LHS boys earn trio of wins

Teegan Musser works around the Baltic defender. 

Last week, the Lennox High School boys’ basketball team earned a trio of wins, defeating Elk Point Jefferson 74-34 on Feb. 3; Baltic 58-41 on Feb. 5 and Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 75-70 in overtime on Feb. 7 at the Sioux Falls Pentagon. 

Against EPJ, Lennox jumped ahead early and had 11 athletes get in on the scoring in the decisive win. 

“We came out and jumped to a nice lead and then allowed them to hang around in the game for a bit going into halftime,” said LHS head coach Jacob Hinker. “The boys came out of halftime and played well on the defensive end which lead to a lot of offensive opportunities. I was proud of how the boys came out and responded out of halftime.”

Leading the Orioles was Aiden Hanssen who finished with 26 points in the game, going 11 of 16 from the field. He also grabbed four rebounds, had four assists and led the team in steals with seven. 

Tate Gerdes finished the night with 23 points, four rebounds, seven assists and four steals. 

Also contributing to the scoring was Chase Lundquist who had five points, Cole Spieler and Brennen Juffer who had four each, Eli Plank with three, Eli Highum, Drake Mikkelsen, Teegan Musser, and Cohen Soukup with two each, and Talen Eich with one. 

On Thursday, Feb. 5 the LHS boys were in action at Baltic and earned the 58-41 victory. 

“The boys responded well to a few runs that Baltic had throughout the game and that was encouraging to see,” said Hinker. “Baltic is a solid basketball team and we pulled away in the second half and kept the lead where it needed to be to win the game in a commanding manner.”

Gerdes led the way with 21 points, hitting three three-pointers in the game. He pulled down three rebounds, and had two assists. Hanssen finished with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Musser finished the night with 11 points, two rebounds, one assist and three steals. Spieler had six points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Plank and Mikkelsen each had two points and Eich had one. Mikkelsen led the team in rebounds with 12 in the game. 

On Saturday, Feb. 7 the LHS boys took on Sergeant Bluff-Luton in the Heritage Classic at the Sanford Pentagon. Lennox trailed 22-12 after the opening quarter but fought back and outscored Sergeant Bluff-Luton 19-9 in the fourth to send the game into overtime. In overtime, Lennox took the 12-7 advantage to win, 75-10. 

“I was proud of the boys’ composure in this basketball game. There was never a point when the boys panicked while we were in a deficit,” said Hinker. “We were down nine points with just under two minutes to go and they executed exactly how they needed to during the comeback. This capped off a great week of basketball.”

Hanssen went four of eight from three point land, finishing with 30 points on the night. He also had six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Gerdes had 14 points, four rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Spieler and Musser each provided 11 points, Mikkelsen four, Plank three and Juffer two. Mikkelesen had six rebounds and five assists. 

The Orioles are scheduled to take on Pine Ridge on Friday, Feb. 13 at the University of South Dakota. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.