Boys basketball: Packers run past Tigers
Published 10:02 pm Wednesday, February 24, 2016
The pressure of the playoffs got to the No. 2 seeded Packer boys basketball team against No. 7 seeded Stewartville — but it didn’t stop them.
Austin’s Mark Manyoun goes up for a lay-up in the first half against Stewartville in a Section 1AAA Tournament match-up Wednesday night in Packer Gym. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
After a slow stint in the first half, the Packers regrouped and blew out the Tigers (8-19 overall) in the second half as they cruised to a 66-33 win in the Section 1AAA quarterfinals in Packer Gym Wednesday.
Austin (22-5 overall) held Stewartville to just 10 points in the second half. The Packers led just 28-25 early in the second half when they mounted 17-0 run that put the game away.
It was the first playoff win for much of the Packers’ roster and they will now face a big test as they play No. 3 seeded Northfield at Mayo Civic Center 8:15 p.m. Saturday.
“You’ve got to figure out how to win and you’ve got to find a way to win,” said Austin senior Jace Murray, who had 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. “We’ve done a good job of that with a young group. It’s going to be fun [in Civic Center], but we’ve just got to play our game and we can’t let it get to our heads too much.”
Austin started the game on an 15-2 run, but Stewartville responded with a 14-3 run to get within 18-16, but it never took the lead.
“We had our struggles in the first half and I probably should’ve called a couple of timeouts,” Austin head coach Kris Fadness said. “We turned it over seven times in the first half and five or six of them were unforced. We were tight offensively and that was really frustrating.”
Once the Packers got rolling in the second half, they turned the game into a track meet. Duoth Gach, who had 11 points, had a couple of breakaway jams, and Mark Manyuon, who had 10 points also got free for a few breakaways.
Austin was able to get out and run thanks to the rebounding of Oman Oman, who had 11 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
“We’re a shorter team and all five guys have to rebound,” Oman said. “We had first half nerves with sections and we had to get that out of the way.”
Both Gach had 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals in the win for Austin.
Austin’s Kyle Oberbroeckling battles with Stewartville’s Sam Barnes for a rebound in the first half of their first-round match-up in the Section 1AAA Tournament Wednesday night in Packer Gym. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Austin will now focus on playing the Raiders, who Austin swept in the regulars season. One of those game’s came down a to a buzzer beating full court heave by Oman.
“We hope we can learn from that moving on that we’ve just got to go out and play,” Fadness said. “We’ll get ready for Northfield and I expect another battle to the finish.”
Stewartville 23 10 — 33
Austin 28 40 — 68
Austin scoring: Both Gach, 13; Jace Murray, 13; Duoth Gach, 11; Oman Oman, 11; Mark Manyuon, 10; Kyle Oberbroeckling, 5; Jany Gash, 2; Pat Hagen, 2; Moses Issa, 2; free throws: 50 percent (5-for-10); rebounds: 41 (Oman, 11); turnovers: 11
