Viking rout YME in opener
Kenadi Arndt scored a career-high 21 points and Ireland Stassen flirted with a triple-double as Minneota opened the season under first-year coach Al Panka with an 86-56 rout of Yellow Medicine East Monday night in Minneota.
Arndt, a reserve last season for the Vikings who were the Class A state runner-up, made 11 of 19 shots and was the beneficiary of several stellar passes from Stassen, who finished with 17 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds.
Panka, who had been an assistant coach under Chad Johnston, took over the varsity job after Johnston took the boys’ basketball job here.
The Vikings came out of the chute strong, leading 8-0 and 13-3 by extracting several turnovers from the Sting (1-2). Arndt scored the first two baskets of the game and season for the Vikings (1-0). Stassen then drove to the hoop and scored to make it 6-0, followed by a basket from Dakoda Hennen off a feed from Grace Hennen for an 8-0 advantage.
After Hannah Stark drained a three-pointer for the Sting, Minneota went on a 5-0 run to make it 13-3 and the rout was on.
Arndt scored 14 of her 21 points in the first half as the Vikings led 39-20.
Faith Myhre connected on a team-high three 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Dakoda Hennen and Megan Krog had 10 points apiece, giving the Vikings five players in double-digit scoring.
Ruby Bones led the Sting with 23 points. Hannah Stark had 18 points and Hope Stark eight.
Minneota 86, YME 56
YME.................................................20 36 - 56
Minneota.........................................39 47 - 86
Team Statistics
Field-goal shooting (good-attempt-pct.): Yellow Medicine East 20-for-65, 31 percent; Minneota 33-for-72, 46 percent ... 3-point shooting (good-attempts-pct.): Yellow Medicine East 4-for-26, 15 percent; Minneota 6-for-13, 46 percent ... Rebounds: Yellow Medicine East 30, Minneota 29
YME Individual Statistics
Scoring (total points): Alana Almich 2, Ruby Bones 23, Ella Cherveny 0, Gracie Kleven 0, Stella Schuler 3, Bayli Sneller 2, Hannah Stark 18, Hope Stark 8 ... 3-pointers: Hannah Stark 3, Hope Stark 1 ... Rebound leader: Bones 4 ... Assist leader: Bones 2, Kleven 2, Hannah Stark 2, Hope Stark 2 .... Steal leader: Kleven 3
Minneota Individual Statistics
Scoring (fg-att, ft-att, pts): Kenadi Arndt 11-19 1-2 23, Emma Bottelberghe 1-2 0-0 2, Dakoda Hennen 3-6 4-5 10, Grace Hennen 1-8 0-0 2, Nevaeh Hennen 0-0 0-0 0, Kiersyn Hulzebos 1-2 2-4 4, Ella Johnson 1-3 1-2 4, Megan Krog 4-10 2-4 10, Faith Myhre 4-10 3-7 14, Ireland Stassen 7-10 1-2 17 ... 3-pointers: Myhre 3, Stassen 2, Johnson 1 ... Rebounds: Stassen 6, Arndt 4, Myhre 4, Bottelberghe 3, Johnson 3, Krog 3, D.Hennen 2, G.Hennen 2, N.Hennen 1, Hulzebos 1 ... Assists: Stassen 10, G.Hennen 4, Myhre 3, D.Hennen 3, Arndt 1, Bottelberghe 1, Hulzebos 1, Krog 1 .... Steals: Hulzebos 5, Arndt 3, D. Hennen 3, G.Hennen 2, Krog 1, Myhre 1, Stassen 1