Jan. 8—WORTHINGTON — Both the Minnesota West basketball teams impressed in their Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC) South division openers Wednesday.
Against M Stage Fergus Falls, the women’s team opened the evening doubleheader by scoring in the triple digits in a 100-51 win. Then the men’s team followed with a clinical offensive performance in a 99-72 victory.
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Both teams will face a tough test Saturday in Coon Rapids against Anoka-Ramsey.
After holding just a one-point lead through the first quarter, the Lady Jays (12-5, 1-0) cranked up their defense in the second quarter to set the tone for the rest of the game.
In that second quarter, the Jays forced 17 of their 32 first half turnovers on defense and outscored the Spartans 36-4 to take a 55-22 halftime lead.
But early in the game, Fergus Falls hung around with the Lady Jays. Despite the Jays jumping to a 7-1 lead, the Spartans responded with two 3-pointers and eventually took a 16-13 lead. Back-to-back Izzy Klumper triples followed to give the Jays a first-quarter advantage. She finished with 17 points and made five 3-pointers.
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“We were down, and she hit two back to back to get us back ahead, which was kind of like a little bit of a stress relief, I guess, at the end of the first quarter,” said Lady Jays head coach Rosalie Hayenga-Hostikka. “She’s a great shooter. She can get hot like that.”
Despite Fergus Falls holding momentum with a buzzer beater at the end of the first quarter, defense fully swung the game in Minnesota West’s favor.
The Lady Jays’ full court press forced a string of Spartan turnovers which led to fast break points. Their offense completed that defense with a balanced and efficient effort to close out the first half.
The second half saw the Jays push their lead to 40 points early in the third quarter before they took a 79-43 lead through three quarters. They continued to force turnovers and score om the fast break.
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“When we get those steals, our game is kind of fast break that when we can get in the flow and get to running the floor, that’s when we’re at our best,” Hayenga-Hostikka said.
Six Lady Jays scored in double figures. On top of Klumper’s 17 points, Sadie Krahling scored a team-high 18, Katrina Schutz, Maddie Kamm and Ayla Texley each added 12 and Payton Reimers had 11.
Schutz and Reimers each had a team-leading six rebounds, Kamm led in assists with six as the Lady Jays shot 50.7% from the field, including nearly 53% in the first half. The Minnesota West defense forced 46 turnovers and held the Spartans to under 40% from the field.
But possibly their toughest test of the season in the MCAC South division is this Saturday on the road. The third-ranked Lady Jays will face No. 1 Anoka-Ramsey. The Rams beat the Lady Jays twice last year and are 13-3 overall with a 1-0 start in division play this year. They beat Ridgewater 75-53 in their division opener.
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“We know it’s a big game,” Hayenga-Hostikka said. “We’re trying not to make it bigger than it is. It’s really one game, but we know we have to go up there, it’s at their at their place, they’re so hard. I mean, in my career, the number of wins I’ve had on that floor are not many. We’re gonna practice, we’re gonna work on some things and I think they all know that we have to play a really, really good game…”
Minnesota West snapped a four-game losing streak and won its division opener for the first time in seven years.
In a highly efficient offensive performance, the Bluejays (9-7, 1-0) started hot right away with a 10-0 run. Owen Beilke scored the first four points, and triples from Kewone Jones and Austin Florence followed.
That run paved the way for the rest of the first half as the Bluejays held a double-digit lead most of the way. By halftime, the score was 44-32
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Jones and Keion Irvin, making his return after a three-game absence with a hand injury, led the way offensively in the first half. Jones scored 16 points with four 3-pointers and Irvin added 10 points.
“He brings something that not a lot of people have, just the way he can get downhill to the basket,” said Bluejays coach Dan Tharp of Irvin. “He hadn’t even practiced the last couple days, because he literally just got cleared today… he acclimated himself really well back into the group.”
Da’Shaundis Moore converted consecutive 3-point plays to help the Bluejays extend their lead early in the second half. Triples from Beilke and Calvin Flood pushed their lead past 20 points.
After that, the closest Fergus Falls could get was to within 15 points. But the Bluejays’ high-octane offense kept scoring for their second-high point total of the season.
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Five Bluejays scored in double figures. Jones led the way with 23 points and six 3-pointers, Florence and Irvin each added 14 and Flood had 12 on 6-of-7 from the field. Moore finished with 10 points.
Beilke grabbed seven rebounds to lead the team and Flood finished with a leading six assists. The Bluejays shot 61% from the field and nearly 70% in the second half.
“I just thought they played really well for each other and shared the ball, and got it jumping to each side, and we were never in a rush,” Tharp said. “It was fun to watch when they play that way. I can’t remember the last time we’ve had that many guys in double figures so that was fun offensively.”
The next two games for Minnesota West will come against two previously ranked teams. On Saturday, they’ll face Anoka-Ramsey, who was ranked as high as 13th and is still receiving votes in the NJCAA Division III poll.
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The Rams are 13-3 overall and 0-1 in division play after taking a 97-84 loss to Ridgewater.
“They’re very disciplined in what they do,” Tharp said. “They run an offense kind of similar to us, but they’re not going to beat themselves. They’ve got some really good athletes on the wings and at the forward position, so we just have to make sure we go up there and play our best basketball and if we do that, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”
