By Brenda Erdahl
The Irish boys’ basketball team kicked off a three-game week with a 60-47 win over the Kimball Cubs on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
On Thursday, Feb. 13, the Irish hosted Milaca and won 61-43, and on Friday, Feb. 14, Maple Lake hosted Eden Valley-Watkins and fell 52-33.
Kimball
Aiden Staloch put the first of a game-leading 26 points on the board early in the first half for the Irish, setting a tone that would carry them through the contest with Kimball, Tuesday. The Irish lengthened that lead to 21-5 at one point in the game. Kimball began to creep up on their lead with a three-point basket with seconds left on the board. Ben Clapp answered with a three-point basket for the Irish to give Maple Lake a 28-17 advantage at halftime.
The Irish continued to keep a nice cushion between the themselves and the Cubs to ultimately win 60-47.
Besides his 26 points, Staloch also had 10 rebounds and five assists. Brayden Belanger supplied 11 points and had 11 rebounds and Ryley Hagen had nine points.
“Our defense and rebounding carried us to this victory,” Irish Head Coach Tim Staloch said. “Our defense kept them off balanced most of the night. We had 12 steals which helped lead to 15 points off turnovers. We outscored them 11-0 on second chance points. Offensively we did a good job attacking the basket and getting points in the paint. The guys keep working hard, our goal is to get a little better each game.”
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