Big halftime leads held up as the Park Rapids boys basketball team split games at the Area High School gym.
The host Panthers built a 36-17 lead at the half Friday night en route to a 72-56 victory over Pillager.
Saturday night was a different story as Perham built a 41-20 lead at the half en route to an 82-43 victory over the Panthers.
That split left Park Rapids with a 6-7 overall record entering Tuesday night's Mid-State Confer-ence game at Wadena. The Panthers host Staples-Motley Thursday night in another conference game.
Panthers control Pillager
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Park Rapids jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back in defeating Pillager.
Jumpers by Grant Dierk-hising and Cody Boterman, a layup by Dylan Walsh, and two free throws and a jumper by Dierkhising provided a 10-0 lead 2:13 into the game.
Two more baskets by Dierkhising and another layup by Walsh pushed the lead to 16-3 with 12:27 to play.
After Pillager closed the margin to 16-9, two inside baskets by Boterman, a layup by Kevin Vaadeland, a jumper by Andrew Larson and a layup off a steal by Dierkhising gave the Pan-thers a 27-11 lead at the 6:08 mark.
Three jumpers by Vaade-land and a layup by Dierk-hising provided the Pan-thers with a 36-17 advantage at the break.
A pair of layups by Boter-man, a layup by Dierkhis-ing, a jumper by Larson and a layup off a steal by Walsh kept the lead at 46-24 with 14:00 remaining.
Pillager made a run as back-to-back baskets by Jake Martin helped cut the deficit to 52-40 with 8:07 to play.
The Panthers regained control as Dierkhising, Walsh and Vaadeland made layups. A jumper by Juber-ian and layups by Dierkhis-ing and Trevor Matheny helped seal the win.
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Dierkhising led the Panthers with 24 points, six assists and five steals. Boter-man added a career-high 16 points while Vaadeland added 10 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Luke Nelson scored 10 points to lead Pillager, which fell to 5-10 on the season.
"We played a good first half, but we got tired in the second half," said Park Rapids head coach Joe Morgan. "We let them back in the game. They made a run, but we were able to hang on."
PILLAGER: Martin 2 4-5 8, Nelson 3 4-4 10, Holbrook 3 3-7 10, Gangestad 0 0-1 0, Eastman 1 6-7 8, Rardin 3 1-2 7, Kadus 3 0-0 6, Knebel 1 2-3 4, Baron 1 0-0 3. Totals: 17 for 45 (FG), 20 for 29 (FT).
PARK RAPIDS: Juberian 1 6-10 8, Dierkhising 11 2-3 24, Boterman 5 6-10 16, Walsh 4 0-1 8, Vaadeland 5 0-0 10, Larson 2 0-0 4, Domino 0 0-0 0, Jorgenson 0 0-2 0, Sievers 0 0-0 0, Matheny 1 0-0 2. Totals: 29 for 50 (FG), 14 for 26 (FT).
Halftime: Park Rapids 36, Pillager 17. Three-point field goals: Holbrook 1, Baron 1. Total fouls: Pillager 20, Park Rapids 21. Fouled out: Nelson, Eastman, Walsh. Rebounds: Park Rapids 34 (Vaadeland 11, Juberian 5, Sievers 5, Dierkhising 3, Boterman 3, Walsh 3, Jorgenson 2, Larson 1, Domino 1). Assists: Park Rapids 24 (Dierkhising 6, Vaadeland 5, Juberian 4, Boterman 3, Walsh 2, Larson 2, Domino 2). Steals: Park Rapids 17 (Dierkhising 5, Vaadeland 3, Larson 3, Boterman 2, Walsh 2, Sievers 1, Domino 1). Blocked shots: Park Rapids 4 (Vaadeland 1, Sievers 1, Jorgenson 1, Domino 1). Turnovers: Pillager 23, Park Rapids 21.
Perham controls Panthers
Kyle Mickelson and Sam Rutten combined for five 3-pointers in the first half to spark Perham to the easy win.
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Mickelson scored 13 points while Jacob Hunter and Rutten combined for 17 more points as the Yellowjackets claimed a 21-point lead at the break. Dierkhising had 10 of the Panthers' 20 first-half points.
The Yellowjackets maintained a comfortable lead as Rutten led the way with 13 points in the second half. Eleven different players scored for Perham after the break.
Dierkhising led the Panthers with 15 points after intermission and finished with 25 points.
Rutten (21), Mickelson (19) and Hunter (11) hit double figures for Perham, which improved to 10-4.
PERHAM: Dockter 1 0-0 2, Hendrickson 3 1-3 7, Mickelson 7 1-2 19, Rutten 7 4-4 21, Hunter 5 1-2 11, Huus 1 0-1 2, Ziemann 1 1-3 3, Bucholz 3 1-2 7, T. Johnson 2 0-0 5, Stecke 0 1-2 1, D. Johnson 1 0-0 2, Altstadt 1 0-0 2. Totals: 32 (FG), 10 for 19 (FT).
PARK RAPIDS: Juberian 2 3-5 7, Dierkhising 8 9-10 25, Boterman 2 0-0 4, Walsh 0 0-0 0, Vaadeland 2 0-0 4, Larson 0 0-2 0, Domino 0 0-1 0, Jorgenson 0 1-4 1, Sievers 1 0-0 2, Matheny 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 (FG), 13 for 22 (FT).
Halftime: Perham 41, Park Rapids 20. Three-point field goals: Mickelson 4, Rutten 3, T. Johnson 1. Total fouls: Perham 18, Park Rapids 19.
