Mickelson and Aaberg collide in 56-55 Little Eight classic

Published 12:00am Wednesday, January 14, 2009
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Two of the top post players in the state squared off Tuesday night as Kurtis Mickelson of Ashby and Jordan Aaberg of Rothsay collided in a Little eight Conference matchup that saw the Tigers top the Arrows 56-55.

The match-up didn’t disappoint. Mickelson had a stellar game for the Arrows, scoring 29 points, grabbing 21 rebounds, dishing out four assists and blocking three shots.

Aaberg answered with 26 points and 12 rebounds to go along with six blocks.

“Kurtis Mickelson is a fantastic post player and gave us all sorts of problems and didn’t allow us many second chance points,” said Rothsay head coach Steve Hartman. “Jordan Aaberg had a really off night shooting the basketball as he was 11-for-33 from the field, but he made the most important one as he hit the game winner with 12 seconds to go and followed that up with a block before the buzzer.”

Arrow coach Ryan Risbrudt said his team played well, but in the end, turnovers were key.

“We played so well on defense tonight, did a lot of good things on the offensive end, but once again too many turnovers led to fast break points for Rothsay,” Risbrudt said.

Hartman praised the Arrows and their coaching staff.

“Ashby did a great job of getting out in transition and beating us down the floor,” he said. “It’s very difficult to win conference games on the road and we were fortunate to come out of this one with a win. Both teams battled hard and it was another exciting finish.”

For the Tigers, Cody Hanneman chipped in with 12 points and four steals, while Casey Jorgenson dished out a team-high five assists.

Arrow Jordan Lillemon had 10 points and five assists, while Garyt Haagenson contributed six and riley Mickelson four.

Rothsay was 3-for-7 from the foul line and the Arrows were 5-for-7. The Tigers move to 2-2 in the conference and 4-6 overall, and will play Parkers Prairie Thursday in Rothsay.

Ashby is now 1-3 in the Little Eight and 1-7 overall. They have Battle Lake at home Thursday and travel to Henning Friday.

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