The Ponies jumped out to an early lead, but quickly saw the Storm close the gap due to the play of Luke Yutrzenka, who scored a quick 8 points off the bench to get the Storm back into the game. Unfortunately, Yutrzenka’s night would be cut short, leaving the court midway through the first half with an apparent dental injury. With Yutrzenka gone, the Ponies got a couple of big three pointers from Greg Schanil and dominating post play from Zach Riopelle to hold a 30 to 29 half-time edge.
Again in the second half the Ponies would jump out to a seven point advantage, before the Storm perimeter shooting took over. Owen Ellefson would knock down four second-half three-pointers and Jared Rivard hit for two more as the Storm would eventually take a 45-43 lead. Through-out the final few minutes the two teams exchange offensive runs. The Ponies led by the strong second half play of Zach Riopelle. Riopelle would lead all scorers on the night with 31 points, 19 of them coming in the second half. The Storm would be paced by paced by good perimeter and free throw shooting. Storms players would hit 6-3 pointers in the second half, eight in the game.
The Storm, trailing by one point with 16.6 seconds on the regulation clock, would work the offensive end against a tight WAO defense. The Storm tried to get the ball down low for a shot opportunity, or perhaps to draw a foul and get to the free throw line, were unable to do so against a stingy Pony defense. Junior forward Daniel Haugen would have the final touch of the ball, turning at the free throw line and draining a bucket as time expired to life the Storm to the one point win.
Stephen/Argyle improves to 16-5 (11-3 in Section play) with the win. The Storm have another tough section game on the road this Thursday against the Northern Freeze (13-5/10-4). For Warren/Alvarado/Oslo it was their second consecutive loss at home, dropping the Ponies to 9-13 on the season, and 7-9 in Section 8A play. The Ponies have a Section 8A game in Greenbush on Thursday night against the BGMR Gators (10-12/7-9).
Scoring Summary
Stephen/Argyle
Owen Ellefson – 15 points, 3 rebounds
Daniel Haugen – 12 points, 5 rebounds
Jared Rivard – 12 points, 4 rebounds
Blake LaBine – 11 points, 6 rebounds
Luke Yutrzenka – 8 points, 3 rebounds
Lakein Hanson – 4 points, 4 rebounds
Connor Yutrzenka – 3 points
Donley Gryskiewicz – 2 points
Warren/Alvarado/Oslo
Zach Riopelle – 31 points, 11 rebounds
Jayvon O’Quinn – 12 points, 6 rebounds
Greg Schanil – 10 points, 2 rebounds
Danny Schmidt – 6 points, 4 rebounds
Jon Hess – 5 points, 2 rebounds
Matt Bergh – 2 points, 2 rebounds
