By John George
The New York Mills boys won their own holiday tournament for the third straight year, showing some scoring potential with a pair of 70-point games.
The Eagles opened the tournament on Friday with a 77-59 win over Nevis. After a dead-even first half, Mills outscored Nevis 47-29 in the final period for the win.
NY Mills had a balanced scoring attack with three players in double figures, led by Erik Peeters with 24, 14 coming after the half. Alex Helmeke scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and Mike Baune hit a trio of 3-pointers to finish with 13 points.
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That set up a championship game on Saturday against Park Region foe Sebeka. After leading most of the way, Mills needed a late comeback to come out with a 79-73 win.
The Trojans jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but NY Mills responded after a time out and went on a 8-1 run and held a 20-14 lead midway through the first half.
The Eagles opened up their biggest lead of the opening period at 31-23 when Sebeka went on a 11-3 run to tie the game at 34-34 at the half.
Mills opened the second half with an 11-3 run, but Sebeka clawed back to within three at 45-42. The Eagles went on another run, sparked by Baune, to open a 54-45 lead with 11 minutes to play.
The Trojans wouldn't go away, and again inched their way back and eventually tied the game at 64. With four minutes to play, Sebeka took their first lead in 25 minutes of game time at 66-65 and quickly increased their lead to 72-67 with 3:10 to play.
From there, Peeters and Baune took over. Peeters hit a pair of jumpers and Baune went 6-for-6 from the line down the stretch as Mills went on a 12-1 run to end the game with a six-point victory.
Peeters finished with 25 points (8-for-10 FT) and Baune was close behind with 23 (8-for-8 FT). Baune also hit on three 3-pointers.
The difference in the game came at the line where Mills was 19-for-25, while Sebeka was just 6-for-15, a difference of 14 points.
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Mills has now won nine straight against Sebeka. Their last loss to the Trojans was in Dec. 2003, 61-58 in overtime.
Concordia Classic
This weekend, the Eagles will participate in the Concordia Holiday Classic in Moorhead. They will open today (Dec. 27) against Park Christian at 6:15 p.m. On Dec. 28, they will take on Barnesville at 3:15 p.m., then finish off 2007 against Norman County East on Dec. 29 at 4:15 p.m.
The Eagles will be looking to avenge losses to all three teams this weekend. Mills has already faced NCE this year, losing the season opener, 71-62. They lost to Barnesville in last year's Concordia Classic, 69-51 and were knocked out of the Section 6A quarterfinals by Park Christian last March, 69-62.
NY Mills will return to Park Region Conference action when 2008 begins when they travel to Verndale on Jan. 4.
Friday, December 21
New York Mills 77, Nevis 59
Nevis 30-29--59
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New York Mills 30-47--77
Eagles--Erik Peeters 24, Alex Helmeke 17, Mike Baune 13, Shaun Van Dyke 9, David Ayers 4, Joe Hendrickx 4, David Snelgrove 4, Isaiah Bauck 2.
Nevis--Toft 20, Schroeder 9, Stenberg 8, Lien 6, Ziesmer 6, Gunkel 4, VanHorn 4, Goosh 2.
Field Goals--NYM 30, N 16; 3-pointers--NYM 3, N 6; Free Throws--NYM 8/14, N 9/18; Team Fouls--NYM 16, N 19.
Saturday, December 22
New York Mills 79, Sebeka 73
Sebeka 34-39--73
New York Mills 34-45--79
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Eagles--Peeters 25, Baune 23, Helmeke 12, Ayers 6, Bauck 4, Van Dyke 4, Hendrickx 3, Snelgrove 2.
Trojans--Cuperus 18, A. Brockpahler 17, Strayer 13, J. Brockpahler 9, Clark 5, Pulju 4, Kinnunen 4, Sharp 3.
Field Goals--NYM 24, S 26; 3-pointers--NYM 4, S 5; Free Throws--NYM 19/25, S 6/15; Team Fouls--NYM 15, S 20.
Park Region Conf. All
#8A Bertha-Hewitt 1-0 6-0
Sebeka 1-0 4-2
Henning 1-0 3-3
New York Mills 0-1 3-2
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Menahga 0-0 1-4
Verndale 0-1 1-5
Pillager 0-1 0-4
