by Mari Radtke
MMCRU Boys’ Basketball succeed in reaching the Class 1A District 2 championship game on Tuesday February 25. The game was played at Sioux Central High School in Sioux Rapids. The Royals faced the Newell-Fonda Mustangs. It was a win or go home game for the District Championship title and a trip to the sub-state playoff agains District 1 champions, Boyden-Hull Comets.
Newell-Fonda played a fast-paced game, same as MMCRU.
The Royals outscored the Mustangs in the first quarter 23-14. The young team didn’t let up in the second quarter either, but the spread was smaller. Second quarter scoring was 15-12 for a halftime score of 38-26 in favor of the Royals.
The Mustangs outscored the Royals in the third quarter by a single point. The Royals drilled their shots during the fourth quarter outscoring their opponent by 11 points. The game final was Royals 75, Mustangs 53. MMCRU advanced to the sub-state game played Saturday March 1 at Sioux Center.
The Royals boasted a much bigger field goal percentage, 50.9 to 42.9, they also took more shots – 29 to 21 shots. Both teams scored 21 points from 3-point range. The Mustangs took the chance 26 times vs the Royals’ 20 attempts. Newell-Fonda’s high scorers were junior Jacksyn Hogrefe with 17; senior Max Carlson with 11 and senior Guyson Lyman adding 10 points. Leading Royals’ scorers were junior Wyatt Alesch, 21; junior Brayson Mulder, 18 and senor Michael Peterson, 10.
Offensive rebounds proved to be more than a little valuable this game. The Mustangs gave themselves 4 second chances while the Royals got second or third chances 17 times. The Royals outgrabbed the Mustangs at their opponents basket 25-24. Hogrefe led the Mustang rebound effort with 5. One was offensive and he grabbed a steal. Carlson got 4 boards, also 1 offensive with a block and 3 steals. Lyman took 4 boards, 1 second chance. He blocked 2 shots and stole 1. Peterson was a statement for boards. He is credited with 13 boards, 5 offensive. Mulder grabbed 7 with 1 offensive and a steal. Junior Kamden Bork pulled down 7 missed shots, 4 became second chance, and a steal.