The Austin boys basketball team came out with fire as they got just about everyone involved in an 80-59 win over Owatonna in Packer Gym Thursday.

The Packers (6-2 overall, 5-1 Big Nine) led by as many as 35 points in the second half and 11 players scored in the win, with five of them reaching double figures.

Austin senior Gavin Owens finished with 10 points as he was able to stay more aggressive in the post thanks to steady ball movement from the perimeter.

“At halftime we had like 17 assists and in our last game we had five total,” Owens said. “Ball movement was huge for us and we didn’t settle for a lot of threes. We were attacking. I think we’re better as a team when we’re moving the ball and not just relying on threes.”

Moses Idris came off the bench with intensity as he finished with 11 points and Teyghan Hovland added seven rebounds, four assists and four steals off the bench as well. LaHenry Gills finished with 12 points as he drilled two second half three-pointers.

“Moses Idris is a heck of an athlete and when he gets in the open floor, he looks pretty good,” said Austin head coach Kris Fadness. “I thought he was a greyhound out there. LaHenry played well and I thought Pierre gave us good first half minutes. Teyghan has been solid for us and he does all of the little things for us.”

Gills had been struggling to find his shot early in the season, but he was aggressive early and often against the Huskies (4-5 overall, 3-2 Big Nine).

“I just locked in before the game and I counted on my teammates to get my open,” Gills said. “I just shot the ball. I stayed confident in my shot and I just keep playing the game that I love.”

Austin held a 45-18 lead at the break, but the team’s defense let up late in the game as the Huskies were able to get some free looks behind the arc. Fadness is hoping his team learns to close things out better when they have big leads in the future.

“Part of learning how to play basketball is learning how to play when you’re behind and when you’re ahead,” Fadness said. “I thought we didn’t play real fundamentally in the second half and we played careless and sloppy basketball. Defensively, it didn’t look like we wanted to play a whole lot of it. I’m disappointed in the second half, not so much with the effort, but with the attitude and the lack of discipline.”

Medi Obang had 20 points, four rebounds and three assists for Austin and Agwa Nywesh had 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Owatonna 18  31  —  59

Austin 45  35  —  80

Austin scoring: Medi Obang, 20; Agwa Nywesh, 13; LaHenry Gills, 13; Moses Idris, 12; Gavin Owens, 10; Jeremy Flores, 5; Dongrin Deng, 3; Ngor Deng, 2; Ryan Walters, 2; Connor Byram, 2; free throws: 66 percent (4-for-6) rebounds: 37 (Hovland, 7); turnovers: 19