The Austin Packers boys basketball team got their season off to a great start on Tuesday with a 60-45 win over section rival New Prague.
Zach Wessels led the scoring with 18 points, while Bret Lukes added 14, Nik Gasner 11, Gach Gach 8, Curtis Oberbroeckling 5, and Ajuda Nywesh 2 and Zach Coffey 2 each.
See the story in the Austin Daily Herald.
Update: Tomorrow’s game is against Marshall…and so as an appetizer, here are highlights from the end of last year’s OT win in the state semifinals:
At the annual awards banquet last night we closed with a video featuring our seniors, a look back at their start as first-graders playing YMCA ball at Holy Cross, on to their 7th grade experience at Ellis Middle School and then selected highlights from the last couple of years.
The Aase cousins (Joe and Tom), Tommy Olmsted and Collin Weisert provided leadership for a team that went 53-7 in the last two years, including this season’s 30-1 mark and second place finish in the Minnesota State High School League Class AAA Tournament.
With two returning starters and two more players who saw extended varsity action, and bringing up JV players who posted a 17-7 record this year, the future for the Packers remains bright.
But here’s a look back at the Class of 2013 and how they have grown over the years:
The Packers had a huge contingent of fans on hand for the state title game against DeLaSalle (click the image above to enlarge), and they got off to a good start with an early 5-0 lead, but their perfect season came to an end on a less-than-perfect note in a 50-33 loss to the top-ranked Islanders.
Tom Aase led the Packers with 14 points, while Zach Wessels added 8. Collin Weisert scored 5, while Joe Aase, Bret Lukes and Ajuda Nywesh had 2 each.
See the stories in the Austin Daily Herald and Rochester Post-Bulletin.
This just in from the Austin High School Activities Director, Lisa Quednow-Bickler:
We will be having a welcome home celebration for our boys basketball team on Sat. night in Knowlton Auditorium.
The doors (#1, #5) will be open to the public at 10:30 pm
The celebration will begin when the team arrives home.
A chance to recognize and celebrate a great season for our Austin Packer Boys Basketball team and community of Austin.
Please join us for the game at 6 p.m. Saturday, whether you ride the bus or take a carpool. If you can’t make it in person, the game will be broadcast in the Austin area on KAAL-TV Digital 6.2 or you can listen to the call from Dan Bettlach and Jim “Voice of the Packers” Lemar on KAUS AM 1480. For Packer expatriates, you can watch it live on Prep45.com or listen to the KAUS stream.
Then come out at 10:30 for a great community celebration of a season to remember!
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The Prep45.com archive of the Packers’ overtime win over Marshall is now available.
Since this game was on TV, we can show you the whole thing instead of just the highlights. Click to watch.
You also may buy a DVD of the game on Prep45.com.
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