TAKING FLIGHT — Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther’s Eli Jensen elevates to drive around St. Clair’s Hunter Winkler (3) for a basket during Valley Conference action Monday night in Northrop. (Photo by Greg Abel)

NORTHROP — Freshman guard Eli Jensen came off the Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther bench in the second half to help narrow the Jaguars’ gap to five points against St. Clair on Monday night.

Junior guard Connor Whittet, however, had other plans for the visiting Cyclones during the final 12 minutes of the two Valley Conference basketball teams’ clash in Northrop.

Whittet blistered the nets for 10 of his game-best 30 points to trigger St. Clair’s pivotal 15-0 offensive avalanche that spanned 5 minutes on the scoreboard and rebuilt the Cyclones’ margin to 51-30.

Whittet also finished with seven rebounds and four steals, while teammate Austin Segal delivered 19 points, a game-high six steals and three assists to power St. Clair to a runaway 74-42 victory over the hometown Jaguars.

“Way too many turnovers,” Jaguars head coach Brian Borkenhagen said in reference to his team’s total of 25.

Trailing 30-21 at intermission, Jensen generated all 11 of his team-high points during the final 13 1/2 minutes of regulation.

After Borkenhagen called timeout at the 13:34 juncture of the second half and the Jaguars down 33-22, Jensen nailed a 3-pointer off one of Carson Hastad’s three assists. The quick-handed Jensen then picked off the Cyclones’ ensuing inbound pass, hit the gliding runner, drew the foul and converted the traditional 3-point play to whittle the Jaguars’ defici to 33-28.

Carter Bilitz, however, hit a timely left-corner trifecta for the Cyclones, but Keegan Hastad converted Carson Hastad’s inbound pass into a low-post leaner to keep the Jaguars within striking distance at 36-30.

Whittet, Dylan Blount and Segal countered by combining their skills to reel off 15 unanswered points to create an insurmountable lead by the time Jensen nailed a right-wing 3 for the Jaguars with 7 minutes to go.

Blount pocketed four of his co-team-best seven boards and garnered two of his three steals to trigger Whittet’s frenetic length-of-the-court drives. Segal provided a pair of steals-turned-assists during the run and nailed a trey for good measure.

Tyson Meinders came off the Jaguars’ bench to contribute 10 points, while Jackson Madsen collected six points and pulled down a team-leading 10 boards.

Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther (1-3) is idle until playing host to Madelia on Tuesday, Dec. 19, in Northrop.

St. Clair (2-1) plays host to Alden-Conger on Thursday night.

St. Clair   30-44–74

GTML      21-21–42

GHECTML (42)

Brudelie 1-5 0-0 2, Borkenhagen 0-3 0-0 0, Fox 1-5 1-1 3, Madsen 3-5 0-0 6, C. Hastad 1-6 2-6 4, Grathwohl 2-9 0-0 4, Meinert 3-8 3-4 10, Studer 0-1 0-0 0, Jensen 4-10 1-1 11, K. Hastad 1-1 0-1 2, Becker 0-1 0-0 0, Rosburg 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-55 7-13 42.

ST. CLAIR (74)

Segal 6-9 5-7 19, Prange 2-6 0-0 4, Blount 1-5 0-0 2, Whittet 10-18 9-11 30, Ward 3-6 0-0 6, Winkler 0-0 0-1 0, Bilitz 2-3 0-0 6, Anderson 1-1 0-0 2, Springer 1-1 0-0 2, Freitag 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 27-50 14-19 74.

3-pointers: St. Clair 6-15 (Segal and Bilitz 2 each, Whittet and Freitag 1 each); GHECTML 3-19 (Jensen 2, Meinert 1). Fouled out: Bilitz. Rebounds: St. Clair 35 (Whittet and Blount 7 each); GHECTML 27 (Madsen 10). Assists: St. Clair 12 (Segal and Ward 3 each); GHECTML 6 (C. Hastad 3). Steals: St. Clair 19 (Segal 6, Prange and Whittet 4 each); GHECTML 10.

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North Union 77, Northwood-Kensett 63 — Kody Irmiter generated a double-double performance and Preston Guerdet blistered the nets on 9-for-12 shooting from the field to guide the Warriors to a 14-point victory over the Vikings on Monday night in Northwood, Iowa.

Irmiter scored 15 points and pulled down a game-best 15 rebounds, while Guerdet poured in 20 points to help North Union extend its unbeaten streak to six in a row.

Grady Madden netted 12 points and doled out five assists for the Warriors, while Dan Fothergill collected 11 points, three assists and three steals.

Kyan Jones produced seven points, dished out a game-best nine assists and pocketed a game-high six steals for North Union, while teammate Aiden Lofstrom chipped in nine points.

The Warriors made 29 of 49 from 2-point range, 5 of 16 behind the 3-point arc and 4 of 8 at the free throw line.

North Union (6-0) plays host to Belmond-Klemme at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Armstrong.

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Cleveland 56, Martin County West 53 — Carson Lyons and Brennan Kortuem each netted 15 points to help the Clippers stave off the Mavericks by three points during Valley Conference action Monday night in Cleveland.

Hunter Schmidt scored 12 points and pocketed three steals for MCW, Jacob Wilmes and Jacob Clarke each delivered 12 points, while Kale Larson blocked three shots.

Martin County West (1-4) plays host to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial on Thursday night in Trimont.

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North Union 57, West Hancock 35 (Friday) — Aiden Lofstrom netted a double-double performance and Dan Fothergill topped a balanced attack with 13 points to propel the Warriors to a 22-point triumph over the Eagles on Friday night.

Lofstrom scored 11 points, hauled down 12 boards and pocketed four steals, while Fothergill pulled down six rebounds and made a game-best six steals to go with his point production.

Kody Irmiter netted 10 points and six rebounds for North Union, Kyan Jones contributed six points and five assists, Preston Guerdet tossed in six points, while Khael Jones doled out three assists.

The Warriors made 21 of 36 shots from 2-point distance for 58.3 percent, while sinking 12 of 21 at the free throw line.

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Girls Basketball

North Union 52, Northwood-Kensett 47 — Naomi Jones provided 16 points, eight rebounds and five steals to jumpstart the Warriors’ five-point margin of victory over the Vikings on Monday night in Northwood, Iowa.

Ainsley Ulrich matched Jones by netting 16 points and garnered four steals for North Union, Libby Stevens chalked up 11 points, while Olivia Merrill collected six points, nine rebounds, three steals and three assists.

The Warriors connected on 15 of 34 2-pointers, 5 of 16 from behind the 3-point arc and 7 of 20 at the free throw line.

North Union (4-2) plays host to Belmond-Klemme at 6 p.m. tonight in Armstrong in a Top of Iowa Conference game.

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Blue Earth Area 53, Medford 41 (Saturday) — Lola Lundquist and Katherine Armon packed a lethal 1-2 scoring punch to power the Bucs to a 12-point non-league victory over the Tigers on Saturday during the Maple River Invite in Mapleton.

Lundquist poured in a game-best 24 points, grabbed five rebounds and distributed four assists, while Armon produced 22 points, nine boards and four steals.

Madelyn Ferguson supplied seven rebounds for Blue Earth Area (1-4), which plays host to Fairmont on Friday night in a Big South Conference clash.

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Estherville-Lincoln Central 63, Jackson County Central 34 (Friday) — The Iowa Class 3A No. 4-ranked Midgets ended the Huskies’ season-opening winning streak by posting a 29-point win on Friday night in Estherville, Iowa.

Rylie Cother, who opened the campaign with three consecutive 30-plus point performances, netted 15 points to top the Huskies.

Kylee Wenzel contributed 10 points for Jackson County Central (3-1), which travels to Luverne tonight for a Big South Conference clash.

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North Union 58, West Hancock 48 (Friday) — Ainsley Ulrich erupted for a game-best 25 points to steer the Warriors to a 10-point win over the Eagles during Iowa prep action on Friday night.

Ulrich connected on four 3-pointers and distributed three assists, while teammate Libby Stevens netted 11 points, doled out six assists and pocketed five steals.

Olivia Merrill neared double-double territory by scoring nine points to complement grabbing eight rebounds for North Union. Merrill also pocketed four steals.

Naomi Jones contributed seven points and three assists to the Warriors’ winning ways.

North Union made 17 of 31 shots from 2-point range, 5 of 13 from behind the 3-point arc and just 9 of 25 free throws.