Aitkin at Pequot Lakes

Recap

After a close first half, Pequot Lakes pulled away in the second half to win their fifth straight over the Aitkin Gobblers.

The visiting Gobblers had a strong start, scoring the first eight points of the game. They led all the way until 3:30 in the first half when the Patriots scored to make it 22-21. At the half, Pequot Lakes held a 27-26 lead.

The second half was pretty much all Patriots. An 8-3 run started things off, and Pequot Lakes steadily pulled further and further away. Aitkin struggled against the zone defense of the Patriots, their leading scorer, Gus Sanford, got saddled with foul trouble, and the Pequot Lakes offense was cooking. Pequot Lakes outscored Aitkin 40-20 in the second half for the final result of 67-46.

The Patriots improve to 19-5 overall, 8-1 in the Mid-State Conference. They finish the regular season at Bemidji tomorrow night and at Park Rapids Friday. Aitkin (9-14, 3-5 MSC) wraps up regular season play Friday at home vs. Staples-Motley on KKIN-AM “The Gobbler” 930/103.1 and yourliveevent.com.

Team Stats: Turnovers- PL 13, Aitkin 25; Rebounds (off.) – Aitkin 31 (10), PL 27 (10); Free Throws – Aitkin 12/17, PL 5/11

Aitkin Leaders: Gus Sanford 16 pts; Elijah Christy 11pts, Zack MacDonald 6 pts, 3 assts
PL Leaders: Ryan Harmala 18 pts, 3 assts; Sam Rysavy 16 pts; Gavin Kennen 10 pts, 4 assts; Eli Laposky 8 pts, 5 assts, 3 stls

Postgame Interview with PL Coach Rich Spiczka: