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Glass half full

Halfway through, No. 1 Magi slay Sabers to remain undefeated

Alex Eisen/MDN Minot High senior Justin Engg posts up his Legacy defender while senior guard KyJuan Johnson (1) holds the ball in a West Region game played Tuesday night at Minot High School.

The winning streak grew to 22 straight Tuesday night for the No. 1-ranked Minot High School boys basketball team.

The Magicians built an early advantage and held off the Legacy Sabers’ runs for a 72-62 victory at Minot High School.

Now halfway through the conference regular season, the Magi remain unbeaten (11-0, 9-0 Western Dakota Association) and haven’t lost a game since Feb. 1, 2016. Just a couple weeks away from a full calendar year.

“It’s a great thing,” MHS coach Dean Winczewski said. “We got a lot of season to go and a lot of improvements to make, but you can’t ask for anything more.”

A fast start was key in dropping Legacy (5-6, 4-5 WDA) to 0-3 in road games this season.

After passing up a three-point attempt on the opening possession for the Magi, and then getting yelled at by coach Winczewski to “shoot the ball,” sophomore Alex Schimke drained a 3-pointer the next time down and added another triple a minute later. Senior guard KyJuan Johnson also hit from deep early on.

Behind the three-point outburst and an effective trapping half court zone, the Magi built up a 15-3 lead out of the gate and had their largest lead at 21-6.

“I was hitting my rhythm and just knocking them down,” Schimke said. “It got us all going. We started jumping around on defense, got a couple of steals and got our game moving.”

Four Minot players put up double figures: Justin Engg (21 points), Johnson (16 points), Peyton Lamoureux (12 points) and Schimke (10 points).

Legacy eventually found its footing and slowly chipped away.

The Magi’s lead was down to 23-11 with seven minutes left in the half. Shooting 61.9 percent from the floor, Minot took a 13-point lead into halftime, 34-21.

The Sabers came out of the locker room and used 7-0 run to pull within single digits – the rally ended on a Lamoureux 3-pointer. Legacy got as close as four points at 37-33 during the opening four minutes of the second half.

“We were able to make enough plays offensively,” Winczewski said. “We didn’t do a very good job defensively – keeping them out of the paint or rebounding – and we had to withstand their runs. They had chances. They did a lot of good stuff against us. But, you know what, you find a way to win at times.”

Minot senior Max Olthoff, off a bounce pass from Johnson, converted a three-point play to restore the Magi’s double-digit lead, 47-37, with 12 minutes remaining. A floater from senior Trevor Banks the next time down the court got the Magi supporters to their feet and forced Legacy into a timeout.

With six minutes left, a pair of free throws from Legacy’s Jason Hoekstra put the Sabers within seven points, 58-51. But, a Schimke jumper and a Legacy turnover that followed killed the Sabers’ momentum once again.

Hoekstra tied to put his stamp on the game a final time by driving to the basket and getting fouled with 3:31 left. Capitalizing on that three-point play, Legacy was within six points at 62-56. Hoekstra finished with a match-high 22 points.

Closing out games had been an issue recently for the Magi against Bismarck High on Jan. 7 and an overtime win over Mandan last Friday. But, they looked calm and collected against Legacy on Tuesday.

“We did a much better job late in the second half,” Winczewski said. “We did a better job of making good decisions, offensively especially. Now we have to work on the defensive part and getting stops.”

Engg inside and Johnson slashing through a wide open lane for a layup helped seal Minot’s victory, 72-62. The Magi controlled the ball exceptionally well by only having one turnover, and they finished with a 53.8 shooting percentage going 28-for-52.

Legacy shot a respectable 47.8 percent from the floor and made one more 3-pointer than Minot (8-7) in the defeat. The Sabers also outrebounded Minot, 28-21.

Next the Magi travel to Bismarck for a contest against St. Mary’s at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Alex Eisen covers Minot High School, Minot State athletics and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.

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