Milbank Cagers Win a Close One At Florence-Henry

The Bulldogs’ varsity team defeated Florence-Henry, 56-53, on the road on Friday, January 20. The Falcons’ Mehki Keller piled up 28 points, but Milbank’s Garrett Mertens and Jaxson Wildung fought back with a combined total of 30 points to keep things interesting. 

Mertens bingoed on four three-pointers on his way to 15 points, and he took down six rebounds. Wildung added five rebounds — four of them for the offense — to his 15 points.  Joe Schulte chalked up 12 points, four rebounds, and made a block. Yohanna Ajwanga dropped in nine points, pulled down seven rebounds, and also had one block. 

Graham Lightfield hit one from beyond the arc for three points. He made one rebound. Max Lightfield added two points and three rebounds.
Logan Diede, head coach for Milbank, said, “We started very strong and built a double-digit lead, but Florence-Henry came out in the third quarter and closed the gap, then took the lead. We just kept competing and playing until we got a couple of timely threes from Graham Lightfield and Garrett Mertens. I’m proud of how we bounced back from adversity and got the win on the road against a quality team.”

The Bulldogs shot 49 percent from the floor, including 30 percent from beyond the arc. The Dawgs nailed nine of their 14 free throws for 64 percent.

The Falcons hit 43 percent of their shots, including 25 percent from long range. They brought down 11 of their free shots for 79 percent.
Keller, Florence-Henry’s top scorer, also had four rebounds. Peyton Roe contributed 12 points. Ty Bergh tallied seven.

Diede concluded, “We need to continue to get better against pressure to avoid problematic turnovers and we will!” 

See the Bulldogs in action again on Thursday, January 26. They host Deuel in a doubleheader. Don’t miss the halftime show during the boys’ varsity game, when the third-grade boys scrimmage. The third-grade girls also scrimmage at halftime during the girls’ varsity game.JV Game.

JV: Milbank 45 vs. Florence-Henry 41 The Bulldogs’ JV team racked up another win when they defeated the Florence-Henry Falcons 45-41 on January 20.

Braylen Bowsher drove in 11 points and pulled down three rebounds. Emmett Hanson put up seven points and added 10 rebounds. Ryan Keeton piled up nine points and contributed two rebounds. Josh Pederson had five points.

Mason Meister and Este Abrego-Gonzalez each recorded four points. Meister had two rebounds; Abrego-Gonzalex had one. Jack Howard hit three points and brought down three rebounds. Bryan Meyer dropped in one field goal.

Milbank shot 42.5 percent from the floor, including 39 percent from beyond the arc. They hit four of their six free throws — all in the second half — for nearly 67 percent.

Florence-Henry’s Logan Vavruska drove in 20 points. James Schrueder was next at seven. Carson Vavruska and Tristyn Summer made four points apiece. Tate Hartley and Logan Koll each made three points.

The Falcon’s connected on 37 percent of their shots, including 47 percent from three-point range. They downed five of their eight free throws for 62.5 percent.

See the JV Bulldogs in action again on Thursday, January 26. They host Deuel in a doubleheader. Don’t miss the halftime show during the boys’ varsity game, when the third-grade boys scrimmage. The third-grade girls also scrimmage at halftime during the girls’ varsity game.

C Game: Milbank 45 vs, Florence-Henry 22 The Bulldogs’ C team blew out Florence-Henry with a score of 45-22 on January 20 in an away game.

Charlie Peery led the way with nine points. All of them were three-point missiles. Ryan Keeton and Este Abrego-Gonzalez each put away eight points. Abrego-Gonzalez added two rebounds to his totals. Ethan Owen recorded six points. Layten Osowski had three. Micah Sayer also made three points in one shot. Noah Falk, Devon Mueller, Garrett Weber, and Howie Zemlicka added two points apiece.

The Bulldogs hit 46 percent of their shots, including 29 percent of their three-pointers. They knocked in four of seven free shots for 57 percent.
The Falcons hit 45 percent from the floor and put in four of their 14 free throws for 29 percent.

See the Bulldogs in action again on Thursday, January 26. They host Deuel in a doubleheader. Don’t miss the halftime show during the boys’ varsity game, when the third-grade boys scrimmage. The third-grade girls also scrimmage at halftime during the girls’ varsity game.

Photos: Joe Schulte puts in an easy basket. Bottom – Garrett Mertens brings the ball up the court.