By Noah Grant / Sports Director / St. Cloud, Minn
-The St. Cloud Tech boys basketball team picked up the win in a back-and-forth battle
against the Willmar Cardinals on Thursday night at Tech High School. Despite trailing by as
much as 10 early in the second half, Tech would ultimately pull away to win 95-87.
The game opened with a three pointer from Tigers sophomore Evertte Stien, which set
the tone for the first half as both sides would come out red-hot from beyond the arc. For every
Tiger bucket, there was a Willmar response and vice-versa as the lead would change hands
several times.
St. Cloud Tech was able to grab a 27-19 lead with eight minutes to go in the half, but it
would take less than a minute for Willmar to narrow the deficit. After a technical foul against the
Tigers, Avery Christensen made both free throws and Cooper Schnichels drained a three
pointer. After a quick Tech missed bucket, Jordan Ellingson finished a layup to get the Cardinals
back within one.
Willmar would eventually take the lead, going into the half up 45-41 as Christensen
ended the first with 20 points. Schnichels was also in double digits, recording 15 points all by
way of the three.
The Cardinals would extend the lead to start the second, but the Tigers would continue
to battle back. Senior Moulid Abdi came off the bench and buried two key treys, while junior
Jiech Jiech had a monster half, putting up 19 points in the final 18 minutes. With the Tigers
leading 83-80 and just three minutes to play, Jiech launched back-to-back threes to give Tech a
comfortable lead down the home stretch.
The Cardinals didn’t have enough magic left for a late comeback, and the Tigers would
hold on for the victory. Jiech finished with 31 points in total, while Abdi would set a new season
high with 17 points on the night. For Willmar, it was another tremendous night for Christensen,
who recorded 38 in the losing effort.
St. Cloud Tech moves to 11-11 on the year with the win, and will be back at home on
Tuesday as they welcome in the Sartell Sabers in their penultimate home game of the regular
season