Wildcats win close against ACL, blow out ECI

Strong starts helped the Blair-Taylor boys basketball team to two road wins last week, though the final margins ended up being quite different.

B-T jumped out to a big lead against Alma Center Lincoln last week Tuesday but needed a late steal and basket to sneak out a 43-41 win. On Friday, the Wildcats put up 48 points in the first half of a 77-58 win over Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran.

The wins put B-T at 16-5 overall and the victory over ACL put the teams in a tie for second place in the Dairyland Conference Small Division with 13-4 records. Cochrane-Fountain City has clinched the DC-Small title, entering the final stretch with a 16-0 mark.

B-T plays at Augusta on Thursday then will return home for a game against Independence/Gilmanton this coming Monday before closing out the regular season with a game at Osseo-Fairchild next Thursday. 

B-T 43 AC Lincoln 41

A steal off of one of the best players in the conference led to a transition basket and a win for Blair-Taylor.

While B-T had a big lead early, ACL battled back and the game was tied at 41 late. The Hornets had the ball with about 20 seconds left before B-T’s Ethan Kniseley left his defensive assignment to strip the ball from ACL’s Jace Paul.

Kniseley raced down the court, but two ACL players contested his layup attempt, causing it to miss. CJ Dummer was there for the rebound, he put the ball back up and in to give the Wildcats the lead with about seven seconds left. 

Lincoln’s last-second shot was deflected as the buzzer sounded. 

B-T’s defense on Paul was crucial to the win. The Hornets star has averaged more than 21 points per game this season and has more than 1,700 points for his career. However, the Wildcats limited him to nine points on four-of-10 shooting.

The Wildcats stormed out of the gates, scoring the first seven points in the game and going ahead 15-2 on consecutive fastbreak layups by Dummer and Kniseley. B-T held a 17-10 advantage at halftime. 

“Man, that first half saw some great defense on both sides, it was tough to score,” B-T Coach Randy Storlie said. 

B-T went ahead by 16 with nine minutes to play, but the Hornets got going offensively and actually had a two-point lead late. B-T scored to tie the game at 41 with 30 seconds left. 

“I am so proud of our guys, Lincoln is really good and this was a huge win for our team,” Storlie said.

Hunter Wagner scored a game-high 14 points while both Dummer and Ryan Oldendorf scored 11 and Kniseley finished with seven. 

The victory was the 661st of Storlie’s career, making him the third-winningest high school boys basketball coach in state history. 

B-T 77 ECI 58

The Wildcats exploded for 48 points in the first half and cruised for a lopsided win. 

“We just came out tonight and played well right from the start,” Storlie said. “I thought Immanuel played well, but we just kept the pressure on them and took complete control of the contest.”

The Lancers scored 35 points, but B-T’s defense prevented ECI from getting any closer in the second half. 

Wagner scored 24 points to lead B-T while Kniseley finished with 15, Oldendorf added 14 and Shramek scored 13.