2/7 GOTW: Blooming Prairie vs. Hayfield

(ABC 6 News) – Blooming Prairie survives on the road in Hayfield, winning 59-54 in our SCHEELS Game of the Week, which is powered by Rochester Motor Cars.

Hayfield was all business early on, thanks in large part to junior Ethan Slaathaug. He was attacking the defense all night, driving in the lane and stretching the court with shots from behind the arc. He finished the first half with 15 points.

The Vikings defense was the real show-stopper in the first 10 minutes, allowing Hayfield to jump out to a double-digit lead. The biggest benefit was not allowing the Awesome Blossoms to get into their full-court press after makes.

But Blooming Prairie found their footing. Isaac Ille helped light the spark for the Awesome Blossoms, with a pair of buckets in the blink of an eye. After that, things fell together for Blooming Prairie, who led 29-27 at halftime. The Awesome Blossoms’ press in focus for both teams at the intermission.

“We need to break the press first of all. We’ve got to be more aggressive and we’ve got to be confident. We can’t be scared of the press and how big they are, because we know how big they are. But we can get through it,” Slaathaug said.

“I think we’re tiring them out with our press. And our offense, we just have to keep moving the ball. Keep subbing our subs, use our numbers, and try to build our lead,” Blooming Prairie senior Gabe Hagen said.

In a back and forth game, Blooming Prairie gets the 59-54 win despite their slow start