The Wahpeton Huskies grinded out a 49-44 win at Thompson to start the boys basketball season Friday. The Huskies relied on defense as they took a 27-19 lead into the break and overcame a third-quarter scoring drought to hang on.
Wahpeton was led by senior guard Brayden Steffens, who scored all 10 of the Huskies’ first-quarter points on his way to a game-high 21. Steffens buried a pair of threes and made all four of his free throws in the opening quarter.
Steffens went on to record a double-double by pulling down 10 rebounds. The mid-range maestro struggled from the field on 6-of-17 shooting, but boosted his numbers with three makes from beyond the arc.
“We didn’t shoot it great from the field or the free-throw line, but found a way to get a road win to start the season,” Huskies head coach Jeff Ralph said.
Sophomore guard Jack Gilbertson weathered a cold shooting night to post 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting. Gilbertson added four rebounds and a team-high three assists, while leading all players with three steals.
Treyton King supplied eight points on 3-of-5 shooting while adding four rebounds and two steals to the box score.
“Treyton’s seven points in the paint in the fourth period were huge for us,” Ralph said.
Garnett Anderson was the only Wahpeton reserve to make a basket.
“Garnett came off the bench and did a nice job defensively for us and contributed four points,” Ralph said.
Thompson was led by 12 points and 14 rebounds from Noah Hippen. Gavin Oster was also in double figures with 11 points.
