Prep athletes of the week: 3-point flurry puts three in Howard Lake-Waverly family club

Coming off a tough 78-74 double-overtime loss to Pierz on Friday, the senior guard looked at Saturday's game against nearby rival Dassel-Cokato as a chance at redemption.

"It was motivation more than anything else," Gagnon said. "We play them once a year and the gym is always packed."

Gagnon knocked down a school-record 10 three-pointers (on 14 attempts) and finishing with 36 points in a 79-74 victory. "Some nights, you feel loose and you work up a good sweat," he said. "I felt that way Saturday. When you get in a zone like that, you just want to keep shooting."

An added bonus that made his night even bigger: He reached the 1,000-career point mark during the game, becoming the third member of his family to do so. Grandfather Steve Gagnon scored 1,000 career points for Waverly Catholic High School and father Chad, the Lakers' current head coach, reached that milestone while playing for Howard Lake-Waverly. The Gagnons are thought to be the first family in state history with three generations of 1,000-point scorers in the same school district.

"Saturday night was pretty special for our family," wrote Katie Gagnon, Cole's mother, in an e-mail.

The junior goalie stopped all 33 shots he faced in the Pioneers' 1-0 victory over St. Thomas Academy on Saturday. Two days earlier, he stopped 20 of 21 shots in a 3-1 victory over Tartan. In 12 games, Begley has a 1.94 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.

The sophomore has improved her all-around score in every meet in which she's appeared. She posted a score of 37.1 in a dual meet victory over Lakeville North on Tuesday, and won the all-around with a 37.55 at the Panther Invitational on Saturday.

The Zephyrs have reeled off seven consecutive victories to move within a game of the Metro East Conference lead thanks to the play of the versatile 6-6 junior guard. In three victories last week, he scored 87 points, including a career high 39 in a victory at Hastings, and added 20 rebounds and seven assists.

The 6-foot senior post has put together consecutive strong weeks of play as the Lakers moved into sole possession of first place in the Minneapolis Conference. In four games, Holien scored 65 points, grabbed 51 rebounds, blocked 11 shots and had five assists.

NATALIE SNODGRASS

The junior forward lifted Team USA to the gold medal at Women's Under-18 World Championships last week in Buffalo, N.Y. She scored game-tying and game-winning goals in a 3-2 overtime victory over Canada in the finals and finished with a team-leading six goals and seven points.

JIM PAULSEN