By Skip Hunter –

The SWC gym should have been rocking and the noise should have been deafening according to KLOH’s Bill Van Hoeke. The game between the Pipestone Arrows and the Southwest Minnesota Christian Eagles last Monday had that type of intensity to it. It was a game of runs and huge shifts of momentum. In the end the Eagles won out over the Arrows 69-65.

Madelyn Rozeboom, Brooklyn Moss, and Mikayla Johnson got the varsity portion of the night going with their rendition of the national anthem. Coaches Pap and Tinklenberg had their chargers revved up and ready to play. The Eagles knew that they had to work hard on the boards to have a chance to win. While they stayed close to PAS on the boards, the Arrows garnered too many offensive boards for Coach Pap’s liking. The Eagles did not do well from deep except for Carter Van Hulzen. Their free throw shooting was only mediocre, but they did come away with the win.

The Eagles went to work on the inside with Van Hulzen passing to Hunter Vander Haar for the opening bucket. After an Arrow trey, Micah Schaap, who owned much of the first half, drove to the basket, and slipped a pass to Vander Haar for the hoop. PAS scored again but Van Hulzen electrified what crowd there was with a dunk using a long pass from Dawson Rieck. The teams continued to trade baskets with Van Hulzen scoring again on a nice turnaround shot. Schaap dropped in a floating jumper to make the score 10-7.

The visitors scored the next 8 points before the Eagles went on a 11-0 run, spanning almost 5 minutes. Schaap worked the ball to Vander Haar again. Then the shifty lefty scored after a steal; he was fouled on the shot and made the awarded free throw. He again swiped the ball and scored. Zach Prins was fouled while shooting; he missed the first shot, but a lane violation was detected and he made the next two shots. Once again Schaap swiped the ball for a third time, steamed down the court, and made a dunk of his own to make the score 21-15, prompting a PAS time out.