Fergus Falls 82 St. Cloud Tech 58 – The Rundown

<p>It was a weekday matinee basketball matchup between the Fergus Falls Otters and the St. Cloud Tech Tigers. Prep Hoops was in the building to give you The Rundown.</p> <p>This is our first viewing of Christian Pekarek’s Tigers as he took over the program this summer.  Tech starts senior KT Norwood, juniors Garrison Murray, John Kazcor, and Kaiden Moua, and Prep Hoops top 100 prospect Devin Yeagar. Fergus Falls countered with their division two signed duo [player_tooltip player_id="774868" first="Chance" last="Fazio"] (Minnesota State-Moorhead) and [player_tooltip player_id="567061" first="Dominic" last="Aguilar"] (signed with U of Mary) as well as seniors Abel Aho and Austin Rinke.</p> <p>The experience of the Otters is significant as all four senior starters have seen plenty of varsity action. Junior Luke Newman rounds out the starting five.  The Tigers Jumped out to a quick 13-6 lead, and led 20-18 midway through the first half. A transition three by Aguilar gave Fergus it’s first lead at 21-20, and gave Aguilar 15 of the first 21 Otter points. With Tech rushing their offense and missing low percentage attempts one way,  Fergus Falls countered running a high ball screen with 7-foot-0 [player_tooltip player_id="774868" first="Chance" last="Fazio"] with increased efficiency.  Several late half buckets gave the Otters a 39-29 lead at the break. </p> <p>In the second half Tech scored first as Moua made his fourth triple of the game on a great Pekarek set coming out of the half. Tech continued to hang around and had the ball three times down 64-51 midway through the second half. The Tigers were playing hard, but another round of quick shots, allowed Fergus several transition baskets. This led to a 14-3 run and made it 78-52 (ended 82-58). Fergus Falls moves to 3-1 while Tech falls to 0-3. </p> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div><strong>The Rundown</strong></div> <div> </div> <div><strong>Fergus Falls</strong></div> <div> </div> <div>Leaders.  Aguilar and Fazio scored 50 of the 82 points with Aguilar taking the lead scoring 32.  The pair facilitated the offense as well as Aguilar led with six assists, and Fazio four. Aguilar didn’t shoot in the game’s final six minutes. </div> <div> </div> <div>Defenders.  Abel Aho played great defense on the ball, forcing numerous steals. Luke Newman really bodied up in the post on Tech’s Yeager, and had multiple drives by on the other end. </div> <div> </div> <div>Big Shots.  Austin Rinke didn’t shoot a ton, but he was three of five and all three makes were in critical spots. </div> <div> </div> <div>Youth. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="962304" first="Elliott" last="Pribbenow"] showed flashes of prospect potential off the bench. </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div><strong>St. Cloud Tech </strong></div> <div> </div> <div>Playmaking. Kaiden Moua made some plays for himself and his teammates. Ball is in his hand a lot for the Tigers and he distributed well. I believe his defense will come as he grows into this role. </div> <div> </div> <div>Leadership  When times got tough, senior KT Norwood tried to rally his teammates. I think taking on the leadership role like he did will only help the Tigers. </div> <div> </div> <div>Youth.  I was intrigued with Garrison Murray.  He scored on all three levels, and was the Tiger most willing to attack Fazio off the dribble. 6-foor-3 junior, one to keep an eye on. </div> <div> </div> <div>Athleticism.  Devin Yeager didn’t have a great night on offense, but I had him for four blocks on my stat sheet. He continued his high level of work on both ends. Really hard nosed player. </div>