By Skip Hunter –

The SWC boys ended their week in Okabena. Their winning streak which stretched back to the beginning of last year’s campaign also ended as they went down to defeat against the Coyotes of Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda. The Coyotes came out very aggressive, managed to weather an Eagle run as the first half ended, and pulled out a 60-48 triumph.

The Coyotes jumped out to a 7-0 lead before Hunter Vander Haar scored in the low post. Micah Schaap made 1 of 2 at the line for the next Eagle point. The Coyotes then held the Eagles scoreless for the next 5:32 while moving out to a 22-3 lead. Jacob Raak ended the drought with a banked trey assisted by Dawson Rieck. Zach Prins made a drive and finished with his left hand followed by a Vander Haar free throw to make the score 22-9.

After a HLO/F bucket, Vander Haar again went 1 of 2 from the line. Vander Haar drove to the bucket to score followed by a Schaap reverse for a deuce. After HLO/F went ahead 28-14, Carter Van Hulzen dropped in a hook shot. Van Hulzen was bottled up for most of the game and was never able to hit a 3-ball.

After a Coyote trey, Walhof drove the baseline and made the reverse shot. The Eagles cut the lead to 10 on a Schaap old-fashioned 3-point play after the junior grabbed an offensive rebound.

The Eagles got the ball back and Rieck dropped in a trey using a Prins pass. Just before halftime Van Hulzen was fouled while shooting and made both charity tosses. The score was 31-26 as the halftime horn sounded. It appeared that the Coyotes were getting winded and so the horn sounded at an opportune time for them.