LESTER PRAIRIE – Lester Prairie boys basketball coach Andrew Dahl will be the first one to tell you his team didn’t play their best. He’ll also tell you they battled.
When things didn’t go their way early on in their matchup with Le Sueur-Henderson, the Bulldogs didn’t give up. They kept battling and that ultimately kept their conference title hopes alive as they rallied for a 60-56 win over the Giants in overtime Friday night.
“It wasn’t our best performance, but we made some plays when we had to,” Dahl said. “We got some stops, made some free throws when we needed to, and took care of the ball. Hopefully, we can build on that and keep finding ways to keep closing out close games. I think it’s good for us to be in competitive and close games.”
Lester Prairie trailed by 10 points early in the second half, but there was never any panic. Even when shots weren’t falling, the Bulldogs stayed focused. An 11-2 run helped them get right back in the game, and after reaching the bonus, the Bulldogs took advantage. After a putback from Alek Hodny gave the Bulldogs their first lead since 12-11 in the first half, Lester Prairie would make just one field goal the rest of the way in regulation and overtime and still find a way to win. 15 of the final 17 points of the game for the Bulldogs came from the free-throw line as they took advantage of their aggressiveness when the shots just weren’t falling.
“We were trying to be aggressive and attack the hoop and look for layups or dump-offs,” Dahl said. “We ended up taking it strong to the hoop and got some calls which was nice. We executed for the most part at the line.”
Lester Prairie’s final 12 points came from the free-throw line. Jack Behning knocked down four-straight free throws in the overtime period to seal it, a refreshing change after falling short in overtime last week against Belle Plaine.
“We took care of the ball at the end,” Dahl said. “We didn’t have any turnovers when we tried to kill some clock. We took care of the ball and made a free throw or two to seal it. It was fun to see.”
With the win, the Bulldogs moved to 5-1 in the Minnesota River Conference and sit in the top spot alongside Belle Plaine. With one matchup left with the Tigers, every game for Lester Prairie will have a playoff feel to it as they look to win the conference title in their first year in the MRC.
“We love having close games,” Dahl said. “With us being the newbies in the conference, it’s kind of fun to come in and set the tone and show we can compete with these teams. Our goal is to win the conference. To come away with a win in a battle like this is a good thing to see from our guys.”
While Behning led the way with a team-high 20 points in the win, Connor Radtke also continued to play well for the Bulldogs as he added 15 points. Tanner Scheevel was also in double figures with 10 points while Andrew Aguilar, Hodny, and Donovan Harrison also provided big minutes off the bench in the win.
“We had a couple of guys step up,” Dahl said. “Andrew hit a big three and played some pretty good defense. Alek will come in and battle on the boards. Donovan will come in and hit a shot now and then and take some charges for us. We’re not super deep, but when those guys come in and get some minutes, it’s fun to see them contribute for us.”
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Follow Kip Kovar on Twitter: @Kovar_HJSports