Solon Springs hoop teams pick up wins

3992832+DSC_7568.jpg — Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com Solon Springs’ Jens Gehl, left, is presented a basketball by Athletic Director, Nate Ahlberg, to commemorate his 1000th career point before the Eagles game with Butternut on Tuesday night.

By Superior Telegram

February 08, 2018 at 8:52 AM

The Solon Springs High School boys and girls basketball teams picked up wins this week.

The Eagle boys defeated Butternut 60-41 at home Tuesday night and the SSHS girls rallied for a 61-57 win Monday night at Drummond.

Boys basketball

The Eagles got scoring from eight players in their win over Butternut, which improved to 14-4 overall and 9-4 in the Indianhead Conference.

Jens Gehl and Nick Zosel were a one-two punch for Solon Springs with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

Dane Banks chipped in with eight points and Chase Latvala and Aaron Pfister both had six.

Butternut, 4-10 in league play, was led by Jace Scherwinski’s 11 points.

The Eagles have four games remaining starting with Friday at Drummond.

Solon Springs then host Hurley on Tuesday before wrapping up the regular season on the road at Clear Lake (Feb. 19) and Hurley (Feb. 22).

Butternut 24 17 -- 41

Solon Springs 33 27 -- 60

Butternut -- Josh Koch 1, Josh Brown 6, Carter Christian 2, Gunner Polencheck 5, Seth Scherwinski 4, Jace Scherwinski 11, Kyle Moreno 4. Totals: 18 2-5 41.

3-point goals -- Koch, Brown, Polenchuck.

Solon Springs -- Caden Smith 2, Chase Latvala 6, Alex Hunter 4, Nick Zosel 15, Christian Sellwood 2, Aaron Pfister 6, Jens Gehl 17, Dane Banks 8. Totals: 27 4-15 60.

3-point goals -- Latvala 2.

Girls basketball

The Eagles improved to 8-11 overall and 6-8 in the Indianhead Conference with their win at Drummond.

The Eagles, who were coming off a 62-54 loss to Butternut on Feb. 1, were led by Morgan Anderson’s 27 points, which leaves the junior just 18 points shy of 1,000 career points.

Solon Springs also got 21 points from Kylli Rajala; five points from Lily Nordskog; and Muree Ahlberg made a free throw.

Gwen and Gabby McCorison led Butternut with 30 and 24 points, respectively.

Solon Springs, which also defeated Drummond 49-43 on Jan. 5, got off to a good start this time around, but early foul trouble led to the Eagles not only losing their lead, but trailing by five points at the half.

Drummond adjustments at the half held Solon Springs to just seven points in the first eight minutes of the second half.

Scoring troubles continued for the Eagles and they were eventually down by 14 points with around five minutes remaining.

Solon Springs then turned up its defensive pressure, which allowed the offense to pick up some quick baskets and draw fouls at the basket.

Four Heather Holderness free throws, along with crucial baskets by Anderson and Rajala, helped seal the Eagles’ comeback victory.

“It was great to see our team persevere from a 14-point deficit and come out with the win,” SSHS coach Brian Amys said. “These girls work hard every game and tonight was no different. This win was huge for the girls moving forward.”

Solon Springs is playing without Nikki Orozco, who recently suffered a season-ending injury.

“That means other players are going to have to step up and fill some spots and play different roles on this team,” Amys said. “We have played three games without her now and it has taken us some time to accept the new roles.

“Nikki is a great athlete and I hate to see an injury end her season, but the focus for her is to heal up and be ready for next season and for the rest of this team to step up and play at a higher level.”

The Eagles host Hurley at 7:15 p.m. Thursday then wrap up the regular season against Ironwood on Feb. 12.

Butternut 21 41 -- 62

Solon Springs 26 28 -- 54