Cardinals Have Wolverines' Number Again

It wasn’t quite the thumping put on by Staples-Motley in its first matchup with Wadena-Deer Creek, but the No. 8 Cardinals did their part in moving to 7-0 in the Mid-State Conference.

Kelly Pearson led Staples-Motley in scoring with a season-best 26 points en route to a 63-54 victory Friday night.  

Staples-Motley led for the better part of the game, but WDC (13-5, 4-3) kept it close thanks to 20 points from Emily Miron and 17 from Avery Jackson.

The Cardinals thrashed the Wolverines in Wadena Dec. 6, 2011 79-49.

Up next: At Crosby-Ironton (10-7) Thursday, Feb. 2. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:15.

STAPLES-MOTLEY — 63

Kelly Pearson 26, Jasmine McGillvray 12, MiKayla Wing 7, Kyann Nyhus 6, Bobbi Jo Mathe 6, Mackenzie Holst 4, Jaelin Beachy 2

WADENA-DEER CREEK — 54

Emily Miron 20, Avery Jackson 17, Hope Theisen 9, Caitlin Volkmann 5, Melissa Moenkedick 3

Cardinals Boys Play Complete Game, On Winning Streak

Misfiring for the better part of a season-and-a-half, the Staples-Motley Cardinals' engine finally turned over.

After defeating conference foe Wadena-Deer Creek in impressive fashion 61-49 Tuesday night, Staples-Motley hustled the upstart Pillager Huskies 79-44 for the team’s most complete performance of the season Thursday.

The back-to-back victories are the Cardinal’s first since Mar. 13 and Mar. 16, 2010, a span of 41 games.

The sixth consecutive defeat of the Huskies extends the team’s home winning streak to three games.

A softer schedule and staying home certainly has helped the Cardinals of late, but the team is also playing more consistently and with more poise.

Pillager (11-5) and Staples-Motley (4-11) battled back-and-forth in the first half, getting to the rim with ease against soft 2-3 zones.

No sooner had the Huskies taken their largest lead of the game, at 25-22, did S-M completely come to life.

The Cardinals closed out the half on a 16-4 run with strong play on both sides of the ball to lead 38-29 at intermission.

There was no let-up in the second half.

Behind season-highs of 20 points from Seth Auger and 14 from Jordan Wick, who slipped deep underneath the Pillager defense for easy layups time after time, Staples-Motley outscored its opponent 39-15 the rest of the way in winning handily.

Pillager’s big men E.J. Ziegler and Cole Hunstad were ineffective. Ziegler was limited to 10 and Hunstad scored just 3 — significant drop-offs from their season averages of 17 and 14.4, respectively.  

Even with the disparaging loss to Staples-Motley, Pillager is playing well by its standards.

The Huskies went 7-67 from 2007-10.  

Up next: At Pierz (11-4) Friday, Jan. 27. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30.


STAPLES-MOTLEY — 79

Seth Auger 20, Jordan Wick 14, Kyle Jansson 13, Dennis Vasquez 8, Zach Borders 8, Grant Longbella 6, Brian Huber 6, Colton Borders 4

PILLAGER HUSKIES — 44

E.J. Ziegler 10, Jake Weizenegger 6, Conner Uselman 6, Matt Doss 5, Devin Strack 5, Isaac Jacobson 5, Adam Obermiller 4, Cole Hunstad 3

KSKK/KVKK Athlete of the Week

The January 25 Behlianno's Athlete of the Week is Zach Torgerson of the Henning boy's basketball team.

Last week Torgerson tallied 29 points and nine rebounds, 21 and nine and 19 and 10 in leading the Hornets to wins over New York Mills and Hancock.

On the season, Torgerson is averaging 16.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

Henning coach Randy Misegades says of Torgerson, "Zach’s ability to play both inside and out makes him a solid offensive player and difficult match-up for our opponents."

Individually, Torgerson is working to be named All-Conference and score 400 points this season -- a clip 13 games into the season he says he's on pace to reach.

For the team (9-4), which is off to its best start in more than 10 years, Torgerson wishes to win the Park Region Conference.

The Hornets are currently in third place, a half-game behind Pillager and Bertha-Hewitt.

Torgerson is a junior who enjoys band; he plays the trumpet. Although not set in stone, Torgerson plans to apply to North Dakota State University next year with the intent of majoring in mechanical engineering.

The 6-foot-3 forward considers himself an outdoorsman and spends time fishing, four-wheeling and snowmobiling (though not yet this year for a lack of snow).

Henning plays next at home Thursday night against section opponent Ashby, a team ranked No. 8 in Class 1A.