MANKATO — If the No. 1-ranked Mankato East boys basketball team was expecting a walkover against crosstown rival Mankato West Tuesday, they had to work for it. After a helter-skelter first 15 minutes, the Cougars regrouped and pulled away in the second half for an 85-59 Big Nine Conference win at Minnesota State’s Bresnan Arena.
The Scarlets came out aggressively, building leads of 21-15 and 24-17 midway through the first half before East regained its composure.
Kyle Steinke carried the Scarlets in the early going, delivering a number of twisting, turnaround jumpers close to the basket. His 14-point effort kept East at bay for much of the half.
“We were rushing too much, trying to take 5- and 10-point shots,” East coach Joe Madson said. Once we settled down and got our transition game going, things went a lot better for us.
East got back in it with up-tempo hustling, delivering a number of fast-break layups before taking a 41-36 lead at the half. Lucas Gustafson sparked the effort, scoring 11 first-half points and scoring 19 overall. The Cougars Brogan Madson started cold but warmed up to lead the team with 24 points.
“We were trying to do a little too much 1-on-1 in the first half,” Gustafson said. “We had to spread things out a little and then that opened up our transition game. It was more of a team effort in the second half.”
The Cougars took control right away after the intermission, outscoring West 14-6 to build a 55-41 lead. Junior center Braden Pelzel was instrumental during the run, scoring off an offensive rebound, hitting another inside layup and then netting an alley-oop pass for six straight points. Pelzel finished with 10 points.
East continued to pour it on, building a 71-49 lead with 8:33 to play to put the game away. Steinke led the Scarlets with 27 points.
“He had a nice first half,” Coach Madson said. “I was hoping he wouldn’t be able to keep that pace up all game.”
Ganden Gosch had a nice game for East, finishing with 14 points.
The win improves the Cougars to 21-1. West falls to 8-15.