The Austin boys basketball team let its seniors get in on some the early action as it beat Albert Lea 71-24 in Packer Gym Friday.

Austin head coach Kris Fadness started five seniors to give them a chance play some big minutes and they answered the call as Pat Hagan had a career-high 14 points to go with six rebounds and Oman Oman had 14 points and four rebounds.

Hagan did most of his damage in the paint as he was able to score the first points of the game for the Packers.

“We had some flashes where I sealed my guy and my teammates got me the ball and I had easy looks,” Hagan said.

Senior forward Jany Gash had a rare start as he had three points and three assists. He relished the chance of being on the floor to start the game.

“It was a good honor and it was really fun,” Gash said. “To start is a different feeling to start than coming off the bench and it gives you a lot of energy.”

Austin head coach Kris Fadness said that he wanted to reward his senior class with a chance to get in the starting lineup in front of a big crowd on Hall of Fame night. He was pleased with what the entire team gave him.

“Every year you want to give your seniors an opportunity to start. They’ve been around for years and they deserve an opportunity to run under the tunnel and have their name called,” Fadness said. “I thought we had nice contributions from everybody tonight and we played the game with a little more respect tonight than maybe in the past.”

The Tigers (0-11 overall, 0-9 Big Nine) hung around a little early in the game as they were within 12-10 with 10:31 left in the first half. The Packers (10-1 overall, 7-1 Big Nine) had a big answer as they closed the first half on a 30-2 run in a 10-minute stretch.

Both Gach added 12 points, four assists and four steals in the win for the Packers.

Austin has a big stretch early next week as it will host Mankato East 7:15 p.m. Monday and Faribault will come to Packer Gym 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.

“They’re big games and they’re two good teams,” Fadness said. “It’ll be interesting to see how we respond because we won’t be able to practice Saturday or Sunday. We’ll just have to be good at what we do. East is extremely athletic and Faribault is extremely physical.”

AL 12  12  —  24

Austin 42  29  —  71

Austin scoring: Oman Oman, 14; Pat Hagan, 14; Both Gach, 12; Duoth Gach, 6; Tate Hebrink, 5; Logan Braaten, 4; Kyle Oberbroeckling, 4; Jany Gash, 3; Tyler Tupy, 3; Jesse Synoground, 2; Trent Brown, 2; Moses Issa, 2; free throws: 41 percent ( 5-for-12); rebounds: 30 (Hagan, 6); turnovers: 12