Taking a 42-24 lead over the Maple Lake Irish heading into halftime, the Cubs boys basketball team allowed the Irish to cut its lead to 54-40 with 12 minutes left in the game.
The Irish would get no closer. Behind a 24-2 second-half run, the Cubs built what its head coach Jay Klein described as a comfortable margin and never looked back in a 94-52 home win to open the new year on Jan. 3.
“I was happy with the way we moved the ball tonight and we played very unselfishly as the 26 assists would attest,” coach Klein said via email. “We had six players in double figures and two more with eight for great balanced scoring. A very good start coming off the two week break.”
After allowing the Irish to grab an early 6-2 edge, the Cubs settled in, according to Klein. They reclaimed the lead and led by -double digits the rest of the first half before going into halftime with that 18-point lead.
In the second half, after building up its lead, the Cubs emptied its bench with about five minutes remaining. Coach Klein said these individuals “played hard until the end,” scoring an additional 14 points to support the effort of its top seven players.
Leading the Cubs’ balanced effort, Jed Spaulding nearly recorded a double-double performance with 14 points and eight rebounds, to go along with five assists, and Bryant Knaus finished with 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Ronnie Arnold did post a double-double performance with 10 points and 12 rebounds, to go along with three steals.
Andray Stang posted 13 points, four rebounds, and three steals, Owen Mortenson 11 points, seven assists, and six steals, Brandon Henkemeyer 10 points and four steals, Carl Knaus eight points and six rebounds, and Max Jansky eight points to also pace the Cubs.
With the conference win, the Cubs improved to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the Central Minnesota Conference – behind just first-place Paynesville, currently 3-0 in conference play.
Next action: The team hosts Paynesville on Thursday, Jan. 9, and then hits the road to play Royalton on Friday, Jan. 10. The following week, the team heads to Foley on Monday, Jan. 13, and then travels to Holdingford on Tuesday, Jan. 14.