Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms boys basketball team felled by Maple River 67-51 in home opener Tuesday evening

The Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms boys basketball team opened the home portion of their 2022-2023 season versus Gopher Conference rival Maple River Tuesday evening, and it was the Eagles coming away with a 67-51 win.

The Blossoms fell despite tallying only one less field goal in the game than Maple River (22-23), plus both teams finished with six 3-pointers, and Blooming Prairie led the game in assists (10-9), steals (12-6) and blocked shots (7-1), plus the Eagles committed two more turnovers in the game than the Blossoms (13-11), but the statistic that led largely to the Maple River win was free throws, as the Eagles were 15 for 19 from the charity stripe, while the Blossoms were 1 for 4.

Gabe Hein led two Blooming Prairie players in double figures in scoring with 22 points, plus he added four rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocked shots, Zach Hein tallied 19 points, six rebounds, a team-high four assists, two steals and two blocked shots, Cooper Cooke and Jacob Pauly each scored four points, Sam Smith tallied two points, and Brady Kittleson led the club in rebounds with seven, and in steals with five.

With the loss, Blooming Prairie starts the season at 0-2, and the Blossoms will be back in action at home Thursday night in a non-conference game with Chatfield, with the varsity tip-off scheduled for 7:15 p.m.