defeated Browerville in a defensive struggle by a score of 50-41. The Eagles led the by a score of 23-18 at halftime and went on to outscore the Tigers by a 27-23 margin in the second half thanks to a tough presence down low. 

After hitting a number of 3-pointers in recent weeks, the Eagles made just two 3-pointers in the game as they worked the ball in the post throughout the night.

Ayla Olson led the way offensively with 15 points, while Bella Bauck joined her in double figures with 11 points. 

Alayna Baune finished with 8 points, Maya Radniecki scored 5 points, Annika Dunrud and Kailey Keskitalo each scored 4 points and Kali Olson rounded out the scoring with 3 points. 

Friday

NY Mills ended its season on a high note on Friday night as the Eagles made the trek to Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal to take on the Titans. Just as they had in their two previous games this week, the Eagles led at halftime and hung on in a competitive second half to come away with a 61-46 win.

Nine Eagles reached the scoring column in a balanced game from top to bottom. 

Kali Olson led the way with 18 points, while Ayla Olson and Bella Bauck each scored 12 points. Alayna Baune scored 5 points, Aidyn Baune and Kailey Keskitalo each scored 4 points, while Rosemary Laudenbach, Annika Dunrud and Maya Radniecki rounded out the scoring with 2 points apiece.