MW BASKETBALL: Golden Rams sweep Minnesota West

COON RAPIDS — Orie Brown picked up a team-high 14 points for the Minnesota West Bluejays in an 87-66 loss to the Anoka-Ramsey Community College Golden Rams Saturday.

“They got hot early and we were cold most of the game,” MW coach Justin Heckenlaible said. “We also didn’t play good defense, which you can’t do, especially on the road.”

The Bluejays trailed by 22 at halftime, but were able to cut the Golden Rams lead to nine with over 9 minutes left in the second half. The Bluejays shot just 40 percent in the game, while the Rams made 60 percent of their shots including nine 3-pointers.

“Once we cut their lead to nine we just ran out of gas,” Heckenlaible said. “We have to do a better job of getting other teams out of their systems earlier in the game.”

Mitch Hopkins was second on the team with 11 points, while Luke Roddy picked up 10 points for the Bluejays. Tyler Aquallo had nine points in the game to go along with six points by Mitch Olson and five points by Cody Harris.

The Rams were led by Perri Vaden with 27 points and Montez Wilkerson with 21 points. Anoka-Ramsey had five scorers in double-digits, with no scorer having less than 12 points.

The Bluejays (9-7, 2-2) host St. Cloud Technical College Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Minn. West 24 42 — 66

Anoka-Ramsey 46 41 — 87

WOMEN

Anoka-Ramsey 72,

Minnesota West 61

COON RAPIDS — Brittany Hulstein scored a team-high 18 points and brought down 10 rebounds for the Minnesota West Lady Jays in a loss to the Anoka-Ramsey Community College Golden Rams Saturday.

“Things were close early when we were behind 11-10, but then we fell behind 20-11 and didn’t score for four minutes,” MW coach Mike Fury said. “Not only did we not score, we almost didn’t get a shot off.

“It wasn’t like we were missing a ton of shots; we just turned it over a few times and just didn’t get any good looks.”

The Lady Jays trailed by 12 at halftime, but were able to cut the Rams lead to five with 3 minutes left in the second.

“We hung in there and really played well in the second,” Fury said. “When we did cut it to five, they hit a 3-pointer and then got a 3-point play to make it an 11-point game.”

Lindsey Drooger was second on the team with 17 points and six assists, while Tiffany Gehl had 15 points in the game for the Lady Jays. Katey Granstra had five points and 10 rebounds to go along with four points by Jes Hermeling and two points by Maddie Rasche.

“They are ranked No. 6 in the nation and they are No. 1 in the south,” Fury said. “They are a good team. We are never happy with a loss, but we are happy with the effort.”

The Rams were led by Natasha Ambrose, who had 18 points and Tacita Gonzalez with 12 points. Three other scorers were in double-digits for Anoka-Ramsey.

Minnesota West (11-6, 2-2) hosts Rochester Saturday at noon in the first game of a men’s/girl’s double-header in Worthington.

Minn. West 22 39 — 61

Anoka-Ramsey 34 38 — 72

Tags: minnesota west sports, sports, mens, womens, basketball