Vikings tested but survive Westbrook-WG

Maybe it's playing a second game in two nights — but whatever it was, Coach Dave Busselman said his Vikings, "Did not have good energy tonight."

Yet, they built a 38-27 lead in the second half, then had to hold off the Chargers as they rushed back to within five before Minneota put the game away at 71-62.

Minneota will play at noon today against Lakeview, a 62-49 winner over Heron Lake-Okabena.

The Candy Cane Holiday Tournament is being held in Minneota and will have Heron Lake-Okabena facing Westbrook-Walnut Grove at 10 a.m. today.

Minneota put themselves into jeopard by failing to hit free throws. Down ther stretch, Jarod Josephson missed the front end of two one-and-one's, then missed the first of two free shots.

Westbrook-Wlanut Grove began to used 6-7 center Parker Freeburg to both hit free throws (9 of 12) and under-the-bucket shots (21 points) and guard Andrew Quade (21 points, 3 three-pointers) plus his feeds to Freeburg to get back in the game.

They narrowed the margin to 67-62 before the Vikings began to slow down the ball and Thomas Hennen took over. The senior, with a game-high 23 points, hit four straight free throws and gathered in the biggest rebound of the game to preserve Minneota's undeated record at 7-0.

"It was good we got to play a game like that. We just didn't have the energy we needed," said Coach Busselman.

The Vikings were in foul trouble the entire game. Logan Sussner had to spend too much time on the bench, yet scored 15 points with eight rebounds.

Jacob Hennen, Nolan Boerboom and Tginas Gebbeb also played the foul game, which lessed their time on the floor.

Boerboom held the hot hand in the first half, scored 17 points. He had a three-pointer in the second half (four total) to end the game with 20 points.

The Vikings canned 12 three-pointers between them and they helped keep Westbrook-Walnut Grove from getting close — until the end of the game.

Minneota was short on the bench because Alex Saltzer hurt his ankle a night earlier in Canby. So Busselman had to use Riley Buysse first off the bench with Mitchell Rost and Jacob Citterman also filling in.

But despite injuries and fouls, the Vikings survived.

"They made it closer than it should have been. But we need games like this," said Coach Busselman.

MINNEOTA (2's, 3's, FT, F, TP)  Jared Josephson 0 1 2-5 3 4; Thomas Hennen 2 5 4-4 3 23; Logan Sussner 6 0 3-6 4 15; Jacob Hennen 0 0 0-0 4 0; Riley Buysse 0 2 0-0 1 6; Nolan Boerboom 3 4 0-0 3 20; Mitchell Rost 0 0 0-0 0 0; Grady Moorse 0 0 0-0 0 0. Totals 11 12 5-11 71.

WESTBROOK-WB (2's, 3's, FT, F, TP) Jacob Kleven 0 0 0-0 4 0; Ethan Mischke 0 0 1-2 2 1; Wyatt Christians 3 1 0-0 2 9; Nathan Ross 0 2 3-4 2 9; Nick Hang 0 0 0-0 1 0; Andrew Quade 4 3 4-7 3 21; Parker Freeburg 6 0 9-12 2 21. Totals 13 4 17-25 16 62.

Score by Halves

Westbrook-WG           21    41  —    62

Minneota                    38     33 —    71

Statistics:

SHOOTING: Minneota 23 of 53 for 43 percent; W-WG 17 of 43 for 40 percent.

FREE THROWS: Minneota 5 of 11 for 45 percent; W-WG 17 of 25 for 68 percent.

REBOUNDS: Minneota 25 (sussner 12, Boerboom 5, T.Hennen 4, J.Hennen 3, Josephson, Rost, Moorse 1 each, Buysse 2); W-WG 25 (Freeburg 8, Mischke, Christians, Ross 4 each, Quade 3, Kleven 2).

TURNOVERS: Minneota 10; W-WG 15.

STEALS: Minneota 9 (Sussner 4, T. Hennen 3, Boerboom 2); W-WG 2 (Quade 2).

BLOCKS: Minneota (Thomas Hennen 1); W-WG (Quade 1).