GIRLS
A duo of ranked teams squared off Tuesday night with 2A-12th ranked Spirit Lake hosting 3A-#13 Storm Lake, both undefeated in conference. It was hyped as a tight one from the start, but after the Indians cut an 11-point halftime deficit to seven in the 3rd, the Tornadoes ran off 11 straight to put Spirit Lake in an 18-point hole, one they could not dig out of.
Despite a late 13-5 run, sparked by freshman KJ Veldman, it was too little too late and the Tornadoes delivered the first Indian loss of the season with a final of 53-45. Sophomore Morgan Vandersloot scored 19 points adding nine rebounds for the Tornadoes, 14 points and eight rebounds put in the books by Cassie Meylor, while Slone Masters scored 12 and snatched 19 boards. Veldman knocked down four 3-pointers, a trio coming during the 13-5 run, and finished with 14 points off the bench. Mary Brown fouled out in the 4th, finishing with 13 points, while Chelsie Stettnichs added 10, however no other starters would score.
The Indians (5-1, 2-1 Lakes Conference) have two days to regroup before hosting Cherokee on Friday.
BOYS
The Spirit Lake Indians led late but Storm Lake scored the final seven points of the game to defeat Spirit Lake 62-58, denying the Indians their first Lakes conference win on Tuesday night. After trailing by nine in the 3rd, the Indians rattled off 15 of 17 to take a 4-point edge. The lead changed hands eight times during the game but the final swing was the biggest of the evening. With the Indians leading 58-57 with 13 seconds to go, Pel Deng corralled a Carsen Anderson missed shot, put it up, scored, and drew the foul to put Storm Lake up for good. A pair of late turnovers and failed box outs kept the Indians on the mat.
Anderson led all scorers with 28, knocking down six threes for the Tornadoes, who 8-10 on the game from distance. Spirit Lake was led by Mitch Peschon’s 18 despite the junior being hampered by foul trouble while Kyle Heidebrink had 13 in the best effort of his senior campaign. Spirit Lake (3-2, 0-2 Lakes Conference) returns to conference action on Friday when the Indians host Cherokee. The boys will then head to Boyden-Hull on Saturday for a non-conference game rescheduled from January 4th.
