Century Grabs Early Lead, Defeats Owatonna in Boys Hoops

Rochester Century jumped to a 12-2 lead over Owatonna Friday night and went on to win the boys' basketball game 72-57. The Panthers led 41-24 at the half. Jack Hanson led the Huskies with 14 points. Evan Dushek had 10 and Sol Havelka eight points. The Huskies committed about 20 turnovers.

The Huskies (4-10, 3-7 Big Nine) face back-to-back top-ten ranked teams as they host No. 8 Northfield Saturday night at 7:30 pm and entertain No. 5 Mankato East Tuesday, January 29.

In other Big Nine boys' basketball Friday, East (12-1, 10-0) completed a season sweep of Rochester John Marshall (8-6, 6-4) 72-65, Mayo whipped Mankato West 87-60 and Austin topped Winona 68-51.

In Big Nine girls' basketball, Austin beat Winona 78-34, Mankato West beat Mayo 73-64, John Marshall topped Mankato East 61-44 and Faribault handled Albert Lea 61-38.

The Blooming Prairie boys (11-3) earned a section win over Kingsland Friday 61-53, building a ten-point lead early and maintaining it much of the night. Kingsland closed to within five midway through the second half, but the Blossoms pushed it back out to 13 or 14 points. Coach Nate Piller says Kaden Thomas had a good night with 18 points and rebounds at some crucial times.

Other local boys basketball saw WEM beat NRHEG 72-55, Triton won at Kasson-Mantorville 64-54 and Hayfield beat Medford 75-40.

The Triton girls team had a tough night against the Komets, falling 68-36. Kasson-Mantorville jumped out to 12-4 lead and dominated on the offensive boards. KM sophomore Mya Suess collected 25 rebounds to go with her 17 points. The Cobras hosted Shooting for a Cure cancer fundraising events during the night.

Other girls basketball Friday found Maple River over Blooming Prairie 50-38 and WEM edged NRHEG 73-71 in overtime.

The Owatonna girls play at Northfield Saturday, January 26 with a 1 pm varsity start.