O-F hosts win against Augusta, loss to Crickets

by Bridget Cooke

Augusta and Osseo-Fairchild went head to head Tuesday, Dec. 2 on the Thunder home court to a successful outcome for O-F after a hard loss to non-conference Eleva-Strum the previous evening.

The Thunder came out of the gate true to their style with a quick burst of energy to top the Beavers 16-6 by the end of the first quarter. However, Augusta came roaring back with the help of some hard fought battles through the lane by senior Brandon Kimball, who had a stunning 26 total points  for the night. 

Topping the home team just barely in the second quarter, Augusta was able to hang on, only slightly lagging behind and outscoring their opponents by two points. Headed into halftime, the Thunder were still holding onto their lead comfortably at 32-24. 

It was much of the same story throughout the second half. Jordan Cerrillo carried the ball down for the Beavers to a successful third quarter, but O-F fought right back. The Augusta senior tied with teammate Noah Plewa for six total points throughout the night, the second highest behind Kimball.

Kyler Hagen, a senior for the Thunder, lined up eight total points and worked with teammates to drive the ball, netting 53 points over the Beavers’ 46. As Augusta edged nearer to their non-conference opponents, the clock, and foul trouble were their enemies and they lost out against the Thunder.

Junior Aaron Hagberg led the Thunder with nine points on the night, while Hagen, Cal Freitag and Abe Hall all tied with a total of eight.

Thunder fall hard to Fall Creek

However, O-F was hard up to defeat a longtime conference rival, who they had bested last season in the playoffs. 

Fall Creek took the win home with a 70-46 victory, with senior Matt Anderson, standing at a looming 6-foot-7-inches, netting 23 total points for the Crickets. 

Taking the reins right off the bat, Fall Creek left O-F scrambling to catch up. In the first half, the green team topped the Thunder 38-23. Strong under the hoop despite a line of larger opponents, the quick-footed Thunder attempted to keep up. 

However, they were completely outscored. While the Crickets had three players topping double-digits and adding a few shots here and there through their juniors, the Thunder were unable to gain much traction despite staying level with their opponents in the final quarter of the game.

The hardest hit came right out of halftime when O-F were hit with a 17-9 deficit against Fall Creek.

In the end, the Crickets took home a 70-46 win over the Thunder, who had a dismal conference opener despite coming off a win on Tuesday.

Next, the Thunder will travel to Chippewa Falls McDonell Thursday, Dec. 11 to take on the Macks, with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off scheduled.