Laker firepower sinks Pirates in opening round of tournament

Five Lakers found double digit scoring Tuesday, March 3 as they defeated the Gilman Pirates 97-66 in the opening round of the WIAA Division 5 basketball tournament.
Playing on their home court the Lakers took command early and never looked back. Jumping out to a 16-4 lead the Lakers forced the Pirates into a timeout at the 13:51 mark. Four Lakers found the scoring column during the run, led by Brendan Strenke’s two threes.
Gilman’s Andrew Hecker, who earned scoring honors on the evening with 39, hit a deuce coming out of the timeout. A putback by Cody Hassel then sparked a 17-0 Laker run that put this one on ice. Casey Kahl hit a pair of treys, and added a two, to lead the run.
The Pirates didn’t go away and responded with an 8-0 run before the Lakers closed out the half with an 11-5 burst, entering the half enjoying a 44-19 advantage.
Blake Thill hit a pair of aerials from beyond the arch while Brendan Strenke added another as the Lakers opened up their lead to 55-24 to start the second half.
The Laker lead was 65-33 at the 11:36 mark when Lucas Torgerson sparked a 9-2 run by hitting a three and a pair of deuces, pushing the advantage to 74-35. It was all cruise control from there on out as the Lakers ran away with the thirty-one point win.
Casey Kahl led the Lakers with 26. Lucas Torgerson had 19, Blake Thill had 17 while Brendan Strenke and Joel Humphrey chipped in 11 and 10 respectively.
In addition to Hecker’s game-high 39, Blake Wisocky added 14 for the Pirates.
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