Dec. 5—WILLMAR — Whether it was sprinting in transition or taking to the air for shots and dunks, Sauk Rapids was flying up and down the court on Thursday night.
The Storm, ranked seventh in Class AAAA, jumped out to a 30-9 lead over Willmar in the first half. Sauk Rapids led by as much as 35 points in an 86-53 Central Lakes Conference boys basketball victory at the Big Red Gym.
Leading Sauk Rapids’ high-scoring attack was sophomore Izayah Cook. Cook, who is 6-foot-5, scored 21 of his game-high 26 points in the opening half. The Storm led 55-31 at the break.
Spencer Swenson had 17 points and Keller Hanson scored 16. Both are Division II commits, with Swenson going to Minnesota-Crookston and Hanson to Northern Michigan. Hudson Omoke, a Bemidji State football recruit, also finished in double figures with 13 points.
Sauk Rapids shot 56.4 percent from the field.
A pair of Cardinals finished in double figures.
Avery Christensen, a 6-3 junior and an All-CLC pick last season, led the way with 18 points. Hudson Sjoberg, a 6-1 sophomore, put up 16 points and seven rebounds. That included three offensive boards.
Willmar goes to Sartell for another CLC game at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Central Minnesota Christian shot 56% from the field in a win over BOLD at Bird Island.
Drew Duininck had a game-high 21 points for the Bluejays. Asher Wieberdink put up 15 points and Micah Asake tallied 12 points in the victory.
Will Penkert led the Warriors with 19 points. Jack Gross had 16 points and Daylen Weber had 10 in the loss.
CMCS plays a Camden Conference game against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg at 7 p.m. Thursday at Kerkhoven. BOLD hosts to Sauk Centre for a West Central Conference game at 7 p.m. Thursday in Bird Island.
Down by one at halftime, a strong second half propelled Minnewaska to a win against Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa at Brooten.
The Lakers scored 35 second-half points to the Jaguars’ 17.
Marc Gruber led a trio of Minnewaska players in double figures with 20 points. Connor Frey had 12 points and Tenzin Dahl dropped 11. Zachary Palmer had a double-double with 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Josh Walstrom finished with 14 points to lead BBE. Taylor Pieper added 13 points for the Jaguars.
Minnewaska travels to Redwood Falls to play Redwood Valley at noon Saturday. BBE plays Brandon-Evansville for a non-conference game at 5 p.m. Saturday at Brandon.
Riley and Alex Asmus combined for 41 points in Morris/Chokio-Alberta’s non-conference win against Litchfield at Litchfield.
The Tigers led at halftime, 51-19.
Riley finished with 21 points while Alex had 20 points.
Gideon Boerema paced the Dragons with 14 points. Noah Dietel added 11 points and six rebounds.
Litchfield plays a non-conference game against Eden Valley-Watkins at 7 p.m. Friday at Eden Valley.
Montevideo set a school record with 107 points in its victory over Lac qui Parle Valley at Montevideo.
The previous record was 106 set in 2008.
Along the way, Montevideo recorded 30 assists.
“We shared the basketball really well,” Montevideo head coach Derek Webb said. “And I liked the way we did it. We made sure the ball got inside before we shot outside. And obviously we shot well, too.”
Ten players scored for the Thunder Hawks, led by Griffin Epema’s 21 and Gannon Reidinger’s 20.
LQPV was led by Davis Patzer, who had 21 points. Matthew Arndt added 15 and Baxter Kalhhoff had 14 for the Eagles.
LQPV goes to Ortonville for a Camden Conference game at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Thunder Hawks host Canby for a non-conference game at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at Montevideo in a boys-girls doubleheader.
Seth Staloch racked up 21 points in the Silverstreaks’ win against Paynesville at Osakis.
Carter Flanders led Paynesville with 14 points. Esau Nelson had eight points.
The Bulldogs host a non-conference game against New London-Spicer at 7 p.m. Friday at Paynesville.
Renville County West came back from a 47-35 halftime deficit to clinch a non-conference win against host Benson.
Ryan Schrupp went off for 36 points for the Jaguars. He hit seven 3-pointers in the victory. He also grabbed 11 rebounds and had a pair of blocks. Brayden Klaassen added 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Harold Habben had a double-double for the Braves with 16 points and 19 rebounds. Tayte Antolick also had a double-double with 15 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. Landon Skarsten had 14 points and Jaden McCarter chipped in 11 points.
RCW heads to Cottonwood to play Lakeview at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Benson faces Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Brooten.
Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop built a 39-25 halftime lead and held on to beat MACCRAY in the Wabasso Invitational at Wabasso.
For MACCRAY, senior Xavier Noble had 24 points, three assists and two steals. Senior Grayson Ahrenholz contributed 11 points, 14 rebounds and five steals for the Wolverines.
MACCRAY continues tournament play against Wabasso at 11:15 a.m. Saturday at Wabasso.
