Vikings capture Candy Cane title

An exhausted bunch of Vikings won their third game in as many days by defeating Lakeview Saturday, 85-70 to capture the Holiday Candy Cane boys' basketball tournament.

"We were tired and went deeper into the bench and everybody played," said an also exhausted Coach Dave Busselman.

"What we wanted to do was come out of this with eight wins," he said.

And that's just what they did, remaining the No. 1 rank in the state going into the Christmas break.

Three Minneota Vikings were named to the Candy Cane All-Tournament Team, They were: Jared Josephson, Thomas Hennen and Nolan Boerboom.

The rest of the All-Tournament team included:

•Lakeview — Tyler Imes and Aaron Loe.

•Westbrook-Walnut Grove — Nathan Ross and Parker Freeburg.

•Heron Lake-Okabena — Brandon Hinkeldey.

Westbrook Walnut Grove came from behind at half to beat Heron Lake-Okabena for third place, 80-60.

The B Squad Tournament was won by Minneota as well. They defeated Westbrook-Walnut Grove 57-47 Friday night and beat Lakeview 47-43 on Saturday. Westbrook-Walnut Grove took third place as well in the B Squad tournament.

After a scoreless night Friday, Jacob Hennen turned his came around on Saturday by scoring 17 points with seven rebounds. "We wanted to get him rolling again," said Coach Busselman.

With brother Thomas Hennen's 26 points and six rebounds and Logan Sussner's 24 points and 10 rebounds, thethree racked up 67 of the team's 85 points.

Lakeview, which trailed by 49-31 at the half and by as much as 29 points at 70-41, put on late rush as Minneota rushed everyone in and out of the lineup in an attempt to stave off tired legs.

Junior Aaron Loe led the resurgence, pouring in 24 points. Imes hit three, three-pointers during the stretch and 6-5 senior center Reid Bot suddenly came to life and scored three buckets under the basket as Lakeview drew back within 10 at 76-66.

But the Vikings trio of Thomas and Jacob Hennen and Sussner poured on an extra scoring binge to put the tournament away and end the three-game string in three days with a tournament title.

The Vikings played Friday and Saturday without their sixth man, junior Alex Saltzer. He injured an ankle Thursday night in the win at Canby and was held out of the holiday tournament.

"We played four solid games this week (also played and won a tough game Tuesday at Russell-Tyler-Ruthton)," said Coach Busselman.

"We know we were not playing to our best quality, yet," said the coach. "We're just not in the flow yet — but we'll get there," he said.

The team is looking forward to their first game after Christmas, Friday, December 28 at home against Springfield. The Tigers are ranked No. 2 in state, right behind the Vikings.

When it was suggested that will likely bring a packed house to the Minneota gymnasium, Coach Busselman reiterated, "I hope so. I think we'll be ready."

MINNEOTA (2's, 3's, FT, F, TP) Jared Josephson 1 0 0 0-0 5 2; Thomas Hennen 7 4 0-0 3 26; Logan Sussner 11 0 2-6 1 24; Jacob Hennen 3 1 8-9 0 17; Riley Buysse 1 0 1-3 3 3; Jacob Citterman 1 0 0 0-0 2 2; Nolan Boerboom 1 1 2-2 5 7; Mitchell Rost 1 0 1-2 1 3; Joseph Rybinski 0 0 0-0 0 0; Grady Moorse 0 0 0-2 2 0; Braeden Panka 0 0 0-0 0 0; Nick Hernandez 0 0 0-0 1 0. Totals 25 6 14-24 23 85.

LAKEVIEW (2's, 3's, FT, F, TP) Billy Errington 0 0 0-0 3 0; Tyler Imes 0 3 3-6 1 12; Parker Hoffman 1 1  1-2 2 2 6; Aaron Loe 3 3 7-13 5 24; William Grube 0 1 0-0 0 3;  Carter Louwagie 1 2 1-3 1 9; Connor Larsen 0 1 0-0 1 3; Cody Caron 1 0 3-3 3 5; Reid Bot 4 0 0-0 3 6. Totals 10 11 15-27 19 70.

Score by Halves

Lakeview         31    39    —    70

Minneota         49    36    —    85

Statistics:

SHOOTING: Minneota 31 of 65 for 48 percent; Lakeview 18 of 49 for 37 percent.

FREE THROWS: Minneota 14 of 24 for 58 percent; Lakeview 15 of 227 for 56 percent.

REBOUNDS: Minneota 34 (Sussner 10; J. Hennen 7; T. Hennen 6; Boerboom 3; Josephson, Buysse, Moorse 2 each; Hernandez, Rost 1 each); Lakeview 28 (Loe 7, Imes 6, Bot 4, Errignton 3, Louwagie , Grube, Larsen 2 each, Hoffmann 1).

TURNOVERS: Minneota 14; Lakeview 22.

STEALS: Minneota 12 (Josephson 4, Sussner, Boerboom 3 each, T. Hennen 2; Lakeview 6 (Loe 2, Bot, Larsen, Louwagie, Errington 1 each).

BLOCKS: Minneota 2 (T. Hennen 2); Lakeview 1 (Bot).