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Valiant effort

There were a handful of positives that Adolph Kochendorfer saw from his St. Edmond boys here Tuesday night.

Those, though, did not outweigh the negatives.

Algona jumped all over the Gaels early, holding off a spirited rally on Senior Night for a 54-51 victory.

Prior to the tip, St. Edmond (11-10 overall, 8-6 in North Central Conference) honored Will Woodruff, Sean Flaherty and Isaac Lursen. Woodruff finished the game with 20 rebounds and eight points, and Flaherty and Lursen combined for six points and nine rebounds.

“We just didn’t get off to a good start,” Kochendorfer said. “Credit Algona because they came out and took it right to us. That put us on our heels and we were playing from behind the rest of the night.

“I was proud of the kids for battling back and especially proud of those seniors. I just wish we could have sent them out on a good note.”

The loss dropped the Gaels to 1-4 over their last five as they enter Class 1A postseason play next Thursday in Algona vs. Saint Ansgar.

“Hopefully we can work on what we did right and correct the things we did wrong before that game,” Kochendorfer said. “We’ll really get after it in practice here these next few days.”

Andrew Gibb scored a game-high 23 points and Jackson Kochendorfer added 11 for St. Edmond. They had a chance in the final seconds to tie it, but could not connect from long-range.

The Bulldogs (11-8, 9-3) picked up their fourth consecutive win and avenged a 65-50 setback to the Gaels earlier this year. Trevor Bormann scored 18 and Wyatt Wegener added 15.

Algona started the game off making nine of its first 10 shots from the field, going 13-for-22 shooting from the field in the first half. The Bulldogs have won six of their last nine games that have been decided by 10 points or less after losing their first three in that fashion.

Bormann scored 11 in the first quarter, including three 3-pointers.

“We were able to battle back, but we just had too many turnovers to make that final push,” Kochendorfer said. “Each time we cut the lead, we’d make a mistake and Algona would take advantage.”

To go along with his 20-rebound night, Woodruff also had four blocks and four assists.

Algona closes out its regular season with Humboldt on Friday and Iowa Falls-Alden next Tuesday night.

ALGONA 54, ST. EDMOND 51

St. Edmond — Jed Tracy 0-1 0-0 0, Andrew Gibb 7-14 6-6 23, Jackson Kochendorfer 3-9 2-2 11, Will Woodruff 4-9 0-0 8, Sean Flaherty 2-6 0-0 4, Isaac Lursen 0-1 2-2 2, Drew Schaeffer 0-0 0-0 0, Sean Newell 0-1 0-0 0, Mitchell Rasmussen 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 17-42 10-10 51.

Algona — Wyatt Wegener 5-11 5-10 15, Trevor Bormann 6-10 3-4 18, Spencer Nelson 3-8 0-0 8, Spencer Holmes 2-2 0-0 4, Collin Bleich 1-5 0-0 3, Jason Cecil 2-3 0-0 4, Collin Sexton 0-0 0-2 0, Matt Grein 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 20-40 8-16 54.

Quarter scores: Algona led 23-10, 32-27, 45-40. Three-point goals: St. Edmond 7 (Gibb 3, Kochendorfer 3, Rasmussen 1); Algona 6 (Bormann 3, Nelson 2, Bleich 1). Total rebounds: St. Edmond 36, Algona 16. Blocked shots: St. Edmond 4, Algona 2. Steals: St. Edmond 3, Algona 6. Team fouls: St. Edmond 13, Algona 15. Turnovers: St. Edmond 14, Algona 8.

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