Milbank Area Cagers Earn Second Win Of Season

The Milbank Area boys basketball team secured its second win of the season with a 67-60 victory over Groton Area in Northeast Conference play Friday, January 8, on the road. The locals improved to 2-4 with the win.

“The guys really played well without the ball,” commented Bulldog head coach Matt Bastian. “We played good team basketball throughout the whole game.”

Milbank Area got off to a good start and went ahead 17-14. Groton Area came back to overtake the lead at 34-31 at the midway mark. The Bulldogs used a huge third quarter to outscore the Tigers 20-7 and soar ahead 51-41 heading into the final stanza where they held on to the victory.

Jonny Ash led the Dawgs offensive attack with 21 points, six rebounds and one turnover. Nolan Foss followed closely with 16 points and four boards. Nate Bien tallied 13 points, seven rebounds and three turnovers. Kyle Montag chipped in with six points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one turnover while Mitch Quade added six points and one turnover. Jacob Jackson notched three points, two rebounds, two assists and one turnover. Tanner Gauer rounded out the scoring for Milbank Area with two points, one rebound, one assist and two turnovers.

Also contributing for the Bulldogs were Matt Lenards, three rebounds and one turnover, and Riley Wollschlager, one rebound and one turnover.
Milbank Area was on fire making 22 of 42 shot attempts from the field for 58 percent shooting on the night. The Bulldogs wrapped up the win with 32 rebounds, four steals, four assists and 13 turnovers.

Groton Area made just 35 percent of its shots from the field, making 22 of 58 attempts and ended with 25 rebounds, 13 steals, three assists and five turnovers.

Milbank Area 37, Ortonville 50
The Bulldogs hosted Ortonville, MN, Monday, January 11, in double header action at the Milbank Armory and suffered a disappointing 50-37 loss. Milbank Area fell to 2-5 on the season with the loss.

Milbank Area got out to a slow start and trailed 11-0 midway through the opening quarter. The Bulldogs scored its first bucket of the game with three minutes left in the first and trailed 18-6 at the end of the quarter.

Jonny Ash provided a spark to start the second period with a big three-pointer. Milbank Area continued to battle and cut the deficit to 30-16 at the midway mark. Both teams struggled to get its shots to fall in the third period, but the Dawgs came to within 10 points. The locals would not come any closer and could not overcome the early deficit.

Ash led the Bulldogs with nine points, four rebounds, one steal and two turnovers. Foss followed with eight points and six rebounds while Jackson added eight points and four boards. Bien chipped in with four points, four rebounds and three turnovers, and Lenards had four points and one rebound in the contest. Rounding out the scoring for Milbank Area were Montag, two points, one rebound, one steal, one assist and two turnovers, and Quade, two points and one assist. Wollschlager had one steal, and Cody Dockter grabbed two rebounds.

Milbank Area made just 25 percent of its shots from the field, making 13 of 42 attempts. The Dawgs finished the night with 31 rebounds, four steals, two assists and eight turnovers.

Ortonville went 21 for 49 from the field for 43 percent shooting in the contest. The Trojans collected the win with 31 rebounds, seven steals, two assists, one blocked shot and five turnovers.

Milbank Area will be back in action Friday, January 15, for a double header in Britton.