The Austin High School boys basketball team won its third straight game of the season Tuesday night.

Wednesday, December 13, 2000

The Austin High School boys basketball team won its third straight game of the season Tuesday night.

The Mankato West Scarlets fell to coach Kris Fadness at Packers Gymnasium.

The final score was 67-44.

Austin is undefeated in Big Nine Conference action. Tom Boone’s Mankato West team fell to 1-2 in conference play.

Austin had nine players in the scoring column, led by three in double figures. Andy Erichson tallied 18, Adam Kaspar, 13, and Corey Christopherson, 11.

The Packers raced to a 24-8 first-quarter margin, capitalizing on six Mankato West turnovers.

Josh Holck gave his teammates a boost with a three-point basket in the first stanza.

The Scarlets were only outscored by the hosts, 15-13, in the second quarter and narrowed the margin to 20-16 at one point in the quarter on a three-pointer by standout Dennis Baker, but Erichson knocked down his second three and then Christopherson also drained a trey at the end of the quarter. When the teams left the court at halftime, Austin had a comfortable 39-21 margin.

The Scarlets’ Baker, a 6-foot-2-inch leaper, rallied his teammates with three straight field goals to start the third quarter, but picked up his fourth personal foul and had to be benched by Boone.

Meanwhile, the Packers’ offense stymied the visitors’ high-scoring point guard, Josh Meade.

Coupled with a relentless offense, including Kaspar’s third trey of the game, the Packers ended the third stanza, leading 51-34.

The Packers held firm on the defensive end of the court in the final quarter, which saw the Scarlets’ Baker foul out with 16 points.

As the margin grew, both coaches emptied their benches with four minutes left in the game.

When the Packers’ Jeff Clark and Clint Ripley each scored buckets, the Packers’ starters led the cheers from the bench en route to a 21-point victory.

Mankato West’s leading scorer, point guard Meade, saw his 19-points-per-game average dip after a nine-point effort Tuesday night.

Prior to Tuesday night’s contest, the Packers, Century and Albert Lea all were undefeated in Big Nine Conference action.

The Packers’ next game is Friday night at Owatonna.