Ray Gidlow's Staples-Motley Cardinals may be having troubles on the hardcourt this season but they are playing .500 ball in the Mid-State Conference.
The Cards evened their Mid-State mark at 3-3 Tuesday night with a 61-49 win over Wadena-Deer Creek.
The Cardinals are still looking for their first victory outside the Mid-State having lost all eight of their non-conference games.
The Wolverines lost for the third straight time and fell to 1-5 in the Mid-State and 5-10 overall.
Kyle Jansson and Seth Auger canned 15 points each in the winning effort. Dennis Vasquez chalked up 10.
ADVERTISEMENT
Evan VanErp pumped in 17 points for the Wolverines while Ben Birch and Matt Paulson tacked up 11 and 10 points respectively.
The loss gave the Wolverines a seasson split with the Cardinals. The WDC crew won a 54-50 decision Dec. 9 in Wadena.
WADENA-DEER CREEK (49)
A. VanErp 9, R. Redfield 2, B. Birch 11, E. VanErp 17, M. Paulson 10.
STAPLES-MOTLEY (61)
K. Jansson 15, B. Huber 7, J. Wick 8, A. Nurnberger, D. Vasquez 10, S.Auger 15, G. Coughlin 1, G. Longbella 2, Z. Borders 3.
Wadena-Deer Creek 21 28 -- 49
Staples-Motley 27 34 -- 61
ADVERTISEMENT
Pequot Lakes 62,
Wadena-Deer Creek 57
Logan Lange's pumped in five treys and scored 20 points Friday night in propelling the Patriots past the Wolverines Friday night in a Mid-State battle on the Wadena hardcourt.
The Wolverines trailed by seven at the halftime break, 35-27, but turned the tables in the second half and out-scored the Pats 29-27.
The Wolverines kept themselves in the game with a combination of solid floor shooting (52 percent) and rebounding (17-10) in the first half. The Patriots took a 35-28 lead into the locker room largely on the strength of a 17-5 edge in turnovers.
Pequot's Nevin Greer made his contribution in the first half scoring 12 of his 15 game points.
"If we did a better job of passing and handling the ball we had a good chance of having a lead at half instead of being down seven," WDC Head Coach Tom VanErp said.
The Wolverines led 53-49 with 5:59 remaining but the Pats were able to tie it at 53-all and then pulled away. Lange scored 12 of Pequot's second half points hitting on three of his three-point shots and three of his four free throw attempts.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Wolverines shot 48 percent from the field while the Patriots shot 44 percent. The Wolverines were a respectable seven of 20 from three-point range but they could not match the Patriots who canned 11 of 24 three-point shots for an excellent 45 percent clip.
Turnovers ultimately beat the Wolverines who coughed the ball up 26 times.
"Even with Pequot Lakes shooting lights out from three, I still think we win this game if we keep our turnovers under 20," VanErp said.
Evan VanErp paced the Wolverines with 17 tallies. Ben Birch was right behind with 16. Ryan Redfield hit double figures with 10.
Birch also had a good night on the boards pulling down 13 rebounds. VanErp dished out six assists.
"If we can bring this team play and defensive-minded play to the rest of the season we have a good opportunity to move up in the section seeding," VanErp said.
WADENA-DEER CREEK (57)
A.VanErp 5, R. Redfield 10, B. Birch 16, E. VanErp 17, M. Paulson 4, M. Laughlin 5. Totals: 12/7 12-16 57
ADVERTISEMENT
PEQUOT LAKES (62)
C. Leagjeld 3, N. Greer 15, L. Lange 20, N. Michaelson 2, R. Johnson 8, S. Duval 5, J. Redmond 7, T. Jacobson 2. Totals: 11/11 7-13 62
Pequot Lakes 35 27 -- 62
Wadena-Deer Creek 28 29 -- 57
Fouls: PL 22; WDC 17
