PREP BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Southwest Christian overcomes RTR in an overtime thriller

MARSHALL — Saturday’s matchup between two state-ranked Class A boys basketball teams did not disappoint as the No. 4-ranked Southwest Christian Eagles needed overtime to prevail over the No. 9-ranked Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Knights at Southwest Minnesota State University’s R/A Facility.

Southwest Christian (7-1), which ended R-T-R’s season last year in the Section 3A South tournament on the Eagles way to the state title, needed to force the extra frame after the Knights’ Brett Peterson converted a 4-point play after getting fouled on a made 3-pointer, giving R-T-R a 70-69 lead with 80 seconds left in regulation.

R-T-R (8-1) added a free throw to go ahead by two late, but SWC answered in the final seconds when Dominic Nibbelink drove the length of the floor and found an open Leighton Sampson near the left elbow. Sampson buried the shot to knot the game and forcing overtime.

Southwest Christian, which made 22 of 30 free throws against R-T-R’s 13-for-21 effort, did enough in the extra frame to secure the victory.

Nibbelink led the Eagles with 22 points and six assists, while Sampson filled the stat sheet with 16 points, five rebounds, four blocks and three steals. Eric Talsma neared a double-double for SWC with 18 points and nine rebounds and Klint Knutson posted 12 points and three steals.

Peterson, who did all of the Knights’ scoring in overtime, finished with a game-high 28 points, while Shay Wabeke and Brett Vercruysse each totaled 13 points and Dylan Kor finished with 12.

Southwest Christian returns to action Thursday with a Red Rock Conference game at Westbrook-Walnut Grove.

R-T-R 35 36 7 — 78

SWC 36 35 9 — 80

Mountain Lake Area 68, Windom Area 64

WINDOM — Each side had four players post scores in double digits, but it was the visiting Mountain Lake Area Wolverines who prevailed in a tight, non-conference game with the Windom Eagles on Saturday.

The Wolverines, who trailed at halftime by three, were led by Andrew Hempeck’s 19 points, six assists and four steals. Carter Kirk added 17 points and eight rebounds for MLA, while Cody Klassen scored 15 points and Josiah Stoesz posted a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Andy Pfeffer led Windom with 16 points, Jacob Gotto and Collin Lovell each scored 14, and Nathan Remmers rounded out the top scorers for the Eagles with 10.

Mountain Lake Area, which improved to 7-2 and is riding a seven-game winning streak, hosts St. James Area tonight.

Windom (4-6) hosts St. James Area Tuesday.

MLA 27 41 — 68

Windom 30 34 — 64

Central Lyon 63, Luverne 61

LUVERNE — The Central Lyon Lions overcame an eight-point halftime deficit by outscoring the Luverne Cardinals by 10 points in the second half to secure a non-conference win on Saturday.

Carter Roskam led the Lions with 17 points, while Nicholas Lutmer posted 15 points and nine rebounds. Jesse Markus added 11 points and Kalen Eckenrod totaled seven rebounds and four assists for Central Lyon, which travels to play MOC-Floyd Valley Friday.

Brett Heronimus scored a game-high 22 points and also had five rebounds and three assists for Luverne. Josh Slieter (seven rebounds) and Matt Arends added 15 and 10 points, respectively, while Matt Overgaard finished with eight points.

Luverne (6-3) hosts Marshall in a Southwest Conference game Tuesday.

Central Lyon 29 34 — 63

Luverne 37 24 — 61

Luverne 64,

Redwood Valley 63

REDWOOD FALLS — Brett Heronimus scored 26 points Friday to lead the Luverne Cardinals past the Redwood Valley Cardinals in a tight Southwest Conference contest.

Heronimus added six rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Josh Slieter chipped in 11 points and six caroms. Matt Arends and Alex Weis each scored eight points.

Mitchell Fischer’s 17 points led a quartet of Redwood Valley players with double-digit scores.

Luverne 26 38 — 64

Redwood Vall. 28 35 — 63

MACCRAY 58,

Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 40

TRACY — The MACCRAY Wolverines toppled the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Panthers Friday night in Camden Conference action.

MACCRAY was led by Cody Boonstra’s 17 points, while Taylor Thissen and Bailey Boike added 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Parker Lanoue scored 15 points and had three steals to lead T-M-B. Brian Fultz added 11 points and six rebounds.

The Panthers (2-6) host Westbrook-Walnut Grove Tuesday.

MACCRAY 26 32 — 58

T-M-B 14 26 — 40

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Southwest Christian 56, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 37

MARSHALL — A balanced effort propelled the Southwest Christian Eagles to a non-conference win over Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Saturday.

Amber Pater led the Eagles with 14 points and five steals, while Kelly Tinklenberg totaled nine points and 10 rebounds and Morgan Van Hulzen (seven rebounds) and Tianna Top each scored eight points. Hannah Van Dyke added seven points and nine rebounds and Kara Homandberg grabbed five steals to go with six points.

Southwest Christian (6-4) returns to Red Rock Conference play Tuesday in Okabena against Southwestern United.

R-T-R 13 24 — 37

SWC 31 25 — 56

Windom 61 Area, Mountain Lake Area 43

WINDOM — Gina Hauge scored 19 points to lead the Windom Eagles over the Mountain Lake Area Wolverines Saturday in a non-conference game.

Kelsey Hanefeld added 10 points for Windom, while Rachel Sorensen scored nine points, Jasmine Carlson posted eight points and Holly Larson added seven points.

The Eagles made 18 of 23 free throws in the game.

Paige Brown scored 16 points to lead the Wolverines and Whitney Klassen added 10 points.

Windom (6-5) hosts St. James Area in non-conference action Tuesday. Mountain Lake Area (5-5) hosts Red Rock Central in Red Rock Conference action Tuesday.

MLA 22 21 — 43

Windom 37 24 — 61

Central Lyon 53, Luverne 37

LUVERNE — Kori Schulte went for 13 points and nine rebounds as the Central Lyon Lions defeated the Luverne Cardinals in non-conference action Saturday.

Wynter Roths added 11 points, Lexi Ackerman dished out eight assists and grabbed five steals and Sarah Halse collected nine rebounds for Central Lyon, which improved to 11-1. The Lions travel to MOC-Floyd Valley Friday.

Tara Sudenga (six rebounds), Lexi Rust and Alex Stanley each scored eight points for Luverne. McKayla Schilling added five steals.

Luverne (6-5) travels to Windom Friday for a Southwest Conference game.

Central Lyon 21 32 — 53

Luverne 13 24 — 37

Tags: sports, boys, girls, basketball, prep