Park boys basketball: Wolfpack falls to Hastings

A tough season got tougher for the Park boys basketball team over the holiday break.

To start the 2012-13 campaign, Park has lost five out of six games, including four straight.

The latest loss came on Dec. 21 to Suburban East Conference foe Hastings, 71-54. Despite being outscored 37-19 in the first half, Park showed some signs of life in the second half and actually outscored Hastings 35-34 .

Only two players on Hastings (2-2, 1-1 SEC) scored more than 10 points, which is usually a positive. However, when one player scores 32 points, especially in high school basketball, that’s generally not a recipe for success for the opponent. That player was Raiders’ sophomore forward Sam Skoyen. Fellow sophomore forward Craig Nielson added 19, but other than that, not one player for Hastings scored more than four points.

Junior guard Ryan Klika led the way for Park (1-6, 0-2 SEC), scoring 14 points, while sophomore forward Jeb Melson added 12.

Klika is now averaging 6.8 points per game, which is second on the team. Junior guard Sully Brenke leads the team averaging 8.0 points per game.

Park finds itself at the bottom of the Suburban East. Roseville (6-0, 2-0) is in first place.

The team has a break of 14 days before it travels to play Forest Lake (2-5, 0-2) on Jan. 4.

Tags: sports, basketball, park, wolfpack, prep, updates