Fourth ranked Hornets to take on 12th ranked Ada-Borup West in sub section finals

Lane Dilly dives for a loose ball during Thursday’s sub section quarterfinal game against Frazee. The Hornets won the game by a score of 82-53 and have since advanced to the sub section championship game.

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The fourth ranked Henning Hornets pushed their season high winning streak to 19 games as the team picked up a pair of wins in the sub section tournament last week. The Hornets kicked off the sub section tournament with an 82-53 win over Frazee, before edging Park Christian by a score of 49-45 to advance to Wednesday’s sub section championship game against Ada-Borup West. 

Kale Misegades takes a contested shot in the lane during Saturday’s sub section semi-final game in Perham. The Hornets defeated Park Christian to advance to their third straight sub section championship game.

This is the third straight year the Hornets have advanced to the sub section championship game as they look to return to the Section 6A title game for the second straight year. 

Ada-Borup West, who is ranked 12th in the state with a record of 23-5 overall, defeated sixth ranked Hillcrest Lutheran Academy by a score of 82-62 on Saturday. 

The Hornets, who are 26-2 on the season, come into the game averaging 70.7 points per game on the offensive end of the court, while giving up just 48.2 points per game on defense. Ada-Borup West averages 70.5 points per game on offense, while the Cougars give up 56.7 points per game on defense. 

Teigan Bjerke takes a contested shot near the basket during the second half of Saturday’s sub section tournament game against Park Christian on Saturday. Bjerke finished the game with 9 points and 9 rebounds in Henning’s 49-45 win.

In their lone match up earlier this season, Henning defeated Ada-Borup West by a score of 63-61 in overtime at the Breakdown Classic in Perham on Jan. 13. 

Wednesday’s game will tip off at 7 p.m. and the winner will take on either third ranked West Central Area or Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa in the Section 6A championship game on Friday night in Fergus Falls for the right to go to the state tournament. 

Thursday

Kale Misegades was as close to perfect as a person could be on the offensive end of the court on Thursday night. The Henning sophomore went 15-16 from the floor with his lone miss being a 3-pointer as he scored a game-high 40 points. His performance helped the Hornets defeat Frazee by a score of 82-53 on Thursday night. Misegades went a perfect 7-7 from inside the 2-point line and went 8-9 from the 3-point line.

Noah Umland lines up a 3-pointer during Saturday’s game against Park Christian in Perham.

Teigan Bjerke finished with a double-double with 11 points and 14 assists, while also pulling down 6 rebounds. 

Henning found their offensive groove in the first half as the Hornets held a 49-31 lead at the halftime break and went on to outscore Frazee by a 33-22 margin in the second half. 

“Frazee is an unbelievably good #8 seed. They have four guys who can really score,” said head coach Randy Misegades. “Frazee also changes defenses a lot and never really allows teams to get settled and comfortable on the offensive end.”

As a team Henning shot 62 percent from the floor and went 15-23 from behind the 3-point line. 

Logan Kostelecky hit three 3-pointers to finish with 9 points, while Noah Umland scored 8 points, Lane Dilly scored 7 points and pulled down 9 rebounds and Mason Samuelson rounded out the scoring with 2 points. 

Logan Kostelecky attempts to block a shot during Thursday’s sub section opener against Frazee in Henning.

POINTS: Teigan Bjerke 11, Kale Misegades 40, Noah Umland 8, Lane Dilly 7, Logan Kostelecky 9, Mason Samuelson 2, Dawson Misegades 5

ASSISTS: Teigan Bjerke 13, Kale Misegades 3, Noah Umland 1, Lane Dilly 1, Logan Kostelecky 1

REBOUNDS: Teigan Bjerke 6, Kale Misegades 4, Lane Dilly 9, Logan Kostelecky 3, Mason Samuelson 2, Dawson Misegades 4

STEALS: Teigan Bjerke 1, Kale Misegades 3, Lane Dilly 1, Logan Kostelecky 2

Saturday

One of the top offensive teams in all of Class A relied on their defense to escape a difficult sub section semi-final game against Park Christian on Saturday afternoon. The top seeded and fourth ranked Hornets defeated the fourth seeded Park Christian Falcons on Saturday afternoon in Perham by a score of 49-45. 

Henning jumped out to an early lead, which the team held for a majority of the first half. However, Park Christian was able to get back into the game and trailed just 23-20 at the halftime break. In the second half both teams traded the lead and baskets, before Henning was able to do just enough down the stretch and made their free throws as the game was coming to a close to keep the Falcons at bay. 

“Any win in March is a good win. Things certainly did not come easy, but we found a way to win,” said head coach Randy Misegades. “We really struggled offensively, but we did enough good things on the defensive end to come out on top.”

As a team the Hornets shot just 34 percent from the floor, but went 9-21 from behind the 3-point line. They shared the ball well throughout the night as they finished with 13 assists on 16 made shots from the floor.

Kale Misegades scored 26 points, while Logan Kostelecky hit four 3-pointers to finish with 12 points. Teigan Bjerke finished with 9 points, 5 assists and 9 rebounds, while Lane Dilly rounded out the scoring with 2 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. 

POINTS: Teigan Bjerke 9, Kale Misegades 26, Lane Dilly 2, Logan Kostelecky 12

ASSISTS: Teigan Bjerke 5, Kale Misegades 6, Noah Umland 2

REBOUNDS: Teigan Bjerke 9, Kale Misegades 5, Noah Umland 1, Lane Dilly 10, Logan Kostelecky 4, Kale Misegades 3

STEALS: Noah Umland 1, Lane Dilly 3, Logan Kostelecky 1