Pierz jumps to 12-2 with win

PIERZ - Chad Lanners tallied 20 points, eight steals, five rebounds and four assists and Dustin Monson scored 14 points to lead the Pierz Pioneers past the Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles 66-53 in Central Minnesota Conference boys' basketball Thursday.

Eden Valley-Watkins 27 26 - 53

Pierz 37 29 - 66

Eden Valley-Watkins

Kiel Tschumperlin 6, Luke Euerle 6, Adam Hesse 7, Brandon Stenger 10, Matt Theis 24. Three-point baskets: 4 (Tschumperlin 2, Euerle 2).

Pierz

Cody Varner 12, Matt Przybilla 4, Bryan Virnig 10, Alex Hebler 2, Dustin Monson 14, Robert Bell 4, Chad Lanners 20. Three-point baskets: 4 (Varner 4). Conference: 12-2. Overall: 5-1. Next: at Kimball 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Pillager 73, Menahga 70

PILLAGER - Joe Lennon scored 17 points, John Knebel 14 and Dexter Mudgett 13 to lead the Pillager Huskies past the Menahga Braves 73-70 in Park Region Conference boys' basketball Thursday.

Menahga 38 32 - 70

Pillager 43 30 - 73

Menahga

Davis 1, Peterson 2, Levi Tormanen 3, Eric Skoog 19, Brady Junes 4, Don Maninga 23, Josh Redetzke 18. Three-point baskets: 7 (Tormanen, Skoog 3, Maninga, Redetzke 2).

Pillager

Jake Martin 6, Luke Nelson 6, Tyler Holbrook 5, Dexter Mudgett 13, Tom Kientzle 4, Jake Eastman 6, Zach Kadus 2, John Knebel 14, Joe Lennon 17. Three-point baskets: 3 (Holbrook, Mudgett 2). Conference: 5-1. Overall: 9-5. Next: at Bertha-Hewitt 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Verndale 48,

New York Mills 41,

VERNDALE - Shane Finck scored 25 points and Josh Kern added 10 to lead the Verndale Pirates past New York Mills 48-41 in Park Region Conference boys' basketball Thursday.

Wayne Kopp added nine for the Pirates which improved to 4-3 in the conference and 10-5 overall.

New York Mills 15 26 - 41

Verndale 26 22 - 48

NEW YORK MILLS

Mike Baune 5, Alex Helemeke 10, Shawn VanDyke 2, Erik Peeters 17, Grant Cameron 4, Pat Peltier 3. Three-point baskets: 1 (Baune).

VERNDALE

Josh Kern 10, Wayne Kopp 9, Dan Adamietz 2, Shane Finck 25, Jon Price 2. Three-point baskets: 2 (Finck 2). Conference: 4-3. Overall: 10-5. Next: at Pequot Lakes 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Park Rapids 55,

Staples-Motley 42

STAPLES - Caleb Nurnberger and Matt Edin each posted 12 points for the Staples-Motley Cardinals in a 55-42 loss to the Park Rapids Panthers Thursday in Mid-State Conference boys' basketball.

Park Rapids 27 28 - 55

Staples-Motley 16 26 - 42

Park Rapids

Tom Juberian 12, Grant Dierkhising 10, Doug Haas 3, Eli Donatelle 5, Seth Overly 2, Brady Pederson 2, Kevin Vaadeland 2, Bryce Fazekas 19. Three-point baskets: 6 (Juberian 4, Haas 1, Donatelle 1).

Staples-Motley

Wade Anderson 4, Colton Thompson 6, Caleb Nurnberger 12, Derek Wolhowe 4, Jordan Riewer 2, Joe Fuhrman 2, Matt Edin 12. Three-point baskets: 5 (Edin 2, Nurnberger 2, Thompson 1). Conference: 1-4. Overall: 6-8. Next: at Minnewaska 7:45 p.m. Saturday.

Rocori 85, Little Falls 47,

COLD SPRING - Phil Hochsprung led the Little Falls Flyers with 11 points in a 85-47 Central Lakes Conference loss to the Rocori Spartans Thursday.

Little Falls 24 23 - 47

Rocori 51 34 - 85

Little Falls

Alex Scott 2, Erick Strack 2, Kyle Peterschick 2, John Dunlap 2, Eric Thilquist 2, Will Kornbaum 3, Dusty Parker 9, Ronny Kornbaum 9, Phil Hochsprung 11, Matt Hurni 2, Will Delany 4. Three-point baskets: (R. Kornbaum 2, W. Kornbaum 1, Parker 1). Conference: 5-5. Overall: 8-6. Next: hosts Bemidji 3 p.m. Saturday.

Rocori

Feldtge 6, Eisenchank 17, O' connor 2, Bossen 5, Meyer 3, Udermann 9, Burtzel 9, Aaseth 10, Stommes 22. Three-point baskets: (Eisenchank 3, Meyer 1, Udermann 1, Aaseth 2, Stommes 2).

Braham 101, Aitkin 51

AITKIN - Rob Mellema scored 14 points and Mark Eno 11 to lead the Aitkin Gobblers in Thursday's 101-51 Great River Conference boys' basketball loss to Class 1A's top-ranked Braham Bombers.

Braham 52 49 - 101

Aitkin 26 25 - 51

Braham

Noah Dahlman 29, Alex Bendickson 12, Alex Thiry 12, Cody Luebeck 11, David Vavra 10, Zach Anderson 10, Jared Glidden 9, Josh Johnson 8, Tyler Lakeberg 6. Three-point baskets: 10 (Vavra, Thiry 2, Anderson, Glidden 3, Bendickson 3).

Aitkin

Rob Mellema 14, Mark Eno 11, Jase Hegman 8, Ben Sundholm 6, Shane Sundholm 4, Dan Landrus 4, Dalton Moss 2, Greg Eno 2. Conference: 2-4. Overall: 4-11. Next: at Onamia 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Cass Lake-Bena 114,

Pine River-Backus 62

PINE RIVER - Ethan Krecklau posted 21 points for the Pine River-Backus Tigers as they fell 114-62 to Cass Lake-Bena Thursday in non-conference boys' basketball.

Cass Lake-Bena 70 44 - 114

Pine River-Backus 38 24 - 62

Cass Lake-Bena

Travis Huesers 16, Brady Fairbanks 34, Martin Wind 20, Ben Cameron 7, Nate Howard 10, Leroy Pemberton 4, Joe Wilson 2, Joel Salscheider 16, Nate Salscheider 5. Three-point baskets: 7 (Wind 2, Howard 2, Pemberton, Fairbanks, J. Salscheider).

Pine River-Backus

Micah Eveland 10, Jake Ward 6, Ethan Krecklau 21, Tanner Johnson 2, Nathan Smith 1, Dylan Rice 2, Steve Gertken 14, Ben Kline 2, Clay Hamilton 4. Three-point baskets: 1 (Eveland). Overall: 6-10. Next: hosts Park Rapids 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.