Cardinals hold on for two big basketball wins

The Staples-Motley boys basketball team took early leads in two games, then held on for the win, Jan. 31 against Osakis and Feb. 2 at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton.

“I stressed to the guys that this time of year we have to be working on our playoff mindset, we couldn’t afford to come out slow,” said Coach Micheal Poncelet.

Against Osakis, the Cardinals were short-handed with missing players and one of the players got injured early. “They really struggled against our press but we got tired with the short rotation,” said Poncelet. The team’s 10 point lead was reduced to three by halftime.

In the second half, Staples-Motley fell behind for a stretch. “We were not active in our half court and we allowed them back in it,” said Poncelet.

The Cardinals regained the lead and held on late, despite missing seven straight free throws that could have sealed it. The team was also cold from the outside, hitting just three of 16 from three point range.

Gavin Smith led the team with 22 points and added 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Trey Skeesick had 8 rebounds and two blocked shots, while Josh Lombard was active on defense with five steals.

Against DGF, Staples-Motley jumped out to a 19 point lead at halftime. They kept the double-digit lead until late in the game when DGF hit some outside shots to make the final score look close. 

“Overall, it was a great week for our team,” said Poncelet, “hopefully we can carry over this momentum.”

Team results

Staples-Motley 62, Osakis 57

Scoring: Gavin Smith 22, Josh Lombard 12, Jack Fietek 10, Trey Skeesick 7 Derek Kennedy 5, Max Giza 4

Staples-Motley 77, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 73

Smith 30, Skeesick 18, Fietek 9, Lombard 9, Kennedy 3, Mason Rychner 3, Giza 3, Brayden Losh 2