Oakes, ND (NewsDakota.com) – The Oakes Tornadoes couldn’t keep pace with the #7 team in the state as the Linton-HMB Lions did just enough to pull ahead in the 2nd half to win 64-53.

The game started extremely close with both teams keeping pace in the first quarter as Oakes was led by a red hot Eddie Garza, who went 3/3 for 6 points, and the Lions were lead by Jace Jochim and Justin Tschosik, who each scored 5 points respectively. Linton-HMB led at the end of the quarter 16-13.

Oakes would continue to battle in the 2nd quarter with Trey Skoglund getting in on the action and helping Oakes to a 1 point lead at the half. The score was 29-28. The Tornadoes in the first half shot 13/23 from the field and were led by Garza who had 10 in the first half.

The 3rd quarter did not go well for Oakes however as they’d only go 4/12 from the field scoring a total of 10 points as Linton-HMB started to come alive and they took a 46-39 lead at the end of the quarter. They would not let that lead go as they would continue to pound Oakes in the 4th. Oakes would keep battling and pull the game back to within 3 however every 3 ball from the Tornadoes was answered by one of the Lions which prevented the come-back. Oakes would fall 64-53.

The leading scorer on the night was Eddie Garza with 16 points, he went 8/13 from the field and earned himself the Bank North Player of the Game. Beau Thorpe had 15 and went 5/14 from the field. Trey Skoglund had 13 going 6/10 and Roddek Schmit had 11 going 7/10 from the field and 2/2 from the stripe. As a team Oakes went 23/48 from the field and 2/2 from the foul line. The Lions were led by Jace Jochim (14 points, 6/16) and Gentry Richter (14 points, 4/8 & 3/6 FT). The Lions went 25/54 from the floor and 6/10 on free throws.

The Tornadoes now fall to 2-3 on the year as they reset for January 2nd, 2024 when they’ll travel to Ashley to take on the RV South Border Mustangs. Pregame starts at 6:45 on KDDR the Tornado.