South O’Brien returned from the Christmas break to suffer its initial loss of the season. MMCRU turned a one-point halftime deficit into an eight-point lead after three quarters and went on to defeat the Wolverines 62-51 January 5 at Marcus. South O’Brien left the court with an 8-1 record, including 5-1 in the War Eagle Conference.
Brayson Mulder paced the Royals with 22 points. Wyatt Alesch popped in four of MMCRU’s five three-point baskets and finished with 13 points. Overall the Royals were 19-of-49 from the field for 39 percent and 19-of-29 from the free throw line.
The scoring for South O’Brien showed Derek Paulsen with 20 points, Ben Woodall with 13, David Bottjen with nine, Willie Conley with five and Justice Frerk with four. Jaden Kreber was the assists leader with three. The Wolverines shot 34 percent (19-of-56) from the floor. They were just 2-of-18 from beyond the arc and sank 11 of 18 charity tosses.
MMCRU finished with a 40-27 advantage on the boards. Bottjen grabbed six rebounds for the Wolverines and Frerk five. Paulsen made five steals. Each team was guilty of 12 turnovers.
S. O’Brien
8 16 10 17 – 51
MMCRU
13 10 19 20 – 62