Tiger boys win, remain in three-way tie for first place

Mike Granlund

For The Telegram

The Northwestern Tigers boys’ basketball team took a step towards a second straight Heart O’ North Conference championship with a 65-54 win Friday night at Hayward.

With Hayward, Northwestern and Bloomer entering the evening with only one loss each, the conference was a virtual three-way tie.

Bloomer (8-1, 11-2 overall) also won Friday night, 56-51 over Chetek-Weyerhaeuser, leaving the Blackhawks and Tigers (7-1, 10-3) tied for first place with one loss apiece.

Northwestern and Barron will meet Feb. 10 in Maple.

In Friday’s game, Hayward opened with a 12-8 lead before the Tigers went on a 17-0 run with Tan ner Klobucher scoring the last seven of points.

With a 13-point lead, the Tigers kept their foot on the gas for the rest of the first half and finished up 37-18 at the break. Two late 3-point shots by Matt Lindsay helped stretch the margin.

Hayward star Xavier Cummings had 14 first-half points.

The Tigers used a cautious approach in the second half with sharp passing and Klobucher and Alex Tecker controlling the inside.

Hayward fought back and cut the lead to 11 points with 7:47 to go, but the Tiger defense held the Hurricanes scoreless for more than four minutes and the lead went back up to 18.

It eventually got to 63-43 for the Tigers before a too-little too late surge by Hayward brought the final of 65-53.

Klobucher led the Tigers with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Tecker also had a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards; and Riley Stowers was in double digits with 11 points.

Xavier Cummings led Hayward (8-2 HON, 11-3 overall) with 25 points.

 “We had a real close win over Hayward the last time we played, so we knew what we had to do,” NHS coach David Gustafson said. “Cummings is a great player, but we were able to stop their other guys.”

Gustafson was also pleased with the way his team shared the basketball. The Tigers had 23 assists on 26 made baskets with Tecker and Mike Lindsay getting six assists each.

TIGER TALES: Northwestern was 7-of-13 on free throws, compared to 7-of-8 for Hayward. … Northwestern’s JV and C teams remained undefeated with wins Friday night. … Northwestern went out of the HON Monday by hosting Washburn. The Castle Guards are led by Trevor Cook, who leads the State in scoring at 35.8 points per game. … Hayward’s Cummings and Daryl Williams of Chetek-Weyerhaueser are also in the top 10 at 27.7 points per game each.

Northwestern................................ 37........ 28        -          65

Hayward....................................... 18........ 35        -          53

Northwestern - Tanner Klobucher 17, Alex Tecker 16, Riley Stowers 11, Kade Bartelt 6, Matt Lindsay 6, Anthony Lujpa 5.

3-point goals - Stowers 2, Bartelt 2, Lindsay 2.

Hayward - Xavier Cummings 25, Phil Zeigle 12, Gabe Luedke 5, Willy Zawistowski 5, Demetri Dennis 4.

3-point goals - Zeigle 2, Leudke, Cummings.

Girls basketball

The Tigers snapped a two-game skid with a 50-42 win over the Barron Golden Bears Friday night at home.

With the win the Tigers improve to 12-4 overall and keep close to Bloomer and Hayward in the HON with a 9-2 record. Bloomer and Hayward are both 10-1 in league play.

Northwestern’s Katie Lundeen led all scorers with 17 points. Cassidy Friend added 10 points and Lyndzee Parker had eight.

Lexi Brunkow had 14 points for Barron (5-5, 6-11).

Northwestern, which played at Ellsworth Monday, is at Bloomer at 7:15 p.m. Friday.

Barron ........................................ 16........ 26        -          42

Northwestern................................ 30........ 20        -          50

Barron - Lexi Brunkow 14; Hailey Zurn 9, Keisha Kappel , Kristin Doriott 6, Anna Mikunda 3, Rylee Hanson 3.

3-point goals - Zurn, Hanson, Kappel, Mikunda.

Northwestern - Katie Lundeen 17, Cassidy Friend 10, Lyndzee Parker 8, Sam Hoegen 3, Mackenzie Correll 6, Brooklyn Oswskey 1, Kennedy Nelson 1, Laryssa Vik 4.

3-point goals - Correll 2.