It was Senior Night at Minneapolis tonight as the Lions welcomed the Beloit Trojans in a league matchup. Minneapolis had lost the previous match against the Trojans, 56-40, after being tied at 33 in the third quarter.
Beloit opened up the game on an 8-0 run following the opening bucket scored by Minneapolis. The Lions would close the advantage to two, 8-6, after one.
Minneapolis captured the lead to start the second quarter after Sophomore Jonah Ausherman finished the and-one opportunity at the line to give the Lions the 9-8 lead. Both teams would trade buckets through the entire quarter and were tied at 20 with five seconds left to go before the half. Minneapolis had the ball and found Senior Isaiah Sherbert on the left wing, who drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer giving the Lions a three point lead at the break, 23-20.
Trojans’ Sophomore Vincent Palen single handily tried to keep Beloit in the game in the third quarter. Palen had the first nine points for the Trojans in the half and had Beloit tied with Minneapolis at 33 a piece under a minute to go in the quarter. Minneapolis would get a 3-pointer from Nolan White to carry a three point lead into the fourth quarter, 36-33.
The Lions had 10 players play in the game and all 10 scored for them tonight. White, along with Senior TreVaughn Thomas and Sophomore Derek Freel, hit early buckets for Minneapolis and the Lions led 46-39 with two minutes left to play.
Palen would answer for Beloit at the free throw line to cut the lead down to five. Then on the following possession for the Lions, Junior Hudson Smith stole the ball and scored the layup with the foul. He hit the free throw and Minneapolis’ lead was only two, 46-44 with 1:01 on the clock.
Freshman Trent Moeckel was fouled on the inbounds and went to the line. He was scoreless up until this point, but knocked down both free throws to extends the Lions lead back to three. The Trojans answered back with a 3-pointer from Sophomore Carson Cox. Beloit would foul Junior Kaden McCullick with 35 seconds left and just a one point lead for the Lions, 48-47. McCullick hit both free throws, and then would hit two more later. The Lions went 7-for-8 at the charity stripe in the last minute to seal the 53-47 victory at home.
Minneapolis was led by 14 points from McCullick. Thomas on Senior night had seven points and seven rebounds. White knocked in seven off the bench. Freshman Spencer Davidson, along with Ausherman, dropped six each. The other two seniors, Sherbert and Trent Brubacker, had four and one point, respectively.
The Lions are now 6-5 in league play and 8-11 overall. They conclude the regular season on the road Tuesday night against Russell.
Minneapolis Girls Fall On Senior Night
The Minneapolis girls honored three seniors tonight against the Beloit Trojans. Courtney Walker, Kalee Probasco, and Faythe Korinek all got the start tonight for the Lions.
Minneapolis got on the scoreboard first with a 3-pointer from Korinek. Beloit, then, went on an 8-0 behind Senior Sydney Johnson. Johnson had 11 of her game-high 23 points in the first quarter. The Trojans led 14-9 after one.
Korinek picked up her third personal foul early in the second quarter and Minneapolis would struggle to score in the period. The Trojans outscored the Lions, 10-4, in the period and led 24-13 at the half.
Johnson started the second half strong for the Trojans with eight points in the period, along with six from Junior Sydney Barrett. Beloit out shot Minneapolis, 18-4, in the third. Beloit led 42-17 after three quarters of play. They would go on to win by a final, 50-21.
Korinek led the way for Minneapolis tonight. The Senior was one rebound shy of a double-double, 11 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Courtney Forte had four points and six boards, while Junior Caroline Giles knocked in four.
Minneapolis is now 6-13 overall and 2-9 in league play.
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