Four in Double Figures Lead Owatonna
The Owatonna boys basketball team had four players in the double figures for the second straight game and beat Winona 72-49 at the OHS gym Friday. After running the gauntlet of ranked Big Nine teams, the Huskies are looking to climb the conference ladder in the upcoming games.
On Friday, OHS was paced by 19 from Brayden Williams. Payton Beyer scored 15 and grabbed a dozen rebounds. Evan Dushek added 12 and Nolan Burmeister 10. In Tuesday's win at Faribault Isaac Oppegard joined Williams, Beyer, and Dushek in double digit points.
Coach Josh Williams appeared on the AM 1390 KRFO High School Coaches Show Saturday morning, "I thought we played two really sound games at both ends of the floor. Going back to Faribault, I think it was our best 36 minutes of the season. I saw a very similar thing (Friday) night against Winona, same deal."
"One guy that's really come on strong the last two games is Payton Beyer. (At Faribault) really jump started us with his energy, the way he made plays defensively getting a couple steals, some huge rebounds that gave us some second chance opportunities."
The Huskies (5-6, 4-4 Big Nine) go to Rochester John Marshall (6-5, 4-4) Tuesday, January 14 and Mankato West (5-7, 3-5) Friday, January 17.
Williams called them "two comparable teams to us. We're kind of middle of the pack in the Big Nine standings." He added an understatement, "John Marshall looks a little bit different than a year ago without Matthew Hurt there. They still run a lot of the same stuff. They defend very, very well...(Mankato West) is probably a little bit better than their record indicates. They've played some good teams."
Williams recently announced Owatonna will host Coaches Vs Cancer on January 31. Jon Osmundson will be the honoree. To order fundraising t-shirts, contact Jodi DeKam at jdekam@isd761.org.