By Brenda Erdahl:
The Irish boys’ basketball team was back in the gym with energy Monday, Dec. 20 after a week off due to a cancellation and postponement.
Maple Lake was scheduled to play Royalton last Tuesday and Rockford last Friday, but both were put off because the Irish were short varsity players. Coach Casey Pack said the Royalton game will be made up on Feb. 15 because it is a conference contest, but the Rockford game will not.
Well rested from the schedule changes, the Irish took to the court with gusto Monday when they faced Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted at home. Competing with great energy and working hard, the Irish held a 13-11 lead until about 7:30 of the first half. The Lakers responded with a 10-0 run that put the Irish in the hole. Maple Lake ended the half on a good note, scoring the last five points. Turnovers were the home team’s downfall once again (17 in the first half and 15 in the second) and the Irish fell 51-38.
“I was encouraged by our defensive execution, as we held HLWW to 1-22 from three-pointers. However, in the second half they were able to convert second chance points off those misses. We’ll have some practices over break to improve those areas before returning to conference play on Jan. 6,” Coach Pack said.
Zane Jude led scoring for the Irish with 12 points and Ernesto Brown led in rebounds with 10. Brown also had eight points and Layton Johnston contributed nine.
The Irish will resume competition after the holidays on Thursday, Jan. 6 when they host Eden Valley-Watkins at 7 p.m. Their schedule will continue to pick up with another game on Saturday, Jan. 8 with a 3 p.m. contest vs Rush City at Maple Lake. On Tuesday, Jan. 11, the Irish will host Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa at 7 p.m.
**The Irish girls basketball team had three games cancelled last week and did not play at all.
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