Travis Hensch and his Wadena-Deer Creek Wolverines gave themselves a mountain-sized jolt of confidence Friday by stunning previously unbeaten Crosby-Ironton 88-72 in a Mid-State Conference tilt.
It was all about focus and team basketball.
"Tonight, we put it together and really played great basketball for 36 minutes," Hensch said.
The victory was WDC's first win over Crosby-Ironton since the 2002-03 season. The loss was Crosby-Ironton's first since last March when they lost their only game of the season to New London-Spicer in the Class AA state championship game.
Donny Tabery's 25 tallies led the hot-shooting Wadena-Deer Creek club. Tabery was 10 of 11 from the foul line and also contributed nine rebounds, six assists and six steals. The Wolverines, who converted on 62.5 percent of their shots, blitzed the Rangers with the shooting of Ryan Nelson (14), Isaac Doll (13), Scott Syverson (12), Cole Lugert (11) and Jordan Reed (10). The Wolverines converted eight of their treys while the Rangers, who shot 61 percent from the field, nailed just two.
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"We moved the ball great and played the most unselfish ball of the season," said Hensch, who saw his team combine for 19 assists. "I am most proud of that aspect. We played as a team."
Mark Hoge pumped in a game-high 30 points for the Rangers. Brock Tesdahl collected 17 points and Sam Baker netted 12.
The Rangers fell to 9-1 overall and 3-1 in the Mid-State.
The Wolverines, now 4-4 overall and 1-2 in Mid-State play, return to action Thursday at New York Mills.
WDC (88)
S. Syverson 12, R. Nelson 14, D. Tabery 25, I. Doll 13, C. Lugert 11, J. Reed 10, A. Kern 3. Totals: 22/8 20-29 88
CROSBY-IRONTON (72)
M. Girtz 2, T. Dickie 11, M. Hoge 30, S. Baker 12, B. Tesdahl 17. Totals: 26/2 14-23 72
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Wadena-Deer Creek 35 53 -- 88
Crosby-Ironton 29 43 -- 72
Fouled Out: Tabery, Syverson (WDC)
Bertha-Hewitt 64,
Wadena-Deer Creek 61
The undefeated Bears took advantage of 28 turnovers to rally past the Wolverines in their first game of 2009.
WDC held a 32-26 lead at the half over the state-ranked Class A Bears. The Wolverines built a 14-point lead in the second half with 63 percent floor shooting.
Eight turnovers over the last eight minutes allowed the Bears to come back for the victory.
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Eight Bertha-Hewitt players contributed to the scoring with Ryan Denny and Jared Hoemberg combining for 32.
Scott Syverson connected for five of WDC's seven treys and scored a game-high 21 points. Donny Tabery collected 17 points and Ryan Nelson added a dozen.
BERTHA-HEWITT (64)
J. Frethem 2, G. Dettwiler 8, P. Riewer 12, R. Denny 17, T. Lipinski 3, R. Roller 1, J. Hoemberg 15, J. Farber 6. Totals: 21/4 10-20 64
WDC (61)
S. Syverson 21, R. Nelson 12, D. Tabery 19, I. Doll 3, C. Lugert 2, A. Kern 4. Totals: 18/7 4-5 61
Bertha-Hewitt 26 38 - 64
Wadena-Deer Creek 32 29 - 61
