Sussner, Hennen propel Vikings past Eagles

Lac qui Parle Valley's Eagles tried to make the ball fly into the basket, but these Eagles hit eight of 31 from three-point range and it wasn't enough to stop the 13-1 Vikings.

Minneota came out on top Friday night, 65-52 depite the three-point shooting of Isaac Gerdes and Caden Bjornjeld.

Minneota counted with five three-pointers, all from Thomas Hennen. He scored 23 points, got another yeoman effort from Logan Sussner, who scored 19 with 16 rebounds and the Vikings got the win.

Minneota struggled a bit in the first half, but still led 32-23.

The first half clearly belonged to Sussner, who scored 13 points with eight rebounds and had six of seven free throws to become most of the Viking offense.

But in the second half, Thomas Hennen lit it up with three of shis three-pointers, hit six of six free throws and staved off the  long-range shooting Eagles.

The Vikings built a 55-34, 21-point lead with 7:17 to go.

But Gerdes and Bjornjeld didn't let up. They kept the three-pointers flying and some fell to tighten the game, but they never got close enough to take over.

"They hit some pretty long shots," said Minneota Coach Dale Busselman.

As for Sussner's performance, the coach said, "The guys maybe looked at him a little more but mostly he puts himself in good situations."

The coach also credited reserve Tristan Sorensen come in and playing some valuable minutes. "I think he played his best game of the year. You won't see it in the scorebook but he was rebouding and get the ball to others. He's also vocal out there," the coach said.

Minneota scoring include: Jared Josephson 5; Thomas Hennen 23; Nolan Boerboom 6; Isaac Hennen 4; Jacob Hennen 6; Mitchell Rost 0; Tristan Sorensen 2; Logan Sussner 19.

Lac qui Parle Scoring: Caden Bjornjeld 12; Thomas Daniels 1; Austin Bonn 5; Isaac Gerdes 17; Olson 12.