The Worthington Trojans boys basketball team, which entered Saturday afternoon with a record of 2-11, dominated visiting Waseca and rolled to a 74-40 triumph.
WHS led by as many as 21 points in the first half and was up 17 at intermission before cruising the rest of the way. Abagotte Opiew led a balance Trojans scoring attack with 14 points, while Jacari Swinea contributed 12 points and Kaleb Knothe had 10. Opiew also had six rebounds and seven assists, and Knothe added seven rebounds.’
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In girls basketball, the Trojans bounced back in a big way from Thursday night’s narrow loss to Marshall by pounding Redwood Valley, 72-32. Olivia Hayenga led WHS with 26 points while also surpassing the 1,000-point mark for her career. Dasia Potter also gave Worthington’s offense a boost with 18 points, while Ellie Weg had 13.The Trojans committed just four turnovers in the game.
The WHS girls, now 10-6, next play host to St. Peter on Monday night. The Trojan boys will play Pipestone Area on Tuesday. Both games will be broadcast on 104.3 The Bridge.
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In girls hockey Saturday afternoon, the Worthington Trojans picked up the fourth win of the season, as Kessey Aljets tallied a hat trick – and scored the game-winner in overtime – as WHS edged Morris-Benson on the road, 6-5.
MaKenna Nickel contributed a pair of goals for the Trojans, and Angie Randgaard had the other goal. Lauren Nelson had a pair of assists and MaKenna Nickel, Marin Pederson and Riley Nickel had an assist each. The Trojans won despite being outshot, 36-26.
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In Saturday boys hockey, Morris-Benson outshot Worthington 39-16 and rolled to a 7-1 win over the visiting Trojans. Jake Ahrenstoff scored the lone WHS goal; it came in the second period and was unassisted. The Trojans dropped to 8-8 on the season.
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The surging Minnesota West Lady Jays improved to 7-1 in division play Saturday afternoon with a 76-58 women’s basketball win at St. Cloud Tech.
Minnesota West, currently ranked 12th nationally, had a balanced scoring attack that included four players with double-figure points. Madisyn Huisman had a game-high 15 points for the Jays, while MacKensie Post and Macie Werdel each had 12 and Tia Murray added 11. Huisman also contributed a game-best nine rebounds for Minnesota West, which made exactly 50% of its shots from the floor and committed just six turnovers in the contest. The Lady Jays also outrebounded St. Cloud Tech, 38-30, while limiting their opponents to just 30.6% shooting.
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In men’s basketball, Minnesota West snapped an extended losing streak and improved to 4-15 overall, earning their first divisional win of the season by edging St. Cloud Tech 72-70.
The Bluejays shot 50.9% from the floor and had five players with double-figure point totals. Tyvorus Lawton had 16 points, Christian Kyles 13, CJ Ligon 12, London Campbell 11 and Amos Alford 10. Campbell also pulled down 10 rebounds for Minnesota West, which beat St. Cloud Tech 37-30 on the boards.
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Also over the weekend, it was:
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Jackson County Central 75, Minnewaska Area 73
Wagner (South Dakota) 45, Luverne 40
Hills-Beaver Creek 61, Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda 45
Edgerton 62, Adrian-Ellsworth 37
Southwest Minnesota Christian 73, Westbrook-Walnut Grove 42
Red Rock Central 60, Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey 41
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 80, Murray County Central 55
Luverne 67, Redwood Valley 14
Fairmont 58, St. James Area 33
West Lyon 53, Sheldon 52
Cherokee 57, Western Christian 54
Sioux Center 56, Boyden-Hull 32
MOC-Floyd Valley 64, George-Little Rock 37
Central Lyon 55, Okoboji 34
Sibley-Ocheyedan 36, Rock Valley 27
Akron-Westfield 57, Harris-Lake Park 18
Hinton 53, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 39
BOYS BASKETBALL
Westbrook-Walnut Grove 70, Edgerton 44
Murray County Central 64, Hills-Beaver Creek 57
Adrian-Ellsworth 62, Red Rock Central 50
Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey 58, Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda 37
Jackson County Central 68, Minnewaska Area 50
Blue Earth 67, Windom 63
Central Minnesota Christian 55, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 52
Sleepy Eye 46, Red Rock Central 34
Fairmont 56, St. James Area 52
Redwood Valley 83, Luverne 59
Harrisburg (South Dakota) 73, Marshall 59
West Lyon 59, Sheldon 46
Western Christian 92, Cherokee 38
MOC-Floyd Valley 80, George-Little Rock 46
Central Lyon 55, Okoboji 34
Rock Valley 77, Sibley-Ocheyedan 38
Harris-Lake Park 63, Akron-Westfield 57
Hinton 62, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 39
Boyden-Hull 86, Sioux Center 75
GIRLS HOCKEY
Minnesota River 4, Marshall 2
Luverne 4, Marshall 1
BOYS HOCKEY
Marshall 6, Minnesota River 5
Winona 7, Fairmont 6
Morris-Benson Area 6, Luverne 5
Fairmont 8, Redwood Valley 4
