By John George
The New York Mills boys basketball team started the new year with their first conference win of the season as they took down Verndale Friday night, 78-52.
The Eagles used a balanced attack on offense in the first half and a smothering defense to take a 36-22 halftime lead. Mills had seven players with three or more pints in the first half.
Erik Peeters and Joe Hendrickx took over in the second half as NY Mills outscored Verndale 42-30. Hendrickx scored 11 of his 15 points after halftime and Peeters had 13 of his game-high 24 points in the final period against the Pirates (1-6, 0-1 Park Region).
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For the game, the Eagles hit 59 percent from the field (35-for-59), while holding Verndale to 37 percent (20-for-54).
Milestone night
Erik Peeters became the sixth player in NY Mills basketball history to reach the 1,000 point mark. He needed 24 points entering Tuesday's game against Sebeka to reach the milestone. He just made it, scoring 26 as Mills beat Sebeka, 58-56.
It was close through out and at the end it was back and forth with Alex Helmeke making two free throws to put Mills in the lead with 10 seconds left. The Eagles missed the front end of a one-and-one that could have iced the game, but Sebeka missed a last second shot to give Mills the win.
The Eagles have won 11-straight against Sebeka, including a 79-73 win on Dec. 22 in the NY Mills Holiday Tournament.
Week off
NY Mills will have had a full seven days off when they return to action Jan. 15 at Wadena-Deer Creek. The Wolverines (6-1, 2-0 Mid-State) won last year's meeting, 80-68.
The Eagles will return to the Sports Center on Jan. 17 when they host Menahga (1-10, 0-2 Park Region)
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Friday, January 4
New York Mills 78, Verndale 52
NYM 36-42--78
Verndale 22-30--52
Eagles--Erik Peeters 24, Joe Hendrickx 15, Mike Baune 11, David Snelgrove 10, David Ayers 6, Isaiah Bauck 4, Shaun Van Dyke 4, Austin Link 2, Brandon Menze 2.
Pirates--Meidinger 15, Runyan 14, Cottrell 8, Weiher 5, Seals 8, Siedschlaw 2.
Field Goals--NYM 32, V 16; 3-pointers--NYM 3, V 4; Free Throws--NYM 5/8, V 8/18; Team Fouls--NYM 17, V 13.
Tuesday, January 8
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New York Mills 58, Sebeka 56
NYM 33-25--58
Sebeka 29-27--56
Eagles--Peeters 26, Baune 10, Hendrickx 8, Bauck 7, Helmeke 7.
Trojans--Brockpahler 16, Pulju 13, Sharp 7, Kinnunen 7, Cuperus 6, Strayer 5, Clark 2.
Park Region Conf. All
#6A Bertha-Hewitt 3-0 8-0
New York Mills 2-1 6-4
Henning 2-1 4-4
Sebeka 1-1 5-3
Pillager 1-2 2-6
Verndale 0-2 2-7
Menahga 0-2 1-10
