DETROIT LAKES – Pequot Lakes pulled away from the Detroit Lakes boys basketball team midway through the first half and never looked back. On Tuesday night, the show belonged to Patriots’ junior guard Eli Laposky and his 28 points in a 30-point victory.
The Patriots (15-4) moved into a tie for first place in the Mid-State Conference standings with Detroit Lakes (7-11) after handing the Lakers a 78-48 loss. Pequot’s win avenged a 78-68 loss at home to Detroit Lakes on Jan. 18. This time, the Patriots brought their shooters in a dominating victory.
“They made shots, and we didn’t,” Detroit Lakes head coach Brett Maass said. “They played with so much more energy than we did. It’s not acceptable. We obviously had a long night last night and a long road trip. At the same time, they’re high school kids, and they should be able to get up for a big-time game like this against a good team. It’s pretty disappointing.”
Pequot went on a 16-4 run to take a 27-16 lead midway through the first half. From there, Laposky caught fire. He hit three triples in the final 7:34 of the first half to help the Patriots take a 35-23 lead into the locker room.
Laposky was even better in the second half. He nailed five of his eight three-pointers, recording a game-high 28 points.
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“He’s a great shooter who’s obviously put in the time,” Maass said. “He’s a great scorer. We just had to find him. At times, we lost him out there. We knew that he had the capability of doing that. We have to communicate with each other and find him when he’s open.”
Detroit Lakes cut into the big lead late in the half before Pequot ended the game on a 16-5 run. Along with some offensive struggles, the Lakers had a hard time competing with the Patriots’ size in the post.
Both Pequot and Detroit Lakes have a 5-1 conference record with four Mid-State Conference games against Staples-Motley (6-14), Aitkin (6-12), Park Rapids (14-5) and Crosby-Ironton (16-4) left on the schedule.
On Monday night, the Lakers won their fifth conference game of the season in a 94-77 win over Crosby-Ironton. Senior Chris Breeden had one of his best games of the season with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
“Chris has been playing really well this year,” Maass said. “He’s bought into what we’re trying to do, and he’s knocked down shots. He’s playing hard defensively. We’ve got to continue to get better. I’m pretty happy with where he’s at right now, and we’re going to need him to keep shooting the rest of the year.”
Sophomore Mason Carrier led the Lakers in scoring on back-to-back nights. He had 25 on Monday against the Rangers before dropping 15 on Tuesday. Oliver Quam, Nate Cihak and Devon Berg each had 10 points against Crosby-Ironton.
As Detroit Lakes heads down the home stretch of the 2021-22 regular season, the focus shifts to closing out a potential conference championship and building momentum for the Section 8-3A playoffs.
“The good thing about basketball is you usually have another game a couple of days later after a loss,” Maass said. “We got two games on Friday and Saturday. We’ll come back tomorrow, stay positive and get after it.”
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PEQUOT LAKES 35 43 - 78
DETROIT LAKES 23 45 - 48
DETROIT LAKES SCORING- Mason Carrier 15, Nate Cihak 8, Brandton Marsh 7, Devon Berg 6, Christian Solberg 1, Oliver Quam 8, Chris Breeden 3
PEQUOT LAKES SCORING- Cruz Megazzini 16, Sam Rysavy 12, Brayden Spiczka 5, Ryan Harmala 9, Nic Kotaska 4, Eli Laposky 28, Gavin Kennen 4
DETROIT LAKES 94, CROSBY-IRONTON 77
DETROIT LAKES- Mason Carrier 25 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steaks, 5 blocks; Chris Breeded 19 points, 3 assists, 1 block; Oliver Quam 10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals; Nate Cihak 10 points, 2 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals; Devon Berg 10 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal; Brandton Marsh 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals; Ethan Carrier 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal; Christian Solberg 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist; Caeden Yliniemi 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
