No. 7 Knights fend off Mavericks for hoops championship
Levi Pooley
TYLER — Aiden Wichmann and Cody Wichmann combined for five 3-pointers and 40 points to power the Class 1A No. 7-ranked host Knights to a 67-58 victory over the Martin County West Mavericks during the championship game of the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton holiday basketball tournament on Wednesday night.
Ironically, Zach Anderson and the Mavericks made more 3-pointers — 11-9 — during the down-to-the-wire clash, but the hometown Knights countered by making 17 of 26 shots from 2-point range to capture the nine-point decision.
Aiden Wichmann tossed in a team-best 25 points, including a pair of trifectas, while Cody Wichmann tallied 15 points on the strength of three 3-pointers for the Knights.
Anderson blistered the Tyler gymnasium nets for a game-leading seven 3-pointers to fuel his game-best 31-point performance for MCW. Anderson completed his double-double effort by garnering 10 rebounds to go with distributing three assists.
Mitchell Weber and Hunter Schmidt each dialed long distance twice for a pair of treys for the Mavericks. Weber finished with 17 points, five boards and three assists, while Schmidt generated eight points.
The Mavericks made 8 of 25 shots from 2-point distance, 11 of 28 behind the bonus arc and 9 of 11 at the free throw line.
Hayden Gravley and Blake Christianson each scored nine points for the Knights, who hit 9 of 26 attempts from behind the 3-point arc and 6 of 10 at the charity stripe.
RTR held a narrow 34-31 halftime lead before outscoring MCW by a 33-27 margin in the final 18 minutes.
Martin County West (4-5) travels to Cardinal Gym on Tuesday, Jan. 3, for a nonconference contest against Fairmont.
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (5-0) plays host to Tracy-Milroy-Balaton on Tuesday, Jan. 3, in Tyler.
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KwikTrip/BLC Invite
Minnesota Valley Lutheran 66, Fairmont 53 — Ben Pearson connected on three trifectas to help pace his game-high 17-point performance to propel the Chargers by the Cardinals by 13 points during the consolation semifinals of the KwikTrip/Bethany Lutheran College Holiday Invitational on Wednesday night on the Mankato-based campus.
Fairmont (0-4) faces New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (0-8) at 6 p.m. tonight at Younge Gym in the seventh-place game. St. Clair topped NRHEG by a 71-57 consolation semifinal decision. MVL (3-2) plays St. Clair at 8 p.m. tonight at Younge Gym for fifth place.
Kyler Flunker made three 3-pointers to fuel his 13-point effort for MVL, Cole Thompson tossed in 10 more points, while Ben Halverson and Will Kaesermann added eight points apiece in the win over Fairmont.
Levi Pooley generated 12 points and pocketed three steals to top Fairmont’s effort, while Hadan Toomer produced nine points and garnered seven rebounds.
David Maakestad netted nine points and distributed a team-high four assists for the Cardinals, Sawyer Tordsen pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds to go with six points, while Gavin Junkermeier and Blaze Geiger each supplied five points.
Fairmont made 18 of 46 field goals, including 3 of 14 from 3-point distance, and sank 14 of 26 free throws on the game.
Tordsen and Toomer led the Cardinals to a 40-30 rebounding advantage on the night.
MVL hit 25 of 62 shots from the floor, including 7 of 17 from 3-point range, and added a 9-for-14 effort at the charity stripe.
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Oliver Tordsen and Harmon Schrunk combined for 22 points to guide Fairmont to a 49-39 semifinal victory over Maple River during the junior varsity portion of the holiday tournament on Wednesday in Mankato.
Tordsen netted 12 points, Schrunk tallied 10 points, while teammates Nolan Schultze and Allon Chen chipped in seven points apiece.
Fairmont faces New Ulm at 3:30 p.m. today in the North Gym for the junior varsity championship on the Bethany Lutheran College campus.
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Maple River 60, Mankato Loyola 55 — Mason Schirmer topped a balanced scoring attack with 16 points to guide the Eagles to a five-point semifinal triumph over the Crusaders during the varsity holiday basketball tournament in Mankato on Wednesday night.
Maple River (8-1) plays Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (6-0) for the tournament championship at 8:30 p.m. tonight at North Gym.
Hayden Niebuhr tossed in 14 points for Maple River, Aaron Pawlitschek produced 11 points, while Will Sellers contributed 10 points.
Lawson Godfrey netted a game-best 17 points to top Loyola, Simon Morgan generated 14 points, while Carter Zimmerman delivered 11 points.
Mankato Loyola (6-1) faces New Ulm (5-1) in the third-place tournament game at 6:30 p.m. tonight at the North Gym.
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Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 63, New Ulm 61 — Jackson Brockmann and Gage McManemy each scored 15 points to help the Knights squeeze by the Eagles by two points during tournament semifinal action Wednesday night in Mankato.
Colton Benson delivered a game-high 20 points for New Ulm, while teammate Jimmy Osborne contributed 19 points.






