Keonte' Jenkins scored 26 first-half points Saturday to ignite the Central Lakes College Raiders to a 94-85 Northern Division victory over Rainy River.
Jenkins drained five 3-pointers and CLC shot 45 percent from the field to hold of a Voyager team desperate for a victory to climb back into the playoff hunt.
"I thought that our effort and our offense was very good," said Raiders head coach Jim Russell. "Their back was against the wall and they needed the win to stay in the hunt for the state tournament. They are a good athletic team. Keonte' did a great job for us and Lamontrell (Fuller) was great coming off the bench."
Fuller scored 18 points in 21 minutes, including key baskets late as the Raiders clung to a lead.
After falling behind early, CLC's Jenkins drained one of his five 3s to hand CLC a 22-16 lead midway through the first half. Another Jenkins 3 propelled the Raiders to a 10-point advantage and CLC finished the half leading 46-37.
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"My teammates believe in me and have confidence in me and so do the coaches and they said that there wasn't any pressure, and that I do it in practice and to take it into the game, and that helps my confidence," Jenkins said.
In the second half, the Voyageurs made a defensive commitment to stop Jenkins. He still added 11 second-half points, but his fellow teammates did the rest.
"He is learning and growing, and he competes and always wants the ball in his hand," Russell said of Jenkins. "At the end, I think the team rallied around him and other guys also stepped up. I believe this team is just scratching the surface and getting better."
Rainy River to three points, but baskets from Fuller and Timothy Boyd put the Raiders up for good.
"I feel good about today and confident going into the playoffs," Jenkins said. "As we progress we are getting better and better as a team and we knew that we needed this one today and it was a big win for us."
Rainy River 37 48-85
Central Lakes 46 48-94
RAINY RIVER
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Mike Miller 15, Juvontae Nash 8, Ray McCullough 25, Terry Jones III 6, Ira Johnson 13, Davarious Wright 16, Fernando Rodriguez 2. FG 30-69 (44 percent), FT 16-22 (73 percent). 3-point 9-27 (33 percent).
CENTRAL LAKES
Tanner Heinsius 1, Shawn McGee 6, Keonte' Jenkins 37, Jacob Russell 6, TrayVon Lackey 10, Thomas Kornbaum 3, Timothy Boyd 13, Lamontrell Fuller 18. FG 29-65 (45 percent), FT 25-35 (71 percent). 3-point 11-29 (38 percent). Division: 8-2. Overall: 16-6. Next: at Itasca Community College 7:45 p.m. Feb. 17.
