Storm Lake leaves E-LC behind, 77-53

STORM LAKE - Estherville-Lincoln Central did their best to hang with the Tornadoes Tuesday, down 24-23 after one quarter of play, but the Midgets were unable to keep pace the rest of the way as Trey O'Brien and Pel Deng combined for 40 points and 10 steals in a 77-53 Storm Lake win.

"Wow, were we fast tonight," said Storm Lake head coach Bob Grant. "We were a bit sloppy at times. It wasn't championship basketball, but we had our spurts where we were really fast and electric."

E-LC hung with the Tornadoes for three quarters, before Storm Lake used a 20-4 fourth quarter run to put them away in their last meeting. The Midgets would hold close for just one quarter this time around.

After the 24-23 first quarter, Jay Grant opened the second with an easy lay in. Ethan Kenkel followed with a pair of free throws and a basket. Deng took it to the rim to cap off a 12-2 run midway through the second. Nic Seaman knocked down a jumper and a free throw to give SL their biggest lead of the quarter at 46-29. A desperation three by the Midgets' Matt Burrell brought it to 47-34 at half.

Another strong run opened the second half as two points from Grant, six from O'Brien and two from Deng pushed it to 57-34. The Tornadoes would close the third up 67-42 as Greg Germann tipped in a putback in the closing seconds of the quarter.

The lead would stay in the 20's for the rest of the game as the Tornadoes improved to 9-5 with the win and 5-4 in the Lakes Conference.

O'Brien hit 11-of-18 from the floor, and 4-of-7 from three, on his way to a game-high 27 points. He added two rebounds and three steals.

Deng notched 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and seven steals, as he led the Tornado defense, who totaled 17 steals on the night.

"Man was Pel fast on the ball," said Grant. "I talked to him later in the game and told him I liked him guarding the point guard. That means some of our other guys are going to have to guard a bigger guy. We're going to have to work on that in practice, but when he's on the point guard, wow."

Jay Grant turned in eight points, six rebounds and two assists, Aaron Krier had seven points and five steals, Ethan Kenkel had six points and seven boards, Aaron Shadlow six points and five boards, Nic Seaman six points and two assists and Germann four points.

The Tornadoes hit 33-of-62 from the floor, 5-of-16 from three and 6-of-9 at the line.

Burrell, who turned in 18 points in the first meeting, was held to just six Tuesday as the Midgets dropped to 6-12 and 2-7 in the Lakes.

The Tornadoes hit the road Friday night as they visit Emmetsburg (7-7, 3-6), who enter after throttling Spencer Tuesday, 61-22.

"One of the things we're going to have to work on is playing against a team that plays rough," said Grant. "When we go up there, they try to beat us up. They'll be physical with us. We'll have to learn how to be a little more physical and concentrate on keeping our composure. They're not a real deep team. We want to try to use our speed."