The Valley City Hi-Liners were already facing long odds to claim the two seed for the upcoming Region One tournament, with their last game being against undefeated Kindred. Unfortunately for the Hi-Liners, they would stumble at the first hurdle as a Huskies three-point bombardment lifted them to a 75-64 win over Valley City.

The threes would be flowing early and often for the Huskies as they splashed home four of them in the opening frame and put up a staggering 26 points. Oddly enough, it would be a player who didn’t make a three-pointer that would be the leading scorer after one, as Wahpeton guard Brayden Steffens sliced his way to ten points. The Hi-Liners would respond with a solid effort inside from center Talon Larson, but even his ten-point surge left the Hi-Liners trailing 26-17 after one.

The second quarter would be a stalemate as both teams struggled to match their efficiency from the first quarter. The Hi-Liners would use the early scoring of Zack Sykora to cut the deficit down to size. Unfortunately, the Huskies would soon regroup as five players would score for the Huskies in the quarter, taking a 41-31 lead into the half.

The third quarter would again begin optimistically for the Hi-Liners as Sykora’s effort cut the deficit to five points within the first two minutes of the third. But, the deadeye shooting of Wahpeton Bjorn Kubela would extinguish any flame the Hi-Liners had as he finished the game with six makes from behind the arc. Another late three-pointer by Wahpeton Treyton Mauch would cement the Huskies to a 62-48 in the fourth quarter.

The fourth was a classic example of too little too late as the Hi-Liners would outscore the Huskies 16-13 in the quarter, but a glacial offensive pace by the Huskies slowly ate away at the clock. Eventually, the offense ran dry as the Huskies would repentantly keep the Hi-Liners at arm’s length. Despite Zack Sykora finishing with a game-high 24 points, he could not overcome the ten made three=pointers by the Huskies as Wahpeton rolled to a 75-64 win.

The next game for the Valley City boys will be Monday, February 26th, at 7:30 pm, as they’ll be on the road to take on the Kindred Vikings. The next game you can hear on KOVC will be tomorrow as the Hi-Liner girls will square off with the Carrington Cardinals at Mayville St. at 1:00 pm for the right to go to the State Tournament in Minot.

 

Ivy Real Estate Group Player of the Game: Zack Sykora