Win over Mel-Min puts Norse boys in control of DC-Large

The Whitehall boys basketball team picked up three wins last week, including one on Friday that gave them a two-game lead in the Dairyland Conference Large Division.

The Norse entered the week tied with Melrose-Mindoro atop the division, but the teams went in opposite directions. After a nonconference win over Osseo-Fairchild on Monday, the Norse topped Alma Center Lincoln, 61-27, on Tuesday while the Mustangs fell to Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran. That put Whitehall alone in first place and that’s where they would stay, beating Mel-Min 54-52 on Friday.

Whitehall (14-4, 10-1) has won seven straight and 10 of their last 11. Cochrane-Fountain City (8-3) is now in second place, half a game ahead of Mel-Min (7-3). Blair-Taylor is in fourth (6-4) followed by Augusta (6-5) and Eleva-Strum (2-9). 

The Norse played a nonconference game at Fall Creek on Monday of this week and will head to Blair-Taylor on Thursday. This coming Tuesday they play at Augusta and will be at Eleva-Strum next week Friday.

Whitehall 92 O-F 66

A monster game from junior Devon McCune had the Norse in control.

McCune scored 41 points, believed to be among the most scored by a Norse player in school history. He also pulled down seven rebounds and had four assists.

The Norse also got 14 points from Isaac Skoyen while Jonathan Thorn scored nine, Ian Pank and Preston Schroeder both scored eight, Brayden Lisowski scored five, Seth Lambeck and Aidan Sonsalla both finished with three and both Michael Spare and Luke Beighley scored two.

Whitehall 61 ACL 27

The Norse scored the first 12 points of the game and never looked back.

Sonsalla made two three pointers and had a layup as he scored the first eight points himself. After the Hornets got on the board with a free throw, the Norse scored three more to take a 15-1 lead.

The Hornets got back within 10 at 17-7, but the Norse quickly regained control as they cruised for the win.

No individual stats for Whitehall were reported to the Times.

Whitehall 54 Mel-Min 52

Luke Beighley’s game-winner with 10 seconds left capped a comeback win that put the Norse in control of the DC-Large.

Whitehall trailed 29-21 at halftime and was down 38-26 with 12 minutes left in the game. The Norse still trailed by nine with nine minutes left before making a push with two straight baskets and a 6-1 run capped by a basket by Isaac Skoyen with 6:30 left.

Jonathan Thorn knocked in a three pointer to put the Norse within one at 44-43 with five minutes remaining, but the Mustangs scored six of the next eight to take a 50-45 lead with about three minutes left.

Whitehall’s final push began at the free throw line where McCune made four straight to make the score 50-49 with 2:12 remaining.

After a Mel-Min miss, Skoyen grabbed the rebound and McCune drove to the basket before drawing a foul. The Whitehall junior made two more free throws to put his team ahead 51-50 with 1:16 showing on the clock.

The lead would be short-lived, however as Mel-Min’s Tristan McRoberts got to the basket and scored to put his team ahead.

Whitehall’s chances looked slim as the Mustangs got a steal with 40 seconds remaining, but the Norse stole the ball back 14 seconds later. 

After a time out, Whitehall got the ball to Beighley in the post before the junior knocked in a fall-away to put his team ahead by a point with 10 seconds left. The Mustangs pushed the ball up the floor, but a three point shot fell short and Ian Pank grabbed the rebound.

Pank made a free throw to put Whitehall ahead by three with three seconds left. Mel-Min didn’t get another shot off as the ensuing inbound pass went out of bounds. 

McCune put together another big game for the Norse, finishing with 26 points, including six late free throws. Skoyen scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds while Pank had seven points and 15 rebounds. Beighley finished with six points and nine rebounds with Thorn adding five points and Preston Schroeder scoring two.