CASS LAKE -- Cass Lake-Bena sophomore Martin Wind reached a milestone in Panthers' final game of the regular season Thursday night.
The point guard crossed the 1,000 point mark in the first half, scoring a team-high 34 points in Cass Lake-Bena's 99-74 victory over Walker-Hackensack-Akeley on parents night.
"Martin is an outstanding player with the potential to be phenomenal," Cass Lake-Bena boys basketball coach Dan Ninham said. "He has the ability to score, but he's able to make others around him better. He's unselfish."
Joel Salscheider scored 20, Nate Salscheider 17 and Jeromy O'Brien 11 for the Panthers, which closed out the season with a 23-3 overall record.
Jesse Elsenpeter and Derek Parks led WHA with 18 points each. The Wolves ended their season 17-7 and will open the Section 8AA playoffs against Park Rapids Tuesday.
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Cass Lake-Bena opens the Section 8A playoffs Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against Clearbrook-Gonvick at Bemidji High School.
"We're confident and we feel good going into the playoffs," said Joel Salscheider, who scored 18 points in the first half. "Hopefully this win will give us momentum for the playoffs."
The Salscheider twins were recognized prior to the game as McDonald's All-American nominees.
The Panthers had trouble with the Wolves early and fell behind 12-5 to the Wolves, forcing a timeout.
"What they were doing is no secret, they attacked us with their pressure defense and we scrambled a bit," Ninham said. "The key is sustaining it."
Cass Lake-Bena came out of the timeout and took control of the game, going on a 21-4 run over the next two minutes to take a 26-16 lead with 11:58 remaining in the half.
Wind, who entered the game needing 19 points, would score his 1,000th to give the Panthers a 39-25 lead.
Martin scored on an easy layup, bringing the large crowd to their feet for a standing ovation.
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The Panthers extended their lead to 14 points with eight minutes to go and led 47-30 with 3:59 remaining.
Cass Lake-Bena led at halftime 54-36.
Wind scored 21 of his points in the first half, Joel Salscheider had 18.
Derek Parks led the Wolves in the first half with 11 points.
The Panthers continued to control the game in the second half and led 69-50 with 12 minutes left in the game.
With seven minutes left, the Panthers were up 78-61.
Nate Howard scored 8 for Cass Lake-Bena, Ryan Lemon 5, Joel Wilson 2 and Tyler Trosen 2.
Jordan Wizner and Zack Grimley scored 8 points each for WHA. Scott Tuller scored 5, Joe Wallin 5 and Gabe Grimley 1.
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The loss ended a four-game winning streak for the Wolves.
The win was the 11th straight for the Panthers, who have lost only once since Jan. 11-- a 114-90 defeat to Class 4A power Hopkins on Feb. 2.
The Panthers did not lose to a Class A team during the regular season.
