Park boys basketball: Wolfpack beat South St. Paul for second time this season

The Park boys basketball team seems to have South St. Paul’s number.

The Wolfpack took down South St. Paul 61-53 on Friday, Dec. 28, in the second round of the South St. Paul Tournament. It was Park’s second win over the Packers this year. Park also beat South St. Paul in their lone matchup last season.

Park (2-8; 0-3 Suburban East Conference) took a 33-30 lead at the half against South St. Paul, then outscored the Packers 28-23 in the second half to earn the victory. The youthful Wolfpack held South St. Paul (2-9) to 23 percent shooting from the floor in the win.

Nine different players scored for Park in the win. Three different players hit double figures. Sophomores Connor Kvendru, Anthony Juba and Aaron Gorres each scored 10 points. Junior Ryan Klika netted nine points and junior Sully Brenke chipped in eight points. Andrew Guerreo scored a game-high 22 points for the Packers.

The game came on the heels of a 56-44 loss to Prescott, Wis., the day before.

In the loss, Park fell behind 24-16 in the first half and couldn’t catch up. The Wolfpack shot just 31 percent in the game. Brenke led the way in the loss with a team-high 11 points, three assists and four rebounds. Juba chipped in nine points and sophomore Jeb Melson had a team-best 10 rebounds to go along with four points.

Following the tournament, Park returned to Suburban East Conference play last week at Forest Lake. The Wolfpack wasn’t able to find pay-dirt as the Rangers won 53-33.

Park kept things close at the half, trailing just 21-13, but Forest Lake (3-5; 1-2 SEC) pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Wolfpack 32-20 after the break.

The Wolfpack was held to 22 percent shooting and didn’t have a player hit double figures in the loss. Klika led the way with nine points, four rebounds and three assists. In addition, Gorres had six points and three rebounds.

Park took on third-ranked Roseville (9-1; 3-0 SEC) on Tuesday, after the Bulletin went to press. Next, the Wolfpack tip off with Cretin-Derham Hall (5-4; 2-1) on Friday, Jan. 11, at Park High School. Game time is 7:15 p.m.

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