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| Johnny Dittman scored a season-high 21 points (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
Chaska drained 10 three-pointers in the first half on the way to a 48-39 lead and then hit its first six shots of the second half to ice its seventh win in the past eight games.
The visitors didn't help themselves by committing a rash of turnovers, several of them coming after a they had cut the deficit to single digits in the second period.
To add injury to insult, the Tigers played the final 18 minutes without the services of starting forward Mac Bassett who suffered an ankle injury before intermission. In addition, Wyatt Ferm, one of the first players off the bench, did not make the trip due to illness.
"We knew they could shoot and would get their points," Tiger coach Shane Wyandt said. "We wanted to mix up our defenses and keep them from getting in any kind of flow.
"It was the perfect storm. They hit everything they threw up there and we didn't play very well. We got down early and didn't use our size advantage. It must have taken six minutes for us to start getting the ball inside at the start of the game."
Farmington never led in the contest and trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half. Three times in the second half the Tigers pulled to within nine but could get no closer.
Chaska finished the night hitting 15 shots from behind the three-point arc. All told, the Hawks connected on 33 of 61 shots for a blistering 54 percent.
Farmington actually finished with a higher shooting percentage (61 percent) but it was the possessions that yielded no shots and the three-pointer disparity (16-7) that made the difference.
On the positive side, the Tigers had four starters score in double figures with Johnny Dittman leading the way with a season-high 21 points. Eli Rockett added 19, Zach Speikers 14 and Nick Varner 12. Jordan DeCroock chipped in with eight.
The loss for Farmington (10-3) left it with an early Missota Conference mark of 1-1 while Chaska remained unbeaten in league play at 2-0.
The Tigers conclude a tough week with a home game Friday night against Red Wing. The Wingers are 8-2 overall and 0-1 in league play with their loss also coming at the hands of Chaska
