Ashlynn Muhl (right) went to the basket for two of her 44 points Tuesday night.

By BYRON HIGGIN

Mascot Publisher

"I had the flow tonight," laughed Ashlynn Muhl.

That might have been an understatement. The Minneota Viking junior center scored 44 points, grabbed 26 rebounds with 4 blocks and three steals as she led the Vikings to a 73-57 season-opening win at Dawson against the Dawson-Boyd Blackjacks.

"One thing I know I can do is rebound," Muhl said.

She certainly did that, gathering in 14 rebounds the first half and 12 more the second half.

Muhl's effort is a new all-school scoring record. Her 44 points surpassed Tim Stegner, who had 41 points in a single game.

"She's that type of player," said Coach Chad Johnston. "I was a little shocked Dawson tried to play us man-to-man. I think most conference teams will use a zone. They couldn't stop her inside and  you've got to do what's working," the coach said. So they kept tossing the ball inside to Muhl.

Muhl was simply, "Playing my game," taking the ball from her teammates, who kept finding her open.

Muhl had three fouls at halftime, in addition to 14 rebounds and 19 points. But Coach Johnston decided to start her in the second half.

"We made a good run at the end of the first half and we didn't want them to get bck in the game. We need her on the court," the coach said.

Muhl finally did foul out, but not before she began feeding the ball back outside to Taya Kockelman, who got hot with two three-pointers and a total of eight points in the second half.

"She's going to have some of these (games)," said Coach Johnston.

Kockelman added 10 points, Sam Hennen and Kelsey Hennen six each and Trisha Jerzak came off the bench to score five with a pair of rebounds.

Minneota won't get long to dwell on this win because they play at Canby on Thursday night. "Canby is favored in the conference," said Coach Johnston. And it was Canby that beat the Vikings in the playoffs last year.

So while it's just the second game of the season, it's an important game.

Score by Halves:
Minneota              38    37 — 73
Dawson-Boyd      24    33 — 57

MINNEOTA (Field goals, free-throws, fouls, total points. Sam Hennen 2 2-2 4 6, Kelsey Hennen 2 1-3 1 6, Taya Kockelman 4 0-0 0 10, Ashlynn Muhl 20 4-8 5 44, Katelyn Kack 1 0-2 2 2, Trisha Jerzak 2 1-2 1 5, Sara Maeyert 0 0-0 0 0, Jamie Lundberg 0 0-0 0 0, Kayla Maeyert 0 0-0 0 0, Megan McNeill 0 0-0 0 0, Amber Grengs 0 0-0 0 0. Totals 31 8-18 14 73.
(Three-pointers: Kockelman 2, K. Hennen 1).

DAWSON-BOYD: (Field goals, free-throws, fouls, total points. Kendra Lindblad 9 5-5 1 24, Mariah Kuhlman 0 0-0 4 0, Elle Weber 1 0-0 0 2, Kristen Lee 2 2 2-2 47, Whitney Hermanson 4 2-2 5 10, Kelsey Jurgenson 4 0-2 3 8, Mari Lee 3 0-0 1, Sara Zaiser 0 0-0 1 0. Totals 23 9-11 19 57.
(Three-pointers: Lindblad, K. Lee ).

Rebounding: Minneota 41 (Muhl 26). Dawson-Boyd 33 (K. Lee, M. Lee 6 each.
Shooting: Minneota 31 of 71 for 44 percent; DB-23 of  62 for 37 percent.
Steals: Minneota 4 (Muhl 3). DB-5.
Turnovers: Minneota 14. DB-18.
Assists: Minneota 11 (K. Hennen 5). DB-11 (Lindblad 5).
Blocks: Minneota 4 (Muhl 4). DB-Blocks 2 (Weber, Lindblad).

B Squad: Dawson-Boyd 29, Minneota 28