ESTHERVILLE, Iowa -- Returning several fine players from a team that placed second in the Minnesota state Class AA boys basketball tournament last winter, it was always safe to assume that the Jackson County Central boys basketball team would see their opponents’ best effort in 2016-17.
The Estherville/Lincoln Central Midgets were definitely focused Monday night as they took JCC to the brink. A free throw by the Huskies’ Jacob Christopher with 12.1 seconds remaining broke a tie and gave JCC a 64-63 win.
Christopher missed the front end of a 1-and-1 before making the second. An Estherville 3-point shot missed just before the buzzer, and JCC’s Nico Feroni grabbed the rebound.
E/LC shot the ball well Monday night, said JCC head coach Trent Sukalski. JCC suffered from inconsistent shooting and also got in foul trouble. Even so, the Huskies led by eight points at one point in the second half before the Midgets fought back.
“I think our kids showed a lot of guts to pull it out,” Sukalski said.
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Feroni led the winners with 16 points and seven rebounds. Christopher finished with 13 points. Easton Bahr had 11. Ryan Christopher scored 11 points with eight assists.
Trey Jacobson led Estherville/Lincoln Central with 18 points, including 17 in the first half.
JCC is 9-2 on the season.
JCC 36 64Estherville/LC 36 63WHS 42, MCC 39 SLAYTON -- In a defensive struggle, the Worthington Trojans held on for a slim victory over host Murray County.
The Trojans sunk a free throw with about eight seconds remaining in the game to give the Trojans a three-point lead. Murray County Central’s Cole Bassett attempted a 3-point shot at the buzzer, but it missed.
“They played zone pretty much the entire game, and they were patient offensively. Possessions were precious,” said WHS head coach Clint Meyer. “It was a nice win against a good team.”
Worthington played without junior post Tyler Linder throughout the second half after he rolled his ankle in the first half. He finished with 10 points. But senior guard-forward Zach Boever scored 15 points and made three steals.
Bassett scored 18 for MCC.
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The win is the second straight for Worthington after sustaining a demoralizing loss to Jackson County Central after leading by double-digits early in the second half. Three days later the Trojans righted the ship with a double-overtime win over an excellent Redwood Valley team.
Murray County Central, which was out-rebounded 39-22 on Monday, is 3-5.
Worthington 23 42Murray County Central 25 39WORTHINGTON (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) -- Othow 0-1-0-2, Ojulu 0-0-0-0, Boever 1-6-0-15, Huisman 0-0-0-0, Calmus 1-2-2-9, Merrigan 0-1-2-4, Boneschans 0-1-0-2, Linder 0-4-2-10. Totals 2-15-6-42.MURRAY COUNTY CENTRAL (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) -- Everson 0-2-0-4, Bassett 3-4-1-18, Schreiber 0-0-0-0, Benda 0-0-0-0, Groves 0-3-1-7, Johnson 0-1-0-2, Whitehead 0-4-0-8, Winter 0-0-0-0. Totals 3-14-2-39.Adrian 70, Minneota 58 ADRIAN -- Outscoring their opponents 40-21 in the first half, the Adrian Dragons rolled to a 12-point win over Minneota.
Ryan Wieneke scored 21 points and Mitchell Lonneman 14 for the Dragons, with Lonneman adding six rebounds.
For Minneota, Logan Sussner led with 17 points. Brock Fox and Isaac Hennen each had 11.
Adrian connected on seven of 15 3-point shots and made 23 of 30 attempts from the free throw line.
Adrian, 7-3 overall, hosts Hills-Beaver Creek tonight in a game matching teams with 4-0 records in the Red Rock Conference.
Minneota 21 58Adrian 40 70Springfield 91, WA 43 SPRINGFIELD -- Springfield (9-1) led big at halftime and went on to more than double the score of its foes from Windom Area.
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The Eagles fall to 3-7 and host St. James Area today.
Windom Area 24 43Springfield 52 91
