WILLMAR -- The Willmar Cardinals won their fourth in a row, taking a hard-earned 58-45 win from Little Falls Thursday.
It was a vital Central Lakes Conference win for the Cardinals, now 5-1 in the loop. They trail Brainerd, St. Cloud Apollo and Rocori, all at 5-0. Brainerd plays at St. Cloud Apollo tonight.
Willmar (8-2 overall) will host Moorhead at 4:15 p.m. Saturday. The Spuds, an independent, are 5-1 going into tonight's home game with Edina (7-2).
Willmar scoring leaders in front of an estimated 750 fans were Michael Dunham with 15 points, Kyle Townswick with 11, and Corey Hanson and Matt Seehusen with eight each.
The Flyers' Dusty Parker led all scorers with 22 points.
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The win sets up a stretch of four games that should test Willmar's mettle. After Moorhead, St. Cloud Apollo comes to town on Thursday, and then its road games at Edina on Jan. 12 and Rocori Jan. 16.
"We're playing well defensively and offensively with a couple of big games coming up," said Seehusen. "We've got to play strong with the ball, shoot well, get our guards open for shots and move the ball quickly to get some shots down low."
Willmar's biggest weapon last night was the trey. Dunham cashed 5 of 9 attempts for all his points. Just as large, the team made 16 of 19 free throw chances (84 percent).
The home team led 31-18 at the break and extended the lead to 20 points, 38-18, on a Dunham bomb with 14:00 left. After that, the Cardinals left their engine idling for a time. Parker tossed in a pair of treys to cut the lead to 44-37 at 5:40, but Willmar quickly answered with a pair of free throws each by Seehusen and Hanson.
Little Falls, which matched Willmar in height, strength and work ethic, couldn't get any closer. After Parker, the Flyers' next scorer was 6-5 Phil Hochsprung with eight.
Willmar 58, Little Falls 48
Little Falls (2-4, 4-4) ................18 27 -- 45
Willmar (5-1, 8-2).................... 31 27 -- 58
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LITTLE FALLS - 17-35 FG (5-14 3 pt); 6-7 FT; 26 rebounds; 19 fouls ... Scoring: Kyle Peterschick 5, Eric Thilquist 3, Will Kornbaum 5, Dusty Parker 22, Phil Hochsprung 8, Will Delaney 2 ... 3-point shots: Parker 3, Thilquist 1, Kornbaum 1 ... Rebound, Assist, Steal leaders: not available
WILLMAR - 16-33 FG (7-16 3 pt); 16-19 FT; 18 rebounds; 13 fouls ... Scoring: Kyle Townswick 11, Matt Seehusen 8, Cory Hanson 8, Michael Dunham 15, Jordan Smith 5, Casey Sussenguth 10, Thomas Boike 1 ... 3-point shots: Dunham 5, Townswick 1, Smith 1 ... Rebound leaders: Townswick 3, Seehusen 4, Hanson 2, Hagemeyer 3 ... Assist leaders: Townswick 2, Hanson 3, Dunham 2 ... Steal leaders: Hanson 2 ... Blocks: Smith 2.
