The Austin boys built a 41-28 halftime and then cruised to a 70-56 win over section 1AAA foe Waseca on Saturday afternoon.
Tom Aase led the Packers with 20 points, while Ajuda Nywesh netted a career high 16. Zach Wessels added 13, Joe Aase 12, Bret Lukes 5 and Collin Weisert and Gach Gach 2 each.
Here are the highlights:
The Packers are now 10-0 on the year, and have two games scheduled this week: Tuesday at Faribault and Friday at home against Rochester Century.
The Austin Packers kept their season record unblemished at 9-0 and ran their home winning streak to 17 games with a 56-45 win over Mankato West Friday night.
After falling behind 4-0 in the opening minutes, the Packers came back strong to build a 29-10 lead with 2:08 left in the first half. West then went on an 8-0 run to close the gap to 29-18 at halftime. The Packers built a 20-point lead early in the second half, and their lead was in the teens most of the rest of the way, although West did cut the margin to 9 in the closing minutes before the Packers put the game away at the free-throw line.
Zach Wessels led the scoring with 20 points, while Tom Aase had 17 points, 9 rebounds and 8 blocks and Joe Aase contributed 9 points and 9 rebounds. Bret Lukes and Collin Weisert rounded out the scoring with 7 and 3 points respectively.
Here are the highlights (and the Austin Daily Herald recap):
The Packers return to action this afternoon in Waseca in a game that has been moved to a 4 p.m. start.
Northstar Hoops Report has rapidly established itself as one of the top independent authoritative sites covering boys high school and AAU basketball in Minnesota. Its subscribers, including many college basketball programs, get the inside scoop on Minnesota players and teams, and its rankings are closely watched by the basketball community.
As a recruiting service for college coaches, Austin native Ryan James, one of the site’s founders, ranks the top players in each graduating class in terms of their potential as college players, with updates of the rankings done on a quarterly basis. Among the current crop of seniors (Class of 2013), Austin’s Joe Aase and Tom Aase both currently rank in the top 30 statewide, with Joe at #6 and Tom at #28. Zach Wessels is #14 in the 2014 class.
Bret Lukes was cited earlier this week for “giving Austin another scoring option” based on his average of 11 points per game. Ryan highlighted Wessels in September, saying “Zach’s ability to go middle and create at a constant rate for himself and others is what so many people love about him. What’s scarier for future opponents is that he’s getting better.” In ranking Tom Aase #6 statewide among 2013 power forwards, Ryan cited Tom’s defensive toughness and rebounding as well as his improved scoring.
In his column today, Ryan lists Joe Aase as one of the “Top Contenders” for Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball behind early front-runner Quinton Hooker of Park Center. The Mr. Basketball Award is given each year to the top senior boys basketball player in the state as chosen by the Mr. Basketball Committee, which is completely separate from Northstar Hoops Report, but here’s what Ryan said about Joe in listing him as one of the top three candidates:
Joe Aase is scoring 20 a game, averaging a double-double, has his team at second in state and undefeated, and playing against the state’s top interior defender (Reggie Lynch) Joe scored a big 27 points impressing the metro area basketball fans. Over the holiday break Joe led his team to back-to-back wins over New Prague (with 24 points and nine rebounds Joe out did Paul Friendshuh) and Eastview (Joe got the better of Ben Oberfeld as Joe had 21, Ben scored 11).
In another just-for-fun element of the Northstar Hoops site, they’re conducting an unscientific online poll of site visitors, asking them to vote for a Mr. Basketball front runner. So, if you’re so inclined, go here and cast your vote.
The Austin Packers finished their December schedule with a perfect 8-0 record by coming from behind to beat Eastview in a nonconference road game Saturday night.
The Packers trailed 27-22 at halftime before getting their offense going and pulling away for a 68-63 win over a Class AAAA team that features Bucknell-signed Division I forward Ben Oberfeld. Eastview was 3-3 coming into the game, but its losses were to defending AAAA champion Osseo and perennial AAAA powers Hopkins and Lakeville North.
Joe Aase led the Packers scoring attack with 21 points (17 in the second half), while Zach Wessels had 20 (16 after halftime). Bret Lukes and Tom Aase chipped in 10 and 9 points respectively, while Ajuda Nywesh and Tommy Olmsted each added 4. A trio of players had a dozen points for Eastview (Mark Dwyer, Ryan Lockard and Drew Guebert), while Oberfeld added 11.
Here are the highlights:
See the Austin Daily Herald story.
The Packers return to action next Friday when they host Mankato West, and then travel to Waseca Saturday for a Section 1AAA contest.
The Austin Packers haven’t lost yet this season on the court, but with the Rochester Post-Bulletin discontinuing publication of its Austin edition at year-end, the Packer basketball program loses one of its top media supporters, as Austin native and 1979 AHS graduate Scott Kolb will no longer be covering the games and writing his weekly column.
Austin has been blessed for more than a decade with two daily newspapers, with both the Austin Daily Herald and the Austin Post-Bulletin, and Scott has been covering the local sports beat. In his final column, he looked back on highlights of 2012, and so the Packers’ return to the state tournament led the way. Here’s what Scott had to say:
Highlight of year
When I attended the state tournament games back in the early 1980s to see the Austin Packers boys basketball team, it never dawned on me that three decades would elapse before another trip to the promised land. That dream finally came true last March when the Austin boys once again went to state.
After winning the Big Nine Conference title before a packed house on the final night of the regular season, the Packers were the No. 1 seed in the section tournament. They destroyed the first two teams at home, but then came the finals and a trip to the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.
For most of the game, the Packers didn’t shoot real well and it looked like the might fail against the New Prague Trojans. It was tied in the final seconds, when coach Kris Fadness called a time-out and drew up what now must be the most famous play in school history.
Packers point-guard Zach Wessels brought the ball up the floor for the decisive possession. Off to the side, Goliath Oboyo set a back pick for Tom Aase. With the clock winding down, it initially looked like Wessels was firing up a long prayer of a shot. Instead, it was a perfect pass to Tom Aase, who dunked home the winning basket and sent Packers fans into a state of delirium.
The boys made it to the state tournament and I got the chance to sit courtside at Williams Arena, where I used to watch Minnesota Gophers games decades ago. The Packers didn’t win their tourney opener and they were eliminated from state, but the good news is the team is even better this season and their fans are looking for a return trip to the big city.
Read Scott’s whole column, and join us in thanking Scott for his years of service to the Austin community in the comments below
Packer Fast Break Club 