Detroit Lakes won its seventh consecutive game and scored a big Section 8AAA win at Albany Saturday pulling away in the second half for a 61-51 victory.
The Lakers started off hot opening an 18-8 lead, but Albany rallied back with a 13-4 run to cut the DL lead to a point at halftime 22-21.
“We didn't close out the half the way we wanted,” Laker head coach Robb Flint said. “We regrouped a little bit in the second half.”
Starting center Ben Hokanson got in early foul trouble and sat out the majority of the first half.
Briton Thompson played some key minutes and Trey Lyngaas drained his first two three-pointers of the season as the Albany defense sagged allowing the Lyngaas open looks from outside.
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“They weren’t coming out there,” Flint said. “Trey hit his first one and had some confidence rolling. He’s capable of knocking those shots down. Briton worked his tail off.”
Sam Champa and Lyngaas logged more minutes making up for Hokanson’s absence. Thompson filled in to give the two posts a breather.
Corbin Duncan continued to play well in the backcourt leading the Lakers with 12 points, along with Ryan Cihak and Lyngaas, who each added a dozen points.
DL’s offense got going in the second half as the Lakers scored 39 of their 61 points in the final 18 minutes.
The loss was only the second of the season for Albany (10-2).
Detroit Lakes holds the best record in all of Class 3A at 12-1, and while DL has garnered appreciation from a couple unofficial statewide polls, the Lakers have yet to make an appearance in the official state rankings.
That should change as the wins keep piling up for the senior-dominated team.
“We’ve put ourselves in good position. We still have play well. Last week was big for us to go and get both of those wins.”
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DL defeated Fergus Falls on the road Tuesday 64-45 to notch another important section win. DL is 4-0 in section play.
DL plays away at Crosby-Ironton Friday and home versus Pequot Lakes resuming Mid-State Conference games where DL is 5-0 in first play. DL is looking for the season sweep against both teams. Two wins should secure the conference championship.
The next two Laker games are back-to-back nights against section foes Little Falls and Sartell-St. Stephen January 23-24, both at home. Victories in those games should secure a top-seed in the section playoffs.
Section 8-3A is a coaches vote for seeding, one of the few sections that does not use the QRF, due mainly to how spread out Section 8 is geographically, combined with the fact teams do not play the entire section during the regular season. The QRF does not equate to a fair judgment of all the teams, according to Flint.
DL will not play Sauk-Rapids-Rice (7-7) this year, but plays six of the seven section teams during the season.
The Lakers play section and conference opponents seven of the next eight games and have a chance to control their own destiny in both standings. The end of the year brings Alexandria to town Feb. 20, which could be a preview of an important playoff game.
“Our confidence level is extremely high and the guys are playing really good basketball. We need to stay hungry and can't be satisfied with 12-1.”
Laker results
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Detroit Lakes at Albany, Saturday, Jan. 10
DL 22 39 - 61
ALB 21 30 - 51
DL: Duncan 12, Champa 2, Hedstrom 7, Priem 3, Lyngaas 12, Hokanson 9, Cihak 12, Thompson 4
ALB: Raeker 9, Birr 8, Weber 6, Tomsche 11, Anderson 8, Hartmann 6, Terres 3
