One night after Spirit Lake guard KJ Veldman made history, her head coach did the same. Rick Reinking reached career coaching victory No. 300 with a resounding 76-46 win over rival Okoboji on Saturday in a non-conference girls basketball showdown. Reinking is in his 18th season as a head coach, having began his career at IKM-Manning. The game was close early, with the Indians and Pioneers separated by just a point after one quarter, however, Spirit Lake exploded for 47 points in the second and third quarters combined, hitting nine total three-pointers. Veldman knocked down three triples on her way to a game-high 28 points. Alissa Christoffer buried three of her four 3’s in the third quarter and finished with 14 points. Okoboji, which turned the ball over 29 times, had a pair of players in double figures. Skylar Hansen dropped in 15 points and Darby Jones came off the bench to score ten. The Pioneers are off until Friday, when they take a 4-11 record to West Lyon for a contest to be carried on Q102. Spirit Lake improves to 11-3 and returns to conference play to battle LeMars Tuesday on KUOO.
Click here for postgame interviews with Spirit Lake’s Emily Mercer and coach Rick Reinking.
A slow start produced just two points and a nine-point deficit after the first quarter for the Okoboji boys basketball team Saturday night in Spirit Lake, and the Indians maintained that lead all the way to a 50-37 non-conference win. Nine different players made it into the scoring column for Spirit Lake, led by Sawyer Harms’ thirteen points. Keith Oskvig paced Okoboji with a game-high 14 points, while Weston Burgeson had the hot hand from outside, connecting on four deep shots for twelve points. The loss drops the Pioneers to an overall record of 1-13. They return to the court Friday at West Lyon for a conference game on Q102. Now at 9-3, Spirit Lake heads to LeMars on Tuesday for a Lakes Conference game on KUOO.
Click here for the postgame interview with Spirit Lake’s Wes Bergquist and coach Nate Loenser.
Click here for the postgame interview with Okoboji coach Ryan Paulsen.
In other basketball contests over the weekend, the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn earned a sweep of two contests against Clay Central-Everly. The HMS boys defeated CCE, 56-41. The Mavericks extend their losing streak to ten games and fall to 1-12 overall. The Hawks snap a five-game losing streak and improve to 5-8 on the year. In the girls matchup, HMS controlled a 41-26 game to end their own four-game losing streak. The Hawks are 6-7 overall and take on another non-conference rival Monday with a road game at Harris-Lake Park. Coverage of that doubleheader can be heard on Q102.
The boys team from South O’Brien tallied a sixth-straight W, defeating Cherokee on Saturday, 54-32. Fairmont, Minnesota pulled off a doubleheader sweep against North Sentral Kossuth/Armstrong-Ringsted. The Cardinals earned a 50-36 decision in the girls matchup, while the Eagles were no match in the boys game, dropping a lopsided 78-22 ballgame.
