Titans defeat Clark-Willow Lake, fall to Western Christian Lundin surpasses 1,000 career points

Cael Lundin reached a career milestone over the weekend, surpassing 1,000 career points in the Tea Area High School boys’ basketball game against Clark-Willow Lake.

The Titans traveled to Madison on Saturday, Jan. 29 to compete in the Dak XII/NEC Clash, awaiting them was Clark Willow Lake. The Titans led early and used a 30-14 third quarter advantage to get the big 79-51 victory.

“We played an outstanding second half of this game and the boys all contributed well. Cael got on a little heater and was able to control the game, but we consistently made the right basketball play, which led to the 30 point third quarter,” said Titan head coach Drew Weber. “Defensively, we were very active and used our athleticism to make things very hard on them. We are into the toughest stretch of our season and will need to play our best basketball, but we have been trending up for weeks now.”

Lundin went 16 of 22 from the line, scoring a game-high 41 points helping him surpass the 1,000 point mark. Lundin also recorded a double-double in the game, as he pulled down 11 rebounds to go with his 41 points. He also had three assists and three steals in the win.

Reis Kirschenman finished the game with 11 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal. Jonah Kocer had five points, two rebounds, four assists and two steals. Sam Almas had five points, six rebounds, and two steals. Jeff Worth also contributed five points. He pulled down three rebounds, two steals, and led the team in assists with six in the game. Jaxon Weber, Klayton Sattleer, Cole Schilling, and Gabe Grant each had two points in the win.

Prior to the game against Clark Willow Lake, the Titans hosted Sioux Falls Christian on Jan. 25.

After leading only by one at the half, the Titans went on a scoring frenzy in the third, outscoring the Chargers 21-5 in the quarter. The Titans went on to take the 61-48 victory.

“This was a big bounce-back win for us against another top team. We played our best third quarter of the season and our defense gave us a solid four quarters,” said Weber. “Reis had the type of game that we are expecting to have from him the second half of the season and our guards did a nice job of controlling the game. It’s always nice to play well in front of a big home crowd and we hope we can continue it moving forward.”

Kirschenman led all Titans with 19 points in the game, going eight of ten from the field and hitting three of five free-throw attempts. He recorded a double-double in the game, pulling down 11 rebounds to go with his 19 points. He also had one assist and two steals.

Worth added 17 points to the Titans total, going six of 11 from the field and hitting all four free-throw attempts. He had three assists and three steals as well. Lundin finished the night with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Kocer added seven points, two rebounds, four assists and three steals. Sattler finished with four points, five rebounds, and one assist and Schilling had two points and one assist. Almas grabbed four rebounds in the game and had one assist and one steal.

The Titans traveled to Western Christian, Iowa on Tuesday, Feb. 1 and faced off against a strong 12-1 team.

“We walked into a buzzsaw down in Iowa and they put it on us pretty well. Western Christian showed why they were the State Champions last year and are favorites to repeat this year. We had opportunities to keep the game close and even take an early lead, but shots didn’t fall,” said Weber. “The boys played hard, but once Western Christian saw blood in the water, they rolled, shooting 76% in the second half and 89% from three. We are looking forward to bouncing back in a tough, tough game vs. West Central.”

Against Western Christian the Titans fell behind early, trailing 29-17 at the half and eventually suffered the 77-42 loss.

For the Titans, Lundin finished with 14 points, grabbed six rebounds, had two assists and one steal. Schilling finished with nine points and had three rebounds. Kocer, Worth, and Kirschenman each had five points in the game. Alex Pies and Gabe Grant each had two points.

On Thursday, Feb. 3 the Titans were scheduled to host West Central and will compete at the Sanford Pentagon on Saturday, Feb. 5 facing off against Moorhead, MN in a 4:30 p.m. match-up.