Despite a sluggish second half, the Packers defeated Mankato East 75-53 Tuesday night to move to 9-0 in conference play and 16-0 overall on the season. The Packers led 48-26 at halftime but their offense stagnated in the second half as they managed just 27 points.
The Packers had four players in double figures led by Tom Aase and Zach Wessels with 16 each, while Joe Aase added 14 and Ajuda Nywesh 10. Collin Weisert scored 6, Gach Gach 5, Tommy Olmsted and Bret Lukes 3 each and Curtis Oberbroeckling had 2.
The win was the Packers’ 20th straight at home, dating to March 2011. Here are the highlights:
Next up for the Packers will be Owatonna, currently third in the conference with a 5-2 record.
The Austin Packers traveled to La Crosse, Wisconsin today to play in the Pepsi Midwest Players Classic, where they defeated Westby by a 71-48 margin in the opening game of the six-game showcase.
Austin quickly built a 16-8 lead by the end of the first quarter, stretching it to 39-15 by halftime and 60-31 at the end of the third quarter.
Joe Aase led the Packers with 21 points with Tom Aase adding 13. Bret Lukes and Ajuda Nywesh each had 8, Zach Wessels 7, Gach Gach 6, Collin Weisert and Nik Gasner 3 each and Curtis Oberbroeckling 2.
Here are the highlights:
The Packers have two home games next week: Tuesday vs. Mankato East in a rematch of this game, and their first contest with Owatonna, which is currently third in the Big Nine at 5-2 and is 8-5 overall.
The Austin Packers claimed sole possession of first place in the Big Nine Conference Thursday night with an 80-77 win over Rochester John Marshall.
The Packers built a lead of as much as 19 points in the first half, but JM hit a half-court buzzer beater to trim the lead to 46-32 at halftime. In the second half JM fought back to within five points with 26.8 seconds remaining, but Austin’s Joe Aase converted both halves of a one-and-one to seal the victory.
Joe’s 34 points (including 8 three-pointers) made him the all-time leading career scorer in Austin High boys basketball history at 1,065. Zach Wessels added 23 points, Ajuda Nywesh 12, Bret Lukes 6 and Tom Aase 5 in the Packer win. See the Austin Daily Herald, Rochester Post-Bulletin (and another) and KAAL-TV stories and the Rochester Post-Bulletinphoto gallery.
Here are the highlights:
The Packers, who have now won 19 straight at home, venture to La Crosse, Wisconsin on Saturday to play in the Midwest Players Classic against Westby, WI. Game time is 10:45 a.m. at the La Ctosse Center.
The Austin Packers came into Friday night’s game having had some good wins against teams like Edina, New Prague and Eastview, but they hadn’t put together a complete game.
Until now.
The Packers, who had started slowly in several games, got off to a 15-2 start and never looked back, rolling to a 74-24 win over Rochester Century in Packer Gym. The win was Austin’s 18th in a row at home and ran their season record to 12-0, 6-0 in the Big Nine.
Joe Aase, who was presented a game ball by Coach Kris Fadness before the game in recognition of reaching the 1,000-point career scoring mark Tuesday at Faribault, led the Packers’ scoring against Century with 20 points. Zach Wessels added 15, Tom Aase 9, Bret Lukes 8, Ajuda Nywesh and Collin Weisert 5 each; Ben Bumgarner, Gach Gach and Jacob Kempen each had a 3, while Curtis Oberbroeckling with 2 and Zach Coffey with 1 rounded out the scoring. Century’s 6’10” center Carter Evans, who will play for Division II Northern State next year, had 14 points for the Panthers.
Next up for the Packers are the Winona Winhawks on the road on Tuesday. Their next home game is Thursday against Rochester John Marshall. The Rockets are 11-2 on the year and tied with the Packers atop the Big Nine standings.
Austin Packer Senior Joe Aase scored his 1000th career point early in the second half Tuesday night as Austin rolled to a convincing 80-44 win at Faribault.
The win, combined with a loss by Delano, means Austin is now the only undefeated team in Minnesota’s Class AAA boys basketball. The Packers are 11-0 on the year and 5-0 in Big Nine Conference play.
Joe Aase led the Packer scoring Tuesday with 18 points, while Bret Lukes tallied 16, Zach Wessels 12, Collin Weisert 11, Tom Aase 9, Nik Gasner 6, Ajuda Nywesh 5, Jacob Kempen 2 and Gach Gach 1.
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