Hawley led 39-19 at the half and withstood a Viking's rally in the second half that cut the Nugget lead to seven at one point. Logan Fahje had 16 points to lead Pelican Rapids, and Hayden Christenson was also in double figures with 11. 

"We struggled with Hawley's trapping defense in the first half as we turned the ball over numerous times which they quickly converted into points on the other end," head coach John Gullingsrud said. "We did a better job of cutting down our turnovers in the second half which was a big key for us in being able to go on a run and close the gap to 47-40. We were proud of our guys for showing some grit and making it a competitive game in the second half, we just cannot dig ourselves that big of a hole against a talented team like the Nuggets." 

Hawley improved their overall record to 7-0 and 3-0 in the HOL, while Pelican Rapids dropped to 1-4 and 0-3 in the HOL. 

Pelican Rapids will host the Minnesota National Bank Holiday Tournament next Friday (12/28) and Saturday (12/29) and they will face Warroad on Friday night at 7:45 p.m. West Central Area will play Underwood at 2:30 in the other boys game.