MW BASKETBALL: Lady Jays win, Bluejays lose to Cardinals

HIBBING —The Minnesota West Lady Jays overcame a slow start to open their road trip Friday night, defeating the Hibbing Community College Cardinals, 78-52, in a non-conference women’s basketball game.

“We got off to a slow start,” Lady Jays head coach Mike Fury said. “I don’t know if it was from the long bus ride or not, but we really started to get going right before halftime.”

Minnesota West, which improved to 4-3, expanded a six-point lead with four minutes left in the first half into a 14-point bulge at the break.

“We were able to get some separation right before halftime,” Fury said. “Then we stretched that lead to about 20 out of the break and that’s about where it stayed.”

Tiffany Gehl (six rebounds) paced a balanced Lady Jays’ attack with a game-high 22 points.

Brittany Hulstein (15 points), Katey Granstra (14 points, six rebounds) and Lindsey Drooger (13 points) also scored in double figures for Minnesota West.

Hibbing (0-6), which outrebounded the Lady Jays by a 54-51 margin, was led by Amber Zapata with 11 points, while Courtney Wirtanen and Audra McAllister grabbed nine and seven rebounds, respectively.

Minnesota West’s road trip continues today as the Lady Jays travel to International Falls to take on Rainy River.

“It always nice to start a long road trip with a win,” Fury said. “We’ll try to get another one up at Rainy River.”

The Lady Jays and the Voyageurs are scheduled to tip off at 1 p.m.

Hibbing 78, MW 76

HIBBING — Despite a 27-point game by Luke Roddy, the Bluejays men’s basketball team fell to the Hibbing Cardinals 78-76 in overtime Friday.

“We missed some easy hoops in the first half,” MW coach Justin Heckenlaible said. “It was a physical game, with both teams taking leads throughout the first and second halves.”

MW took a 29-24 lead into halftime, but the Cardinals came out hot in the second and were able to tie the game to force overtime.

“We played hard, but we have to be able to take care of the ball better,” Heckenlaible said. “We have to play together as a team as well.”

Overtime went back and forth just like the rest of the game with both teams taking leads. But in the end, the Cardinals were able to hold off the Bluejays for the win.

“We had our chances in the end,” Heckenlaible said. “We were outrebounded in the game too, which didn’t help. The truth is that you can’t be outrebounded and not take care of the ball on the road. That will get you every time.”

Orie Brown picked up 12 points for the Bluejays, while Tyler Aquallo had 11 of his own. Alan Green added eight points with both A.J. Ourada and Mitch Hopkins ending up with six points a piece. Cody Harris made two baskets for four points and Josh Williams made one for two points to round out the scoring for MW.

Marcus Nolen led the Cardinals in scoring with 20 points, while DeVonte Miller and Manani Beavers both added 16 points in the game.

The Bluejays (4-2) head to International Falls to face Rainy River at 3 p.m. today.

Tags: minnesota west sports, sports, basketball