ST. CLOUD – The Minnesota West men's and women's basketball teams were in action this past weekend at St. Cloud Technical & Community College.
The Lady Jays won the men's and women's basketball doubleheader, 61-42, and the Blue Jays lost to the Cyclones, 77-67, in the men's game.
Here's a quick recap of both games and a look at what's next for both Minnesota West teams.
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Minnesota West 61, St. Cloud Tech 42
In the women's game, the Lady Jays defeated the Cyclones by nearly 20 points, improving to 19-7 overall and 8-2 in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference South Division.
Saturday's game was the second meeting between the two schools this season, with Minnesota West winning 95-72 in the first meeting on Jan. 13 in Worthington.
On Saturday, the Jays scored the first six points of the game, jumping out to an eight-point lead after allowing just six points in the first quarter. At halftime, West led by nine points, 26-17.
In the third quarter, the Jays took firm control with a 15-3 run, with Olivia Hienga scoring nine straight points for the Jays. During that time, West opened its largest lead of 21 points. The Cyclones took a 41-24 lead after the third quarter before trying to come back in the fourth.
A 7-0 run brought them within 10 points, but the Jays fought back with a 9-2 run to regain control with less than six minutes left.
Minnesota West remained in control throughout the remainder of the fourth quarter, winning by 19 points.
Hienga made 11 of 16 2-point shots and led all scorers with 25 points. She also grabbed 14 rebounds this season for a double-double and had two blocks on the defensive end.
Hattie DeVries added 16 points and eight boards, and Skyla Petersen and Audrey Drapeau each added six points. The Lady Jays struggled shooting from the outside, making just 4-of-27 shots from behind the arc, while offensively turning the ball over just six times.
Lily Manning led St. Cloud with 13 points and six rebounds. The Cyclones also had a low 3-point shooting percentage, making just 1-of-21.
Minnesota West 14 12 15 20 – 61
St. Cloud Tech 6 11 7 18 – 42
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St. Cloud Tech 77, West 67, MN
The second game of the doubleheader was against the Minnesota West men's team, and although the Blue Jays took a lead at halftime, they lost by 10 points.
With this loss, their record falls to 4-20 overall and 2-9 in the MCAC South. The Cyclones won the season series against the Blue Jays 79-73 on January 13 in Worthington.
In the first half of Saturday's game, the Jays scored the first five points of the game to take an early 7-2 lead. Consecutive tries by the Cyclones quickly took the lead, and from there both teams traded blows for the remainder of the first half.
The lead changed hands eight times throughout the first half, with the score tied three times. With just three seconds left in the first half, Jordan Sinclair gave the Blue Jays a 40-39 lead heading into halftime.
Skyler Jackson/The Globe
St. Cloud Tech started the second half on a 7-0 run to take a six-point lead. The Blue Jays erased the run, and it was a back-and-forth game for the next few minutes. West took a 57-55 lead with about 9 1/2 minutes left, and the Cyclones scored 10 points over the next few minutes.
The Blue Jays then had several chances to tie or take the lead back, cutting the score to three points. The Jays trailed 70-67 with less than two minutes left, but the Cyclones went on a 7-0 run to seal the victory.
Ziekgoy Weal led all scorers for the Blue Jays with a double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds. Teddy Collins Jr. added 11 points, Henry Counsell added 10 points, and Sinclair and Karashalo Ojuro each added eight points. Sinclair also led the team with six assists.
For St. Cloud, Lumoni Warner came off the bench to score 19 points in 18 minutes, and Matthew Ellingson had 11 points. Neither team had that many turnovers, with 11 for the Jays and just four for the Cyclones.
Minnesota West 40 27 – 67
St. Cloud Tech 39 38 – 77
Looking to the future
The future of the Minnesota West men's and women's teams will be a tough matchup for both teams. Both teams will play a doubleheader against Rochester Community and Technical College in Worthington on Wednesday.
In the women's game, Minnesota West will take on a Rochester team that is the defending NJCAA Division III national champion.
This season, the Yellow Jackets have regained their form from last season. They have a perfect record of 18-2 overall and 9-0 in the MCAC South and enter Wednesday's game on a 10-game winning streak.
The Yellowjackets are also ranked No. 1 in the latest NJCAA women's basketball poll and have maintained that spot all season.
Currently, they are in the top five in the nation in points per game for both offense and defense. The Yellow Jackets are his second most in the nation scoring 80.3 points per game and giving up just 48.4 points on defense. They also rank in the top five in many other statistical categories on both sides of the floor.
The mainstays on offense are Makaya Copeland and Cassidy Shute, who pace the team with averages of 16.7 and 13.1 points, respectively.
The Lady Jays, ranked No. 3 in the NJCAA D3 voting, are the team Rochester defeated in last season's national title game.
Skyler Jackson/The Globe
This season, they have been a top-five ranked team all year and are on a four-game winning streak of their own. The last loss was to Rochester, where the Yellow Jackets won in a landslide, 91-60.
Minnesota West scored 77.4 points and scored 62.1 points per game.
Hienga, who is this year's national team player, is once again the driving force for the team both offensively and defensively. She ranks sixth in the NJCAA in points per game with 22.5, 15th in rebounds with 11.7, ninth in assists per game with 5.3 and fifth in blocks per game with 2.7.
DeVries is averaging 15.2 points for the team and Petersen is averaging 9.4 points. Drapeau is averaging 5.7 assists per game, which ranks fifth in the nation.
On the boys side, Rochester is ranked 12th in the D3 boys poll with a 15-8 overall record and 10-1 in the MCAC South. The Yellow Jackets have won 10 straight games, with their last loss coming in the South Division opener against Riverland by one point.
One of those 10 straight wins was a 77-46 victory over Minnesota West on Jan. 17 in Rochester.
They score 75.7 points per game and allow 70.3 points on defense. The team's top scorers are Jamison Lien with 14.1 points, Blue Small with 10.5 points and Obinna Izula with 10.4 points.
Ojuro is Minnesota West's leading scorer this season with 11.2 points per game, followed by Counsell with 10.9 points per game. Ojuro also averages 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. Sinclair leads the team with 3.5 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game. Counsell, Weal and Kenneth Logan each averaged 5.1 rebounds.
