Wendinger, Indians get first win of the season

Staff photo by Ari Selvey
Sleepy Eye’s Brayden Heiderscheidt floats in for a layup during a nonconference boys basketball game against Murray County Central Saturday at Sleepy Eye High School.

SLEEPY EYE — Landon Wendinger was dominant for Sleepy Eye in a 66-56 win over Murray County Central in a nonconference boys basketball game, scoring 31 points and grabbing 27 rebounds, along with three blocks.

16 of Wendiger’s 27 rebounds were offensive, leading to extra possessions and putbacks, including a few dunks by Wendiger, allowing the Indians to control the lead for a wire-to-wire win in the second day of the Sleepy Eye Tip-Off Invitational.

Wendinger had a total of three dunks in the game, a career high for him.

The 6-8 Wendinger was able to do this despite some size on the side of MCC, who had two players who were 6-5. Wendinger said that the size of the other team didn’t matter at times, but rather the ball movement that Sleepy Eye was able to execute.

Also for Sleepy Eye, Robert Romberg had 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Brayden Heiderscheidt had 14 points, five steals, three rebounds and three assists.

Sleepy Eye head coach Shane Heiderscheidt said the team was stronger on the defensive end in this game compared to the season-opener loss to Tracy-Milroy-Balaton on Friday.

While the defense had improved, coach Heiderscheidt said the team could have been more efficient on the offensive end, and he’d like to see more diversity in the offensive looks they got.

Sleepy Eye started the game with a 4-0 lead with Wendinger collecting all four points. MCC was able to hit a 3-pointer, but the Indians continued the run to go up 14-3 on a driving layup by Eric Lozano. The Rebels followed with a 11-0 run to tie the game at 14, but a putback by Wendinger put the Indians back on track to retake the lead for the rest of the game. Sleepy Eye pushed the lead up to 21-16 on a free throw by Wendinger, and the teams traded points for several possessions. An alley-oop from Brayden Heiderscheidt to Wendinger on an inbound play sparked a quick 6-0 run to extend the lead to 40-30, with a midrange jumper by MCC’s Gavin Gillette cutting it to 40-32 before halftime.

MCC switched out of its full-court trap defense in the second half, but Sleepy Eye continued to score down the stretch, with Wendinger getting his first dunk on a putback with a foul to put the lead at 47-39. Wendinger’s second dunk came on a transition feed from Riley Voigt, punching it home with two hands to get the bench on its feet.

Wendinger got his final dunk on another putback to put the Indians up 58-50, and the Rebels began to foul to get back into the game. Romberg made a few free throws and a layup to put the game out of reach as Wendinger got one final rebound to get the win.

Sleepy Eye (1-1) travels to Cathedral on Thursday.