ROSTER
Ashton Johnson, senior
Dylan Loken, senior
Dakota Neste, senior
Kordell Schlaak, senior
Jaxon Beck, junior
Severin Eads, junior
Austin King, junior
Matthew Mueller, junior
Cameron Nicholson, junior
Jack Olson, junior
Porter Peterson, junior
Benjamin Schoenrock, junior
Daxter Lee, freshman
2021 SCHEDULE
Jan. 15 — vs. Maple River, 7:15 p.m.
Jan. 19 — vs. Waseca, 7:15 p.m.
Jan. 22 — at Medford, 7:15 p.m.
Jan. 26 — at United South Central, 7:15 p.m.
Jan. 29 — vs. W-E-M, 7:15 p.m.
Feb. 2 — at Fairmont, 7 p.m.
Feb. 5 — at Bethlehem Academy, 7:15 p.m.
Feb. 9 — vs. Blooming Prairie, 7:15 p.m.
Feb. 12 — at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.
Feb. 15 — at St. James Area, 7:15 p.m.
Feb. 19 — at Maple River, 7:15 p.m.
Feb. 23 — vs. Bethlehem Academy, 7:15 p.m.
Feb. 26 — vs. Medford, 7:15 p.m.
March 2 — at Blooming Prairie, 7:15 p.m.
March 5 — vs. United South Central, 7:15 p.m.
March 8 — vs. Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.
March 12 — at W-E-M, 7:15 p.m.
KEY MATCHUPS
Jan. 22 at Medford — In the first matchup between these two teams last season, the Tigers and Panthers appeared to be on equal footing, with Medford claiming a 57-51 victory in New Richland. In the rematch in the last game of the regular season, however, the Tigers ran away from the Panthers for a 71-50 victory at home. With senior big men AJ Vanderweide and Kael Hermanstorfer both back this season, the Medford is looking to boost last season’s 5-9 mark in the Gopher Conference, but will first have to prove it remains ahead of an NRHEG squad that’s more experienced than last season.
Jan. 26 at United South Central — Last season, the Rebels swept the two-game set against the Panthers by a combined five points. Any path to improvement on last season’s 2-12 mark for NRHEG in the Gopher Conference likely starts with this matchup in the fourth game of the regular season. USC graduates only two seniors from last year, although that does include its primary scorer AJ Kloos. Seniors Riley Stalock and Ethan Dallman, as well as junior Colten Quade, will aim to make up for that scoring deficit. The two teams also meet in the third-to-last game of the regular season March 5 in New Richland.
Feb. 5 vs. Bethlehem Academy — The Cardinals provided both of last season’s Gopher Conference wins for the Panthers, who claimed a 67-66 victory in Faribault before a 69-59 win later in the season in New Richland. This season, both return a heavy amount of its scorers from a season ago. For NRHEG, that starts with senior guards Porter Peterson and Kordell Schlaak, while BA returns senior guards Robb and Bo, in addition to Malecha, a senior forward. With most of the traditional Gopher Conference powers dealing with major graduation losses this year, there might be room for one of these two squads to move up from the bottom two spots in the conference pecking order and into an increasingly growing middle of the conference. These two teams will also play Feb. 23 in New Richland.