Red Wing 43, Albert Lea 42

RED WING &8212; After playing Red Wing to a 21-21 tie at the half, the Albert Lea boys&8217; basketball team dropped its fifth game in a row Friday night, 53-42 at Red Wing.

&8220;We played pretty good defense in the first half but just couldn&8217;t hold them in the second,&8221; said

Tigers head coach Chad Feikema. &8220;We had three guys in double figures tonight but we still have to have more guys step up and start to take some shots.&8221;

The guards continued to put up the bulk of the points for the Tigers with Jared Gavle, A.J. Kortz, and Corey Dieser pouring in 37 of Albert Lea&8217;s 42 points. Gavle finished with a team high 13 points while Kortz and Dieser both added 12.

With the loss the Tigers fall to 1-5 on the year. They will be back in action Wednesday, Dec. 27, when they host a holiday tournament. The Tigers face Prescott, Wis., at 7:30 p.m.

Red Wing 53, Albert Lea 42

Albert Lea &8212;

Jared Gavle 13, A.J. Kortz 12, Corey Dieser 12, Mitch Wenum 3, Levi Peterson 2

Loyola 55, NRHEG 53

MANKATO &8212; The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva boys basketball team fell into a two-way tie for third place in the Gopher Conference with Mankato Loyola Thursday night when the Crusaiders beat the Panthers 55-53.

&8220;It was definitely a tough game to lose considering we had the lead,&8221; said Panthers head coach Matt Eppen. &8220;We played well almost the entire game and there are several positives we can take away from this loss. Hopefully we will continue to improve.&8221;

The Panthers held onto a narrow 27-22 halftime lead but couldn&8217;t overcome a strong second half effort by the Crusaiders.

NRHEG shot well from the line hitting 10 of 16 and also shot 53 percent from behind the arc, splashing five 3-pointers on the night.

Brian Warnke led the Panthers with 13 points while Brad Kruckeberg and Justin Stieglbuer added nine apiece.

The loss drops the Panthers record to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the Gopher Conference.

NRHEG&8217;s next home game is Thursday, Jan. 4, when they play host to Bethlehem Academy.