WINONA – By the time young Corey Christopherson put-back an Austin miss for his first-ever varsity points, the boys were having fun.

Wednesday, December 08, 1999

WINONA – By the time young Corey Christopherson put-back an Austin miss for his first-ever varsity points, the boys were having fun.

Christopherson couldn’t hide the wide smile on his face as he turned and hustled up the court to play a little garbage-time defense.

The sophomore doesn’t expect to score many varsity points this season.

Unless, of course, Christopherson’s brother, Matt, and the rest of the varsity studs continue building leads like they did against Winona.

In an opening game 67-43 win, the Austin boys basketball team seperated itself from Winona behind a blazing shooting performance.

For the Packers, it was open season on open looks and just about everybody got into the act.

"The coaches tell us that if we get open looks, take ’em," said point guard Nick Rohne, whose 11 points made him one of three Packers in double figures. "We’ve got a lot of good shooters and we’ve all got the green light."

Austin’s big guy, Brian Elwer, picked up the Packers’ first two buckets, making the Winhawks more aware of the 6-foot, 7-inch All-Big Nine center then they already were.

That opened things up for everybody else, said Austin coach Kris Fadness.

"Winona was so conscious of Elwer in the post," Fadness said, "that it opened up the door for our shooters.

"Plus, we’re big and when we screen people, we get people open."

Though Austin shot 27-of-47 for the game and a sizzling 16-of-24 on its way to a 40-22 halftime lead, Fadness did find opportunity to pick at his Packers a little.

"I thought we were methodic," Fadness said. "I didn’t see a lot of cutting and slashing."

But the Packers didn’t need their A-game against Winona, which lost 12 players from last season’s squad and is peppered with sophomores and juniors.

"They’re a good, well-balaced team," said Winona coach Kevin Martin. "We weren’t able to get to their open shooters."

The Austin shooters took on many forms.

Senior forward Matt Smith dominated early by going strong to the glass on several uncontested layups.

"The ball was coming my way and I just felt good," said Smith, who scored eight.

Rohne added a three pointer to his array of dribble-drives to the basket.

Matt Christopherson hit a three in the early going, then followed that with back-to-back threes that turned a seven-point game, 29-22, into a rout.

On his consecutive bombs, Christopherson had time to tuck his right shooting elbow into his ribcage and double check to make sure the elbow was tucked – all before cocking and firing the threes.

"We were open," Christopherson said, "and we had a lot of time."

"I was really happy with the three point shots we took," Fadness said. "Our feet were set and we weren’t rushing or forcing the shots."

Against the Winhawks, the Packers weren’t in a hurry. They let the game come to them and they simply knocked down the win.

Austin (67)

Tanner Schieck 6, Andy Erickson 3, Andy Brede 3, Matt Christopherson 11, Jeff Becker 4, Matt Smith 8, Brian Elwer 12, Corey Christopherson 2, Nick Rohne 11, Brent Holck 7.

Winona (43)

Brandon Page 8, Bryan Weess 2, Jon Urbick 4, Chris Zakoshefski 4, Tim Morgan 1, Andy Grupa 4, Jacob Wiltgen 11, Jeremy Scott 2, Jess Stoltz 5, Nate McLaughlin 2.

B-Squad: The Austin B-squad picked up the win by downing Winona, 54-48. Adam Kasper led the way with 13 points, followed by eight each from Corey Christopherson, Gavin Henningsen and Tim Johnson.