The Warriors of Alta-Aurelia walked into the Panther Pit of Storm Lake St. Mary’s, with each team dropping over 60 points with relatively identical scores. The Girls won 61-24, while the Boys captured a 61-22victory.
We’ll start off with the Girls, which despite the final score, it wasn’t a fast start for Head Coach Dana Christen’s team. In fact, St. Mary’s came out aggressive with scoring the first four points and forcing four quick turnovers from the Warriors. That led to a quick timeout. However, after the break, Alta-Aurelia stormed out ending the first quarter on a 13-2 run to lead 13-6. They would double up in the second, while holding the Panthers to three to enter halftime with a 26-9 lead.
The third quarter was where they pulled away, tallying 19 points with a defensive effort of allowing four points. Tack on another 16 and that is where the 61 final points stems from. Senior Guard Brielle Engelmann was the captain of the Warriors with 24 points. Having a nice second half wasSophomore Nora Peterson, who added 14 points, but more importantly was able to garner about six steals leading to easy fast break points.
Leading scorer of the Panthers Sydney Hurd did have 10 points, but she had to lay off defensively in the second half due to early foul trouble, as she was called for four, all in the first half. Alta-Aurelia now improves to 7-3 overall, as they are in the mist of a busy four-game stretch, with now two down. Next up for them will be a matchup against the Storm Lake Tornadoes on Thursday, which will be broadcast on Mix 101.7 KAYL. As for Storm Lake St. Mary’s, they drop to 1-7 overall and will have their Homecoming Game on Friday versus East Sac County.
For Head Coach Scott Randall of the Boys Warriors’ team, they grabbed the lead early and never looked back. Opposite of the Girls, Alta-Aurelia Boys jumped in front with the first four points of the game and kept the pressure on the Panthers with their full court defense. The Warriors took a 26-11 lead into half and they also had a nice third quarter, where they manage to rack up 22 points for a 48-18 advantage heading into the fourth. From there, Randall pulled his starters and got a nice contribution from each player that stepped out on the court.
It was Alta-Aurelia’s Braden Sonkson, who led the way with 12 points with Ayden Dullea right behind at 11. Also, Cale Brechwald and Cameron Stites chipped in with six apiece. The leading scorer for Storm Lake St. Mary’s was Bennett Smith with seven (7), Aidan Cavazos (6), Lane Carlson (6) and John Heitman with three (3).
Alta-Aurelia Boys improve to 7-2 overall and have won five straight games. They will be taking on the Tornadoes of Storm Lake Thursday with the broadcast on KAYL. Storm Lake St. Mary’s (0-8) will be looking for their first win this Friday as they host East Sac County for Homecoming.
