Huskies Bounce Back from Tough Loss, Extend Their Season a Day

The Owatonna boys basketball team gets to lace up their shoes one more time after putting together a solid all-around effort in winning the consolation semifinal 63-45 over Moorhead Wednesday at Concordia-St. Paul. OHS plays Andover Thursday, March 24 at 6 pm at the Ganglehoff Center, making it a battle of Huskies versus Huskies.

Hear the game on AM 1390 KRFO/94.7FM, 5:30 pm pregame.

Coming off a heartbreaking 52-51 loss to Cretin-Derham Hall on Tuesday, the Owatonna boys were solid from the start against the Spuds. After Moorhead hit a three-pointer about a minute into the game, the Huskies Ty Creger answered with a triple 15 seconds later and Owatonna never trailed again.

OHS had a nine-point in the first half. A bit after that Moorhead went on a run to pull within 19-16 with about five minutes until halftime. The Huskies responded with a 17-3 run that bridged halftime and put them up 36-19. The closest Moorhead got after that was 50-38 with 6:41 remaining.

The Huskies forced 31 turnovers and transitioned those into 32 points. Owatonna (28-3) outscored Moorhead (17-14) 25-5 on fast breaks and 40-22 in the paint.

Brayden Williams scored 26 points while handing out seven assists and creating nine steals. Ty Creger added 16 points, five rebounds and three steals. Avery Hartman and Evan Dushek each scored eight. Nick Williams hit a three. Collin Vick had two points to go along with three rebounds. Blake Burmeister had two steals and a pair of rebounds.

Connor Ginskey, Ayden Walter, Noah Hodgman, Jack Helget, Noah Kubicek, and Drew Randall all played.

With several minutes to go, Moorhead coach Matt Ellingson raised the white flag, inserting several bench players. That allowed him and OHS coach Josh Williams to get the players on their senior-laden rosters into a state tournament game.

FACES IN THE CROWD

Owatonna's all-time leading scorer in girls basketball Sydney Schultz, now a junior on the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears squad, was in attendance at Wednesday's game. Fellow Owatonna grad Sam Henson, listed as a freshman kicker, was spotted wearing his CSP football sweatshirt while checking out the game.

During Tuesday's loss to Cretin-Derham Hall, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was in attendance at Target Center to watch his recruit, Raider senior Tre Holloman. OHS Athletic Hall of Fame member Dan Kozmoski, longtime basketball coach at St. Olaf College, took in his alma mater's state quarterfinal game.