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Hornets Claim Road Win Over West Central Area

By Craig Olson, 01/14/20, 11:45PM CST

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The Henning Hornets escaped Barrett with a 68-62 victory over the West Central Area Knights in a well-played game by both teams on Tuesday night. 

It was a game of runs.  With the Knights leading 8-7, the Hornets had an 8-0 run to go ahead 15-8.  The Knights then responded with a 15-5 run to take a 23-20 lead. With Henning leading 32-27, they hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left in the half to go up 35-27 at the break. 

The Knights outscored the Hornets 18-13 through the first nine minutes of the half to cut the lead to 48-45 but the Hornets always had an answer and would never let the Knights take the lead. 

"It was a packed gym, a great atmosphere, and two teams that played their hearts out," said Knight Coach Kraig Hunter.  "We did a lot of things well, but in the end the difference was the outstanding shooting of Blake Wallevand and that we had a few more turnovers."

Both teams played good defense with the Knights forcing the Hornets into 13 turnovers but committed 16 themselves.  The Hornets blistered the nets at 56% on 25-45 shooting led by Wallevand's 10-15 night which included him making 5-10 threes.  The Knights made 26-55 shots for 47% and 7-22 threes.  From the free throw line, Henning made 8-12 and the Knights 3-4.

The Knights had a 27-24 rebounding advantage.

Wallevand led the Hornets with 25 points, Isaac Fisher added 11, Blaine Wallevand 9, Parker Fraki 8, Lee Bjorklund 5, Luke Bjorklund 5, and Brandon Trana 5.

“This was a great atmosphere in front of a very nice crowd at WCA,” said Henning Head Coach Randy Misegades.  “It was a back-and-forth affair and a game of runs.  It definitely was sloppy at times and we turned the ball over far too much, but we battled for 36 minutes against a really good team and made just enough plays to get it done.”

For the Knights Gage Staples had 22 points and 7 rebounds, Jacob Bright had 15 points and 6 assists, Jack VanKempen 9 points and 8 rebounds, Grant Beuckens had 9 points and 4 assists, Tate Christenson had 5 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, and Brady Reeve had 2 points.

The loss was the first in seven games for West Central Area (10-2).  They will play at Ortonville on Thursday and will host Lac qui Parle Valley on Saturday.

Henning (12-1) has now won five in a row.  They will play at Verndale on Thursday night and will host Ashby on Friday.