Minnesota West basketball wins doubleheader over St. Cloud Tech

WORTHINGTON The Minnesota West womens and mens basketball teams won a home doubleheader Sunday against visiting St.

Cloud Tech.

The women's team walked away with a double-digit victory over the Cyclones and then the men's team escaped with an 80-78 win.

ADVERTISEMENT Womens Basketball Minnesota West 76, St.

Cloud Tech 54 A trio of Sadie Krahling 3-pointers in the first half helped set the tone for the Lady Jays offense against a good Cyclones team.

The Lady Jays are currently making just 21% of their three point attempts, leaving opponents an ability to compress their defense.

We havent shot (threes) well; a lot of teams are sucking in, playing zone, dropping off, said Lady Jays coach Rosalie Haynega-Hostikka.

We are not a bad shooting team, it just starts to get in your head sometimes and if we can make seven threes we will be okay.

The Lady Jays did just that, making 7-of-17 in the first half, which opened up the lanes for 19 field goals, mostly from under the basket.

I thought we did a nice job where we got some of those back doors, we hit the high pose, we cut where we were supposed to, and kind of made them get back out of it.

I felt like we executed pretty well with those screening roles.

It probably didn't show as much because we missed the layup.

We made a great pass, but we probably missed 10 layups on it, said Hayenga-Hostikka.

I just felt like we were on cruise too much at times.

I felt at times we should have this thing over 30, but they're a good team.

Rhea Tucker played a good game for the Lady Jays but four fouls limited her action to just 13 points.

Krahling led all scorers with 24.

ADVERTISEMENT The Lady Jays, now 11-7 overall and 3-0 in Minnesota College Athletic Conference play will be underdogs as they welcome top ranked RCTC on Wednesday in rematch of the last two NJCAA Division II national title games.

The Yellowjackets are 13-3 this season, including 2-0 in conference play.

When you are playing the number one team in the nation, the little things make a difference, said Hayenga-Hostikka.

What the heck, we really have nothing to lose.

...

It is always a battle.

Mens Basketball Minnesota West 80, St.

Cloud Tech 78 The Minnesota West Bluejays trailed all but a little over one second in their 80-78 win over the Cyclones.

But a late substitution of Tim Arnold Jr brought just enough chaos for the team to take advantage.

He's a talented kid.

Obviously, we're a little more talented this year, and Tim's problem is he just plays too fast at times.

He's a messy player, and that's what we needed at that moment, said Minnesota West coach Dan Tharp.

Dont get me wrong, he made a bunch of mistakes, but I put him at the head of the press and he got a big steal and all the credit in the world.

The steal put the Bluejays in position to take a lead, something they had not done since the middle of the first half.

With the ball in his hands was Bluejays talented sophomore guard Zach Rygg.

ADVERTISEMENT In a 68-66 loss to Riverland, Rygg had a chance to take a late lead with a trey, but settled for a 15-foot mid range shot that went strong.

On Sunday he was not going to pass up on the deep ball again.

With the clock dwindling fast from seven seconds he sprung up the court, worked his way right in front of the Bluejays bench and unleashed his shot.

Nothing but net.

But there was still a little over a second left.

A Bluejay timeout was granted as nearly a dozen members of the home team stood on the court in jubilation.

The Cyclones in-bound play saw three players deep into the offensive zone, but the heave fell short and right into the hands of Rygg, eliminating the team from St.

Cloud.

He's talented, he's humble, and he works hard, said Tharp.

When you have a player like that, you just trust him to make the play, and he makes the play.

Rygg led the team in scoring with 31 points.

Calvin Flood and Keion Irvin had 12 apiece.

The Bluejays had 38 rebounds and 21 turnovers.

ADVERTISEMENT We stole the game.

We were not the better team tonight.

They deserved that game, they were better for 39 minutes and 30 seconds, said Tharp.

But I am not going to give it back, thats for sure.

The Bluejays (16-4, 2-2) will also host Rochester Wednesday against a Yellowjackets team that's 12-6 and 1-2 in conference play..

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