ALEXANDRIA - The Osakis boys basketball team came out of the gates firing on all cylinders on Saturday against the Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Rebels at the Breakdown's Winter Lakes Classic.
Osakis built an early lead behind a barrage of three-pointers, and while DGF did make some runs to make it a close game, Osakis made the plays it needed to in its 73-64 win over the 16th-ranked team in Class AA (Minnesota Basketball News poll).
The Silverstreaks unselfishness and good screen setting led them to 14 made three-pointers in the win.
"Our shooting in the entire first half with Mekai Hoelscher, Drew Imdieke, Isaac Maddock, and Stewart Jones really gave us a lot of momentum," Osakis head coach Matt Hoelscher said. "We needed that."
Imdieke led the lights-out shooting effort with six made three-pointers and a team-high 20 points.
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"It's all about my teammates; they set me up well," Imdieke said.
Imdieke's 20-point comes on the heels of an 11-point outing in a 78-39 win over St. John's Prep on Thursday.
"He's been struggling from the perimeter, so this was good to see, and he got hot on Thursday, too," Hoelscher said.
Imdieke was one of five Silverstreaks to knock down a three-pointer on Saturday. Maddock had a trio of three-pointers, while Jones and Mekai Hoelscher had two, and Mages made one.
"We always say whenever you're screening, you're creating shots for yourself," Imdieke said. "You might be creating something for someone else, but you could be setting something else up for yourself too."
The Silverstreaks (13-4) built up a 32-16 lead with over eight minutes left in the first half behind good offensive action, including four three-pointers by Imdieke.
"If we set solid screens, and we use it properly, we get wide-open looks, whether it's three-pointers up top or it's baskets around the rim," Coach Hoelscher said. "We made some tweaks on it on Friday with where we set them, and it worked really well. It puts a lot of pressure on the defense, and if you have guys that are hot, it's tough to defend."
The Rebels (15-4) clawed their way back in the final third of the first half and the first moments of the second half as they made it a four-point game (36-32) one minute into the second half.
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Imdieke came through big once again for Osakis early in the second half with back-to-back made three-pointers, giving Osakis a 42-32 lead.
D-G-F cut its deficit to seven (71-64) with 57.7 seconds left in the game, but Osakis held off a comeback with solid defense.
"We didn't quit," Coach Hoelscher said. "We've had that this year where we have leads, and then we allow teams back in it. Then we feel that we have to do more and more, and the snowball just keeps rolling. But in this one, we kept our composure."
"It's just really about believing in each other with each other," Imdieke said.
Osakis never trailed in the win.
Mages finished the game with 19 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, according to Breakdown USA Sports, and was named the Breadown's player of the game.
Jones scored in double figures as well, finishing with 15 points along with 11 rebounds and five assists. Imdieke also had six rebounds and four assists, while Maddock had seven assists, according to Breakdown USA Sports.
The Silverstreaks limited the Rebels to five made three-pointers in the game. The Silverstreaks were efficient at the free throw line as they made 11 out of their 13 attempts, while the Rebels made seven of their 17 attempts.
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D-G-F's Owen Leach, a University of Minnesota-Duluth commit, made his presence known on Saturday as he finished a game-high 30 points.
"He's a great scorer, so we knew he was going get his points, but we were hoping that it was going to take him 30 shots to get it," Hoelscher said. "I thought we had great help side defense. He's just so great and athletic and getting to the rim. He shoots in three well too."
D-G-F's next highest scorers were Drew Sheeley and Austin Anderson, who both had 12 points.
"They have some other guys who can score the ball too, and maybe we were fortunate they had a game last night, and maybe they were sluggish a little bit, but I mean, credit our defense and our guys who got up ready to play," Coach Hoelscher said.
Osakis was without Grant Mages on Saturday, who plays a key role in the team's lineup but has been out with an injury since a Jan. 31 game against Holdingford.
"He's feeling better," Coach Hoelscher said. "We just have got to find a way to get guys healthy. Seth Staloch has stepped up for us and had some great minutes. Marcus Wolf had a couple of minutes here in the first half, where he did some really nice things for us. That's what we have to keep doing. We've got to build some depth, and we've got to make sure that when guys are in the game, they're comfortable in what they're doing. And we as coaches got to put them in the right spot."
Matt Hoelscher said the team hopes to get him back in the lineup in the coming days.
Osakis has another big game on the docket at home on Tuesday against Browerville (13-2, 6-0 Prairie Conference) at 7:15 p.m. Browerville is ranked No. 13 in Class A.
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DGF - 29 35 - 64
Osakis - 36 37 - 73
DGF SCORING - Drew Sheeley, 12 points; Owen Leach - 30 points; Austin Anderson, 12 points; Tommy Rehder, 2 points; Grant Anderson, 2 points; Brody Friend, 2 points; Landon Johnson, 4 points
OSAKIS SCORING - Stewart Jones, 15 points; Seth Staloch, 4 points; Isaac Maddock, 9 points; Kyle Mages, 19 points, Drew Imdieke, 20 points; Mekai Hoelscher, 6 points
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