(photo by Jim Lindquist)
Alex Michels poured in 23 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and blocked seven shots to lead the Tigers to a 71-51 win over host Hastings to win the third place game at the Hastings Holiday Shootout Wednesday, Dec. 30, in Hastings.
The victory, the second of the season over the Raiders, raised Farmington's record to 3-4; Hastings dropped to 1-5.
"Hastings had two starters out when we played them earlier in the season," coach Shane Wyandt, "so I told our guys we wold be facing a different team.
"We played a very good first half. Our defense did a good job of starting our offense and we shot the ball well. Those are the things we need to keep doing."
The Tigers roared to their best half of the season, piling up 45 points over the first 18 minutes to forge a commanding 45-23 lead.
The visitors suffered a little letdown in he second stanza but the Raiders could never cut their deficit under double digits.
"We had a little lull in the second half when we got careless and started to turn the ball over," Wyandt said, "but the good thing is that we were able to compose ourselves down the stretch and get it back up to 20."
Sebren Baer was the only Tiger to join Michels in double figures with 14 points as 10 different Farmignton players dented the scoring column. Freshman Nick Varner had nine points and Elliot Fenske seven. Baer led in assists with four and Fenske had four steals.
"Seb (Baer) played a lot of minutes for us and did a nice job," Wyandt said. "He had to play more minutes at the point after Elliot (Fenske) went down with what we hope is a minor knee injury."
The Tigers face a busy opening week of the 2011 portion of their schedule, traveling to North St. Paul Tuesday, St. Paul Harding Thursday and Spring Lake Park Saturday.
