Boys' basketball: Osakis falls to West Central Area, Sauk Centre

• Zimmel

Osakis’ Doug Zimmel had a near triple-double with 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists against WCA last Friday night. (Eric Morken, Echo Press)

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The Osakis boys played one of their better games of the season last Friday night but couldn’t overcome the depth of West Central Area in a 62-52 loss to the Knights.

The Silverstreaks led by as much as six in the first half and trailed by just two at the break. West Central Area responded with a 35-point second half behind four players who finished the night in double figures.

“We played very well tonight,” Osakis head coach Matt Hoelscher said. “We started to let it slip away by putting up hurried shots. We need to do a better job of playing with a lead and realizing every possession counts.”

The Knights have a strong backcourt in Dakotah Kashmark and Drew Peterson. That duo carried the load again as Kashmark finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Peterson added 11 points, five boards, four assists and four steals. Jay Zimmerman and Austin Redepenning finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

“We were fortunate to build somewhat of a lead in the second half against an Osakis team that played very well,” WCA head coach Kraig Hunter said. “Osakis shot the ball extremely well tonight, and they ran their offense, slowed down the game and took very good care of the ball against our pressure.”

Kilar Zimmel matched Kashmark with a game-high 20 points. Doug Zimmel added 12 points, seven assists and nine rebounds, while Drew Fearing poured in nine points. Osakis gave itself a chance in this game by limiting itself to just 10 turnovers as well.

“Our guys are learning the game as we go,” Hoelscher said. “We are improving each game with our defense, awareness and execution. Even though we lost, it felt like a victory to make it a close game on their court against a good team.”

GAME STATISTICS

WCA 27 35 – 62

OSAKIS 25 27 – 52

TOTALS – WCA – FG – 20-47; Three-point FG – 6-20; Rebounds – 30; Free throws – 16-22; Turnovers – 13; Osakis – FG – 22-57; Three-point FG – 4-18; Free throws – 4-10; Rebounds – 26; Assists – 13; Steals – 8; Turnovers – 10

WCA – Kashmark – 20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals; Peterson – 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals; Zimmerman – 11 points, 8 rebounds; Redepenning – 10 points; Brady Combs – 5 points, 6 rebounds; Alex Toms – 2 points; Devin Nelson – 2 points; Hunter Pfingsten – 1 point

OSAKIS – Lane Berberich – 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal; K. Zimmel – 20 points, 1 assist, 4 rebounds, 1 steal; Hunter Scherr – 2 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound, 2 steals; Fearing – 9 points, 3 assists, 7 rebounds, 1 steal; Joey Kotek – 4 points, 3 rebounds; John Piekarski – 2 points; D. Zimmel – 12 points, 7 assists, 9 rebounds, 3 steals

SAUK CENTRE 71,

OSAKIS 32

The Osakis boys couldn’t keep up with a talented Sauk Centre team on Monday night as the Mainstreeters ran away with a 71-32 win early.

Sauk Centre never left any doubt in this one as it put up 48 points in the first half to take a 30-point lead into the break. Osakis shot just 25 percent from the field (8-of-31) on a night when the Mainstreeters moved to 10-4 and Osakis fell to 1-14.

“They are good and physical,” Silverstreaks head coach Matt Hoelscher said. “We couldn’t match [Nick] Adams’ physicality in the low post. They did a great job of cutting baseline in our zone and [Patrick] Knoblauch and others found ways to get them the ball on lobs and high to low action. We didn’t rotate that well or see cutters.”

The Silverstreaks simply didn’t match up well against the length of Sauk Centre. That hurt them on both ends of the court as Osakis finished without one player reaching double figures. Kilar Zimmel had eight points to go along with four rebounds. Lane Berberich added seven points and Drew Fearing added five.

“When we play teams that can lob the ball up to the rim, we are in trouble due to our height,” Hoelscher said. “We need to use our speed to get better position on opposing players so they catch it further from the rim.”

GAME STATISTICS

OSAKIS 18 14 – 32

SAUK CENTRE 48 23 – 71

OSAKIS TOTALS – FG – 8-31; Three-point FG – 2-10; FT – 14-21; Assists – 1; Blocks – 2; Rebounds – 10; Steals – 5; Turnovers – 19

OSAKIS – Berberich – 7 points; K. Zimmel – 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal; Hunter Scherr – 4 points, 2 steals; Fearing – 5 points, 1 assist, 3 rebounds; Cody DeWenter – 2 points, 1 rebound; Joey Kotek – 2 points, 1 rebound; John Piekarski – 2 blocks, 1 steal; Doug Zimmel – 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal

Tags: osakis sports, west central area sports, sports, boys, basketball, silverstreaks, knights