Boys basketball: Going through ups and downs

Talk about it

The young season has already been a bit of a roller coaster ride for the Farmington boys basketball team.

Despite a roster short on varsity experience, the Tigers came out of the gates with a 31-point win over Rochester John Marshall in their season opener two weeks ago. The team’s weaknesses were exposed a bit in an 80-55 loss last Tuesday at Owatonna, but the Tigers showed some resilience and bounced back with a 70-48 win over another section opponent, Hastings, Thursday night at Tiger Gym.

“I thought that was a pretty good game. I was a little worried after Tuesday,” head coach Shane Wyandt said. “We learned a little bit about our guys coming off a bad loss. They came out strong just like they have really every game and were able to execute all the way through. We got to play a bunch of kids again.”

The Tigers took a 36-24 lead during a first half in which sophomore guard Darren Beenken tossed in 13 of his team-high 22 points. Beenken rounded out his best all-around performance of the season with nine rebounds, five steals and four assists.

Senior post Alex Michels added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists and Josh Ruthenbeck snuck into double figures with 10 points.

Austin Bassett came off the bench to knock down a pair of three-pointers and finish with eight points.

Owatonna 80,

Farmington 55

The Tigers couldn’t overcome 35 turnovers — their highest total of the Wyandt coaching era — in last Tuesday’s lopsided setback.

“There’s a reason they’re the defending section champs. They’ve got very good guard play and they’re not a great matchup for us as far as style of play,” Wyandt said. “We out-rebounded them, out-shot them, so we did a lot of things right to win the game. But the score gets pretty skewed when you can’t handle the ball.”

Farmington jumped out to a 7-2 lead before Owatonna rallied and took the lead for good at 13-10 with 11:28 left in the first half.

Michels led the Tigers with 12 points and eight rebounds. Beenken and Sebren Baer each scored nine.

Ruthenbeck led a 42-29 victory on the glass with 10 rebounds.

The Tigers (2-1) are back in action tomorrow night when they host Rochester Century at Tiger Gym.

Tags: boys basketball, sports, farmington, tigers, prep