Spirit Lake splits with Spencer

Spirit Lake was at Spencer Friday night for Lakes Conference basketball. It was just the 3rd time in 2014 the Tigers have been in The Fieldhouse for varsity games, and in the girls half of the double header, they came out hot, hitting 8 first half 3 pointers to build a 36-25 halftime lead. Spirit Lake trailed by as many as 12 late before making a run. But the Indians were unable to overcome the deficit and lost 57-53. Spirit Lake was led by Emma Dau with 19. Joie Veldman was in double figure with 15. Kirstin Martindale of Spencer led all scorers in the game with 22, 19 coming in the first half. Spirit Lake is now 15-5, 10-3 in the Lakes Conference. Spencer improves to 11-9 and 9-4.

In the boys game, defense was the theme of the night, with both teams struggling to put points on the board. The game was tied after 3 at 28, but Spirit Lake’s defense held Spencer to just 4 4th quarter points on their way to a 44-32 win. It would be the lowest scoring game for both teams this season. The Indians were led by Alec Henrickson with 17. Billy Brown was in double figures with 11. Spencer finished with 3 players at 9 points a piece, Blake Illg, Matt Finnern, and Tanner Morris. The Indians are now 12-5, 8-5 in the Lakes Conference. Spencer falls to 10-8 and 7-6. Spirit Lake is at home against Lemars on Tuesday. Spencer will host Cherokee the same night.