Miners sixth in holiday tourney
BY ALYSSA MEIER
Editor
The Mandan Holiday basketball tournament would be a mixed bag for Wilton-Wing, with the Miners walking away with two losses and one win.
The Miners would head into round one of the tournament on Dec. 27, facing off against the Bottineau Braves. Wilton-Wing head coach Brad Brekke said the Braves proved to be a worthy competitor, and the Miners weren’t able to reach the same bar during the game.
“Bottineau had a lot of different guys that can score and they hit shots,” Brekke said. “I thought we did a decent job on offense the first half, but the second half, we had to many turnovers.”
Wilton-Wing would lose the first game of the tournament 51-75, and look for redemption the next day in round two. Brekke said the team saw fewer turnovers and a stronger offense during the game against New Salem, especially in comparison to the Miner’s season opener against the Holsteins.
“Against New Salem, we took care of the ball better this time when we played them,” Brekke said. “I thought we ran much better zone offense against them then the first time we played them.”
The boys in purple would secure a lead over the Holsteins and eventually take the 55-47 victory in round two, sending them to a fight for fifth against Turtle Lake-Mercer-McClusky.