Spaulding records 1,000 career rebounds
Sauk Centre
Both the Cubs and Sauk Centre Mainstreeters boys’ basketball teams struggled to score early in the game, tied at 6-6 with 11 minutes remaining in the first half.
The Mainstreeters found some offense from the three-point line, putting the Cubs in a 31-20 halftime deficit. The Cubs cut into this deficit to open the second half, but “too many” turnovers, Cubs head coach Jay Klein said, stalled this rally, allowing the Mainstreeters to build the lead to 20. The Cubs dropped the section road game by a 63-47 final on Monday, Feb. 17.
In the loss, Jed Spaulding grabbed career rebound number 1,000. On his career milestone night, he nearly recorded a double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.
Besides Spaulding, Bryant Knaus led the Cubs with 16 points and came two rebounds shy of a double-double. Brandon Henkemeyer posted seven points, five steals, and three rebounds; and Andray Stang seven points to also pace the Cubs.
Spectrum
As in the Cubs’ previous game, both the Cubs and their opponent, this time the Spectrum Sting, struggled offensively early. Then, the Sting “caught fire” offensively and the Cubs played “poor defense,” according to coach Klein, putting the Cubs in a 39-23 halftime deficit. The Cubs couldn’t fully recover in an eventual 78-60 section road loss Tuesday, Feb. 18.
The Sting extended their 16-point halftime lead to 32 behind a 20-4 second-half opening run, putting the Cubs in a 59-27 deficit.
Later trailing 68-41 with seven minutes left, the Cubs went on an 18-0 run to cut the deficit to nine, at 68-59. The Cubs scored just one point over the final 3:44 of game play to fall by the 18-point margin.
Eden Valley-Watkins
After narrowly defeating the Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles by a 51-49 final back on Jan. 17, the Cubs had another opportunity to earn a win over this same Eagles team just over a month later.
Trailing 33-31 at halftime, the Cubs couldn’t make it two for two versus the Eagles, instead allowing the Eagles to pull away in a 76-64 conference road loss on Thursday, Feb. 20 – extending the team’s losing streak to a season-high four games.
The Eagles shot better from the floor than the Cubs, but especially from three-point range. For the game, the Eagles shot 50% (25 of 50) from the floor, compared to the Cubs’ 43% (22 of 51). From three-point range, the Eagles shot 36% (7 of 19), and the Cubs 20% (2 of 10).
Both teams reached the free-throw line often. The Eagles finished 19 of 27 (70%) and the Cubs 18 of 21 (85%).
According to stats provided through the Eagles, the Cubs’ Jed Spaulding led the team with a double-double performance of
17 points and 13 rebounds. -Bryant Knaus posted 14 points, Owen Mortenson 13 points, and Brandon Henkemeyer nine points to also pace the Cubs.
With the loss, the Cubs fell to 15-9 and 10-3 in Central Minnesota Conference play.
Next action
After ending a four-game road stretch versus Atwater–Cosmos-Grove City on Feb. 25, the Cub boys end their regular season at home versus St. John’s Prep on Friday, Feb. 28.